theSheetNews.com

Stapp dissects TOML survey  

Dear Mayor Lehman and Members of the Town Council:

Last week I completed the Town’s “Resident Survey.” I shook my head in disbelief, a survey is not a vote. The survey asks residents for feedback. Are individuals who work and vote in Mammoth but live in Crowley precluded from participating? The “Resident Survey” included a box where a resident can identify themselves as a visitor, it makes no sense. What happens if a thousand elementary and middle school students (residents or visitors) complete the survey? Will their opinions count?

I assume the purpose for the survey is to provide political cover for Council now that it has reneged on decades of political commitments.

Survey question #4 asks residents to give Council permission to: “Further (emphasis added) reduce support for …” Measure A marketing and 2002 A housing. The question clearly acknowledges that Council has already reneged on these two Measures. How much “Further” is the Council anticipating reducing these voter approved Measures or is the Council simply asking for carte blanche?

The facts are that the Town has already reneged on it political commitments: 1) using marketing dollars to subsidize air service ($250,000), 2) diverting 18% of transit funds (Measure T) and 58% of housing funds to the Town’s General Fund. There is also the dispute with Parks and Rec over the use of Measure R monies to fund Whitmore Pool.

The survey also appears to be designed to frighten people into supporting an Admission Tax in lieu of cuts (a 3% surcharge on all lift tickets generates in excess of $2,000,000). According to the survey’s “CONTROVERSIAL CUTS,” one cut is to eliminate seven sworn officer positions from the Police Department.

It has been suggested that the Police Officers Association, POA, give up salaries and benefits in exchange for reducing the number of staff cuts from seven to five or four. This approach shifts the public safety levels of service to the POA. In other words, levels of public safety, an essential Council responsibility, will be established by the POA.

In regards to question #3: “Would you support raising new revenues…” The question gives several options, but every option omits cost per resident/visitor and estimated revenues. Withholding this information invalidates the survey. To wit: Very few property owners are going to vote for a $150 annual parcel tax.

As a Mammoth Resident and someone who cares deeply about Mammoth’s future, I would strongly suggest that Town Council scrap the “Resident Survey” and staff’s “Five Year Plan.” Instead focus on the next 20 months and the 2014 election. First, the Council should candidly identify the revenues being shifted from Measures A, 2002A, T and R which are being used for other purposes or shifted to the General Fund to fund the MLLA/Ballas settlement. Secondly, the Council needs to adopt a 20 month austerity budget using the revenues taken from the above mentioned Measures to bridge the 20 month budget. Thirdly, the Council needs to commit to putting on the 2014 ballot (or sooner) Measures to raise revenues, or Measures that memorialize shifting of monies from Measures A, 2002A, T and R.

Kirk Stapp
Former Councilman and Mayor
Mammoth Lakes

Police Union protests cuts 

Dear Editor:

The Mammoth Lakes Police Officers Association (MLPOA) would like to thank the residents, business owners, visitors, and part-time residents of Mammoth Lakes who have been supportive of us for the past 26 years. We would also like to express our sincere thank you for your support over the past couple of weeks during these trying times.

The MLPOA is very concerned about the decisions of the Town Council. We are concerned for your safety and ours if the Town follows through with its plan to lay-off 7 of the 17 sworn officers and eliminate 2 of the department’s 3 field supervisors. The Town Council’s plan also eliminates the Police Lieutenant position. This plan will result in a 41% reduction in sworn personnel from 17 to 10.

It is apparent that the Town Council would like to have the Mammoth Lakes Police Department be responsible for more than half their annual payment on the lawsuit they lost at the rate of $2 million a year. Proposed police department trims would save the Town more than $1 million/year.

Currently the budget for the MLPD is $4,820,415, which represents 27%of the general fund budget.

The Town’s proposed cuts to MLPD would equal 56% of the annual payment [to MLLA for the judgment] this year, 58% next year and 64% the following year.

Some have concluded that Mammoth Lakes doesn’t need so many police officers, and that it’s a nice quiet town with little crime. Don’t be fooled.The Mammoth Lakes Police Department handles hundreds of felony assaults, rapes, robberies, domestic violence, and burglaries. In 2011 alone, the department handled 7,422 incidents which required police action; of the 7,422 incidents, 3,154 of them were radio calls.

Thanks to our dedicated, skilled, and competent police force we are able to solve many of these crimes. It is only due to current staffing levels that MLPD can handle these crimes and incidents in a timely manner in which perpetrators are arrested. Such will not be the case with the proposed layoffs. Not only will the proposed reduction hamper the MLPD’s ability to quickly and competently solve crimes, other services the public has come to expect from the department will not be possible with a force of 10 officers. Those include but are not limited to:

• One of many recent examples involved a child molestation case. In this case, officers arrested the suspect as he was leaving the scene at the time of the event. If services were reduced at the time of this incident, there wouldn’t have been sufficient officers to respond in a timely manner and make the arrest.

• Officers will be very limited and may not be able to provide regular public service activities such as, helping tourists put on chains and/or pull people from a snow bank, jump starting cars, assist with lockouts, returning dogs to their owners, giving people rides home and the other daily activities that are part of the reason we live in Mammoth Lakes.

• Proactive activity that reduces crime will be substantially impacted. These activities would include bar checks, DUI patrol and an overall less visible police presence. We can anticipate an increase in drug activity, thefts, property crime, assaults, drunks and juvenile crime.

With the proposed plan, there will no longer be a School Resource Officer (SRO) or an officer assigned to the narcotics task force. In recent years the SRO prevented a planned school shooting by a student in which the student was arrested and handgun was recovered along with other evidence of the pre-planned event.

The drug problem in Mammoth Lakes is significant; however it is curtailed by the narcotics task force. Without narcotic enforcement, the drug problem will be out of control. A recent example was when a young person overdosed on heroin. The narcotics task force was able to work the case and ultimately arrest the individual who had supplied the victim with the drugs that killed him/her.

This will lead to more thefts, more property crime, and more assaults, not to mention the gang member drug dealers, who will come from Reno, Fresno and Los Angeles area to set up shop in an un-policed Mammoth Lakes.

Some have concluded that officers are overcompensated. Professional, quality law enforcement service is not cheap. In comparison, there are many agencies that have lesser benefit packages and many with higher. The existing MLPOA contract was approved by the Town Council and has been changed several times through negotiations. The contracts are through mutual agreement. Nothing has been forced upon Council.

What you don’t hear at the Council meetings is that during the last pre-bankruptcy mediation the MLPOA was asked to concede 24% in salary/benefits/personnel, while the other Town associations were asked to concede 10%. The MLPOA gave up 23% in salary/benefits/personnel, while the other creditors and associations gave up 10%. Because of the cuts given up by the MLPOA, the budget was approved by Council and the police department is operating within its approved budget.

It should also be known that the MLPOA and other employee associations voluntarily negotiated with the Town two years ago to help the Town meet their budget.

The employee associations were told by the Town during pre-bankruptcy that they “just need one last cut.” We all gave the Town what they wanted, and here we are two months later and they want to cut nearly half the police force. What about the clause in the MLPOA contract signed by the Town that states that the Town will maintain a staffing level for the police department at 17 officers?

This proposed plan will jeopardize the safety of our residents, visitors, and officers. The Town definitely has a problem, but the money for the down payment and annual installments already exists within the Town’s budget outside of public safety and other “essential services.”

All the advertising in the world or free transportation will not sell an unsafe community, even if the skiing is great. Who wants to have their skis stolen, car burglarized or become the victim of an assault? As those problems grow, tourism will shrink.

Whatever the final decision of the Council is, the damage to the police department is already done and might be irreversible. Many officers are seeking employment with other law enforcement agencies and will likely be hired, while others are retiring early. These vested officers will be difficult to replace in a Town where public safety and officer safety are not a priority. Hundreds of thousands of invested dollars will be unnecessarily lost because of the Council’s political decision to continue to attack the MLPOA.

Mammoth Lakes Police Officers Association (MLPOA)

Balancing point?

Dear Editor:

Proposition 30, on the November ballot, is a very important issue regarding school funding.

The Governor [Jerry Brown] and Legislature have placed Proposition 30 on the ballot as a means of balancing the state budget. Proposition 30 imposes a higher tax rate for high income earners (single filers over $250,000, married over $500,000 in annual income) along with increasing the sales tax rate by 1/4 cent for four years.

If Proposition 30 passes, schools will continue to receive the same amount we are currently receiving. It should be noted that the amount we currently receive is 20 percent less than what we were receiving four years ago.

If Proposition 30 fails, the state will immediately reduce education funding by nearly $2.5 million dollars to our local school districts for this school year and subsequent years in the amounts of:

• Big Pine USD: $112, 650

• Bishop USD: $941,734

• Death Valley USD: $67,303

• Eastern Sierra USD: $204,085

• Inyo Supt of Schools: $174,474

• Lone Pine USD: $205,029

• Mammoth USD: $494,911

• Mono Office of Ed.: $154,763

• Owens Valley USD: $37,447

• Round Valley District: $49,363

Total: $2,441,759

We hope this information about funding your local schools in the Eastern Sierra assists in your voting decisions.

