Speaking Of Credit…
Other than Jenn Rowell, do you know who else deserves some credit? City Commissioner Mary Moe!
At last night’s City Commission meeting, Moe voted against a measure that would have raised usage fees for the City’s swimming pools.
From the original reporting in the aforementioned Rowell’s The Electric:
Commissioner Mary Moe, who had asked that the pool fee proposal be pushed from the originally planned Feb. 6 meeting, said she opposed the 50 cent increase.
She said that if families made one trip to the pool, 50 cents wouldn’t be an issue, but if they go more often, the additional cost adds up.
She said she was having trouble getting used to the idea of an enterprise fund, which is how pools is currently set up. Parking, water, sewer, golf and other city funds are also enterprise funds.
Moe said she wanted to see more effort to increase usage at city pools and collaborate with other community groups to promote physical activity for all ages, but especially children.
“I’m unwilling to go down this road of hiking a free [sic] for a pool that nobody is using,” Moe said.
This is well stated. Perhaps Moe grasps the concept of inelastic demand and that, if you continue to raise fees, a great number of folks will feel priced out and will stop utilizing the City’s pools. I hope she considers this the next time the City inevitably moves to raise golf fees.
Even more consequentially, Moe took a righteous stand at the previous City Commission meeting on the City’s shameless foray into the opioid litigation “let’s hope something sticks” money-grab attempt. As the lone “nay” vote, Moe sensibly argued that pursuing litigation against the opioid manufacturers would unnecessary divert staff time and resources. It was a principled dissent, and I was impressed by her independence.
While Moe and I will have to agree to disagree on Columbus Day (and probably more than just Columbus Day), since I have been critical of her, I only thought it would be fair to give her kudos where it’s deserved, because while we may criticize our elected officials, that doesn’t mean it’s personal.
Well done, Mary!
Glad to hear Mary Moe took a stand. She’s right about the pool fees and the opioid litigation. That’s money and time that could be spent on more pressing matters in our city.