Council urged to take chances
Mammoth Lakes Mayor Matthew Lehman opened Wednesday’s Town Council regular meeting by saying he’d hoped to have something to tell the public about the airport litigation settlement. Alas, Lehman says there are Is and Ts left to be dotted and crossed, and thus there would be no announcement. (Editor’s Note: Since this meeting, an announcement about the settlement has been made, which you can read by clicking here.)
The announcement of a lack of an announcement didn’t sit well with second homeowner Peter Dach, who drove up five hours from Los Angeles to comment before Council. Dach had a letter read into the record beforehand, taking issue with the Town’s decision to settle and not pursue Chapter 9 Municipal Bankruptcy as an option.
During Public Comment, Dach charged that the community has a right to know what Council and Town Staff are doing, and asked them to come forward with more information. “If [the settlement] isn’t an astounding deal for the community, it’s a bad deal,” he told Council and those in Suite Z. Lehman and Town Attorney Andrew Morris explained that the terms can’t be disclosed and that the Town is bound by a court-ordered mediation process and confidentiality agreements with MLLA. “It’s a very complex situation,” Lehman said.
When Dach asked about how any settlement would be funded, Morris advised against answering that as well. “It’s not possible to explain where the money comes from without divulging some of the terms,” Morris said.
“You’ve already spent millions and I’m concerned that the deal is not as good as it could be,” he said, saying he thinks the Town would be better off “taking its chances in front of a bankruptcy judge.”
R, U process update
Whether or not the Town taps Measures R & U (voter-approved special tax measures supporting parks, trails, recreation, and arts and culture events) to pay off the judgment still remains a big question mark.
Council and the Recreation Commission met to review the application and awards processes for both measures. Synching them up to run on parallel timelines apparently is on hold, as is a Measure U feasibility study. Lehman, who also serves on the town’s multi-jurisdictional Economic Stimulus Council, said the study needs refinement. “It became too big and ran away with itself, and kind of overwhelmed the consultant,” he explained.
Measure U will not have a fall awards cycle, in that a $325,000 air service subsidy loan taken out against remaining and projected funding has left a negative $264,000 balance.
Council directed staff to convene the Measure U Application Committee to draft a new timeline for a spring award, and determine an award amount (cap) for appropriation. The timeline is expected to go back to Council in November.
“There is still some room to move on U,” Recreation Commissioner Bill Sauser said, noting that some items, such as $20,000 for maintenance of the Whitmore Track project, which is still under Phase 1 construction, probably won’t be needed this year.
Altis entitlement
And Council granted the Alits development in the Bridges Switchback above Lake Mary Road a District Zoning Amendment, Vesting Tentative Tract Map and Variance, the first ones approved this year, to allow single-family homes to be built, in addition to the four existing townhomes and duplexes. Speaking for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the developer, Jim Smith said Altis already has interest in five lots for single-family homes. Councilmember Jo Bacon supported the variance, calling it a “creative solution” to the problem of how to make the project more saleable, while keeping it within the project’s established density.
S. Dogood
Sep 5, after council’s quiet request for input from the public about the settlement made in CLOSED SESSION that no details were available to question, we wrote and delivered this letter that was censored by management and never delivered to council and staff.
Mr. Lunch, we know they read your posts and request you include this for them and the public to read now.
To jgray:
We can not attend the Sept 12, 2012 meeting and want this letter read and entered into public record.
Dear Members of the Mammoth Lakes Town Council and Mammoth Town Managers,
We are the “Mammoth Greater Fools”. We are home owners and business owners. We represent the silent majority that you seldom listen to.
The bankruptcy laws are written “a fresh start for an honest debtor”. When you (the council) decided to drag us through bankruptcy the premise was always as an “honest debtor”. If you settle now in the 11th hour you condemn yourselves to be branded as dishonest. Where is the integrity in this decision?
Let the court system take care of US. You have spent millions of dollars chasing this truth. If you change horse mid-stream you have lied to US. If the system fails, we take our punishment and pay our debt. If you fail as council, you doom US and yourself to a terrible future. You can never be re-elected if you make this decision.
We watched our neighbor’s loose business after business, house after house. Pay attention to the number of repossessions in the paper every week.Your ridiculous actions plummet the property and business values of our community one more time.
Your (councils) past actions got us here. Your present actions keep us here. If you settle now you depreciate our town and encumber US, “THE PEOPLE of MAMMOTH” with your mistakes.
Sincerely,
Mammoth Business Council members,
Polly Baker, Alice Addertongue, Caelia Shortface, S. Dogood
First, it’s lose, not loose. Second, hope you’re all attending the meeting on Thursday so you can ask our attorneys and mediation judge IN PERSON why the council decided to settle. Third, do you really think the council cares about re-election? Why on earth would they want to continue to this thankless job which is affecting their businesses due to lack of time spent on them? Since you think you have all the answers, then why didn’t you run in this past election? Lastly, our nation’s economic downturn began when the housing bubble burst in 2006. Irrational exuberance in the housing market led many people to buy houses they couldn’t afford, and the bubble burst in 2006. This caught many homeowners off guard, who had taken loans with little money down. As they realized they would lose money by selling the house for less than their mortgage, they foreclosed. An escalating foreclosure rate panicked many banks and hedge funds, who had bought mortgage-backed securities on the secondary market and now realized they were facing huge losses. As business owners, you may want to brush up on your grammar and economic lessons and stop blaming our local council for everything. Sure, some of the old coots are to blame, but the newer members are only trying to get out of this mess and move forward.
Jen, are you really going to go for the Scribner’s error card in your character assassination?
It doesn’t hold water…. lol
Mammoth is on life support. Do you think it needs a grammar lesson?
Out of all the lawyers and all the King’s men at the meeting tonight, no one said “I’m sorry, we messed up” except the youngest member Mathew, as Wood sat crossed arms and clinched jaw.
Instead they showed us by their actions that they signed and it didn’t matter “ever” what we thought as a Community. Hiding behind closed sessions and confidentiality agreements.
“Get over it” is basically what they said. Your kids will still be paying for this mortgage when they are 23.
Thanks for the real-estate economics lesson in failed greed.
We saw Rick at his worst tonight, he can never be re-elected now.
S. Dogood
PS, a paragraph is a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line. Try it sometime.