Stump on the stump

While competitive races for County Supervisor are already promised for District 3 (Bauer v. Alpers) and District 4 (Peters v. Fesko), whither District 2? Two-term incumbent Hap Hazard does not yet have an opponent. However, The Sheet heard that Long Valley Fire Chief Fred Stump might challenge, and called Thursday to ask him about it.

“I have requested papers, but I have not gathered signatures yet,” said Stump. “I’m kicking it around in my mind.”

The larger question, says Stump, is “Can I make an impact on the culture in Bridgeport, which I view as dysfunctional?”

As Fire Chief, Stump noted there have been many instances and interactions with County government which he would describe as not “teamwork-oriented.”

He then went on to make the following analogy. If you look at politics as a great lake, Mono County is but a drop of water and a Mono County Supervisor is an amoeba. “There is no room for arrogance” on the part of any local elected official, said Stump.

Stump did reference the current labor negotiations between the County and its employees, and thought it telling that Supervisors were demanding employee concessions while not volunteering to cut their own pay and benefits, which he says have doubled in the past eight years (ironically the amount of time Hazard has sat on the Board).

Expect a yes/no decision from Stump within the next few weeks.