Dr. Stacey Adler 

Mono Co. Superintendent of Schools 

760.934.0031

Dr. Terence K. McAteer

Inyo Co. Superintendent of Schools 760.873.3262

Twilight rezoning? 

Dear Editor:

Given our town’s long-term budget problems, some people have been floating the idea of rezoning single family homes for nightly rentals. This is a bad idea that would only compound the hardships that Mammoth residents are going to face the next 20 years. There has to be a balance between being a tourist destination and being a real town with real people.

The year-round residents of Mammoth are the backbone of the town– they provide the services that visitors and second homeowners rely on when they come to town, and they deserve to have real neighborhoods that aren’t compromised by nightly rentals. At least in condo complexes, there is on-site management to ensure problems from short-term visitors are taken care of (i.e., noise issues, proper garbage disposal, etc.). But single family neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts from vacationers.

Just because the town made a terrible mistake in entering into the development agreement with Terry Ballas and a bigger mistake in their handling of the litigation, doesn’t mean they should make an even bigger mistake by willfully undermining the character and charm of our neighborhoods.

The settlement is a long-term problem and we need long-term solutions that don’t fundamentally destroy what makes Mammoth a great place to live.

Jim Thompson
Mammoth Lakes

Whitmore: funds need to be found 

Dear Editor:

I write to express my wholehearted support of fully funding the town’s share of the operational costs of Whitmore Pool and Park. Cutting any funds that support our youth (as the funding of the operations at Whitmore clearly does) to close the deficit caused by the settlement reached with Ballas and MLLA is unconscionable. If there are any innocents in this whole sordid affair it is the youth of this community and they should bear no effect. Use Measure R money or Measure U money or move the funds necessary from MLT or hire a clerical assistant to the Town Manager, instead of an Assistant Town Manager, whatever it takes to preserve the Whitmore complex. The Mammoth Sharks, the MHS Baseball and Softball teams need these facilities, our kids need these facilities. What a great impression it will make on all those coming to use the new track to see closed and deteriorating fields as they come in from the Benton Crossing Road to the track.

Before one more trail is planned or built, before one more “wayfinding” sign is purchased, before one more penny goes to MLTPA, secure all of our parks and all of our youth programs! Supplanting is not an issue, the idea that there are currently “existing funds” for anything is ludicrous on its face after the settlement. The funds need to be found from whatever source to fully fund all the programs that benefit the youth of our community.

Brent Cook
Mammoth Lakes

Behind the badge

Dear Editor:

Over the past few years, the Mammoth Lakes Police Department has been the object of focus for the Mammoth Lakes Town Council. There have been so many words written recently regarding the details of what the town council has demanded of this agency that I will not revisit them, but the bottom line is this; councilmembers feel that MLPD officers are paid too much. Rick Wood said so at the last council meeting, and I am sure he is not the only one. I would be willing to bet my over-inflated salary that Mr. Wood, Mr. Eastman and the rest of the town council members don’t think that they make too much money. After all they are elected officials, übermenschen.

It is that same level of arrogance that has tainted this council for the last decade; the arrogance that got this town into a $42 million lawsuit in the first place. It is the same arrogance and ignorance that would opine that police officers are overpaid blue-collar plutocrats; hired guns that don’t earn their keep and hide behind the badge while making exorbitant wages off the backs of the taxpayers.

The reality is that according to a 2006 study by the Police Association for College Education, 22.6% of police officers in the United States have a four-year degree from an accredited college or university, and the number of officers with college degrees has been growing by 2% annually. In California, I believe that number is significantly higher. The national average of people with college degrees per capita is 27%. California police officers are the most highly trained professional law enforcement officers in the world. Retired and active California peace officers are in demand around the globe as trainers for emerging departments.

I do not have a degree, but my process for becoming a police officer started when I was a teenager and I made choices not to drink and drive or take drugs, or engage in other activities that would eliminate me as an officer candidate before I ever took the civil service exam. The hiring process took 18 months while I had to pass psychiatric testing, polygraph testing, and a background investigation that was so thorough many applicants didn’t make it. My training started in 1989 with a six month long stress academy with San Diego Police Department and then another four months of field training with a cadre of Field Training Officers (FTOs). The real process of becoming a police officer doesn’t kick into full gear until after the academy and the field work begins. Depending on where a new officer works, the foundation of his or her training isn’t finished until after 3-5 years in the field. Since graduating from the academy, my career has been a long string of specialized training schools, instructor schools, tactical schools, mob and riot training, active shooter response training, cultural sensitivity training and perishable skills refresher courses. California POST mandates much of this training and oversees all of it.

Beyond the formalized training that I have received over the course of my career, just working the streets of San Diego and Mammoth Lakes for the last 24 years has been an incredible education. I have been involved in three officer involved shootings, too many car chases to count, fights, the Rodney King riots, the 1996 RNC Convention and presidential debates between Clinton and Dole, all the while trying to stay “normal” while I raise four children and support a beautiful wife. I was gone way too many nights and days protecting the public when my wife and children needed me at home. I am sorry folks, but I don’t apologize for the pay and benefits that I received. My family and I earn every penny of pay and pension and so do the officers that I work with and their families.

The Mammoth Lakes Police Department has several hundred years’ worth of combined law enforcement experience based out of that mold- infested building the TOML wants to call a police station. Not only are we professional and educated, we have to conduct ourselves calmly in the face of violence and risk to our own safety on behalf of the public that we are sworn to protect. We have to work around the clock with frequent shift changes, and deal with challenging people and circumstances on a regular basis.

Consider: What training have town councilmembers received that qualifies them to run a major resort community … besides winning a popularity contest?

Being a police officer takes its toll on the body and mind. After 24 years of shift work I can’t get more than 5 hours of sleep a day, regardless of how exhausted I am. I have buried one of my academy mates and have attended the funerals of several other SDPD officers who were murdered in the line of duty.

Regardless of whether you love or hate law enforcement, when you need us, we are there for you. That includes government officials like the town councilmembers; people who with the exception of Mayor Matt Lehman and the late Skip Harvey refuse to even go on a ride-along to get an idea of what we do. No, it’s way easier to believe that we are overpaid and unskilled.

One important fact about cops is that, as a group, cops are very loyal like dogs, but like dogs when we keep getting kicked we will jump the fence and you won’t see us again.

People of Mammoth Lakes, I am afraid that many of you do not realize what a precious asset you have had in this police department, and now, due to the arrogant ham-handedness of the town council and their chronic mishandling of this department, the majority of your officers are done. Our faith in this town government is gone and individual officers are taking early retirement or are seeking employment elsewhere. We are here because we wanted to be, not because we had to be and unfortunately after years of being lied to, publicly berated by our employers, falsely accused of corruption, dragged before a grand jury and subsequently cleared by that grand jury, many officers no longer want to be here.

I have made so many good friends during my tenure here, there are so many dear Mammoth residents that have supported this department and worked with us to make Mammoth Lakes a safe resort destination and a safe place to live and raise families. From the depths of my heart I thank you people; the Cert Team and too many others to mention.

At this point, I don’t believe that anything the council could do will change the exodus that is in the process of happening. I am not saying this for shock value or out of pity for the officers; MLPD officers are as good as any in the state and they will find jobs in cities that support them. My pity is for the local citizens who didn’t ask for this to happen, but will have to live with the consequences. Your elected officials have broken it, and you are going to have to pay for it yet once again.

So what will the Town of Mammoth Lakes do when there aren’t enough officers to be able to function? I don’t know, that isn’t my problem anymore, I’m retiring and I am quite done with the mismanagement of this town by people that don’t even know what they don’t know. And what new officers will want to work here in the future; word gets around fast, and Mammoth Lakes, like Stockton, San Bernardino and Costa Mesa will be a “toxic city” – in other words a town with the stink of bankruptcy, enmity for public safety and financial uncertainty wafting around for years to come.

So after the dust settles and you need to call 911, you might want to call one of the councilmembers, maybe they will be able to help you.

As a parting note I want it known that this letter is my personal opinion and was written by me alone as an exercise of my First Amendment rights, I do not speak for the Administration or the officers of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department.

Jesse Gorham
Mammoth Lakes

Cage backs Peters for Supervisor District 4:

We all know that Mammoth is facing a steep uphill claim in order to overcome the economic recession of the last few years and the depressed property values that resulted. And now we need to deal with a staggering debt. We have a local election next month that gives us the opportunity to choose another Mono County Supervisor, and that choice is extremely important if we are to overcome the divide between the Town and County that has hampered achieving solutions that will help economic growth of our tourism economy both in Mammoth and the rest of the County.

I recommend and support Bob Peters to be elected to the 4th District seat, which now includes a portion of Mammoth.

Bob has been a business owner in Bridgeport for 13 years, and has been actively involved in Mono County service for 12 of those years. He has served on the County Tourism Commission and understands Mammoth’s problems, and has worked collaboratively to help not only Mammoth, but communities all over the County.  Bob understands the importance of Mammoth as the economic engine of Mono County and its effect on our rural areas.

The election of Bob Peters is of critical importance, and I urge all District 4 voters to join me in supporting him.

Tom Cage
Mammoth resident/business owner

Owed an explanation

Dear Editor:

I am writing in regard to the proposed use of voter approved funds in conjunction with the current fiscal difficulties of the Town and the settlement of the MLLA judgment.

