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This week Mono County Supervisor Larry Johnston threw his fellow Board members another curve ball by requesting that the Board review and discuss a 10 percent County fee decrease.

While the agenda stated it would save taxpayers up to $430,000, Johnston clarified on Tuesday that it would be more like “a $300,000 reduction to taxpayers.”

“It would not be a cost to the county because of the savings we have obtained from consolidation,” Johnston explained. The county has been consolidating many of its staff positions in an effort to stay fiscally sound.

“We should pass this savings on to the taxpayers and reduce County fees by 10 percent, excluding enterprise fees and state set fees [which the County has no control over],” he continued.

After his brief description, Johnston moved to approve this reduction and Supervisor Tim Hansen seconded.

Noting that making the motion so soon was a bit out of order, “I would have liked discussion before a motion,” Board Chair Vikki Bauer then moved the body into discussion.

Helen Nunn, representing local 39, the majority representative of Mono County Public Employees, requested that rather than reducing fees, the money saved from consolidation should be used to offset any budget imbalances in the future. She also requested that if fees were to be reduced that they be reviewed one by one rather than just a blanket reduction of all fees.

“Some fees are not even paid by county residents,” Nunn pointed out.

Mono County Finance Director Brian Muir agreed that each fee should be looked at individually.

“Not all fees are created equally,” Muir said. “A lot of fees are going down anyway.”

Bauer pointed out that the Board does review the fees each year anyway, and that the discussion should be held at the appropriate time.

Supervisor Hansen, however, was very much in favor of the idea.

“Is it a gift to the people?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes it is. It doesn’t mean that fees haven’t been kept equitable, it’s just a benefit to the people.”

“It’s a question of efficiency when providing services,” weighed in Supervisor Byng Hunt. “We should be efficient and save money. It’s not prudent to just drop fees across the board. It’s dangerous to give up our savings not knowing what type of emergency needs we’ll have in the next few years.”

Hunt was against dropping the fees at this time.

Bauer agreed and stated again that she would be open to discussing lowering or not increasing fees when the topic came before the Board in its usual fashion.

“This is an incomplete effort,” she criticized.

Supervisor Hap Hazard was also uncomfortable using the county’s savings at this time.

“Giving money to people who are using the [county] services, not just taxpayers, while holding employee salaries frozen doesn’t sit well with me,” Hazard said. “I would be more supportive of spreading it out across property taxpayers instead.”

CAO Jim Arkens stated that he was scared by the fee reduction proposal.

“The savings [from consolidation] were used to balance last year’s budget,” he explained. “I don’t know what it [budget] looks like now.”

The motion to support the fee reduction failed with a 2-3 vote. Only Johnston and Hansen voted in favor.

Dear Editor:

I am the attorney representing Dick Luman in the appeal of his termination by Mono County. I am taking the unusual step of writing about this proceeding before it is concluded because the case is the subject of considerable public discourse. Notwithstanding the excellent reporting of Lara Kirkner for The Sheet, there are certain key facts that were not captured in her reports. I offer the following information, all from testimony and official documents in the case,  to supplement and clarify information in The Sheet articles:

*  On October 3, 2011, a physical altercation occurred between Dick Luman and Brett McCurry at the Bridgeport Road Shop.  Dick Luman suffered a fractured rib and had a hernia operation as a result. Brett McCurry suffered an abrasion/cut on his nose when his glasses came off.

* Mr. Luman and Mr. McCurry each accuse the other of being the agressor in the altercation.

*  There were three (3)  eyewitnesses to the incident:   Jim Kerby (Mechanic III), Mike Rhodes (Parts Dept), and Jerry Vande Brake (Fleet Services Supervisor).

*  Eyewitness Jim Kerby provided sworn testimony when interviewed by Mono County about the incident.  He testified McCurry grabbed Luman “pushed him back into the corner of the door” and “grabbed him, and spun around, and threw him into the tool chest on the outside of the office.”  Mr. Kerby provided a consistent account when interviewed by Mono County Sheriff’s Department on the morning of the incident.  In June, Mr. Kerby will testify in this proceeding and detail what he witnessed.

*  Eyewitness Mike Rhodes has testified that he saw Brett McCurry shove Dick Luman against the tool cabinet:  ”…next thing I knew I heard scuffling, and I looked up and Brett had Dick pinned up against the specialty tool bins outside of Jerry’s door.”  Mr. Rhodes provided a consistent account to the Mono County Sheriff’s Department on the morning of the incident, and has twice provided sworn testimony.

