Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

As a spectator in this game of Judge the Bench, I want to say that I feel that the Sheet should have published every letter that came in and not “judge” which should or should not have been published.

You claim to be “the” newspaper of controversy, so don’t sell the public short. If you are not able (because of space let’s say) to print the WHOLE letter, how about simply an excerpt from it, or a “contact this person for more details on their point of view.”

I have heard from reliable sources that the Sheet did not print letters from BOTH sides of the gable’d fence. BOTH for and against Randy and for and against Mark. Let’s be fair. Get all the info out there and let the voters decide for themselves. Both are excellent candidates, but ONE does stand out as the BEST one, and it would be a good media service to let the people read it ALL so they can decide. I know who I am voting for. Hands down. Courtroom adjourned.

Daniel Solorio
Mammoth Lakes

We do not publish advocate letters the weekend before an election. The weekend before that, we did not have the space to publish all letters, so we chose to print ones from people we hadn’t heard from before. Did the best we could under the circumstances.

Newspapers are not Facebook. And they are not democratic. Editors do make choices regarding content. And if my judgment sucks, I assume you will take your eyeballs elsewhere.  -Lunch

Dear Editor:

I have read statements to the effect that a former stop at Mono Street was deleted because the walkway was not maintained in winter.

There has been no bus stop at this location (Mono at Main) for the past decade or so. There was not sufficient space for a bus to stop safely. The stop has always been in the approximate location it is currently now at Lupin and the frontage road.

Amy Cutter and I (as well as Mayor Harvey and former Councilmember Sugimura) were involved in the planning process for the Frontage Road Rehab project many years ago prior to its actual construction. As I remember John Mueller was also present at these discussions. I still have the project plans in my office. At no time during the construction phase was a stop contemplated near the Mono Street stairs.

So we now have a bus stop that was arbitrarily removed from service. Please remember  Amy and I were quite surprised when this stop was deleted as it had just gone through a rehab project and had only been in service for just about a year since the rehab was fully completed. One would not think that this town would apply for grant money, provide matching funds, add heated tubing to the concrete all for just an exercise in construction.

This bus stop cost more than just a sign. There was planning, grading, fill dirt, retaining walls, sidewalks heated concrete, lighting and more. This portion of the project probably cost well over $400,000 and the additional heated tubing was probably about $75,000.

This decision to delete this stop was done without a proper traffic study or a safety study that supports the recommendations. To delete this stop one could say was a fraud against the original application for STIP (road improvement) funds as well as using public monies for this portion of Frontage road rehabilitation project for safety reasons.

Now, after hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent we are told that this has not been properly mitigated for safety. Where are the documents to support these preposterous statements made by ESTA and others?

What most of you don’t realize is guests at the Quality Inn and others still think this stop is active. I see people waiting there all the time, as does the manager of the Quality Inn.

What next, spend more taxpayer money to remove and destroy the bus stop! You cannot just remove a sign at this point. I am not suggesting that the stop be demolished at all. I think it best for all to be placed back in operation. I am sorry that restoring the bus stop for use may impact the signage but I am sure that is a cheaper solution than to destroy a perfectly safe and good bus stop.

Otherwise, are we as a town once again going to show the rest of the world that we are just a bunch of idiots and can’t properly implement a bus stop.

It would be appreciated that this issue be revisited and the stop reinstated without more effort and appeals to higher levels.

Martin Kleinbard
Mammoth Lakes

PS: In a phone call this morning, I spoke to Caltrans Director Tom Hallenbeck of District 9. Hallenbeck informed me that to the best of his knowledge, the permits to build the Frontage Road project – covering the ramps, stairs, sidewalks, etc. were for “summer use only.” Hmm. So why is it that heating tubing was placed in the concrete for a summer use only permit? How did it come to a town council agenda to place heating tubing in the concrete when there was no approval for such from Caltrans? Why did the town pay an extra $300,000 for this?  Hallenbeck also stated that there was no notice as to any winter use of these walks nor was there any notice for water drainage from the forced melting of snow in the encroachment application.

What an additional conundrum we have here, don’t we?