Following the intent of the voters in passing the various measures has been a core principle of the Council since 1986. This  no longer appears to be true based upon the adoption of the FY 2012-13 budget and the Baseline Before Settlement Expenditures distributed as a part of the package presented to the public on September 27. Together, the two budgets include immediate and long term cuts to various voter approved funds.  The immediate cuts are described as a 10% reduction in Tourism, Transit, and Housing with restoration of up to 5% depending on TOT collections.  The 5-year projection includes a 18% diversion of Measure T (Transit) funds to the General Fund and a 58% diversion of Measure 2002A (Housing) funds to the General Fund. There was no specific presentation of this change in Town policy in conjunction with fiscal year budget or the baseline budget projections.

It appears that Council has already decided by year 5 to take roughly $700,000 of funds approved by the voters for transit and housing and re-direct them to other uses. This diversion of voter approved funds to purposes other than those intended by the voters should have been publicly vetted. Instead, it was embedded in a series of spreadsheets.

Given the importance that both the Council and public have placed on maintaining the intent of the voter approved measures, I am disappointed that these decisions did not get more specific mention.

As a part of your current discussions on settling the judgment, please schedule a public discussion on your planned direction for use of the voter approved funds. The Council owes the public a detailed explanation of why it is deviating from its prior commitments. If there is an emergency requiring temporary use of the funds for other purposes, that need and priority should be fully vetted in a public forum along with a timeline for restoring the funds to their original purposes.  Any future revenue above the baseline should be used to fund that restoration before being used elsewhere.  If the funding is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was approved, then the tax(es) should be repealed, not simply dumped into the general fund.

Related to this, there is a question regarding the amount of budget reductions that the Council is seeking. In the budget adopted in June, there was $550,000 (annually) available for paying the judgment. The judgment calls for $2 million per year.  This leaves a gap of $1.45 million per year, not $2 million.  What happened to the $550,000?

Bill Taylor
Mammoth Lakes

After the Great Debacle 

Dear Editor: 

After the “Great Debacle,” the “Settlement That Ate Mammoth,” whatever you want to call it, both George Shirk, editor of the Mammoth Times and Jack Lunch, publisher of The Sheet, wrote articles about that settlement. George, a thoughtful individual and nice guy, opined that now the litigation was settled, we should put it behind us, and move on. An end to the finger-pointing is a good thing, he said, the blame game and negative thinking, it’s counterproductive and won’t get us anywhere!  Jack Lunch, on the other hand, suggested that perhaps a little “oops” on the part of the Council might have been helpful; after all, he wrote, 13 people are going to lose their jobs, the Whitmore Park and Pool will be closed, etc.

Well, notwithstanding that George is an intelligent and well-intentioned individual, I think I have to give Lunch the nod on this one, except maybe he didn’t go far enough. Is finger-pointing and blame gaming helpful? Maybe not. But, on the other hand, Mammoth Lakes has just suffered a stunning cataclysm that will not be resolved for decades. A child born today will have graduated from college, and will have time to get married and have his/her own children before this $2 million per year debt is paid off. It is entirely likely that many more than 13 people will lose their jobs, but even if it is no more than that, these 13 people are not perpetrators of this disaster, they are the innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with it. “Why don’t the people responsible lose their jobs instead of us”, they ask? Not an unreasonable question. Well, part of the answer is that we don’t know for sure who is responsible;  as Lunch pointed out, no civic servant has come forward and said, “Mea culpa, I was in charge, I made the decision, it was my fault, I really am sorry.” Nor has any civic organization or group been empanelled to affix blame or determine responsibility.

Giving credit where credit is due, at least Rick Wood had the fortitude to allow that the question was, in fact, on the table. But why is it important to ask the question? Well, the first, and perhaps most significant answer is because if we don’t affix blame, we almost guarantee that it will happen again.  Those who don’t learn the lessons of history, the saying goes, are sure to repeat it. In Mammoth’s case, this is not unfamiliar ground. Previously, the Town went to war with Andrea Lawrence over Redevelopment. The outcome: Andrea won, the Town paid its own attorneys $5 million or so for their losing effort, and the Court required the Town to pay a similar sum to Andrea’s lawyers. $10 million down the drain with no civic benefit, and no responsibility for this disaster was ever fixed. To no one’s surprise, here we are again; history, sadly, repeats itself. Perhaps this time we should look closer. After all, one more of these terrific settlements and there won’t be any town left to point fingers over.

Paul Rudder
Mammoth Lakes

Get off that high horse 

Dear Editor:

Regarding the Mammoth Lakes Bear Cubs who lost their mother and Andy Geisel’s cover story in last week’s (Sept. 29) issue:

Warden Will Witzel of the California Dept. of Fish & Game works in the Law Enforcement Division.

Which means he enforces the law, it does not mean he is an authority on the biology, and behavioral assessment of the Black Bear. He is a game warden. He certainly can make assumptions about how old the cubs of the dead sow are and how much they weigh but his assumptions are not any more valid than Steve Searles, who has been working with the Mammoth Bears for more than 20 years, has studied these bears on a daily basis when they are not in hibernation, knows how many bears call the area around Mammoth Lakes home, knows where they hibernate and has become an expert in his own right by his observations, independent study and love of this species much like Diane Fossey became an expert and a protector of the Mountain Gorilla in Uganda. We need to remember that expertise is garnered by experiential knowledge and observation as well as by study in the academic institutions; that there is usually more than one way to achieve expertise as evidenced by such people as John Muir and James Audubon, neither of which were lettered and weighed down by titles.

My point is this: Mr. Witzel should get off his rather high horse and come back to earth and work with the man who has done so much for the bears of Mammoth Lakes and has been hired as our “bear specialist.” Yes, Mr. Witzel you work for the hallowed halls of California Department of Fish & Game but you are not the end all of knowledge having to do with the Black Bear. Evidently, the F & G was worried that Mr. Witzel’s assessment might be wrong since they sent a F&G biologist two-days later to make another assessment on the cubs. Why does it not amaze me that this F&G employee also sided with Mr. Witzel?

Next I have to wonder at the dislike California Dept. of F & G seem to have toward state-licensed wildlife rehabilitation facilities as shown by the quote of Andrew Hughan, a Sacramento-based DFG information officer who is quoted as saying: “there is no reason to put the cubs in rehab, their chances of survival is “very good,” and putting an animal in rehab is a “bad thing.” Is Mr. Hughan speaking from personal experience, and how does he know the bears’ chances of survival are “very good?”  and why is wildlife rehab a “bad thing?”

I would like to cite a February, 2011 article http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/dfg-biologists-return-rehabbed-bear-cub-to-lassen-national-forest/ from the California Dept. of Fish & Game, stating that an orphaned “yearling” black bear cub was safely returned to its’ remote northern California home after it was found near death. The “yearling” cub spent 5 months at the same Lake Tahoe rehabilitation center, called Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, that Mr. Witzel and our Dept. of F&G seem to indicate as unnecessary and an inappropriate course of action and a “bad thing.”

By the way, the cub cited in the February 10, 2011 DFG article weighed 18 lbs. wghen he got to the Tahoe rehab center and left weighing 90 lbs.

Mr. Witzel made a bad decision, doesn’t want to work with Steve Searles and now is too arrogant to admit he is not an authority on the survival rate of yearling orphaned Black Bear cubs and that his own agency has a criteria on rehab for Black Bear cubs.

This criteria states that the cub must be clearly orphaned and in distress, as well as younger than 1 (one) year of age. These cubs are in distress, they just lost their best chance of survival their mother, they are younger than a year old, they are clearly orphaned and clearly distressed.

To say that these rehabilitation agencies are a “bad thing” is a cruel blow to the good work they have done in saving wildlife and returning it to the wild to live out the fulness of their lives. Many, many birds, mammals and reptiles have been treated, cared for and returned to their homes. The people who become wildlife rehabilitators take classes and depending on how in-depth they want to go with wildlife rehab, devote long hours to the care and feeding of their charges. We would not have the Whooping Crane if it were not for volunteers at the ICF (International Crane Foundation) caring, raising and showing how and where to migrate, for those young cranes.

To think that because animals have what we call “instinct” that they just have a blueprint for how to live is not true. Animals learn from their mother first of all and the young need to be shown. Young cranes learn the migration route from their parents and the “flock” and regarding hibernation, these young cubs would have learned from their mother the best location and the timing, where to find foods that would see them through the winter months. The mother was actively teaching them even as she died. Sure, there is a slim chance one of them might survive, but I doubt it. And why leave it to chance? I’m satisfied with Steve Searles’ assessment. He knows the Mammoth bears better than anyone else. He spends all his time studying these bears and has done so for more than 20 years, as opposed to Mr. Witzel or an F & G biologist, who comes from some other region or place and doesn’t spend 7 days a week working with these particular bears.

The rehab organization said they would take the cubs and care for them without any human imprinting and when the time came DFG could release them back into our forest where they belong. So tell me, DFG, what is the cost to you for allowing this? I say it is nothing, except someone’s ego is now involved.

Donna M. Willey
Mammoth Lakes 

Take off the blinders

Dear Editor:

It may not be entirely fair to the Advocates for Mammoth that they have become a lightning rod for those who are unhappy with the planning /variance process in the Town of Mammoth Lakes.

