Quail Run seems just a bit shady

Look, listen, learn ‘ that’s my motto. Actually, I didn’t have a motto before, but now I have that one.
My job, as I see it, is simple but complicated. Maybe it’s simply complicated? Well, it is some mixture of the two.
I sit quietly through the discussions in city government meetings looking and listening to everything. When I write my article, I try to get the gist of what they were discussing across to the reader. I make a point to focus on the main people in the discussion and use the quotes that fit best. Even though they may discuss something for an hour, only so much is relevant.
I’ve become accustomed to people telling me officials deny information I attributed to them in my articles. I figure I’m not up for election. Citizens who come to the meetings on a regular basis know what happened. For those who don’t attend, I do, and then write about it with the goal of 100 percent accuracy.
Recently, I broke my sit-quietly-and-listen stance. During the last McMinnville Regional Planning Commission meeting, there was some discussion regarding my accuracy.
The problem came about when the Quail Run subdivision discussion came up for final approval. At that meeting, a large crowd of angry people showed up to protest. The crowd made several remarks about my article and the MAXIMUM income requirements listed.
One guy who identified himself as a ‘surveyor’ for the project stated the numbers the crowd was quoting weren’t correct and there’s no maximum income. Why a surveyor would presume to know the income requirements for renting something he only surveyed, I’ll never know.
When he was told the numbers came from the company and were given to the paper, he once again repeated that the information was incorrect and that there was no maximum income.
A gentleman pointed me out and said, ‘Let’s ask her. She’s right there.’
When I didn’t jump up to defend myself, Mayor Royce Davenport tried to do it for me. After his explanation, I decided it would be best to stand up for myself.
Keeping it to a minimum and staying in my seat, I stated, ‘The numbers I quoted were sent to me by the company. If anyone wants to see them, call me tomorrow.’
Since that time, the company has repeatedly denied the numbers given to me. However, I still have them and the company has yet to call and demand a retraction.
I have a real problem with the company’s way of doing things. I feel something shady is going on:
‘ Before the commission in May, it was stated the housing would not be section 8 or section 42. However, it would be subsidized housing. What other subsidized housing is there?
‘ At that time, there was no mention of maximum income. Instead, the representative said the housing was ‘not’ for low-income people and quoted a few numbers that sounded good.
‘ When I specifically asked for a list of the income requirements, what I received had the word ‘maximum’ in bold and the numbers appeared to be low-income.
‘ At that time, they wanted the commission to know how beautiful the place would be. They stated there would be a walking trail, a picnic area and a row of trees to separate the subdivision. However, the final drawings showed none of these.
Because this isn’t the first subsidized subdivision it’s built, I think the company considered the negative reaction by homeowners. With this in mind, they took the shade from the trees they were supposed to plant and put it on the development.
Lisa Hobbs is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191.