Letters to the editor

Double standard

Dear Editor:

In my quest for a lease for a new place to live in Mammoth, I have become distraught by a double standard in our lovely town. There are so many fundraisers and heartfelt pleas to “adopt a pet” and many people answer the call and fall in love with a new addition to their tribe.

YET many of the landlords will absolutely not consider renting to anyone that has a pet.

My dilemma is this: as responsible pet owners how are we supposed to give our pets (and ourselves) shelter if we can’t rent anywhere?

Pets bring companionship and are good for the soul.

Shouldn’t that go hand in hand with being able to live in a home, condo or apartment?

I hope this will open the eyes and hearts of some landlords and that there will be some consideration made to those of us that live in Mammoth and want to keep our pets, and not have to adopt OUT the very same pet that we recently adopted.

Alli Archer
Mammoth Lakes 

2nd homeowner takes offense 

Dear Editor:

This is in reply to a remark in the August 20 edition of The Sheet penned by Helen Koetler. She wrote:

“Furthermore, by ‘resident’ I refer to the people who actually live and work and raise families here full-time. Not the second and third homeowners who use our Town as a bragging right.”

As one of these second homeowners, I take offense at the notion that second homeowners purchase their homes simply to boast. We purchased our home nearly thirty years ago and I can assure you that it was not for bragging rights, but rather because we had been visiting Mammoth frequently for years, during all seasons, and decided that it would be more cost-effective to own a place in Mammoth outright instead of renting every time.

The writer’s inference is clear. Second homeowners are lesser beings who are a drag on the Mammith economy and a drain on the Town’s tax base. That could not be further from the truth. Second homeowners pay property taxes based on the value of their units, not on the basis of the public services they use, which I am sure, on average, are far less than the services used by permanent residents. In addition, they frequent the commercial establishments in town and I would wager that they generate a lot more sales tax revenue into the Town coffers than do the permanent residents.

My husband and I, coincidentally, make our permanent home in the resort community of Three Rivers on the western side of the Sierras. More than a million tourists come through our town every year to visit Sequoia National Park. If it were not for the tourists, the businesses in the community would simply not survive. We and other residents accept that tourism is vital to our community and that without it we would probably not have the services and commercial establishments that enable us to live there.

Ironically, the closest quality restaurants and entretainment venues to Three Rivers are located more than 35 miles away, so we rarely go out to eat, see a movie, etc. when we are at home. We save those activities for when we are in Mammoth. Since we are retired, this amounts to several months per year. I am sure that we are not alone in that regard.

In short, instead of making snide remarks about second homeowners, how about an acknowledgement of the fact that we are key components of the Mammoth economy. Without us, Mammoth would be little more than a wide spot in the highway.

Barbara James
Three Rivers

Ed. note: As a matter of disclosure, it has been brought to my attention that a Ms. Koetler may not exist. I hope this is not the case. Sometimes we get fooled.

Odd Couple is not “nougat”

Dear Editor:

[The Edison Theatre’s staging of “The Odd Couple – Female Version”] is a really a nice, well-rehearsed production. Everyone did a good job and I particularly enjoyed the two leads, naturally, and the understated bickering between Sylvie and Vera. Tough to beat the original Pigeon sisters for goofiness, but our faux Spanish boys came awfully close.

As Manolo might explain, the production as a whole is quite the opposite of “nougat.”

John Rogitz
Mammoth Lakes

Dear Editor: 

Run, don’t walk to your phone and make a reservation (760.934.6592) now to see the “Odd Couple” (female version) at the Edison Theater in Mammoth Lakes before it’s over on Sept. 18.  After a soggy, rainy 9/11 Sunday, the matinee performance was a terrific way to share belly laughs with everyone else in the audience.

This cast of women and men are incredibly talented and they did such an outstanding job. Bring a hankie, because you will laugh until you cry! BRAVO!

Barbara Richter
Mammoth Lakes

Don’t make me have to choose 

Dear Editor:

I am concerned that the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives voted to end Medicare and cut benefits that hardworking seniors have earned.

This privatization scheme is an insult to hardworking Americans who have paid into Medicare. In these challenging times when retired Americans rely on their Medicare benefits, Congress should do whatever it takes to protect this critical safety net.

Medicare belongs to the people who worked and paid into the system. It is not the government’s piggybank to balance the budget on the backs of seniors.

Why should seniors be asked to choose between paying the heating bill and seeing a doctor while big oil companies (who are enjoying record profits) are free to keep their huge taxpayer-funded subsidies?

Seniors, our children and grandchildren deserve better than a plan that will take away seniors’ basic benefits. As voters, we must urge Congress to find a common-sense way to ensure that Medicare is viable in the years and decades to come.

Wilma Wheeler
Mammoth Lakes