The Advocates have come to represent, fairly or not, the attitude held by some long-term Mammoth residents that what’s really great about Mammoth is the town and how it has existed during their entire tenure here as officially recognized “locals.”

The corollary to this feeling is that anything that challenges the status quo is inherently bad, misguided, greedy, or whatever.  I hate to break it to these self-appointed guardians of mediocrity, but what makes Mammoth great is where it is, not what it is.  The Town and its “amenities” have been, in many ways, an unfortunate given to our visitors. Take a look around. The failed businesses, the empty storefronts, the boarded-up restaurants, and the shabby, 70’s motels and condos are not signs of success. (And the difficulties of operating a business in this town didn’t start with the last recession.)

We don’t have to turn Mammoth into Disneyland to make it more attractive to visitors. What we need to do is to take off the blinders and consider projects that don’t fit the current rules with a more open mind.  And with a view to how they will (or won’t) contribute to our community’s transition from where we are to where we could be. Not whether they represent (God forbid!) change.

The guidelines for development are here to serve us, not the other way around.

Bob Davenport
Mammoth Lakes 

O’Connell says windfall 

Dear Editor:

Can we say windfall?  Nothing in the world will ever convince me that the Hot Creek/MLAA/Ballas development project would have ever come to pass, even if the Town of Mammoth Lakes had done handstands and somersaults to support the developers. Given what happened with the economy, the real estate industry, and the financial markets, this boondoggle down at the airport would never have happened. If MLLA had somehow proceeded, the project would probably have found itself upside down and bankrupt, with nothing but surveying stakes in the ground with little flags fluttering in the breeze.  It was a terrible idea in any event; who would have ever wanted to stay down there so far from the resort and the ski area?  MLLA should have thanked the TOML for dragging its feet, or doing whatever it was that saved their …

While the Town of Mammoth Lakes and its residents are licking their proverbial wounds, MLLA investors must be partying their heads off with champagne and caviar. Seriously, they made millions of dollars without turning over a single shovel of dirt, during one of the worst recessions and real estate markets in history!  They must be absolutely ecstatic about their investment.

Regardless of the conduct by TOML employees, in truth this was all about greed, so shame on MLLA, and may karma strike where it does.

Dan O’Connell
Mammoth Lakes

Advocates blamed for everything?

Dear Editor: 

This letter is in response to Mr. Demetriades letter last week blaming the Advocates for Mammoth for … EVERYTHING.

The Advocates were formed for the purpose of persuading the Planning Commission and the Town Council to conform to the guidelines for development written in the General Plan that was adopted by this town. Despite our efforts almost every development in town was awarded zoning amendments, density bonuses and/or variances to deviate in one or more ways from the Plan. Perhaps in Mr. D.’s mind unless a developer is getting absolutely everything he wants he is getting nothing.

Also, the Advocates is not a small group of people out to thwart the plans of the community. Our membership is very large and I sincerely believe that many more people in this town disagree with Mr. D. than agree. Based on all of the feedback we’ve received, contributions and letters and questionnaires we’ve distributed, the Community wants moderation and careful planning in how this town is built, not whatever someone wants to do to maximize profits.

As far as blaming the Advocates for high unemployment, closures, firing and lack of development Mr. D. seems oblivious to the financial crisis in the world today. Actually, we weren’t responsible for that. Honest.

I assure we do not have the power to have done all you say, and in fact were often frustrated by how little we had against members of the Planning Commission and Town Council in a Company Town. When things do pick up again I think it would be good to start thinking in terms of compromise.

As for Mr. Wardlaw he probably prefers working in a town that is not in the financial mess some of our current and past town leaders have gotten us into.

Mary Ann Dunigan
Mammoth Lakes

Banner Springs support

Dear Editor:

To Customers and Friends of Banner Springs Ranch:

Thank you very much for the investment you have made in Banner Springs Ranch via the Sierra Bounty Produce Co-operative, the Mammoth Farmers’ Market, Sierra Sundance, Mono Market, Petra’s and other local outlets over the past five years. We are eager to provide our high-quality, organically-grown arugula, spinach, lettuce mix and a wide variety of other seasonal produce to your households far into the future.

To serve all of our customers better, Banner Springs Ranch will offer Mono County residents the opportunity to join our farm-run CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in 2013.

Your low, pre-paid annual membership fee will directly support our farm, and other farms by financing annual spring expenditures on seeds, beneficial insects and repairs, as well as long-term investments in equipment and improvements. Our members will also have the opportunity, if they choose, to learn at our off-grid farm, helping with a wide range of farm tasks from spring-time planting preparation to end of season shut-down. Other on-farm participatory family events, including our annual end of summer Hop Harvest Gathering, will also be available to our members.

Please consider joining our effort to secure the future of your local food supply and independent farming in the Eastern Sierra. In the meantime, you can ‘like’ our Facebook page, email info@bannergreen.com for details or look for our flyers and ads in the local papers in early 2013 detailing our new farm-run CSA.

In addition to our CSA, Banner Springs Ranch’s produce will continue to be available at Sierra Sundance, Mono Market, Petra’s and the Mammoth Farmers’ Market next summer, as well.

Thank you again for all of your support.

Delinda and Jeph Gundzik
Banner Springs Ranch

A CPA’s take

Dear Editor:

President Obama was honest when he said he wanted to remake America.  Now that both conventions are over and the surrogates have spoken, please evaluate the performance of the president without the partisan homily.

Mr. Obama ran on a platform (2008) to fix the economy, fix health care, bring both sides closer together, and have a transparent White House. In my opinion, this has not been accomplished.

Mr. Obama was elected with a mandate to fix the economy. Yes, he inherited a horrible mess, jobs were being hemorrhaged at an alarming rate, Wall Street greed was out of control, the housing market was plummeting and the middle class contracting.

However, we currently have the smallest labor force in over 38 years and the lowest labor participation percentage in history. That is hardly fixing the economy.

In Charlotte, President Clinton stated no prior president could have fixed the broken economy. That said, President Obama signed up for the task and you can make your own judgment if it is fixed. Can we afford another four years of bailouts, stimulus, social engineering, substantial increases of families in poverty and increasing unemployment lines?

Instead of focusing on the economy, Mr. Obama opted for a go-for-broke pursuit of progressive social legislation. His focus on Obamacare polarized the faithful and Mr. Obama endorsed the effort to abuse Congressional procedure to ram the bill through. So much for “working with the other side.” That entitlement passed by a very narrow partisan margin, hardly an overwhelming mandate. Healthcare and Medicare still need to be fixed and neither side has made even a minimum effort. To finance the healthcare bill, he moved over $700 billion from Medicare, currently underfunded by $83 trillion (see www.usdebtclock.com). And we continue to borrow more money to finance our broken economy from anyone who will lend it.

There is a current proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy, or the Buffett rule.  Non-partisan evaluation says this will result in $99,000,000,000 of additional tax revenue. The budget deficit for 2012 is anticipated to be over $1,000,000,000,000 and our national debt is over $16,000,000,000,000 (yes, lots of zeros).

To put this in perspective, if you have a credit card debt of $16,000 and you pay $99 per year on that debt, how many years will it take to reduce the credit card balance to zero (with no interest) – 161 years. That is the effect of the proposed tax increase will have on the national debt without any future annual deficits. Do you think the government will have a balanced budget? Not likely anytime soon.

The Republicans have resisted the new social legislation and have resisted any new tax increases. But according to FactCheck.org and the Congressional Budget Office, the only group for which tax rates did not reach a 30-year low was households in the top 1 percent of all earners. Meanwhile, rates for those in the middle dropped to a 30-year low of 11.1 percent.

The nation’s current string of trillion-dollar deficits ris a result of historically high spending and historically low revenue. President Obama’s spending levels are near the highest level since WWII, measured as a percentage of the nation’s gross national domestic product. And, the tax receipts were the lowest since 1950 as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.

Mr. Obama is requesting voters elect him to a second term to finish the job. After his [convention acceptance] speech, his agenda appears to be a continuation of the first … more government spending (investment?), more failed subsidies for Solyndra (taxpayer guarantees), cap and trade (higher energy costs) and support for Obamacare at any cost.

To support European-style socialism, the Republicans may need to agree to a value-added tax to finance a permanently larger welfare state.

Politics, in America, is a full contact blood sport and the American people are suffering because the two sides cannot come together to solve the enormous problems facing this great nation.  Most elected officials are only interested in the next election, not the next generation and we continue to accept that dangerous behavior due to our apathy.  The general population feels impotent.

If the elected officials are not doing the job they were hired for, it is time to put them in the unemployment line.  Maybe then they will get the message-fix the mess you created or we will replace you with someone who will.

Greg Lippincott, CPA
Bishop

Carolyn Crawford’s worst nightmare

Dear Editor:

At first I was like, here comes another letter (penned by Carolyn Crawford in the Aug. 25 issue) promoting bigotry and more obnoxious, so-called dialogue. Then I read it again. I must say that I feel much more enthusiastic about Paul Ryan than I did before. As a man, I can only say, “Go Packers!”

