AARGH

As I was poring over the September 6 agenda packet of the Mammoth Lakes Town Council this week … 

I write stuff like that so you’ll think a.) Wow, this guy’s a real watchdog. 

But more likely, you think b.) This guy has no life, and c.) It’s September 30, dude. You’re 3.5 weeks behind. 

No matter. 

There’s a consent agenda item. Titled, “Agreement with Constant Associates to develop an After Action Report (AAR).”

Every time I see a governmental body threaten to hire a consultant, that’s a red flag. 

So I read the agenda report. The recommendation is to authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract for up to $180,000. 

Why? 

So a consultant can “synthesize information and data from the emergency event [winter 2022-2023],” resulting in “comprehensive documentation of the incident.” 

Translation: We pay a consultant to create a $180,000 report which is gonna gather dust on a shelf, but maybe we can get all the other local governmental entities to pitch in so it won’t cost us that much – and it will free up our senior managers from, you know, having to spend a WHOLE morning typing up their own histories/observations from last winter. 

The staff report authorized Town Manager Dan Holler to “negotiate the contract amount with partner agencies.” 

So I talked to the City of Bishop. City Manager Deston Dishion: “We have nothing to do with the AAR.” 

Inyo County Supervisor Jeff Griffiths: “We made an agreement for cost sharing regarding the cost of an emergency operation center [during the winter] but it didn’t include this.” 

Mono County CAO Sandra Moberly: “The County hasn’t committed to use the Town’s consultant but we are going to prepare an after action report, possibly using County staff.”

I spoke to Holler Wednesday. He said the Town has not had success in enlisting partner agencies so it was going to sign a contract for $75,000 to cover the Town’s AAR only. 

Still $75,000 too much. 

Here’s the problem with hiring consultants. You have to bring them up to speed with what you’re doing. So they’re gonna interview each of your department heads for hours at a time anyway (during which time the department heads could actually just write their own damn summaries). 

Then the consultant is gonna read through all sorts of emails and documentation, et. al. to create a report. 

By the time you’ve created the document … I dunno. What is the shelf life, really? Three years? Five years? At which point your staff has turned over and the state bureaucrats at Cal OES have turned over and the only person left who’ll know anything is Town Clerk Jamie Gray and if she ever leaves, forget it. 

Of course this item was placed on Council’s consent agenda. Of course there was no discussion and the consent agenda was passed unanimously. 

Hey Council. Wake the hell up!! 

I suppose the Town would defend itself by pointing to forecasts for this coming winter which suggest a repeat of last winter.

Then again, any consultant’s report, even if it proved the least bit llluminating [doubtful], wouldn’t be produced in time to matter. 

According to the Washington Post, “A fast-forming and strengthening El Niño climate pattern could peak this winter as one of the most intense ever observed, according to an experimental forecast released Tuesday. The new prediction system suggested it could reach top-tier “super” El Niño strength, a level that in the past has unleashed deadly fires, drought, heat waves, floods and mudslides around the world. This time, El Niño is developing alongside an unprecedented surge in global temperatures that scientists say has increased the likelihood of brutal heat waves and deadly floods of the kind seen in recent weeks.”

An update on the Aaron Schat v. City of Bishop saga. A stipulated judgment between the parties was signed on August 28. 

The agreement covers three properties (Sterling Heights, Whiskey Creek and the Bank of America building) where Schat had committed various violations of the city’s building code, and provides timelines as to when Schat needs to get into compliance. 

The agreement also requires Schat to pay the City in excess of $140,000 in attorney fees, enforcement and administrative fees, and civil penalties. 

If that sounds excessive, consider: According to City Manager Deston Dishion, Bishop’s Public Works Director Nora Gamino has had to spend 80% of her time on all matters Schat. 

Added Dishion, “This judgement has not resulted in compliance [over the past month].” 

 

On Thursday, September 21, the Town of Mammoth Lakes’ motion for summary judgment was heard in Mono County Superior Court in the case of Eric. Hugelman vs. Town of Mammoth Lakes. 

In September of 2021, Eric Hugelman, a former lieutenant with the Mammoth Lakes Police Department, sued the town for wrongful termination.

Hugelman, 59, claimed that he suffered a neck injury in early 2020, and that the town “failed to provide [him] with reasonable accommodation(s) for [his] disabilities.” Additionally, Hugelman alleged that he was terminated “based on age discrimination.”

The hearing last Thursday came in response to the court’s tentative ruling, granting the town’s motion for summary judgment. 

Hugelman’s attorney, Jonny Roven, objected to how the court had characterized Hugelman’s job duties in the tentative ruling, which implied that Hugelman was the decision-maker regarding the assignment of duties for himself. He argued the plaintiff did not have written authority to leave his responsibilities as Lieutenant and act as Chief of Police. Instead, his authority to assign duties was subject to the organizational hierarchy—the Plaintiff’s superior, Chief Davis. 

“The evidence speaks for itself,” said Kevin Borgen, on behalf of the Town of Mammoth Lakes. “I don’t think [the plaintiff] can create a tribal issue of fact by characterizing the evidence…The more Mr. Hugelman’s counsel speaks, the less I understand what they’re actually trying to claim.”

The Lieutenant’s position was classified as an “at-will” position. In a convenient reorganization last year, the Lieutenant position was eliminated in favor of a Chief with four Sergeants. 

The reorganization, with Dan Casabian’s elevation to Interim Chief in January and the recent retirement of Ron Gladding, has since been reorganzied again as of September 4. 

There’s now Interim Chief Casabian, Sergeants Vetter and Heilman (and a current recruitment taking place for a third Sergeant to replace Gladding), and two new Corporal positions. Daniel Hansen and Kevin Reynolds got those slots. 

Casabian said the establishment of the Corporal slots provides opportunity for “internal movement” and growth. 

Judge Mohun is expected to issue a ruling in the Hugelman case within the next few weeks.