* Eyewitness Jerry Vande Brake is the supervisor in whose office the physical assault occurred.  The Sheriff’s Department report taken on the date of the incident summarizes Vande Brake as reporting Luman was “walking towards the door to leave but Brett McCurry was in the doorway not letting him out” and he witnessed “as Brett grabbed Dick’s shoulders and shoved him into the office and into the book shelves.”  A supplement to Sheriff’s report was written after Deputy Hansen was directed to review the transcripts of interviews conducted by an investigator for Mono County’s workers comp insurance company.  The Supplemental Sheriff’s report states “…it appears that Jerry Vande Brake’s statement in the transcript differed from his initial statement to me on the day of the incident”.  In his testimony a week after the incident, Vande Brake described Luman’s approach to the door as “…it was pretty rapid in what I would consider an aggressive move.”

* According to the report of the Sheriff’s Department, the physical altercation occurred when Jim Kerby and Dick Luman were in the office of their supervisor Jerry Vande Brake. According to the Sheriff’s Dept. report, Vande Brake indicated the meeting was to discuss Kerby’s complaint that “he had a problem with Brett McCurry the Thursday before and he and Dick needed to talk to him [Vande Brake] about the incident.”  Vande Brake related that Kerby “was making a complaint that Brett has been constantly intimidating him and causing a lot of problems in the shop.”

*  Joel Erickson, Lead Mechanic under Vande Brake, testified before the Personnel Board that group meetings had been held with him, Vande Brake, and the mechanics to discuss concerns about McCurry’s behavior at work and the negative impact it had on the work environment.  Luman confirmed that he had attended at least one of the meetings. Vande Brake testified that he did not document the complaints of the mechanics and did not document the meetings.

The hearings resume on May 16 for a half day, to be followed by the anticipated conclusion of the hearings in late June. Upon conclusion of the hearings, the Personnel Board, composed of Undersheriff Ralph Obenberger, Supervisor Tim Hansen, and Ken Goode,  will decide whether the County was justified in terminating Dick Luman as a result of the incident on October 3, 2011.

Katie Maloney Bellomo
Attorney for Dick Luman

The Mono County Housing Authority, made up of the Mono County Board of Supervisors, held its annual meeting on Tuesday with two topics generating the most noise.

The first was Mono County’s rental housing program. The County only has three units, which are all currently occupied.

Supervisor Larry Johnston was concerned that management of the units was “sucking the profits.”

“These units should be significant moneymakers for the county,” Johnston continued. “Each home has been totally rehabilitated to the tune of about $50,000 each, and they’re in great shape.”

Johnston was disappointed that a breakdown of how the rent collected was then spent within in the county. This breakdown was not included in the agenda packet and Johnston asked staff to supply a report of where the money was going.

“We should look at Mammoth Lakes Housing’s management if we need help,” he concluded.

His fellow supervisors, however, did not necessarily see the same benefit of the rental housing.

“Why are we in rentals anyway?” asked Supervisor Byng Hunt. “We kind of slid into this.”

One option, according to County staff Mary Booher could be to sell the units, as there is already interest in one of them.

Another option, according to Supervisor Hap Hazard could be to turn the units in Benton into County offices.

“The long-term stability of the Eastern Sierra Unified School District could affect the residents of those units,” Hazard said.

At least one of the Benton renters is a teacher at High Desert Academy. On Wednesday, April 18 the ESUSD Board voted to dismiss 4.5 teaching positions within ESUSD, according to ESUSD Superintendent Don Clark. Two of those positions were teachers at High Desert Academy. The dismissal of those positions effectively closes the high school.

The Board left the issue on the table for the time being.

The second hot topic was whether or not the old Sheriff’s Substation where Mammoth Dog Teams is currently housed should be converted into County workforce housing.

Johnston, who believed the building could house two workforce housing units and a storage area without much need for renovation, suggested the idea.

Johnston pointed to the $237,000 in available housing funds as a pool of money that could be used to rehab the building.

Supervisor Hazard, however, had a difficult time seeing it as viable. He believed the $237,000 might be better used as employee down payment assistance but did ask staff to put together some numbers on just how much it would cost to rehab the substation.

“It’s not that it can’t be done, but it would be expensive,” explained County Director of Facilities and Risk Management Rita Sherman.

“Isn’t the county salvaging something similar in Bridgeport,” asked Johnston.

“It’s in better shape than this,” Sherman said.

