There seems to be a group out there that is running on some kind of platform that the city of Homer is anti-business. The best I can tell, this comes down to some of the biggest water users wanting others that use less water than they do to subsidize their water use like has been done for several decades here. Cheaper water rates for all would be great but if you use it — it’s fair that you pay for it. That’s not anti-business.
It is being said by some short-sighted individuals that a sign ordinance is anti-business. This sign ordinance was put in place by a majority of local businesses who fought hard over the years to keep it from being gutted. Without a sign ordinance — it becomes a sign proliferation battle between businesses. Who can put up the biggest flashiest sign. The town gets junky looking. People no longer say “What a beautiful town,” and visitors quit coming in such numbers.
Allowing that to happen would be anti-business.
Single use plastic bag ban. That was a pretty progressive bill. It may get voided by the public who wants the option of a plastic bag for every purchase. Hundreds of places around the world have cut way back on their disposable bag use by all kinds of bills and laws. If you are too young to remember when we didn’t have such bags, it probably does seem like an anti-something big-brother move. For many businesses it actually is saving money as people get used to not needing a disposable bag for each purchase.
For the record, coming from a business (Homer Bookstore) that has been in Homer longer than two of the candidates have been alive, there is nothing anti-business about any regulations I have ever encountered here. Anybody who wants to can open up a business with way less rules-regulations-costs and red tape than most places I would want to be. Taxes are relatively cheap, zoning restrictions are minimal, city interference is almost non-existant compared to what many other beautiful towns have.
How come anti-business seems to always translate to — I don’t want to play nicely.
Lee Post
