Commissioner Manning uses farewell remarks to criticize backroom deals, recounts hospital and flood struggles

Commissioner Manning used a lengthy set of farewell remarks to voice concern about internal commission dynamics and to recount local health-care and disaster-response controversies. She thanked colleagues, described receiving threats after speaking about the mayor, and said efforts to hold officials accountable had prompted intimidation and online attacks.

Manning said elected officials sometimes "set up fake social media pages and tear your reputation apart" and accused some of using "taxpayer-funded" resources to protect those pages. She said the tactics of private criticism and what she called "backdoor meetings" have discouraged debate and silenced dissent. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing or remain silent," she quoted during her remarks.

Manning also recounted a conversation with the mayor in which she said the mayor told her, "The hospital is not my top concern. It should be our top concern," a statement Manning said preceded the county'level loss of ICU services. She said the community lost the ICU within three days of that exchange and described personal consequences, including a family member's death after the ICU closure.

She praised colleagues who worked during a recent flood but said the emergency revealed both unity and painful division among officials. Manning urged fellow commissioners to avoid factionalism and to focus on residents' needs going forward. The commission did not take formal action on the matters Manning raised during her remarks; they were delivered as personal comments during the commissioners'comment portion of the agenda.