Water and asbestos are at least two issues that would have to be fully addressed before a project such as this could move forward.

Is Mono County trying to cover something up or is defense attorney Katie Maloney Bellomo trying to make the personnel hearing of Dick Luman as burdensome and costly to the County as possible? Those were the arguments that Bellomo and County Counsel John-Carl Vallejo bickered about on Wednesday morning as the hearing continued into its fifth day.

The parties reconvened on April 18, following a cancellation of the April 13 hearing date due to weather.

Last week the personnel appeals board had voted to overturn a previous ruling it had made, and decided that it would now allow new evidence not initially presented to come forward in the appeal. This determination flung the hearing into turmoil, and Bellomo had requested time to regroup and decide whom else she would need to subpoena for questioning.

Vallejo stated he had one document and one additional witness, District Attorney George Booth, to add to his case.

By Wednesday Bellomo had requested 10 additional subpoenas in addition to the more than 10 she had requested at the beginning of the hearing, which was the reason behind Vallejo’s comments about burden to the County.

“Ms. Bellomo is on a fishing expedition; she’s just subpoenaing everyone,” Vallejo said. “The County is just worried about an undo waste of resources.”

Bellomo, however, pointed out that it was the County that asked that new evidence be allowed.

“I didn’t move to expand the scope of the case,” she said. “It’s not a delay tactic on our end.”

She added, however, that now that the door had been opened she wanted to investigate everything thoroughly.

“What’s being hidden here, what’s going on behind the scenes,” Bellomo asked. “Is the Sheriff’s Department catering to one of the parties in the case?”

Bellomo was referring to the reports taken by the Sheriff’s Department at the time of the incident that were then transferred to the District Attorney’s office. The validity of those reports in conjunction with the transcripts from the York Insurance investigation was brought into question.

Since day one of the hearing, Bellomo has raised questions about the outside interviewer who was brought in to investigate the incident in relation to workers compensation. Steve Woods, the investigator brought in, was employed by York Insurance Company, which had some connection to the County. During her cross examination of Mono County CAO Jim Arkens in the first week of the hearing, Bellomo had asked whether or not York was the County’s insurance agency dealing with worker’s compensation at the time of the investigation. Arkens stated that York was not the insurance company but the County’s third party administrator.

“Trindel is our insurance company,” Arkens said. “York doesn’t determine if we will pay a claim, they just process it once Trindel decides.”

Vallejo saw this as one of the reasons why the County needed to defend itself against alleged bias, which was why he fought for the new evidence to be allowed.

On Wednesday, the appeals board approved nine of the 10 new subpoenas Bellomo was requesting. The only one they did not allow her to issue was the subpoena for Undersheriff Ralph Obenberger.

Obenberger is sitting on the appeals board, and as County Counsel to the Board, Stacey Simon pointed out, “If Mr. Obenberger is going to be subpoenaed then it puts the Board in an awkward position.”

Bellomo, however, felt that Obenberger should step down from the Board since he would be called to judge people in his own department.

“He should have stepped down from the start,” Bellomo said. “The appearance of propriety and fairness is very important as a judge. You don’t get to judge if you made decisions in the case. It is necessary to call Obenberger because whatever is going on here goes to the top.”

However, she conceded to the Board’s decision to have him carry on at the dais.

Testimony

One of the witnesses whom Bellomo called on Wednesday was Deputy Mark Hanson. Hanson was responsible for interviewing the parties present at the incident in the days directly after it occurred. He spoke with Brett McCurry, Jerry Vande Brake, Mike Rhodes, Jim Kerby and Dick Luman.

Hanson wrote up a report detailing these interviews. He turned in his report to his superiors at the Sheriff’s Department. Since parties involved in the incident wanted to prosecute one another, the report was passed on to the District Attorney’s office. According to Hanson, this was standard protocol.

In that original report, Hanson wrote that McCurry was the aggressor, not Luman based upon recollections from all parties except McCurry.

“Luman acted in self defense based upon the witness statements I received,” Hanson said. “McCurry blocked Luman’s exit from the office, which caused the hands-on approach. If McCurry had let Luman leave the room, the fight would not have happened.”

After Woods interviewed the parties later on, Hanson was asked to listen to the transcripts from these interviews and write a supplemental report on anything that had changed from his original interviews.

“Jerry Vande Brake’s story changed the most significantly,” Hanson testified. “Which is why I wrote the first supplemental report.”

