It turns out that on Friday, March 1, Pope Benedict XVI wasn’t the only one who stepped down from his position. On Thursday, The Sheet received a copy of a message from Mammoth Unified’s Board of Education to School District staff announcing that Superintendent Rich Boccia was resigning, effective immediately. The message read as follows:

“We wish to inform you of a significant event that took place at last night’s Board meeting. Superintendent Boccia informed the Board of Education that he will be leaving the district, effective Friday, March 1. He shared with the Board that this was a very difficult, personal decision.

We want to thank Mr. Boccia for his contributions to our school district, in particular for his steadfast commitment to address instructional policies. We appreciate his dedication to education and student achievement, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

At this time the Board of Education is taking action to identify an interim superintendent, and we are fully confident that we will have someone in place within the next few weeks. Transitions are never completely easy, but we know that you will trust the Board of Education to tend to the District’s leadership needs while you continue to do great work with our students.”

The message was signed by all five BOE members.

Some observers thought something was up when they saw Boccia jogging around town during business hours on Wednesday and taking his last papal ski runs on Mammoth Mountain on Thursday.

Check the tape 

It came as a bit of shock when I received a call from new Town Manager MMMartinez last week.

Lunch: Hi Marianna. Umm. I didn’t call you. (I thought there must have been an error. In 10 years, no Town Manager has ever called me first).

MMM: No. I’m calling you.

She went on to explain that she would like to develop better lines of communication with the press, including being available for questions on Thursday mornings following Council meetings.

Perhaps she has an optimistic belief that if she speaks with us before we go to press, we won’t get it as wrong.

To get it all wrong, please see the Fifty Center. 

For the most part, the interview was deemed off-the-record, so I placed my phone and notepad on the table between us.

One part that was on the record was MMM’s stated desire to remain as Town Manager “long-term.”

By “long-term,” she means three-to-five years (or longer than the last self-proclaimed long-termer, Rich Boccia, who lasted two years, eight months). Part of the reason she needs some assurances in regard to her contract is because her twins are nearing school age and she needs a longer-term deal for enrollment purposes.

As I was leaving, I grabbed my cellphone off the table, which elicited a gasp of alarm.

“Have you been taping this [conversation]?”

No, but I like the paranoia. Very Mammoth. She’s learning quickly.

“Hotel Impossible” air date

Set your DVRs … according to Stacy Schaubmayer, the “Hotel Impossible” episode on the Alpenhof is scheduled to air on the Travel Channel on March 11!

Darwin nominee? How NOT to pick up your girlfriend … 

And this from the California Highway Patrol … on Sunday, Feb. 17, CHP received a report of a stolen vehicle, a 2006 Grand Prix, headed north on U.S. 395 between Ridgecrest and Lone Pine. About two hours later, however, the vehicle was again spotted heading south from Big Pine. Inyo County Sheriffs Deputies joined the pursuit, positioning patrol vehicles in the Fort Independence parking lot. About 30 minutes later, a vehicle matching the Grand Prix’s description pulled into that location. The driver was stopped in the parking lot near the casino. The driver was identified as a Sheena Vanvelzer of Lone Pine, wnho said she had no knowledge of the car being stolen. She was questioned and later released. Her passenger, however, and likely the original driver, was a juvenile male, age 17, from Ridgecrest. He was questioned, and subsequently arrested and detained at the Inyo County Juvenile Center in Independence.

The vehicle was returned to the registered owner in Ridgecrest.

-CHP Report

Buz Schott memorial 

A reminder that a memorial gathering for Lawrence Albert “Buz” Schott will take place Saturday, March 2 beginning at 1 p.m. at the Schott residence at 2665 Skyline Drive in Minden.