Unfortunately, there is a bit of misinformation in Carolyn’s letter, titled “Your Worst Nightmare.” Much like political gaffes, which take issues out of context, the aforementioned “Let Women Die Bill,” also known as the “Protect Life Act,” is taken completely out of the political context. The context is Obamacare. Obamacare in this context is understood as having infamously disregarded individual’s consciences and moral choices, so this Republican legislation is, I believe, a reaction of gross power against an aggression of gross power. However, whether one policy is good or not is true and regardless of which party said so. The real question to ask is what Pontius Pilate asks, “What is Truth?” -John 18:38

I agree with Carolyn that we should not have abortions done in the alley. She says she is old enough to remember “the days of back-alley abortion deaths.” I am old enough to remember them, too. They go on today, just in a different form; women getting killed or infected from the abortion facilities which do not meet health standards. Just because it is legalized, does not mean it is safe or good to do. I also agree with Carolyn that in the case that a pregnancy which would kill both the mother and the child, as in rare ectopic pregnancies, there ought to be an opportunity for an abortion. (I suggest that readers research this valuable topic, because I do believe that this is the only one that both sides of the pregnancy debate could possibly agree on.)

What I find most strange about her letter, is that women’s reproductive organs are called “hoo-ha” and “glands.” I do not know if this is how normal people talk about the body, but I cannot think that such language allows one to think that the body is sacred or even good.

To my knowledge sexual organs are not sugar-free and guilt-free candy, rather I am told they are an integral and intimate part of the human person. It does seem that in calling something a “hoo-ha” it is a pleasure object, but I don’t believe women are pleasure objects, which is why I object to such language.

Carolyn did acknowledge that this

“debate” was about reproduction (or the lack thereof) when she wrote: “anti-choice zealots could wipe out decades’ worth of your reproductive rights.” However, I must disagree with her statement for two reasons. First is the term “anti-choice.” You can always choose to do something if it is

physically possible. Physical ability is there whether something is legal or not. What choice means is about a possible choice, but a moral right to assert actions against another party.

Second, is the term “reproductive rights.” Reproductive refers to reproducing. But abortion refers to not reproducing. Abortion refers to aborting as in ending or terminating. Ergo, “reproductive rights” really means “non-productive rights.” So what is really meant is the protection by law to choose to abort the consequences of reproduction.

As I end, please allow me to say what drives me to write such an article. First, I believe that babies are people. Second,  that these people are being murdered legally and publicly. And If I believe that a mass genocide is going on, one worse than World War II, then I must ask am I doing enough? Should I not be fighting tooth and nail against this potentially satanic cult of children sacrifice?

I was once a fetus. I was once two, four and then eight cells. There is nothing that makes me different from that fetus in any dramatic sense. Peter Singer even said so in his book, Practical Ethics. Singer is logically consistent when he notes that there is nothing very different from a one month baby to a one year-old baby. He says kill both of them if you feel like it. But if I can vote to kill babies, why can’t someone else vote to kill me? Can the government kill me when it wants to?

I entirely agree with Humanae Vitae, and encyclical letter from Pope Paul VI on the Regulation of Birth (July 25, 1968), where it says, “A man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”

After being used, a woman has two choices: accept the wrong or push it off onto the child.

Michael Naaden
June Lake

Rudder corrects Dahlgren

Dear Editor:

I happened to see the letter in your paper from Dick Dahlgren. In it, he described the landmark decision by the California courts which prevented LADWP from de-watering Rush Creek.

He then went on to congratulate some guy on his CalTrout  board, an attorney in Southern California, for his “brilliant’ strategy in suing LADWP et. al, and getting a restraining order against them, preventing the dewatering and setting the stage for a great victory for the Eastern Sierra and the trout. Well, here’s where age has caught up with Dick and his memory; his facts just aren’t straight.

How do I know? I was there.

It was about three o’clock in the afternoon one day, and my office got a call from Bill Murano, then Judge of the Mono County Justice Court, who wanted to know if someone in the office would take on LADWP pro-bono and try to prevent them from turning off Rush Creek.

My long-time partner, Ed Forstenzer, an outdoor guy and no flunky

for the establishment, allowed as he would. Ed immediately set to, meeting with Dick and Doc Randol and doing the research and crafting a complaint and a request for a writ of mandate that would be, if granted, the first such restraining order ordered against the LADWP in about 100 years. All this was done in 24 hours to avoid the fish being killed.

At this point, SCE unleashed its hordes of lawyers, but, when the dust settled, Ed had won the day, Rush Creek would live, and history was made! The rest was pretty much mopping up, as LADWP took a beating the likes of which it couldn’t believe would even happen. Imagine our surprise when this McInerney guy, Dick’s lawyer in Southern California, leapt into action with every media outlet in the state, taking credit for work he never did.

Ed shook his head at the “gratitude” he was shown for saving CalTrout’s bacon, but, modest as he is, he never raised a word in protest at the time. So, the myth goes on in the minds of Dick and others, but, for those of us who were here, I’m pleased to set the record straight. It was a local “hero” that won the day, our very own soon to become judge, Ed Forstenzer; not some stranger from Southern California.    

Paul Rudder
Mammoth Lakes

Best Summer Ever

Dear Editor:

You’ve been hearing a lot about the “Best Summer Ever” and how many local businesses are reporting visitations above previous years. Word from festivals, events and restaurants are reporting record attendance. Several new events were added to this summer’s lineup, and trails are busy with happy outdoor enthusiasts; the list goes on.

While mother nature plays a significant role in Mammoth’s successes and failures, I’m confident that this past summer, “The Best Summer Ever,” was not a coincidence, and that it was attributable directly to the efforts of a community that has united together in the face of paramount adversities, making  purposeful exertions to change.

Plans are already in the works for Summer 2013. Two new sporting events are being coordinated to bookend summer: a Half Marathon in the month of June and a weeklong resurrection of the Kamikaze Mountain Bike event with a festive twist.

Both events will incorporate the entire community of Mammoth Lakes and both will work to encroach on our shoulder seasons. These events should be made official in coming weeks and when they are, we will need everyone’s help to promote them early and often.

I encourage every local business, non-profit, event, individual citizen, etc. to make continued efforts to update your clients/visitors/friends as to what is happening in Mammoth Lakes. If you have not done it already, call or email Mammoth Lakes Tourism and ask them to add you to the Tuesday email update.  This update provides a professional and consistent message of current events in Mammoth, and you can cut-and-paste it into your own letterhead. Many letters of “thanks” have been received by those using this email update.

Finally, I want to offer a heartfelt “thank you” to all the individuals and businesses working behind the scenes to drive the Best Summer Ever message home. Our entire community should be proud of the great service and hospitality they offered our visitors this summer; we cannot underestimate the importance of word-of-mouth marketing.

Matthew Lehman
Mayor, Town of Mammoth Lakes

Gaines rails against rural fire fees

Dear Editor: 

Despite my efforts to stop it by referendum and legislation, the illegal fire tax is being assessed on more than 825,000 rural Californians starting this month, including 4,207 in Mono County.

This so-called fee was passed in 2011 to extract up to $150 per habitable structure from property owners. The tax will not provide any more fire protection and will actually make it harder for local fire agencies to raise the money they need to keep people safe. It’s a lose-lose proposition for the people in my district and for anyone concerned with public safety and the rule of law.

This tax should have been subject to a 2/3 vote in the legislature just like every other tax, but the Democrats called it a fee to get around that requirement. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is planning to file a lawsuit disputing the fee’s legality and I hope it gets overturned as soon as possible.

Until that happens, though, the State Board of Equalization (BOE) has already begun mailing the first bills for the new fire tax this month and hopes to have all bills sent by December. The BOE has also begun mailing an advance notice to the affected property owners to warn them that the bills are coming, and to provide them with a brochure explaining the “fee.”

No matter how many mailers or explanations or warnings any agency sends out, it doesn’t make this tax any more right or more legal. It was, is and always will be a shakedown of rural property owners that takes their money every single year but gives them zero in the way of additional fire protection.

Wildfires are currently raging out of control across the North State and they won’t be put out by the phantom protections promised in this bogus tax.  We need more firefighters, bulldozers, trucks and the other equipment that does the hard work of fighting these wildfires and protecting us, our homes and our property.  This tax leaves us no safer, only poorer and more skeptical than ever of a government that takes and spends taxpayer dollars with no regard to the law or to fairness.

I wanted to share with you several resources you can use to equip yourselves with information:

Visit www.calfirefee.com to see if you live in a “State Responsibility Area” and will be paying this tax. For questions regarding your bill, contact 888.310.6447. For more information regarding the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association efforts, visit www.firetaxprotest.org.

Note: Gaines represents the 1st Senate District, which includes all or parts of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento and Sierra counties.

State Sen. Ted Gaines
R-Roseville

Cars over pedestrians

Lunch:

I write to remind CalTrans or TOML that the pedestrian yield light between the Post Office and Base Camp Cafe has been out for the better half of this summer.

This clearly shows that automobile traffic is more important than pedestrian safety. When a stoplight intended for cars malfunctions, it is fixed immediately.

While you are fixing this signal, why not replace the yellow LED’s with red ones so the LAliens get the picture when the flashers are on.

On a better note:  Congratulations to Grace Church for taking first in Coed Softball this year. Watch your back; We’re coming for you.

