Letters to the Editor

A brilliant head slap?

Dear Editor:

I’d classify this little nugget of information from the town update somewhere between sarcastic brilliance and a head slap.

Leash Law Reminder
Mammoth residents and visitors are reminded that the Town has a leash law, and it is a violation of the ordinance to allow your dog to run loose off of your property. While recent budget cuts eliminated the Animal Control Officer position, the laws pertaining to controlling your pets did not change, and you can still be cited by Mammoth Lakes Police Department officers if your dog is at large. The Police Department is currently receiving a large number of complaints from several neighborhoods, and will be targeting patrol time in those areas when possible to apprehend loose dogs and to cite the owners. In addition to the citation fine, you could also be charged boarding fees by Mono County Animal Control if we choose to impound your dog at the Whitmore Shelter.
At-large dogs are a traffic hazard, and even the most well behaved dog can bite if provoked. If your loose animal causes a traffic collision or injures/bites someone, you would likely be liable for damages, which could add up to thousands of dollars. Please respect your neighbors, AND your pet and obey the leash law.

So the town saved the salary of an Animal Control Officer at the expense of having overworked Police Officers chase your dog when they could spend that time chasing speeders on Manzanita Rd.

Ken Warner
Mammoth Lakes

Wrong date

Hi Ted:

I read The Sheet over the weekend and noticed an error in the story about the Cox vacancy (page 7, “Cox vacancy strands Mono”). The filing deadline was listed as Aug. 6, but for this race the filing deadline is Sept. 20.

Lynda Roberts
Mono Cty. Clerk-Recorder-Registrar

Art-based development

Dear Editor:

Mammoth Lakes is part of the Inyo National Forest. Inyo is Native American for “dwelling place of the Great Spirit.” (Don’t we locals know it). Towering mountains and pines, remoteness, abundant wildlife, fresh air, wildflowers, pure water and a patently Californian live-and-let-live liberal philosophy that lends itself to an amazing quality of self-expression in this community. This tiny part of the world drips with talent. There may be more quality artisans per capita in the Mammoth area than in any other rural community of its kind. Must be something about the clear, thin air. The performing arts are especially prominent as evidenced by the explosion of numerous music and art festivals, concerts, a top-notch film festival, first-class theatrical presentations and more and more film/TV/commercial production companies coming to our film-friendly town. DPs (directors of photography) love the quality of the light here.
Arts-based development for rural communities incites much more than economic benefits; the arts define us and anchor us to each other. The benefits of art and other cultural entertainment help us grow and prosper, promoting communities and the benefits they can obtain by engaging people in the arts. There are stories throughout the country of how communities are using arts and cultural awareness to everyone’s economic benefit.
Art in any form is a demonstration of an area’s culture. It is more than an economic tool. We hear so much about the importance of economic development (mostly more new housing structures) that we often lose sight of the real reasons we exist. Our history and culture derives from everything around us.
That’s why we work as hard as we do to keep our small rural communities meaningful and lively. Small rural communities have much to offer in the arts. Future generations are touched in a way that will allow a deep sense of pride to surface. This pride stays with our youth as they learn and leave our small rural areas and take with them the much-needed critical thinking so necessary today that automatically comes from the arts. Artists are the only persons in society that truly cause any real change in thinking and behavior – not elected local officials, whose focus is often on power and the latest developments in real estate.
Mammoth Lakes and its clear-cut passion for artistic expression is headed in the right direction and may (and should) ultimately have much more to offer than frozen particles of water vapor.

Dennis Kostecki
Mammoth Lakes