AIMING TO AGE GRACEFULLY
The Mono County Board of Supervisors has an aging problem. Don’t worry, I’m not making a joke about the demographic of its members.
Rather, going into the FY 2026-27 budget discussions (for which they plan to ultimately approve a budget in September) on Tuesday, the board became overwhelmed at the number of projects on the docket falling under the category of “deferred maintenance.”
Deferred maintenance is the practice of putting off necessary repairs, upkeep, or equipment replacements to a future date. Mono County’s Budget Policy states that any additional general purpose resources shall be split 35% toward this purpose.
This year, that split gives the county about $731,866 for deferred maintenance projects, but staff identified roughly $920,000 in suggested upgrades, meaning there will be, gasp, some projects deferred even longer.
Items on the docket include improving community centers, such as adding an HVAC system to the June Lake Community Center ($50,000), upgrading windows at the Crowley Community Center ($20,000), and repainting the Walker Community Center/
Senior Center ($85,000).
But with those priorities at hand, the board was split over whether upgrading aging facilities is the best long-term investment at all.
The June Lake Community Center has never had air conditioning, for example.
“If we haven’t had it so far, is that the consensus of the world that we need it?” Supervisor Lynda Salcido said.
Staff said the question is both about comfort andabout how community facilities are used today.
“It becomes over 85 degrees there when meetings are happening,” Finance Director Stephanie Trujillo said. “It can’t be used as a cooling place if it’s not cooling.”
The supervisors generally agreed that the role of community centers has expanded, particularly as extreme weather, power outages and wildfires become more frequent. The facilities could serve as cooling and heating centers during outages, as well as emergency shelters during wildfire events.
“And I think that’s the goal, that these are becoming heating and cooling centers when there are so many power outages there,” Trujillo said.
Supervisor Paul McFarland added that upgraded HVAC systems with air filtration could improve the county’s ability to use the facilities during wildfire smoke events.
The county is looking into grant opportunities, including potential funding for community resilience centers, to help pay for improvements, Trujillo said.
But most of the board acknowledged that creating consistent standards across all county facilities will require a broader plan.
“This is a great opportunity to say, what are all the things that are expectations in our community centers, or our road shops, or those different things?” Trujillo said. “So that we can say, okay, well, the expectation is that you’re going to have air conditioning.”
McFarland said that the list at hand was not exhaustive.
“I think many of us know individual projects that could be added to this, because they may be deferred maintenance, but they may not be classified as that internally,” he said.
But Supervisor John Peters questioned whether repairing aging facilities is even worth it.
“I mean, we’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-year-old facilities that are, in some cases, falling apart,” Peters said. “At what point, for the community’s needs, are these community centers becoming obsolete?”
He also questioned a $500,000 proposal for restroom and ramp renovations at Bridgeport Marina, which would account for nearly half of the deferred maintenance funding under discussion.
“I mean, some people wouldn’t drive on it with their boat, because it’s not a road anymore,” Peters said of the access road. “I don’t know where that number came from and how that got prioritized onto this list.”
Staff clarified that the list was not final and was intended as a starting point for board discussion.
Will the Loop be duped?
The deferred issue of childcare also surfaced during Tuesday’s budget discussions when the Little Loopers, a June Lake-based nonprofit, asked the Board of Supervisors for $15,000 to help secure housing for a prospective in-home childcare provider.
The request came as northern Mono communities continue to struggle with limited (or no) childcare options. But rather than focusing solely on the proposal, supervisors questioned whether it could be viable countywide.
“I think there was some staff concern that this was kind of a one shot in one community,” Supervisor Jennifer Kreitz said. “There are needs for this throughout the county, and we should consider more of a broader policy analysis”
She also brought up the role of the Mono County Childcare Council, which already provides licensing assistance, counseling and support for in-home daycare providers.
“I would like to be able to offer this level of care to anyone who came forward wanting to do this,” Lynda Salcido said. “But it’s kind of a lack of policy.”
Loopers President Kirstie Butler told supervisors the nonprofit was created by local working parents who wanted to address a childcare shortage in June Lake. Seven residents originally formed the nonprofit and helped establish a daycare program nearly a decade ago. The organization has since expanded to nine board members.
Butler said the nonprofit previously covered a childcare provider’s rent for a full year to help launch the program, but rising housing costs have made that increasingly difficult.
“We’re not afraid to say we don’t have that capacity in this day and age, with rental and housing prices,” she said.
The Loopers have already committed $12,000 of their own funds toward supporting a new provider, including $1,000 monthly payments during the first year and a three-year agreement designed to help the provider become established.
The prospective provider hopes to operate a larger in-home daycare and eventually hire an additional staff member.
Currently, June Lake’s existing childcare provider can serve up to eight children, or six if caring for children under age two. The proposed expansion would increase capacity.
Butler said the organization’s mission extends beyond June Lake and that it is open to supporting childcare solutions in other northern Mono County communities if opportunities arise.
Supervisors praised the group’s initiative and suggested the Loopers could serve as a model for other communities.
“I’m in support of the idea,” Supervisor Rhonda Duggan said. “Find ways to connect this back and offer this beyond this one community — on a countywide basis.”
Lunch takeaway: It appears Supervisors are not inclined to fund the request, punishing an organized and motivated community group.