Scott Calvert, E-Z Duzit Softball Club
Mammoth Lakes

Anything goes 

The following is a two-parter.

The first letter was sent by the Town’s Community Development Department to Philip Hertzog, owner of Mammoth Outdoor Sports and Value Sports, regarding violations of the Town’s outdoor sales ordinances.

The second letter is Tom Cage’s response to the Town’s letter.

Dear Mr. Hertzog:

This letter is in reference to the outdoor sales (tents) that have been occurring at both Mammoth Outdoor Sports and Value Sports over the past several months. We have received several complaints regarding outdoor sales at both businesses. In response to the complaints we have reviewed the outdoor sales permits for both businesses and have determined that both businesses are operating outside of the permit limits. Outdoor sales at both businesses have been taking place almost continuously this summer, which does not comply with the Town’s requirements regarding outdoor sales. The Town’s Municipal Code limits outdoor sales to a total of nine days per year.

Additionally, signage related to outdoor sales (banners) is limited to 20 square feet as well as a limitation of only one banner per business. The Municipal Code also includes the following limitations regarding banners:

“17.40.100.N.1.b.iii. Special sales and promotional banners, including parking lot sales and going out of business sales, may be allowed for a period or periods of not longer than a total of thirty days per year. A permit may be issued for not less than two consecutive days, up to thirty days.”

Based on visual inspections of the tent sales, the banners that have accompanied the tent sales appear to exceed the size requirement and have likely been installed for more than the thirty day limitation and also exceed the limitation of one banner per business.

Any future banner installations will require a banner permit and must meet all Municipal Code requirements as applicable. Please ensure that any banners installed at either business meet the Town’s signage requirements and a permit is obtained.

We appreciate you obtaining the outdoor sales permit for both businesses; however, both have exceeded the above listed limit for 2012. Additionally, we are still waiting for the property owner signature on the outdoor sales application for Value Sports in order to finalize the permit. Because the excessive outdoor sales over the past several months exceed the permit limits of nine days total of outdoor sales, no further outdoor sales will be allowed for either business through the end of the year. Mammoth Outdoor Sports will require a new outdoor sales permit for 2013 and at that point you can schedule the sales days for the next three year period to best suit your business needs.

Please note that this letter constitutes the courtesy warning regarding outdoor sales. We appreciate your continued conformance with our Municipal Code requirements so we can avoid any future code compliance actions, such as citations with associated fines. Please obtain the property owner signature for the Value Sports permit as soon as possible so the permit is complete.

Thank you for your compliance, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding outdoor sales.

Sandra Moberly
Senior Planner 

Cage responded with a letter to Community Development Director Mark Wardlaw 

Dear Mark: 

You are asking them to cease on the banners which were put up and have remained up at Mammoth Outdoor Sports continuously all summer. An additional banner and their latest yard sale was put up on Aug. 23, the date of the letter. This has occurred without a break and will most likely continue until who knows when. You are telling them that they are not allowed any more outdoor sales for the rest of the calendar year and should reapply in 2013 for next year’s permits. Of course, there are a lot of sales in town during the month of October.

You are confirming that they don’t even have a valid permit to conduct parking lot sales at Value Sports because they have not gotten the owner’s signature? He lives in town for godsakes. How hard is it to get a signature? Yet Value Sports has continued to have sales beyond the size, banner and time frame allowed and gone totally unchecked without a valid permit.

QUESTION: WHY SHOULD I BOTHER WITH ANY PERMIT OR FOLLOW ANY RULES WITH REGARD TO SIGNAGE, BANNERS, TIME IN THE PARKING LOT OR FEES TO THE TOWN?

You are not fining a perpetual abuser. You are not limiting them to anything in the future. You are not enforcing the code or ordinance now, which they are clearly in violation of and have been all summer. Obviously, no one seems to care about how it makes the town look.

THIS IS A JOKE, RIGHT? I AM BEING PUNKED, RIGHT???

I am always asked, ‘so what do you recommend’? Well, for starters, you could explain to them that they have been out an estimated number of days this summer which has used up their days for the next (x) number of years. Second, you could say they have violated the banner rules of size and here is the first fine, no warning. And finally, you could say that if there are any other violations, you will be cited at the rate of additional fines for each violation. And the fines will continue to escalate and if not paid they will be attached to the property owner. Which I believe the ordinance allows you to do.

May I remind you how much you, the town, has received (or about to receive) in bed tax penalties on R1 rentals? May I remind you, the town, why have ordinances in place that are ignored? Are you not selectively enforcing ordinances? Could this lead to an abuser of some other ordinance to cry foul?

As a matter of fact, I am not even sure if my permit is valid for this year or if I needed to renew it? Why bother? Why pay? And yes, let’s put up another sales banner that is 20 sq. feet. It pales in comparison. Last year, I had a banner up at P3 for discount ski rentals on the weekends; I received a letter within a month and complied.

Well, get that letter ready again, my banner will go up as soon as the season starts and will be there every day, why not, nothing is enforced.

Holy Mother of Pearl, please tell me I am being punked and that the rules do not apply to Mammoth Outdoor Sports and Value Sports because they are ???? well, heck, just because they contribute so much to the town. They sure seem to operate outside of any rules that the rest of us work under.

Tom Cage
Kittredge Sports/P3

Mammoth’s water … 

Dear Editor:

We’re perplexed that, as the agency combs California for more water, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) thinks going after Mammoth Creek is a wise move.

Why Mammoth’s water? For decades, Mammoth Lakes  has been the getaway of choice for Los Angeles, a place to relax and recharge in the clear mountain air and spectacular natural surroundings. Many L.A. residents return year after year to fish, hike, ski and enjoy the Mammoth experience they were introduced to as children by their parents and grandparents.

Los Angeles needs Mammoth as an escape more than it needs its water. Mammoth Lakes is a four-square-mile island surrounded by the most accessible high country in the Sierra, all of it public land that can’t be developed. The town can’t sprawl. Its population at any one time–say, a very busy holiday weekend–is capped at 52,000 by the community’s General Plan.

All those 52,000 people, visitors as well as the locals working hard to help provide that rewarding Mammoth experience, need an adequate and dependable water supply. Taking away Mammoth’s water will take away far more than we think Angelenos want to give up.

Jim & Elizabeth Tenney
Mammoth Lakes 

As the World Turners 

Dear Editor:

Here is a fun one for all you folks in the Mammoth area who use Turner Propane. About three weeks ago, I called Turner Propane asking if, when I move, I can get a refund of my unused propane (I was planning to do the pre-buy at the time). I was told, “yes.” Great. I asked because I have been hit with bogus charges before and was preparing myself before putting $1,000 worth of fuel in my tank.

Fast forward to today. I went by to see what the process is for my refund and was told NO – we don’t give a refund for fuel in the tank. Of course, she said, they can charge me $200 to come and pump it out and refund the difference … or my landlord can buy it, which also comes with a fee. WHAT???? I called first. OH NO, she said, I never would have said that. She said that I asked if I would get a refund on the PRE-BUY, which was YES. Why would she not have mentioned that it was different if it’s not a pre-buy? When I was on hold waiting to speak to the gal, the message was  all about how customer-focused Turner Propane is.  Hmmm. I think they need a lesson on customer service.

Donna Lisa Knowles
Mammoth Lakes     

Urdi’s right 

To the Editor;

John Urdi (Mammoth Lakes Tourism/Eastern Sierra Air Alliance) is right on about wanting to support regular air service to Mammoth Yosemite Airport.

Last week, we put on the plane the last of four relatives (three from France, one from Colorado) who took advantage of the regular flights to join us for a family gathering. Being able to hop a short flight to/from LAX meant they could get here quicker and stay longer. It meant that two of them could come at all. My family isn’t unique or part of the 1%; mostly we drive here, but since 1978, I and others have had to fly into Reno, Bishop, or (sometimes) Mammoth to get here on occasion. Regular air service just makes it easier to get here, and in the end, that’s what the mountain, the town and the businesses need.  I’ve seen the fits and starts of commercial air service through the years, and we can’t let it fail again.

Finally, thanks to MMSA for the waiting area tent.

Elisabeth Brown
Mammoth Lakes 

The Trout that saved Mono Lake

Dear Editor: 

Mono Lake is well on the way to full recovery, thanks to the trout, and the trout fishermen who discovered them.

In 1974 Jake Gittes, a private detective investigating an adultery case stumbled upon a scheme of murder that has something to do with Mono Lake water. Evelyn Mulray, the wife, suspected her husband was having an affair. She hired Gittes to investigate. Her husband, Hollis Mulray, is the chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the builder of the City of Los Angeles water supply system.

iettes pursues the case and slowly uncovers a vast conspiracy centering on water management, real estate development, and state and municipal corruption.

The story was the Oscar-winning movie “Chinatown.” Jake Gittes, the investigator, beaten and cut badly by agents of the LA water cartel, was Jack Nicholson. Faye Dunaway played the wife, Evelyn Mulray. Of course the movie is fiction … but in many ways resembles truth.

When Chinatown was released, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had de-watered reaches of every trout stream in the Eastern Sierras from Lee Vining creek south through the Owens Valley, sunk deep wells into the aquifer, and continued to look for ways to acquire more water. Mono Lake had dropped forty-five feet since water diversions began in 1941.

