ROCKY ROAD
“Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.”
That was Butch Cassidy (played by Paul Newman) in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
And the sentiment appears to be shared by Mammoth politicos, who may not be bank robbers like Cassidy, but they sure spend money like ’em.
So without further ado, let’s walk our way through three different recommended expenditures totaling $400,000 approved by two Mammoth boards on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rocking 350K
Town of Mammorth Lakes Asst. Engineer Colin Brownlee made the presentation on the prefab rock climbing boulder to both the Mammoth Lakes Recreation board and the Town’s Parks and Rec Commission.
The two boards held a joint meeting on Tuesday afternoon in Suite Z.
Brownlee said $350,000 would pay for the purchase, foundation and site work of an approximate 30′ long by 16′ wide by 11′ high prefab boulder.
He explained that routes can be customized so that even the least athletic among us can successfully climb a rock.
The climbing rock is the centerpiece of an $850,000 plan to build out Mammoth Creek Park as a Town Recreation Hub.
MLR is being asked to fund the rock out of Measure R funds – but Council must ultimately approve the expenditure.
Board Members Heather Schaubmayer, Danielle Torrance, Craig Albright and Brent Truax voted in support, while Eric Wasserman was the lone voice of dissent.
Wasserman argued that it seems a bit absurd to buy a climbing rock in an area that boasts thousands upon thousands of rocks which kids can climb for free – and which can be accessed, in the case of the Lakes Basin, via a free transportation system.
He also noted that the town rock would compete against private business (The Monkey Bar climbing gym in the industrial park) and the Mountain’s wall at its Rec Zone at Main Lodge.
But those cost money and this one will be free to the public, countered Heather Schaubmayer.
Except for the $350,000.
Wasserman also brought up the issue of maintenance costs, but that question was sidestepped by Town Recreation Manager Stu Brown, who suggested the climbing community would embrace the new boulder and take care of it themselves.
This approval came on the heels of a $25,000 grant to Wind Drift Studios, the brainchild of Kimmy Fasani and Chris Benchetler, your 2025 Mammoth 4th of July Parade Grand Marshals.
This one was a bit confusing because Fasani and Benchetler are opening a … well, it sounds like they’re doing a bit of everything. They’re renovating 94 Old Mammoth Rd. and turning it into Chris’s art studio/an Arctery’x retail space/a community art space and gathering spot. Honestly, it wasn’t very clear, and the delineation between private business and public space was also unclear.
As board member Craig Albright observed, it is not MLR’s purview to help a private business with a capital project.
The $25,000 ask is purportedly for the purchase and installation of audiovisual equipment, which will be made available for public use.
Board member Brent Truax suggested a minimum number of public use days be included in the motion, which Fasani didn’t object to, but … the idea really isn’t fleshed out enough to know what that number should be.
But some number will be included in the ultimate ask.
Look for this to appear on a Council agenda in April.
Then on Wednesday, it was the Mammoth Lakes Tourism Board’s turn to hand out $25,000 – this time to Omega Events, which owns the annual Bluesapalooza event.
In a rare display of dissent, the vote to approve was 5-3.
Board members John Morris, John Mendel, Tom Parker, Cristi Quesada-Costa and Kirk Wallace voted in favor, with Pat Foster, John Wentworth and Mary Beth Ericson voting against.
When Sherman appeared before the Board last month, he said event attendance dropped from 8,787 in 2023 to 7,253 in 2024.
At Wednesday’s MLT Board meeting, he said the event lost $230,000 in 2024.
This year he’s asking for $70,000 in public assistance to further market Bluesapalooza, which may very well be in its final year at Sam’s Woodsite, as the property is currently in escrow.
There is already a low murmur about moving Bluesa to the Bell-Shaped Parcel in 2026. Since one Board Member asked where the Bell-Shaped parcel is located – it is bordered on one side by Minaret Road across from Starwood and on another side opposite from the 16th and17th holes of Sierra Star golf course across Meridian Blvd.
MLT had already handed Sherman $25,000 in special event funding for 2025. On Wednesday, the Board added another $25,000.
Board Member Tom Parker had a pretty funny observation about the transaction, saying Sherman wants money to get the wider word out about the event and then adding, and I paraphrase, ‘Hmmm. Isn’t that what we [MLT] do?’
Indeed, MLT Executive Director John Urdi said MLT already markets Bluesa and other summer events “very heavily.”
Nevertheless, Board member John Morris suggested the ROI [Return on Investment] on the additional funds being handed to Omega, “will be pretty strong.”
In other news … Greg Rollison has reached a settlement agreement in his legal matter stemming from a November, 2023 incident which involved felony domestic violence and assault upon a police officer.
The seven-hour preliminary hearing was held in April, 2024 in the Bridgeport Courthouse and covered by Milender on the front page of our May 4, 2024 issue.
While Rollison’s final sentencing is not scheduled until May 13, it is expected he will be sentenced to nine years and four months in state prison. It is also expected he won’t serve nearly that much time, given bonuses for good behavior and time already served in the Mono County Jail.
The most serious charge, assault on a peace officer with special circumstances, carries a five-year term.
In other legal news, The Sheet has learned that Inyo County Superior Court Judge Susanne Rizo is currently under investigation by the California Commission on Judicial Performamce.
That investigation was launched in October, 2024.
Mammoth’s Planning and Economic Development Commission unanimously approved the extension of the Snowcreek Development Agreement at a special meeting on Tuesday morning.
The chief benefit to the Town appears to be the 47-units in the deal which will be deed-restricted to 175-200% of AMI (Area Median Income).
However …
Community Development Director Nolan Bobroff explained that further safeguards are in place to avoid a repeat of 2008-2009 (when the Town lost several income-based deed restrictions because it didn’t have the funds/resources to buy back units in the downturn), but … the safeguards are not guarantees.
In the Great Recession, if an owner of a deed-restricted unit wished to sell, the Town had 30-days to either back a unit or find a qualified buyer. If the Town passed on this right of first refusal, the deed-restriction was removed and the owner was then free to sell the unit to anyone.
In that era, the market tanked so violently that deed-restricted prices ended up being higher than market rate, so there was no incentive for to preserve the restrictions.
This time around, the Town has built in a 120-day buffer to either buy back the unit or facilitate a deal with a qualified buyer. And, said Bobroff, it has amassed a revolving loan fund balance of approximately $1.3 million.
But as Lunch pointed out during public comment, the Town would appear equally vulnerable to another Black Swan event and history could very well repeat itself.
This elicited a collective, disinterested yawn from commissioners and staff alike.
Oh well. Can’t let bad policy interfere with our day. We’ve got things to do!
PEDC Chair Mike Vanderhurst, for example, exclaimed “Hey Tom, see ya at lunch!” after MMSA Senior V.P. Tom Hodges made a brief public comment. That sure seemed inappropriate.
And then there was Cynthia Fleming calling in from out of town and name-dropping that she just so happened to be at a house staying with Laurentius Harrer.
Who knew that the Mammoth PEDC had so much social cache?
Mike J. Bodine Celebration of Life
Mar. 25, 1970 – Mar. 29, 2024
This just in … In honor of Mike’s passing, we invite you to share memories, laughter, and music this Sunday, March 23, at 11 a.m. at Izaak Walton Park in Bishop. Please bring a chair and an instrument for a jam session. The family also welcomes photos, food, mementos, or anything else you’d like to share in memory of Mike. All are welcome! Mike’s daughter, Diana, is organizing this open event. bodinediana@gmail.com.
Mike spent part of his long writing career at The Sheet. He was a good and savvy veteran with a highly sensitive b.s. detector … and he was also excellent company!
