Editor:
As someone who grew up here and works here and who loves this town more than anything, to have a mayor call out our businesses and shame them for having empty buildings is wrong (“Solutions for downtown vacancies?”, June 1).
The four people you mentioned – Victors, Totman, Snegirev and La Mota – all pay a combined $32,912 in taxes each year to this city. Whether they choose to put someone in their buildings or choose to leave them empty is no one’s business.
I agree that lighting and keeping it clean and keeping the outside looking presentable is a must. But the mayor or anyone else has no right to tell them what they can or can’t do with their own building.
It was also mentioned that someone has been using their building for storage and that was not up to code, yet the old City Hall has been used for a homeless camp and the outside is complete disarray yet that’s OK, though we know that was not the intended use.
Most, if not all of Victors’ buildings are being used. I know Snegirev has been waiting on the city and power company for the use he wants to do there on Main. He has been working on that for almost 11 months now.
I think to publicly shame them and make them out to be these businesses that don’t care about our downtown is wrong. The mayor and the city are going about this the wrong way and by shaming them I don’t think you’re going to get the help from them that you want.
This town and most of the towns around us are hurting for employees. We can’t get workers and to think someone would be opening a new business in the state our economy is in plus inflation and everything else going on is pretty crazy.
We have a right to do business and operate our businesses as we see fit and if we choose to have a building and leave it empty, it’s our right.
Wendi Melcher
Sweet Home