El Nino visited the Eastern Sierra in 1982-83. Locals called it the year of the twenty-four-month-winter. Skiers skied on the upper slopes of Mammoth Mountain on July third …in eighteen inches of fresh powder. The Mono Basin creeks rushed from the mountains filling the dry streambeds. The Los Angeles diversion tunnel through the Glass Mountains could not handle the mass of water from the Rush Creek high country. Grant Lake filled and spilled for two years. Trout slipped over the dam and reestablished populations in Rush Creek all the way to Mono Lake.

The reborn fishery was discovered on October 13, 1984. After sampling seven sections of the stream with a fly rod it was estimated there were 12,000 browns, rainbows, and brooks in the creek. LADWP scoffed at that figure. A month later the California Department of Fish & Game wild trout census team, led by John Deinstadt, electro-fished the creek and came up with the figure of 30,000 trout.

On October 17, 1984, DFG game warden Wes Johnson told the fishermen Los Angeles would be drying up the creek and killing the 30,000 trout on November 1, the day after the trout season closed. They were stunned and made the decision to fight for the fishery. The incredible resource was too wonderful to lose. The discovery was shared with Mono Lake Committee’s David Gaines in Lee Vining. Several days later, the day before LADWP intended to kill the stream, a preventative Temporary Restraining Order, Dahlgren v. LADWP, was filed in Inyo County. The Mammoth Fly Rodders quickly added their name to the action, California Trout joined, and the TRO became a lawsuit.

Barrett McInerney, a California Trout board member and chief legal counsel, plotted a tort plan of brilliance to save the Rush Creek trout. The plan was a success. LADWP lost, lost again on appeal, and again on final appeal. In 1994 the State of California issued their decision. Los Angeles was to restore the trophy trout fishery to what it was in 1940. That court order, SWRCB 1631, stands today… unfulfilled.

California Trout, rightly proud of their victory, proclaimed to the fisher-folk of California that they were headed over the Sierra, and would roll up their sleeves, hire a stream restoration group, and start moving logs, digging new pools, and rebuilding riffles and runs.

Sadly, in spite of the court decision, the anglers of California have been shortchanged. Only the first mile was reconstructed. The trophy trout fishery that once existed has not been restored, and efforts to do so are about to end.

Remember, Mono is well on the way to full recovery, but it was the trout, and the trout fishermen, who saved the lake. Perhaps the question should be asked, ”Where is the Rush Creek trophy brown trout fishery?”

Dick Dahlgren
Ketchum, Idaho

Cut to the core

Mr. Lunch:

I recently read the small article concerning the Chalfant Mercantile, and its former owners, Tom and Jan Johnson. First and foremost, I am appalled that Mr. Core would take it upon himself to “air” dirty laundry of two people who have, time and time again, gone out of their way to help and serve the residents of Chalfant and Hammil. Mr. Core is obviously ignorant to the fact of what a small community needs when it comes to goods and service. The Johnsons kept the staples available, helping keep travel to Vons in Bishop at a minimum.

I, for one, never expected to walk into the “merc” and find full shelves of every item available to man. What I came to expect, and receive, on a daily basis, was friendship, courtesy, and the willingness to go the extra mile in times of need. For the “merc” to stay open through the recession is a testament to the hard work and business sense of its former owners, Tom and Jan. I truly hope the new owners distance themselves from hate mongers such as Mr. Core, because they will learn in quick fashion what Tom and Jan meant to everyone in the community, and that their store was a place where residents came together over the years for both happy and sad events. On a final note, as Fire Chief for the Chalfant Fire Dept, the support we received from the Johnsons would be hard to duplicate for anyone, something else that I’m sure Mr. Core would have a hard time understanding.

I do wish the new owners well, and hope they understand that they have purchased something more than a “store,” they have purchased the “Merc,” and the “c” in Merc stands for community.

Rob DeForrest
Chalfant 

Core shot

Dear Editor:

This is in regards to the letter that Jerry Core wrote in your paper. Why did he have to bring up someone’s laundry when it wasn’t necessary? Everyone has something that didn’t work out in life, but it isn’t put out there for everyone to trash talk. I’m sure Mr. Core has dirty laundry himself, and we don’t need people like him talking trash about our community here in Chalfant. Karma will come and bite you in the ass. Tom and Jan are good people; they did what they could under the circumstances.

TJ’s had the best burgers, the coldest beer and good company. What is wrong with a bar and good food? I hope that someday Mr. Core will realize he was wrong for his comments and apologize to Tom and Jan. And just to make it clear, the new owners live in Chalfant not Bishop. Get your story right.

Danise Grindle
Chalfant

Bluesapalooza cures MUSD blues

Dear Editor: 

The Mammoth Unified School District would like to give a warm thank you to the community for their support of the temporary closing of Minaret Street for the Bluzapalooza Event the first weekend in August.

We thank the Town Council for their continued foresight to support community safety with their action with the temporary closure of the road.

We thank Sean and Joyce Turner who allowed our high school students the opportunity to solicit voluntary donations for folks that wanted to park their cars on Minaret for the event.

We thank Dennis Hartman that made a $1,000 donation to the high school marching band.

We thank student leader Olivia Wardlaw for recruiting the student volunteers and to Music Director Cameron Yassaman for coordinating the music volunteers and their parents.

Our students raised $3,500 in cash for parking cars, which will support our MHS Interact Club and their local community service projects and the MHS Marching Band.

Rich Boccia
MUSD Superintendent 

Your worst nightmare 

Ladies, Paul Ryan is your worst nightmare.  Want a smaller government?  Well this guy will put the government right inside your hoo-ha.

Todd Akin, a Missouri congressman running for U.S. Senate who, by the way is on the House Science Committee, let it slip that many in the Republican Party believe that if a woman is ‘legitimately raped’ her own bodily trauma will prevent conception from occurring.  The conclusion which must be drawn from this statement is that raped women who did become pregnant (about 32,000 a year) must, somewhere deep down in their glands, have wanted to be raped.

Historically this loophole for the right to use federal funds for an abortion which results from rape or incest has been a longtime burr under Republican saddles. Sarah Palin in 2008, and the following 2010 Senate candidates, Sharron Angle, Joe Miller, Rand Paul, Christine O’Donnell, and Ken Buck, all stated that they believed no exceptions should be made for rape or incest.

Todd Akin has teamed up twice with Paul Ryan to sponsor HR 3 and HR 212.   House Resolution 3 tried to narrow the rape loophole by limiting federal funds only to ‘forcible rape’ survivors. Exactly what that meant, no one knows.

Akin-Ryan also sponsored HR 212, a personhood bill, which said the “life of each human being begins with fertilization … at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitution attributes and privileges of personhood.”  Such an interpretation could outlaw some contraceptives which inhibit a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman’s uterus. Ryan and Akin’s personhood bill could turn some contraceptives into murder weapons.

Paul Ryan also sponsored a federal version of Virginia’s transvaginal ultrasound bill which forces women to undergo a medical procedure against their will even if their doctor doesn’t recommend it. Rep. Ryan has voted repeatedly to de-fund family-planning programs and he even supported the ‘Let Women Die Bill,’ which would allow hospitals to refuse emergency lifesaving abortion care, even if the woman could die without it.

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ryan has cast 59 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. “I’m as pro-life as a person gets.  You’re not going to have a truce.  Judges are going to come up. Issues come up, they’re unavoidable, and I’m never going to not vote pro-life.”

This year Republican Presidential candidates, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum all signed on to “Personhood” as their policy position.  Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia are removing protections for rape and incest victims and forcing women to give birth against their will.

Under a Romney-Ryan administration anti-choice zealots could wipe out decades’ worth of your reproductive rights.  I’m old enough to remember the days of back-alley abortion deaths. My fellow American women, vote Republican at your own peril.

Carolyn Crawford
Lee Vining

Police for profit? 

Dear Editor:

In the recent article, “Rider on the Storm” (The Sheet, Aug. 11), your reporter recounts a ride-a-long experience on the Saturday evening of Bluesapalooza, where they were hoping to, “catch the most action.”

Well, I was the individual involved in the action missed at Lakanuki after 12:30 a.m., and I wish your reporter could have been there to witness the non-event of my arrest for intoxication and battery. Now that the author is acquainted with how the [Mammoth] Police operate, I would like to familiarize them with the other side of the equation: that of a vacationer who was served to the point of drunkenness and then served to the police by power-tripping Lakanuki employees.

After the Bluesapalooza was cut short by cloudburst I, along with many others, took shelter at the village where I spent the next few hours. After midnight at Lakanuki, where I had a spent some time drinking and watching the Olympics, I exited the establishment and was refused reentry. Okay, fair enough … I had spent the day drinking some of the most exquisite beer and listening to some fantastic music, and it is perfectly within a vendor’s prerogative to refuse service, but it was what happened next that was most surprising.

While outside the premises away from the restaurant, I was harassed by the aggressive door person and ordered to leave or he would call the cops. Since I was outside, away from the establishment, sitting down, carrying on a conversation with someone in the plaza, it didn’t make any sense. Was I supposed to leave the entire Village? I was subsequently arrested at the direction of the door person and charged with a litany of criminal activity, including public intoxication and battery, and spent the night in a cell in Bridgeport.

