Letters to the Editor
Welcome to the sh*t show!
Dear Editor:
The most recent meeting of the PUD in June Lake was well attended for a change. I suppose it was engineered that way partly because of the storm surrounding the proposed ouster of the former head of the board, Patti Heinrich. Proponents of the change wanted to show support for their cause. However there were many Heinrich supporters there as well and they spoke out.
The new head of the board, Cheri Bromberger, chose to start the meeting by berating a woman who had volunteered to take the minutes at a prior meeting because the official secretary called in sick that night. Dorothy Burdette was dressed down because the minutes were not up to Bromberger’s high standards, although she didn’t go into any details. No good deed goes unpunished in June Lake. Bromberger, a proponent of the recall, then stretched her newly acquired muscles by telling people in the audience that she had the power to expel the public from the meetings if she decided that was necessary.
It looks like future meetings may turn into the sh*t show that this meeting was described as by one observer. The financial audit of the PUD will be made public soon, so that should be very interesting.
I have been pondering why this is recall effort is happening and the simplest answer is that Heinrich has pointed out that the PUD is in financial trouble and there are those who don’t want any changes to the status quo. The charges against her are not only ridiculously vague but entirely false. I found out through the grapevine, that some who signed the original petition to get rid of her weren’t clear about what they were signing. I hope that they know they can easily remove their names if they so choose. Those of us who understand the truth will continue to fight to put an end to this outrageous effort.
Alice Suszynski
June Lake
Reason to recall
Dear Editor:
The reason that I am pursuing a recall on Ms. Heinrich is simple: she is not doing a very good job of protecting our PUD from the perils a public agency faces. She does add great value to our community in her other capacities, but not in this one. I appointed her 6 years ago and have been hearing about her havoc since then. Luckily, BZ Miller and Jerry Allendorf were there as gatekeepers, voting her down time after time for many years. I saw this coming. When BZ passed and when Jerry passed the flood gates opened. The Manager was gone in two weeks (Patti accused him of stealing), and the employees filed to unionize (they needed protection at that point). So now we have a board that is spending more than $80,000 on studies and equipment to protect itself from its own hostile board members and the manager and the union lawyers are poised to litigate on several counts.
As I am gathering signatures people ask me who is going to pay for this and they are surprised to hear that it is all of us ratepayers. If we fail to take care of our local agencies they will fail to take care of us. The money and time spent fighting could have been better spent working on the lines and taking better care of the employees. Not only does the new majority on the PUD currently treat the employees like they don’t matter, but they are now bullying many community members. I know that people will think that I started this all, but you must look at my options.
1. Do nothing and act like it’s not my problem, all the while knowing there is a problem that will eventually become known to all ratepayers.
2. Stop now because we are being bullied. Bullies don’t get to win in my book just because they scream louder.
My only goal here is to inform the community that things are happening at the PUD that they may or may not agree with and that they need to pay attention and make up their own minds. Two of those new majority seats have been appointed with only one person applying. There has historically been very little public at PUD meetings; based on last night my goals have already been attained.
Vikki Bauer
June Lake
More than a rumor
Dear Editor:
Upon returning from several days at the Sun Valley Resort, including a full day at the cross country center located atop some of the Resort’s 45 holes of golf, imagine my surprise to find that closing Sierra Star is more than a rumor. And I thought we were a four season resort, too. OMG!
Rick Phelps
Mammoth Lake
