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For several weeks, there was a sign outside Perry’s Italian Cafe proclaiming that The Stove was coming. The sign also bore The Stove’s logo.

The apparent plan of Cafe owner Glenn Taylor was to operate both The Stove (breakfast and lunch) and Perry’s (dinner) out of one location.

Whether this plan can be implemented, however, is for the courts to decide.

Destination Mammoth

Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory held a “fireside chat” with Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra staff and volunteers on Tuesday. After the meeting, I received the following email: “ … The report my wife heard from a friend who was at the meeting was that Rusty Gregory was there and said he is abandoning the goal of being a Destination Resort in favor of being family friendly, with most folks coming from Southern California, and a few from San Francisco––or something to that effect.”

So I called Rusty yesterday for comment. His reply: “Not close to accurate.”

Gregory said MMSA is redoubling its marketing efforts in Southern California, which he says is also the best way to build destination business. In a nutshell: Take care of your base and the rest will follow.

Gregory also said MMSA is hyper-focused on the family market, which represents 48% of its business.

Fesko and Peters rejoined 

Tim Fesko and Bob Peters renewed their battle for the District 4 Supervisor’s seat in Mono County by facing off at a Republican Party candidates’ night on Tuesday in Bridgeport.

My observation: Fesko is coming on strong. This will be competitive. Despite several questions which attempted to push Fesko’s buttons on a variety of topics, notably the legal entanglement with his brother Greg, he kept his cool.

And smartly, Fesko settled the suit and a gag order has been issued by the judge so it will no longer be a factor in the campaign.

Greg Fesko said via email, “Due to gag order as part of the settlement of the lawsuit I cannot provide any details. Tim and his wife Mary settled with us and the matter is closed. Wish I could go into more detail because it would make for some interesting reading.”

Anyway, as I see it, you’ve got a “Thousand Points of Light. Stay the Course” moderate Republican in Peters taking on a Tea Party-type in Fesko.

Some differences in their policy positions are stark.

While Fesko believes that North County would be better served by marketing to the Reno area and over in Sacramento, Peters said, “Our major market is Southern California. He ranked the Central Valley #2.

In some areas, however, they see things similarly.

In regard to County management, Peters said, “Too much power is concentrated in too few hands at the moment.”

Fesko believes the tail is wagging the dog, that the current Board has ceded too much power to CAO Jim Arkens. “Upper management is dominating the Board,” he said.

And while consolidating departments looks great on paper and theoretically saves money, “we may be opening ourselves up to a huge lawsuit because we do not have the proper layers [of government],” he added.

As an example, he pointed out that Arkens now has three management titles. not only is he the County Administrator, but he’s also the Assessor and head of Human Resources.

So imagine this, said Fesko. How does anyone make a complaint against the CAO? To make a complaint, you have to go through H.R, er, the CAO.

And if the CAO is the H.R. manager … boy, it sure sounds like you’ve got to suck up to Jim Arkens if you want a career at the County, because if you happen to fall into disfavor, he’s the same dude who’s gonna conduct the job interviews. Judge, jury and prosecutor all rolled into one – and all with the blind support and allegiance of the Supervisors who made him king; Hunt, Bauer and Hazard.

It’ll be interesting to see how Arkens counts to three once a new Board sits in January. Can he replace Bauer and Hazard with two of the three newly elected members of the Board?

In regard to the Probation Department position filled this week, The Sheet spoke to CAO Jim Arkens on Thursday. He said he was not involved in the interview process, contradicting what Tim Hansen said in Kirkner’s story on page six.

He said the interview panel consisted of Brian Muir, Tim Kendall and Julie Tiede, and that there were six or seven applicants for the job.

Karen Humiston was the second person extended an offer. The first person offered the job did not take it.

When asked why the Interim Director had not been offered the job, Arkens said, “Interims have the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.” He suggested we talk to Tim Kendall, as the D.A.’s department has a lot of interaction with probation.

“I didn’t make the ultimate decision … I don’t know why the CAO would refer you over to me,” said Kendall. “In regards to the interaction with our department, she [the Interim] did fine. She did a qualified job.”

“I sit in on multiple interview panels,” he added. “We rank ‘em qualified or unqualified.”

On Tuesday, the Mono County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to enter into a contract with Karin Humiston as the new Chief Probation Officer.

Former Chief Probation Officer Beverlee Bryant retired in September 2011 and the Assistant Probation Officer, Tracie Neal, has been serving as Interim Chief Probation Officer since that time.

Humiston’s contract is effective Sept. 24 and will last two years. Right before the vote, Supervisor Tim Hansen said, “I wish we had been able to hire from within Mono County.”

Both Supervisor Byng Hunt and Mono County CAO Jim Arkens (who also serves as the HR Director in addition to holding several other positions at the County) stated that after going through an extensive interview process, Humiston was found to be the best candidate at this time.

