STATUE OF LIBERTY PLAY
As a newsman, I’m always suspicious of a Friday afternoon press release.
What are they trying to sneak past me?
The press release was from the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce, touting that the Mammoth Film Festival had signed on as the “Statue of Liberty, Presenting Sponsor of the Mammoth Lakes 4th of July Parade!”
This means that Mammoth Film Festival (MFF) is donating $5,000 towards the parade.
What’s interesting is that MFF was awarded $10,000 in Measure U event funding a few months back.
So … who’s really sponsoring the parade? In effect, aren’t we the taxpayers just paying for our own damn parade and MFF’s marketing ploy all in one fell swoop?
On Wednesday, Mammoth Town Council gave Mammoth Brewing $25,000 for Bluesapalooza. This is on top of Measure U event money already given to Bluesapalooza.
Which, directly or indirectly, will find itself into Sam’s Wood Site owner Dirk Winter’s pocket in the form of rent.
The same guy MLT is suing for breach of contract because he was handed $300,000 for site improvements and used the money to close the deal instead.
So … we fund the deal, and then pay the guy the rent to help carry the property. Genius.
Brandon Brocia of Bleu Handcrafted Foods gave public comment at Council Wednesday, urging Council to support a ban on single-use plastic bottles.
He cited the city of San Francisco’s recent ban on single use plastic water bottles of 21 oz. or less.
And made the claim that “one retailer” in Mammoth sells 500,000 single-use bottles alone every year.
Adoption of such a ban, “would send a powerful message,” concluded Brocia.
Brocia left the meeting before the photo below was taken. All five Councilmembers (including Stapp, who must have hidden his before the photo was taken) were drinking from single-use containers. Councilman Wentworth had a second one at his feet.
Wentworth’s Councilmember report was powerful, yet subtle. Not sure how much people caught.
He asserted that DMP’s (Destination Marketing Plans) are “not the way we should go. They really consolidate power on the marketing side of the [planning] equation.”
Destination Marketing Plans are becoming fashionable because they represent a way for marketing organizations like Mammoth Lakes Tourism to expand their political reach and hold onto funding.
Wentworth said that for a lot of destinations, there’s too much traffic now and the term “sustainable” is becoming more and more a part of the conversation.
On a side note, just look at this week’s issue of The New Yorker. Huge story about the impact of Airbnb on destination communities.
Park Guell, a park in Barcelona which has become so much of a tourist attraction that the city had to limit visitors to 800 per hour and charge a fee. Nevertheless, the writere experienced a 2.5 hour wait to get into the park on a Tuesday in February.
And still described the throngs as if we were visiting the Coney Island boardwalk.
Airbnb has fundamentally changed the game for visitors and residents alike. At what point, one may ask, will the Lakes Basin risk becoming Park Guell?
Bill Sauser on the fishing opener: It was 25% of what it was in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Shore traffic @ Crowley is half of what it was 15 years ago.
The Yotelpad public hearing before Mammoth’s Planning and Economic Development Commission has been moved to May 15 at 9 a.m. in Suite Z. It will be a single-item hearing.
Mammoth’s Town Clean-Up Day has finally been scheduled. Mark June 8 on your calendars. Trash bags should be available by May 20.
Finally, several references were made to Mammoth’s Dogshit epidemic as the snow recedes.
Trails Coordinator Joel Rathje has one solution: Plogging. Plogging is apparently the latest craze in Sweden, Picking up litter while jogging = Plogging.
Which reminds me … where the heck is Marcus Nobreus these days?