Now, I’m not an attorney, but when a customer and patron is served to drunkenness, surely the vendor profiting from the sale of alcohol has a responsibility to his customers besides serving them up to handcuffs, holding tank and hard luck! Just because I don’t generally respond to direct orders from overly aggressive restaurant employees doesn’t mean that I’m prone to violence.

Apparently by exiting the restaurant and refusing to leave the Village, I crossed some invisible, arbitrary threshold determined by the doorman of Lakanuki, beyond which I was treated with the utmost disrespect. One minute a busy contented restaurant with a paying customer and then going postal on the paying customer the next. Not a very good business model.

When I was released from Bridgeport Jail the following morning I had to hitchhike back to Mammoth. The Good Samaritan who gave me a ride said that I was the second person in as many weeks that he picked up that while vacationing in Mammoth, was picked up for public intoxication, jailed in Bridgeport, and forced to hitchhike back. Coincidence? Maybe. Evidence of a pattern? Probably.

I don’t make it to the Eastern Sierra very often, but there is pretty convincing evidence from recent fiscal difficulties in California that when municipalities are starved for revenue or facing bankruptcy, the fees, penalties and taxes are hiked to pay creditors, and public employee paychecks and pensions.

Is it just coincidental that police activity seems to uptick in these locales to reflect the new fiscal paradigm? Is this Mammoth’s new public paradigm? Policing for profit? Forcing the non-resident vacationers to yet again subsidize Town’s debts to the creditors and public employees? If my experience is any indication, I would answer in the affirmative.

One thing is for sure. After I settle the bogus charges against me, I will go out of my way to avoid spending any time and money in Mammoth in the future.

Gregg Wright
Sacramento

A tough go out here 

Dear Editor:

In response to an article that appeared in The Sheet on Aug. 18 in regard to the Chalfant store, in my opinion, the article was both inaccurate and incomplete, particularly the comments by Jerry Core of Inyo-Mono Title Company.

Tom and Jan Johnson worked incredibly hard at the Chalfant Merc. Seven days a week, 12 hours a day. They obtained a license to sell beer in an attempt to increase revenue and improve store traffic. They did not simply turn it into a bar.

In recent months, Tom was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. Obviously, from that time on, Tom and Jan’s primary focus was proper procedures and treatment to save his life. With personal experience, I know the amount of energy and effort required to fight cancer. For Mr. Core to say that Tom and Jan operated the store poorly is insensitive and pitiful. He should be ashamed.

I have been a resident of Chalfant for 25 years and have witnessed 3 or 4 changes of ownership at the store. It is a tough go out here.

My wife and I wish the best of luck to the new owners and I am sure Tom and Jan do also. More than likely, we will continue to patronize the Chalfant Merc and I encourage all area residents to do so as well. If we pull together, we might be able to maintain the store in a long-term, viable position.

Don Franklin
Chalfant

The wheels on the bus … 

Dear Editor:

My name is Craig Foster and I am one of the recent employees that have been laid off by Mammoth Unified School District.

I held my position with MUSD as a CGM/Bus Driver for the past 5 years. I must say that I have enjoyed every moment of my employment with the District and every aspect of my job. I especially enjoyed transporting your children to and from school, all the while building friendships with you the parents and my community. I will always cherish the relationships with the children and parents whom I had contact with. Most of you have become dear friends over the last 5 years.

With the current state of our economy in both our state and community it is understandable and at the same time unfortunate that MUSD had to make this difficult decision. Laying off anyone, even classified employees, could not have been an easy decision for any of our School Board members or our Superintendent. However, budget cuts have become far too common these days and something had to be done to help ensure the education of our local children.

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I leave MUSD as your Crowley bus driver. Please feel confident in your drivers this school year. Know that the transportation department of MUSD is skilled, cautious, and well trained individuals and they will bring your children to and from school safely and most competently.

We are a very special community. Close knit and one to be proud of. We always work together to find a way to overcome our hardships and come out on the other side stronger, wiser, and closer. While this is not easy for my family, I know that we will be fine and we will grow together as a unit and as a team. Our District has just caught up with the rest of the world and the nation. Let’s hope we grow in our compassion for the millions out there who have been going through the same trials as we are now.

Thank you for your well wishes, positive thoughts, and prayers. My family and I greatly appreciate them. Because of our close community relationships and friendships, this transition to a new adventure will be easier and we will survive.

MUSD, it has been my privilege and pleasure to be a part of you for the past 5 years. Let’s pray things turn around for the best.

To my kiddos on the bus route: be good to your drivers; they are great people who are looking out for your safety.

Craig Foster
“Mr. Bus Driver, Sir”
Mammoth Lakes

Not out the woods yet

Retired State Senator Dave Cogdill regarding SB 1148 on Aug. 9:

SB 1148 was not heard in the Assembly Appropriation committee until 5:00 yesterday afternoon. The schedule is supposed to be determined based on the order in which the authors sign in, but true to form for the California Legislature they don’t always abide by this. Meaning if you want to testify on a bill you dare not leave the room for any extended period or you could easily loose the opportunity.

I was the first to speak in opposition followed by an impressive list of opponents, primarily representing business interests throughout the state. Although the bill had been amended again, removing several of my concerns, the bill remains unacceptable for a number of reasons. The committee placed the bill on what is referred to as their “suspense” file. Bills placed on suspense are reconsidered at a later date (in this case next week) and if the committee votes to remove them from suspense they move on, if they remain on suspense the bill is effectively dead. Although it’s important to remember that anything can happen in the last three weeks of a two-year session.

I think our odds are good that this bill does not get off of suspense. The opposition is overwhelming (mostly for reasons not pertaining to hatcheries) by some very powerful groups. I feel very safe in saying there will not be a single Republican vote in support and I understand that the “moderate” Democrat caucus is opposed to the bill. If this is in fact true it’s hard to see how the bill could pass. That said, stranger things have happened and we will have to continue to monitor the bill to the bitter end, August 31.

I did have a productive follow up meeting with Cal Trout and am hopeful that we can work together on a bill next year to strengthen AB 7.

Dave Cogdill
Stanislaus County Assessor

SB 1148 good for fisheries
Dear Editor:

In an article published on Aug. 4 [Hatcheries in peril], it was suggested that CalTrout-supported SB 1148 legislation would defund hatcheries, damage the Eastern Sierra’s tourism economy, and negate former Senator Cogdill’s AB 7 legislation.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

CalTrout worked closely with then-Senator Cogdill to pass AB 7 in 2005. That legislation set current hatchery production goals and funded the Heritage and Wild Trout program. Unfortunately the hatchery production goals set forth in AB 7 are not being met and the Heritage and Wild Trout program is still underfunded.

By contrast, SB 1148 supports the hatchery goals set by AB 7 (it looks for a more efficient means of meeting them, including the use of private hatcheries), adequately staff and funds the Heritage and Wild Trout program, and proposes comprehensive management practices for all trout populations.

Here are some key benefits of SB 1148:

1) SB 1148 does not diminish funding for hatcheries.

AB 7 established the Hatcheries and Inland Fisheries Fund (HIFF) which is funded by 33 1/3% of fishing license sales. Typically, this fund is $20-25 million annually, and hatcheries receive over 85% of HIFF funds. SB 1148 will not change this.

What SB 1148 does do is empower DF&G to explore creative ways to meet currently unmet production goals. For example, private hatcheries can help meet production goals at a reasonable cost.

2) SB 1148 would reaffirm AB7’s establishment of the Heritage and Wild Trout program and ensure the hiring of the seven Heritage and Wild Trout positions promised by AB 7.

Originally, AB 7 required the hiring of seven new Heritage and Wild Trout positions, yet within four years of passing these new positions were eliminated. The existing legislative intent of AB 7 is clearly not enough to ensure the sustainability of the Heritage and Wild Trout program. SB 1148 fixes that.

3) SB 1148 tells DF&G to stock fish in areas where they are most needed.

SB 1148 focuses on providing anglers with the best fishing possible, especially in high use areas. In fact, stocking of hatchery fish in put-and-take fisheries will be improved with SB 1148. Where stocking is warranted the Department will have resources to meet angler demand and improve angler satisfaction.

4) SB 1148 is better because it doesn’t harm the genetic integrity of existing wild trout populations.

California’s native trout populations need protection too, and SB 1148 helps us protect them — while it looks for better efficiency in the hatchery production process. It proposes the stocking of triploid (sterile) fish wherever possible; triploids grow faster and provide the kind of angling experience sought by the majority of anglers.

SB 1148 is good for fisheries and tourism.

In contrast to what has been alleged, SB 1148 continues to evolve and no longer includes an Independent Hatchery Review Committee, a requirement to mark all hatchery fish, and several other stipulations mentioned in last week’s story.

Simply put, trout get short shrift in Sacramento, and California’s anglers need to stand together to ensure adequate resources are directed to improving the management of hatchery trout and wild trout.

SB 1148 is important because it reminds Sacramento of the promises made in AB 7 and reaffirms them; it preserves the percentage of license fees going to hatchery operations and also funds the Heritage and Wild Trout program.

We recognize the importance of trout fishing to the economy of the Eastern Sierra and believe SB 1148 will result in better fishing for all anglers.

Curtis Knight
Conservation Director, CalTrout