“We wanted to open the position up to find the best person possible,” Hunt said. “Internally we have some really great potential candidates that could move into the position in the future, but she [Humiston] was the best choice right now. The Board of Supervisors does like to promote from within but in this case this candidate was better.”

“I have a longstanding interest of seeing people promoted within their department,” was Hansen’s response when asked to elaborate on his comment on Wednesday.

Hunt said that the reason for a two-year contract was to make sure things work out with Humiston.

“She is going through some life changes and is moving from Arizona.” Hunt said.

Arkens stated that he had been given authorization from the Board a few months back to go through a full recruitment process and choose the best candidate, which he believed he did.

Arkens and Finance Director Brian Muir conducted the interviews and made the recommendation to the Board.

Bryant said she had no comment on the new hire, seeing as how she has been away from the County for some time now and was not involved in the interview process.

“I have some personal feelings but those aren’t for print,” Bryant said.

In her previous employment, Humiston worked for the Cochise County Juvenile Court in Bisbee, Ariz. from 1997 to August 2012 and at the Arizona Department of Corrections from 1981 to 1997.

The cost of this position for the remainder of FY 12-13 is approximately $181,369, of which $83,367 is salary; $64,602 is the employer portion of PERS, and $30,400 is the cost of the benefits; also included is up to $3,000 in moving expenses.

If his patience was tested, he hid it well. Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Dan Watson delivered his staff report regarding police personnel to the Mammoth Town Council on Wednesday night as if it was the first go round, not the third. Specifically, he requested that Council fill the Lieutenant position.

“I never heard them say no, just that they needed more information,” Watson told The Sheet regarding the two previous meetings on Dec. 15, 2010 and Jan. 19. “As long as the door was still open, it was fine.”

Even though Mayor Pro Tem Jo Bacon had some concerns about the sustainability of the position in the 2011/2012 fiscal year (“I don’t want to hire someone I would have to turn around and fire,” she said), as well as where the additional costs incurred for the remainder of the current fiscal year would be pulled, she made the vote unanimous.

Council approved filling and funding the Lieutenant position for the remainder of the fiscal year. Watson will most likely promote a Sergeant to fill the Lieutenant position, therefore leaving a vacant Sergeant position. He would then fill the Sergeant position with a Police Officer, therefore leaving a vacancy there. Council did not authorize him to hire a new Police Officer, so that position would stay empty. Therefore the number of bodies at the MLPD won’t change; they will just be reshuffled.

“These changes take awhile to go through,” Watson explained. “It will most likely take several months, but if everything did happen to go through before the end of the fiscal year, it would cost an additional $25,000, maximum.”

The School Resource Officer, which was heavily debated at the Jan. 19 meeting, will still be funded for the remainder of the fiscal year, however at least one Council member has stated that he will not support it going forward into the 2011/12 budget.

“It is a luxury we can’t afford,” Councilman John Eastman stated on Jan. 19.

Watson believes it is important to keep the SRO at the schools. He has been discussing the situation with School Superintendent Rich Boccia, who is also supportive of the position and planned to discuss cost offsets with his Board.

Town Manager Rob Clark announced the appointment of Daniel Watson as Interim Police Chief of the Town of Mammoth Lakes. Watson will replace Chief Randy Schienle on July 5 and has signed an agreement to be the Interim Chief of Police for the duration of the next fiscal year. Watson has served as Police Chief of the City of South Pasadena for the past eight years. Prior to that he worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for 29 years where he rose to the rank of commander.

Retiring Chief Schienle and Watson have already met and are making plans for a smooth July transition. Schienle has served as Chief since 2007. “Chief Watson will bring a vast background of experience to the Mammoth Lakes Police Department and will serve the department well,” Schienle said.

“I am looking forward to meeting and working with the members of the Police Department, the other members of the Town’s team, the Town Council, and the many stakeholders whom I know are passionate about the quality of life in Mammoth Lakes. My wife and I have already located a home and we’re anxious to make the move and become active members of the Mammoth Lakes community,” Watson said.

Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Randy Schienle announced his retirement on April 26, with an effective date of Aug. 11. Schienle said the Town had contracted with Bob Murrary & Associates for the recruitment of an interim chief and expects the person to be named by the Town on or about July 1. This will allow six weeks for Schienle to be available to assist in the transition.

Chief Schienle has worked in law enforcement for 29 years, 22 of them in Mammoth Lakes. He began in Mammoth as an officer, working his way through the ranks to sergeant and then lieutenant, a position he held for 10 years under former Chief Michael Donnolly, before being chosen to succeed the retiring Donnelly in 2006.