According to Hanson, when he interviewed Vande Brake his account of what had happened was that McCurry had blocked Luman from leaving the room. However, in the transcripts from the Woods’ interview, Vande Brake stated that Luman had walked rapidly toward McCurry and that Luman was the aggressor.

“If Vande Brake had said this during my interview with him, it would have changed the outcome of my report,” Hanson said.

Hanson concluded by saying that by the end of the incident he felt that it was mutual combat because both men were holding onto each other saying, “let go.” He clarified, however, that mutual combat doesn’t necessarily mean that both people are being aggressive.

Several more witnesses were called following Hanson. The day was expected to end with additional questioning of Vande Brake.

Due to scheduling conflicts the hearing will not resume until June.

All three candidates for District 2 Inyo County Supervisor were represented in one form or another Thursday, speaking before a full room at the Bishop Chamber Luncheon at Whiskey Creek.

Incumbent Susan Cash was unable to attend, but sent prepared comments read by a surrogate, Public Lands Access Advocates member Dick Noles. Cash emphasized her 20 years as a Bishop resident, and pointed to her success in work with the Forest Service on the area’s Travel Management Plan, and the passage of AB 628, a significant Inyo County off-highway vehicle recreation bill to add to the area’s trails system. “I wasn’t sure how, but I knew we could change state law, and we did,” Cash wrote. She also talked about her involvement with Digital 395, part of a “group that put together the plan.” Goals for the future included pursuing more FAA grants for Bishop Airport improvements. Cash also said that Inyo County ranks number 2 out of 58 counties in “net asset value per capita,” making it one of the most fiscally stable counties in the state.

Challenger Russ Aldridge, a Director with the Owens Valley Contractors Association and owner of his own plumbing and heating business, also talked about plans for the Bishop Airport, but his ideas were much loftier, focusing on getting runways repaired and bringing in an airline to “open new avenues for tourism.” He also mentioned ideas for enticing business to come to the county, instead seeing it leave for Nevada or Arizona, proposing a mix of tax breaks and permit considerations for starting up business and putting up new buildings. Aldridge was also animated when speaking of the “water wars” between Bishop and the Owens Valley and the LA Department of Water and Power. “This needs to be dealt with and have a nail put in this coffin once and for all,” Aldridge said.

He also said a proposed new County building at the Hwy 6 and U.S. 395 junction was a bad idea, instead preferring to spend such money sprucing up existing buildings and working on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

Challenger Jeff Griffiths, a current Bishop City Councilman, also mentioned Digital 395, and talked about the future beyond just the importance of the infrastructure portion of it. “It’s what we do with it that’s important … creating 21st century jobs, technology jobs, high-paying jobs,” Griffiths said. He went on to say that collaborating with the private sector, the business community public and private organizations, can accomplish a lot without having the City used as a sole source of funding during economically difficult times. He cited the entirely private sector funded Bishop Dog Park project as an example.

He lamented the partisan bickering that he thinks characterizes Sacramento and Washington, D.C., but said, “That doesn’t have to be us,” instead advocating a community-government partnership and working together for common good.

Matt Davis (orange shirt) with the Mono County Board of Supervisors. (Submitted photo)

On Tuesday, April 10 the Mono County Board of Supervisors adopted and presented a resolution in appreciation of Matt Davis for his service to our country.

Davis served as an active duty mechanic for the United States Marine Corps from 1999 until 2005, and has served as a reserve in the Nevada Army National Guard since 2005.

In December 2010, Davis was moved from reserve status to active duty in order to prepare and train for deployment. In January 2011 the Equipment Mechanic for the Mono County Road Department since 2005, was deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom with the Nevada Army National Guard Company C 422D Expeditionary Signal Battalion.

Davis returned in January 2012. He was released from active duty and returned to his position in the Road Department in February 2012. The County wishes to extend a sincere ‘thank you’ in appreciation for Matt Davis’ service and to all those who serve in the military. -Mono County Press Release

At its April 3 meeting, the Mono County Board of Supervisors discussed the following:

Tioga Pass opening date

According to members of the Mono County Board of Supervisors, Tioga Pass is expected to open by Memorial Weekend.

Supervisor Vikki Bauer added that Caltrans had already plowed to the gate and was heading to Glacier Point.

Green light to fill vacancy

Mono County Public Health Director, Lynda Salcido’s request to the Board of Supervisors to fill a vacancy in her department was approved without much fanfare.

