May 27, 2021

Dear Editor:

Senator Lana Theis and Representative Donna Lasinski: It seems like our Senators and House members have gone back in time to the grade school play yard? Why all of the fighting and finger pointing? I think most Michigan voters elected their MI Senator and House of Representatives members to perform their duties in a professional way and work out differences as adults in a constructive manner. “The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopted in 1963. The primary purpose of the Legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.”

We have had a terrible situation here in our township where new owners signed up with Airbnb and allowed too many guests to fill a small home on a lake. Sadly, renters frequently acted out of control, including documented cases of their cars blocking traffic on the small dirt road, partying well into the late hours making considerable noise, renters wearing only a towel throwing up in the yard (yes there is photographic evidence of this!) and other poor behavior. Also the renters brought their own jet skis and pushed them into the lake through a private launch site without approval.

What happened to respect and treating others like you would like to be treated? There have been many cases in Michigan and other states where things have gotten out of control at a short-term rental party and people have been hurt or killed. Safety must be a top goal of government vs. some homeowners making money — Public Safety Law and Legal Definition. Public Safety refers to the welfare and protection of the general public, and is usually expressed as a governmental responsibility!

I get that homeowners want to have an ability to use their property in ways that can help them. However, local government also must have the right to set reasonable rules and regulations that protect the rights and safety of those who have lived in a neighborhood for decades. I am proud that our Freedom Township Board changed the rules in 2020 and added a rental registration policy and in 2021 passed a resolution opposing HB4722 that seeks to deny all local control! Local leaders must enforce their rules in an equal manner to protect all residents. I want to be on record that SB446 and HB4722 are the wrong way to go!

I believe our elected representatives — both Senators and House members — should go back and talk with each other, act in a respectable manner and figure out a way to achieve a win/win solution, not just attempt to jam through another bill which seeks to force one position over the rights of others that have long followed the rules.

Lon Nordeen
Freedom Township

Views expressed in any Letter to the Editor are always exclusively those of the author. Do you have something you want Manchester to know? Send your Letter to the Editor to themanchestermirror@gmail.com.