Page 2: Tim’s in, Tim’s out
Political posers have been clogging the airways for more than six months with another year to go before the 2016 Presidential Election. Mono County Supervisors don’t want to be left out and are announcing their bids. Supervisor Tim Alpers, representing District 3, publicly announced he will not be seeking re-election at the end of his term in 2016. District 4 Supervisor Tim Fesko announced he would be seeking re-election.
Alpers said he was announcing his decision early to give prospective candidates plenty of time to get a campaign ready. He said that the past three years on the board, have been “nothing short of spectacular.” Alpers was also supervisor in the 1980s and 1990s.
NIH Board approves new CEO
Interim-Chief Executive Officer for Northern Inyo Hospital, Dr. Kevin Flanigan is going to drop the ‘Interim’ portion of that title and become the next CEO of the Northern Inyo Hospital (NIH). The Board of Directors approved Flanigan at its Wednesday meeting.
The board is trying to fill a vacant seat left by Dr. D. Scott Clark. Prospective candidates need to submit a letter of interest and resume including any public service be a resident of Zone 4. Candidates must also fill out an application and conflict of interest form. For details on Zone 4 borders or a copy of the application forms, go to nig.org. Applications are due Nov. 30.
The hospital also hired a public relations firm, KPS 3 of Reno. The firm interviewed nine local residents and healthcare professionals, including Board Chair MC Hubbard, Chief of Staff Dr. Mark Robinson and Chamber of Commerce Executive Tawni Thompson. The firm did not meet with the Concerned Citizens Group that was formed in response to the actions of former CEO Victoria Alexander-Lane. The firm’s website touts, “We can train a room full of executives from across the country how to handle the media.”
MLR Board makes interim Measure U funding recommendations
The Mammoth Lakes Recreation (MLR) Board tackled the unenviable task of recommending interim Measure U funding allocations on Nov. 9 and 16. Prior to the formation of MLR, the Town’s Measure U Steering Committee reviewed applications for Measure U funding for special events and arts and culture programming, and passed their recommendations on to Council.
MLR Board members noted several times during the course of the Nov. 16 meeting that given the changeover, they had little time to prepare a strategy for their recommendations. Instead, MLR chose to create temporary strategy in the form of an initial cap on Measure U funding at $265,000, the same as last year’s Measure U funding allocation, minus one program no longer requesting $10,000, and two funding matches. MLR also set out with the objective to fund at most 90 percent of what any given applicant received the year prior.
MLR was considering 25 different applicants, with a total request of $460,770.
MLR will recommend to Town Council on Dec. 2 that several Town funding requests be deferred to the Measure R process, and that two new applicants’ funding requests be denied altogether. Most other applicants received about 90 percent of their allocation the year prior, with the exception of the Mono Arts Council, which received $20,150. The Arts Council had requested $102,000 for this year, but had only received $14,160 last year. MLR Board members agreed that $20,150, though more than 90 percent of last year’s funding, would go a long way toward assisting the Art Council’s full year of programming. The Board made the same argument for an increase in funding to the Eastern Sierra Symphony’s Sierra Summer Festival, which they recommended receive its full request of $6,800.