The current Children’s Medical Service Director recently resigned. The total cost for the position is $125,784 ($75,000 for salary, $14,621 PERS and $36,163 for benefits) but it is funded by a combination of state and federal funds and has zero impact on the County’s General Fund, according to Salcido. The Board approved filling the vacancy with a 5-0 vote.

A workshop regarding Eastern Sierra Connect (ESC), last mile providers, and Digital 395 (D395) at Tuesday’s Mono County Board of Supervisors meeting in Bridgeport focused heavily on D395.

Danna Stroud and Ron Day, board members of ESC, attended Tuesday’s meeting to give the Board a better understanding of ESC’s roles and responsibilities. ESC is not directly related to D395, but it is working to disseminate information to last mile Internet providers to prepare them for D395’s existence.

Stroud and Day requested that the Board appoint a Mono County representative to sit on the ESC board and take the lead for the County with respect to last-mile provider issues.

This request turned on a larger lightbulb for supervisors.

“This [D395] is going to be a short-term but intense project for the next two years,” said Supervisor Byng Hunt. “Splitting it up among overburdened staff isn’t the way to go.”

Currently there are three point people among County staff for the D395 project. All of them balance their normal workload with D395 issues and projects.

County staff suggested that a specific position be hired to act as the point person. The person could also sit on the ESC Board.

The Board agreed and added that it needed to be a senior staff position.

“We don’t want to put an intern on the biggest project we have for the next few years,” said Supervisor Vikki Bauer.

Bauer also did not want to put a newly hired person on the job.

“Take someone from within and make it his or her priority,” she said. “Then give their current workload to someone else.”

The two current staff members that were repeatedly suggested for the job were Economic Development Director Dan Lyster and GIS Coordinator Nate Greenberg.

“We need a project leader with understanding of the County who can work within departments,” said Supervisor Hap Hazard. “Nate has the most well-rounded technology experience.”

Supervisor Tim Hansen, however, felt that while Greenberg was a technology “genius,” the appointed person needed to be able to “get their hands dirty.”

“You need someone who’s going to go out and talk to the people laying the cable,” Hansen said.

The Board decided to give county staff time to discuss designating an employee. The topic will be brought back for the Board’s April 10 meeting. It did, however, promise that it does want to engage with ESC a representative has been chosen.

In an update on D395, itself, County Counsel Marshall Rudolph said final environmental documents are being held up at both state and federal levels.

In honor of the start of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, The Sheet may as well give some kudos to Inyo County Administrator Kevin Carunchio.

For he appears to have all but stolen home from his northern neighbors.

Carunchio is apparently close to a deal with Mammoth Brewing Company that would site the Brewery’s new, expanded production facilities in Inyo County.

The planned $3 million facility would increase the company’s brewing capacity 30-fold, from 5,000 barrels a year to 150,000 barrels.

Mammoth Brewing Company owners Joyce and Sean Turner said this week that they’ve been looking for property upon which to site a production facility for the past three years.

They need five acres.

Sean Turner said he and Brewery Founder Sam Walker made a joint appearance on the radio a few years ago and cited the future need for a production facility because Mammoth Brewing needed more capacity.

Carunchio called the next day.

Joyce Turner places the odds at 85% that a deal will be consummated.

While the Turners love Mammoth (they own a home here and their son attends Mammoth schools) and intend to have a presence here (the plan is to open a brewpub featuring specialty beers crafted on-site), there are several advantages to a main Bishop facility:

1.) Brewmaster Jason Senior prefers Bishop’s water.

2.) If Mammoth Brewing ultimately plans a major push into the Southern California market, Bishop is that much closer and transportation costs would be that much less.

3.) Costs of production are less at a lower altitude because it takes less energy to boil water.

4.) Access to a larger labor pool.

It’s the labor component, and the loss of potential jobs, which is the biggest blow to Mammoth. To the Town’s credit, it has made a late stab within the past month to find a local alternative, but it may be too little, too late.

Mammoth’s Community Development Director Mark Wardlaw said this week that while the Town is in the “study phase” regarding Mammoth Brewing, Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht has made it a priority. “We have a different Town Manager with a broader understanding of economic development and its impact on the community,” said Wardlaw.

One town-owned site they’re exploring is the Community Center site on Forest Trail.

Mammoth Brewing has tripled its sales volume over the past five years. The vision is to build a regional brewery with distribution in seven western states.

Sean Turner has been in the craft brewing industry for 18 years. The industry has experienced double-digit sales growth each year for the past six years.