Archive - 2012 - Opinion

What we really need is less town government

October 12, 2012

As a business owner and resident of Mammoth Lakes, I am angry—angry that once again the Town of Mammoth Lakes appears to be taking out its shortcomings on its residents and police.  

All we heard about last time there was a budget shortfall was what would be “fair.” Apparently fair was cutting 10 percent from every department.

Forget for a moment that fair should never have been a consideration.  You know what would be fair? Making the over-staffed entity responsible for the current financial mess take the cuts.

Dear Mayor Lehman and Members of the Council,

October 12, 2012

I am writing in regard to the proposed use of voter-approved funds in conjunction with the current fiscal difficulties of the town and the settlement of the MLLA judgment.

Following the intent of the voters in passing the various measures has been a core principle of the council since 1986. This appears no longer to be true based upon the adoption of the FY 2012-13 budget and the Baseline Before Settlement Expenditures distributed as a part of the package presented to the public on Sept. 27.

Open letter to the citizens of Mammoth Lakes

October 12, 2012

When I was a child in San Diego, my parents would always take me shopping. Whether it was to the grocery store or one of the two new shopping malls, I would have to tag along and most of the time, I was bored out of my mind.

When my eye would catch a glimpse of an item of merchandise that interested me, invariably I would reach out to grasp the object. I remember my mom or dad telling me not to touch it; that if I broke it they would have to pay for it.

A letter from the Mammoth Lakes Police Officers Association

October 12, 2012

The Mammoth Lakes Police Officers Association (MLPOA) would like to thank the residents, business owners, visitors, and part-time residents of Mammoth Lakes who have been supportive of us for the past 26 years.

We would also like to express our sincere thank you for your support over the past couple of weeks during these trying times.

Something will have to give

October 12, 2012

Two millions dollars a year for 23 years in a town of barely 8,000 people is going to cause inevitable heartache.

Don’t expect to be happy—regardless of the outcome.

The first round of potential cuts drafted by the Town of Mammoth Lakes and presented at the Sept. 27 Town Council meeting caused an explosion of emotions across town.

The most drastic of the proposed cuts is the elimination of seven sworn officers from the Mammoth Lakes Police Department.

In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness month

October 5, 2012

Why do they stay?

By Susi Bains

For the Mammoth Times

When the going gets tough, the tough can’t always leave. Thus the question: Why doesn’t she just leave?

Thank you to local businesses and organizations

October 5, 2012

On behalf of the many community volunteers who donate their time and expertise each year to ensure the continuing success of the Sierra Summer Festival in Mammoth Lakes, I want to express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks for your donation of your gifts to the silent auction in support of the Sierra Summer Festival 2012. 

The following businesses are Ben and Jerry’s and Lingerie Lounge in the Village, Aveda In Touch Spa near Schat’s and Patti Millison of Hang on Massage and Yoga in Bishop.

Team Shinsetsu Ten sends its thanks

October 5, 2012

Team Shinsetsu Ten would like to thank everyone with a big bow who believed and still supports us.

On Oct. 13, TS10 is traveling to Murrieta, Calif., to represent Mammoth Lakes, fighting in Grappling X’s prestigious Pankration Tournament.  Pankration is the oldest form of mixed martial arts.

Mr. Gregory

October 5, 2012

Editor’s note: The following is a letter that was originally sent by part time June Lake resident Michael Bogash to Rusty Gregory via snail mail several weeks ago, via certified mail, according to Bogash. On Thursday, Bogash said he sent the letter to Gregory’s office via email. This time, Bogash received an email stating that Gregory had not received the original letter and that he would contact Bogash “within the next few days.”

Mr. Gregory,

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

To those in District 4

October 5, 2012

We all know that Mammoth is facing a steep uphill climb in order to overcome the economic recession of the last few years and the depressed property values that resulted.

And now we need to deal with a staggering debt.

Bullying awareness movie a success

October 5, 2012

I wanted to thank Wendilyn Grasseschi and the Mammoth Times for the article on my bullying awareness movie in last week’s issue.

I would like to make a clarification on what Peace Project is or was: it was only one small but important facet of the Caring and Courageous Kids program.

What I noticed over time was that many of the relational bullying problems occurred during recess time.

It was my way of “walking the talk” and offering pro-social activities for students.

Long overdue thank you!

October 5, 2012

This letter of thanks goes out to Paul and Kathleen Rudder.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rudder,

Thank you so much for honoring my daughter Danielle (Dani) Stanton with the JRR Memorial Scholarship.

Dani was flattered and surprised to be interviewed for a scholarship, then very proud and happy to have been awarded this scholarship.

Dani is attending Cerro Coso now, so this scholarship will help with her expenses.

History repeats itself

October 5, 2012

After the “Great Debacle,” the “Settlement That Ate Mammoth,” whatever you want to call it, both George Shirk, news editor of the Mammoth Times and Jack Lunch, editor of the Sheet News, wrote articles about that settlement.

George, a thoughtful individual and nice guy, opined that now the litigation was settled, we should put it behind us, and move on. An end to the finger pointing is a good thing, he said, the blame game and negative thinking. It’s counterproductive and won’t get us anywhere.

Greed, Terry Ballas, and MLLA

October 5, 2012

We’ve been so busy pointing fingers at the people who caused the MLLA crisis here in Mammoth that we have hardly touched a couple of central questions.

What would it feel like to put a town of 7,000 people at risk? How does a person sleep comfortably, knowing that a little, small town in the mountains would have to reduce its resources to below bare-bones levels?

Rediscovering Mammoth Lakes

September 28, 2012

Sadly, before my recent trip, I hadn’t visited the Mammoth Lakes area for a long time, having been a regular winter visitor when I lived in Southern California. Back then I saw the mountain, the condo, the restaurants and the clubs. It had never occurred to me that this was also a wonderful summer recreation area. Boy, was I surprised.

If you stand on top of Mammoth Mountain and are not obsessed with skiing down in one piece, you can take the time to look around, and what you see is the 10-by-20 mile Long Valley Caldera.