“I’m proud of my 29 year law enforcement career, but feel it’s time to move on,” Schienle said. “The men and women of Mammoth Lakes Police Department are dedicated and skilled professionals, and I’m confident they will continue to deliver a high level of public safety and service for residents and visitors alike.”

Bishop PD Chief Sheehan (Publicity photo)

Bishop Chief trades Kandahar for horses, Harleys and homemade pies

Bishop Police Chief Kathleen Sheehan didn’t grow up with a burning desire to spend a career in law enforcement. In fact, she says, her initial dream was to become a veterinarian.
“But I didn’t have the money for vet school,” she says. “I then saw this ad about becoming a police officer, saw the starting salary, and said, ‘Okay. I’ll be a police officer until I save up enough money for vet school.’”
She fell in love with the job instead.
Sheehan, who spent 25-plus years with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1980-2006, was hired (after an outside recruitment process) as Bishop’s Police Chief in December 2007.
Sheehan’s impressive resumé includes employment by the U.S. State Department overseas for community policing and counter-terrorism efforts, particularly in Indonesia and Pakistan.
So, how did that happen, exactly?
Well, it seems the seminal moment in Sheehan’s law enforcement career came when she was tapped as one of five LAPD officers to attend an Instructor Development Workshop at West Point in 1994.
The workshop took place two years after the infamous L.A. riots and was conducted within the military academy’s department of behavioral science and leadership.
The goal of the workshop was for Sheehan and her colleagues to bring back and implement “community policing” concepts at the LAPD.
In short, says Sheehan, police need to demonstrate that they’re a part of the community they’re sworn to protect and serve, rather than a separate identity that just does its job without any particular emotional investment in the community.
And, as she said, the program “went viral.” It was so successful that the U.S. State Department began hiring her, on a part-time basis, for community policing, evidence-based policing and counter-terrorism assignments in 2004.
Which she performed initially by accruing leave and vacation time from her job at the LAPD.
By 2006, she left the LAPD to work full-time for the State Dept. on these overseas assignments.
As Sheehan said, “I was there [in Pakistan, Indonesia, Israel, et al] to teach local investigators how to make cases based on evidence as opposed to simply coercing comfessions by often brutal means.”
“Community-based policing just gives you better information. Why would someone want to talk to the police if they fear they’ll be beaten or tortured?”
“Anyone can catch a suicide bomber because he’s dead at the scene … it’s harder to find out who employed and equipped him. If you don’t have a way to obtain that information, all you can do is wait for the next bombing.”
Sheehan said the State Department has invested a lot of money in crime lab technology in Pakistan and elsewhere. It was her job to show the locals how to effectively use ballistics tests and DNA evidence.
But it was an extremely demanding job, one that a person can’t perform for an extended period of time.
“Pakistan pretty close to broke me,” admits Sheehan, who described one crime scene she investigated, following an act of terrorism, where there were 1,500 people dead.
“When I was working in L.A., we had 200 homicides a year, and I didn’t think it could get worse than that. Pakistan was a LOT worse!”

Ultimately, Sheehan decided that “I didn’t to spend a significant portion of my life in Kandahar. I can only endure so much tilting at windmills.”
Tilting at windmills? Was Sheehan really making a literary reference to Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote?”
“I’ve read it in English and Spanish,” she replied. (Editor’s note: Damn!)
So why Bishop?
“I needed a hometown,” she deadpanned.

Though Bishop is a far cry from what she’s accustomed to, Sheehan said she was familiar with the area based upon childhood visits and applied for the job precisely because of the beauty of the area and the change of pace it afforded.
“It’s horses, Harleys and homemade pies … and I say the Pledge of Allegiance five times a day [referring to the numerous meetings she attends].”
“I knew Bishop was different when Dana Crom [daughter of the Mayor and a public defender] asked me to join Rotary. That doesn’t happen in the big city.”
Sheet: So did you join?
Sheehan: Of course!

Sheehan acknowledges that she thought there might be a little bit of an “Andy Griffith factor” when she took the job. “I had an image of all rural police departments as being a bit like Mayberry. I found Bishop to be the opposite of that. We’ve got great cops here. My main job, as I see it, is to grow my troops’ connection to the community.”
She is also focused on increased training and having more officers specialized at more tasks in order to keep the community safe BEFORE gangs and narcotics take hold.
Sheehan said she’s pleased that Bishop does have a relatively high number of police officers per capita (13 sworn and 3 reserves) as this allows the department to concentrate on prevention and intervention as well as enforcement.

Sheet: They say law enforcement is taxing on one’s personal life. Have you found that to be true?
Sheehan (laughing): I’ve only had three divorces … but I’m still hoping there’s someone out there for me.
Sheet: Do you perform background checks on potential suitors?
Sheehan: No. I rely on my sixth sense.