YOU, ME, S & T

 So … I’m sure I’m in the vast minority of those who are more interested in the fate of local ballot measures J, K, L and M than I am in the floating island of garbage of a presidential election. 

I read former Gov. Schwarzenegger’s take on that, and am largely in alignment. 

A pox on both parties, but I’ll choose ineptitude over ineptitude AND chaos. 

So Mr. Wentworth, I am not going Bezos on you. I’ll take Harris. 

Now onto local endeavors. 

I’ve found it interesting that those in favor of all four ballot measures haven’t engaged in the campaign until the 23rd hour. Almost as if the measures would pass not based upon the strength of their arguments or the merit of the cause, but rather, because of Groupthink inevitability. 

As I’ve read the letters over the past two weeks, what jumps out at me is that not one person has made an argument based upon any sort of … well thought out financial calculation. It’s all just, ‘It’s money we’re gonna take from other people and spend on you!’ 

Very seductive. 

We’re gonna build a wall! 

Mexico’s gonna pay for it! 

Which I’m sure makes Stacy Corless recoil in horror, Yes, Stacy, you and Donald do share some political philosophy. 

But I want to pivot here to talk about 2006. Not as much of a non-sequitur as you might think. 

2006 marked the last time we considered raising the bed tax rate around here. 

*If you don’t count the TBID formation, which I don’t, because the TBID wasn’t a public vote. It was approved by a vote of the business community, and inherently undemocratic because it gave Mammoth Mountain 40% of the vote (the TBID is a business improvement district and the vote to approve is weighted based upon size of business and percentage of local sales). 

That year, in addition to eight candidates running for three council seats, there were two tax measures on the ballot. 

Measure S proposed raising Mammoth’s sales tax rate from 7.25% to 7.75% 

Measure T proposed raising the TOT (bed tax) rate from 12% to 13%. 

T came on the heels of three hikes in the TOT rate, which doubled (from 6% to 12%) between 1997 and 2002. 

Seven of the eight council candidates supported the tax hikes (Chris Tolley was against). There was little public opposition. 

But there was a simmering undercurrent of general unease. 

A battle within the community as to the future of Mammoth and the scale of development. 

Sharon Clark wrote in a letter to The Sheet that May, “I quit attending council meetings because members didn’t’t hear what I said. Ignoring voters flies in the face of our democracy. Leaders who push their agenda instead of the people’s agenda fail us all.” 

Clark’s point of view had some evidence to support it. The Council at that time (consisting of Kirk Stapp, Skip Harvey, Rick Wood, John Eastman and Tony Barrett) had commissioned an outside firm to take the temperature of the community. 

Which revealed that Council had a 42% approval rating. 

Mayor Rick Wood did not seek reelection that year. 

In candidate interviews with the paper, there were some interesting comments. 

In support of the tax measures, incumbent Tony Barrett said for him, he was focused on transit improvements. That’s how he wanted to spend the money. 

“You can’t charge W Hotel prices for vending machine services,” he observed. 

Challenger Wendy Sugimura (who is now Mono County’s Community Development Director) was circumspect about the tax measures. 

“There hasn’t been enough discussion on what the community wants and no clear consensus or direction.” 

She ended up being the top vote-getter. 

Barrett lost in his reelection bid. 

The top six vote getters in that election were only separated by approximately 150 votes. Among them, there were three pro status quo/full speed ahead candidates, including the two incumbents Barrett and Eastman, and three ‘whoa, whoa, let’s step on the brakes, what about quality-of-life’ candidates in Sugimura, Jo Bacon (who was elected two years later) and Therese Hankel. 

As for the tax measures, S (raising sales tax) failed spectacularly, losing 56%-44%. 

T (raising bed tax) passed by a 59%-41% margin. 

From the June 10, 2006 Sheet: 

“Councilman Kirk Stamp, who spearheaded both ballot measures, said this was the first time a ballot measure had ever failed on him. ‘I’m shocked S went down,’ he said, but he also acknowledged, ‘People are tired of bailing out the government.’” 

Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory’s reaction: “I think people have had enough.” 

Of course, ‘enough’ in 2006 paled in comparison to what the Great Recession brought in 2008. 

And the TOT increase of 2006, which promised more money for all sorts of services – that didn’t really pan out. During the Great Recession, overall TOT revenue dropped 22%, sparked mass municipal layoffs, and combined with the airport litigation judgment against the Town, pushed us to the edge of bankruptcy. 

I asked a friend of mine and former Mammoth business owner how he voted on the Mammoth TOT measure. 

He voted yes. The explanation: 

“I want them to drive out as many tourists as possible now that I don’t depend on them. Ha. I hope they make TOT 50%! … Currently, with the new tax possibility (an effective bed tax rate of 16% if passed), we are at about the same rate as NOLA (New Orleans). And of course our restaurants and live music crush that place.” 

If Measure L, the effective bed tax rate of 16% would vault Mammoth into the 4th highest bed tax rate in the state. 

And at least 3% above any other ski resort (the highest rate in Tahoe is 13%). 

And from Fisher’s desk … 

On October 25, at approximately 11:33 a.m., a driver turned out from the Mammoth Scenic Loop into oncoming southbound 395 traffic, crashing into another vehicle, according to the Bridgeport CHP. 

“They accidentally turned into the southbound side, pulled over, did a U-turn, but as they did that U-turn, they turned unsafely right into somebody else’s vehicle,” CHP Officer Parks said. 

The driver at fault was a 55-year old male from Croatia in a 2024 Mazda. He and his passenger, a 50 year old female also from Croatia, were transported to Mammoth Hospital with minor injuries. The other driver was a 29-year old woman from Monument, Colorado in a 2015 Ford Transit. 

There were no drugs or alcohol involved in the crash, Parks said. Neither of the vehicles were drivable after the crash and the road was closed from 1:38 to 2:38 p.m. to remove the cars.