“R” stands for “really?”

Tourism Commission rebuts Town Council, stands by Measure R funding recommendations

“Really? You’re questioning OUR process? Seriously?” That was the underlying subtext during a special meeting of Mammoth’s Tourism & Recreation Commission to rehash a package of Measure R funding requests commissioners thought they were done with. Apparently not, as last Wednesday the Mammoth Lakes Town Council sent the whole lot back to the Commission for reconsideration, along with a group of issues Council members wanted addressed.

The funding requests were vetoed by Council largely as a result of a Measure R funding request submitted in the by Mammoth Nordic’s Brian Knox for $350,000.

During last Wednesday’s Town Council meeting, Knox lobbied Council to have his request reconsidered. This led to a subsequent discussion of how the Tourism Commission’s decision not to fund the request this time around was arrived at.

Mammoth Nordic’s $350,000 request included one $150,000 line item, that being for a new, second grooming machine. The proposal would double Mammoth Nordic’s grooming program.

No one has called the request unreasonable, in that Knox’s plan to expand the Town’s nordic skiing and snowshoeing trail system will create significant local benefit. It did, however, raise issues based upon the size of the request and what implications that may have on future Measure R disbursements. In other words, a big commitment to Mammoth Nordic may result in having less money around for future requests by different organizations.

Knox said he has no expectation Measure R will fund nordic operational costs year after year. As Knox told The Sheet, “Mammoth Nordic will continue to raise money, apply for additional grant funding and encourage other stakeholders to partner with us.”

Council sent back the Measure R package asking the Tourism and Recreation Commission to address four areas: the funding process, the definition of “town managed” versus “town owned,” leveraging opportunities and perception, particularly as concerns conflicts of interest.

Councilmember Wendy Sugimura voted to send the requests back with an expectation that the T&R Commission would develop a “point system” to quantify the value of competing projects.

Councilmember Skip Harvey suggested that Commissioner Knud Svendsen should not have participated in deliberation on Mammoth Nordic’s request due to a conflict of interest. Would Svendsen, whose employer (Mammoth Mountain Ski Area) owns Tamarack Ski Center, wish to support a competing Nordic recreational opportunity?

All these quibbles didn’t sit well with the Commission, which did its diplomatic best to form a response, one not involving any familiar hand gestures.

Tourism Chair Bill Sauser fired first. Starting with Harvey’s Svendsen remark, Sauser said,  “We’ve dealt with conflictive issues before. The money [conflict] isn’t there and the employers aren’t part of the equation. The point is moot.” The Mountain, he added, has already said that Svendsen isn’t directly involved in Tamarack and authorized him to pursue other nordic ventures as he saw fit.

(Author’s note: Proving such conflicts is difficult at best, in that T&R is an advisory commission, and doesn’t have the authority to spend money; that power rests solely with Town Council, which makes the final decision.)

Sauser said he thinks the only mistake the Commission made was “to justify not giving money.” The Commission picks the top candidates and makes awards accordingly, he went on to say. “If a candidate doesn’t meet the standard, it’s not our job to justify why they weren’t awarded,” he stated firmly. “A group was unhappy with how the money was allotted and is now politicking council members … If Council wants a workshop with the Commission, we can explain to them why [Mammoth Nordic] didn’t make it to the top. We can’t afford to give Measure R dollars away to single-purpose applications.” Sauser flatly rejected what he perceived to be Council’s inference that T&R write a report on everything they do, saying if that’s the case they should watch the TV replays or sit in on public process.

Commissioner Tony Colasardo didn’t dismiss the idea of single-purpose applications, but indicated they should be carefully evaluated.

The Sugimura-suggested point system didn’t chalk up any points itself, especially from Commissioner Teri Stehlik, who posited that a points system is ultimately no more objective than the current Measure R tool’s methodology. “A point system is no more objective than what we’ve done,” she said. “Perhaps if it’s a tight race between two projects, then we could use points, but putting a point on each project is not going to make it more applicable.” Svendsen agreed, saying it could be construed as being “equally subjective.”

T&R members also circled their wagons when it came to leveraging, agreeing they already seriously consider projects with matching funds or private backing. Big-ticket projects, however, were one point Commissioners decided needed further vetting. Colasardo suggested perhaps there should be a higher threshold established for upcoming projects such as Mammoth Nordic, tennis courts and others that will require hundreds of thousands of dollars in Measure R funds.

“We’re not here to put Measure R dollars out to fund a business, but we should look at that between now and the fall funding cycle,” said Sauser. “There are questions to be considered, such as what should the public-private partnerships look like, and so on.”

One point that the Town’s Recreation Director Danna Stroud thinks will need more clarification, however, is the Commission’s meaning when it uses phrases such as “town owned” and “town managed.” As Stroud explained, the Town “manages” a lot through special use permits, but doesn’t actually “own” much itself, with the exception of equipment and some other resources. “No one would have voted for Measure R without ‘town owned’ as part of the language,” Sauser said, adding his thought that the terms are clear and good ideas. Stroud said more clarity could be critical in the future as the paradigm of what Measure R funds changes and evolves.

The Commission decided those and other issues should be taken up by the Measure R Steering Committee. Members came to easy consensus that it would be a good idea to have the Steering Committee re-form every couple of years to review the system for any problems or opportunities to improve it.

Going back to the current funding requests, Svendsen said three meetings had been held on the requests (one in May and two more in June), and submitted that enough thought (and advice to non-awardees) had been given. Commissioners held their ground, voting 7-0 to send the entire package back to Council as originally recommended. An amendment was added that a workshop with Council should be held to let Councilmembers voice their concerns to the Steering Committee.

The new Council will take up the funding requests (again) during its July 7 meeting, at which time new members Matthew Lehman and Rick Wood, as well as re-elected member John Eastman will be seated.