I have sat back long enough reading this nonsense about our local leaders concerns about housing. It’s political hot air.

I am a resident of COTO Flats. It consists of two buildings: one owned by Summit County and the other by the town of Breckenridge. I’m on the Summit County side. Nine of us were selected for long-term housing, or so we thought. As it turned out, this was not the case at all. A year and a half into our occupancy, the county announced to an employee/resident not to get too comfortable as it is transitional housing and that we would have to find somewhere else to live after two years. None of us knew, and my future in Summit County changed overnight. Where do we transition to?

I’m very lucky as I have accepted a position out of state. But what happens to the other employees? I’ve heard Breckenridge has lost employees over the situation, so I guess Summit County government will follow. A resort mentality.

COTO Flats could have served as a model to retain employees who want to contribute to the community as local government employees, but that is not the case. There is nothing to transition into! Summit County has been consumed by greed. Short-term rentals are destroying the workforce with no end in sight. Those who deny this problem probably own short-term rentals. The thing is, I don’t blame them as it’s a great business. They do not pay commercial real estate taxes, they have buddies in local government, and they can fly under the radar. Why wouldn’t someone do this?

So as the blowhards in local government declare a housing emergency, this fourth generation Coloradan bids you farewell. The locusts have descended on the fields and will feed till there is nothing left.