In response to City Councilor/ Economic Development Authority Board Member Anton Moody’s July 4 letter, I fail to see any similarities between Grand Marais or Cook County and Breckinridge, Colorado.
The city of Breckinridge is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide nestled among five of the largest ski hills in the world. While homesteading citizens number 3,500, with daily tourists and seasonal homeowners, their average daily population is 36,000. Their city holds 76 bars and restaurants; 203 shops; 11 liquor/grocery stores; 494 hotels, inns, and B&Bs; 2,583 condos; 18 museum/art galleries; 13 public parking lots… In November 2006, the leadership in Breckinridge, through voter referendum, passed sales tax to build work force housing.
It brings in $600,000 annually and expires in 2017.
The leadership in our community passed over our true needs like work force housing or hospital additions to promote sales tax for pleasure items. Well, it has been determined that Grand Marais is in need of affordable housing and Councilor Moody explains that the EDA is chasing housing for teachers, police, nurses, etc. The city follows the Chamber, who appear to control the EDA. While the EDA did the footwork for affordable housing, the Chamber has changed that to work force housing at the state level.
On WTIP radio, Jim Boyd, executive director of the Chamber informed the community that work force housing belongs in the West End where the majority of tourism jobs are, which the Chamber and EDA has assured most of the money allocated to Cook County has gone, as the city silently watches.
I commend Councilor Moody for his efforts but doubt Grand Marais will receive anything. I question if the councilor is unknowingly a puppet for the Chamber, or if he can actually buck the Chamber and EDA, producing affordable housing for Grand Marais.
In the conversation of work force housing we should look at Chamber members Bruce and Sue Kerfoot. At the end of the USA, they realized the need for housing their staff and keeping them for the entire season. Smart and successful business people, as their business grew, their staff housing grew. We watch Lutsen businesses grow but have they expanded their staff housing equally? Or are they waiting for free staff housing provided by tax dollars as their lobbyist works on work force housing at the state level, once again disproportionately favoring one district out of five?
With four city councilors and a mayor, good leadership is what the city of Grand Marais is in dire need of. With so many needs, just months ago the new council chose to follow a non-profit and chase biomass. One would assume they studied the information, yet the hospital board studied the same information and informed us, with $1,000,000 spent on the study, just to start with, the numbers are not correct, and refused the project. The mayor’s blog revealed he is disappointed the project is over. Is this good leadership, personal agendas or out of touch leaders?
Tod Sylvester
Grand Marais
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