In August, Mammoth people heard from their officials that the dreadful $43 million lawsuit judgment debt was settled. A press release told how the court-ordered mediation resulted in a tentative agreement on a settlement with Mammoth Lakes Land Acquisition and developer Terry Ballas. So far, officials have declined to reveal the dollar amount and terms of the proposed settlement. Tonight, the Town Council will offer what they are calling a community update on the tentative deal.
The Council scheduled a closed session at 4pm on the bankruptcy issues. The first item on the open session agenda of this regular meeting is the community update on the tentative settlement. Last week, Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht said only that as in any process there are general terms of an agreement and then details that have to be crafted. He said, “High level decisions are discussed and agreed on. Details are being worked out – terms and conditions.”
Wilbrecht did add that the Town’s hired legal teams are sorting out all of the details and the next steps. The Town’s August press release said that the agreement details will remain confidential until it is “fully documented and executed.”
The Town’s filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court is still there, and the schedule of hearings is on hold as the two sides attempt to work out a final settlement. The Bankruptcy Judge will have to approve the deal before it is final.
Again, officials will talk about this issue at tonight’s Mammoth Town Council meeting.
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Until someone comes forward to change the present predicament (it is not illegal to accept bribes, monies, favors, kickbacks, etc.) the system we have in place will always be open to corruption. Forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. And boys and girls … all of it is legal.
In some cases, government officials have broad or ill-defined powers, which make it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal actions. Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve over 1 trillion US dollars annually. A state of unrestrained political corruption is known as a kleptocracy, literally meaning “rule by thieves”.
Some forms of corruption—-now called “institutional corruption”—-are distinguished from bribery and other kinds of obvious personal gain. Campaign contributions are the prime example. Even when they are legal, and do not constitute a quid pro quo, they have a tendency to bias the process in favor of special interests, (ie., money given to an elected official for pushing through an airport deal, etc.) and undermine public confidence in the political institution. They corrupt the institution without individual members being corrupt themselves. A similar problem of corruption arises in any institution that depends on financial support from people who have interests that may conflict with the primary purpose of the institution.
Who will be the first elected official to put an end to this corruption?
No Joke,
Does Solyndra, Fiskar etc. ring a bell?
Does Terry Ballas still work for the town of ML?
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He never did. Terry Ballas is the developer who entered the development agreement with the Town back in 1997 for development of condos, etc. at Mammoth Airport. He still holds at least a portion of that still active DA. I believe MLLA also holds part of it. This is part of the current settlement negotiation.
Benett Kessler
Excellent reporting Bennet!!
Thanks Benett,
But is he not the existing FBO or fixed base operator?
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If he still has an interest in Hot Creek Aviation, yes.
BK
Time to step up like your employees and share in the pain Mammoth Town Council!
Volunteer to give up all pay and benefits until the settlement is paid in full or resign!
Better yet.. Resign …Then give back all past pay and benefits.
Govt Gone Wild
A settlement are you kidding me?
Are they saying we we’re again lied too and we are not broke?
I have a sneaky suspicion as an encore will soon see another Measure YOU!
It’s time for a Measure US!
The town council should volunteer to share in the pain!
Give up all pay/benefits until the settlement is paid in full or resign.
“When all is said and done with the settlement, then its time for our two Councilmembers who were on Council when most of the decisions were made to resign. ”
and if they do not
RECALL THEM.. What are you afraid of Mammoth Lakes?
not sure if people in Mammoth Lakes are scared, I think they just don’t care. And if they care, they feel powerless. Same story in every city…country.
Isn’t that the whole point to politics anyway?
In today’s political culture, too many people believe they are doing their “patriotic duty” by simply listening to Rush Limbaugh demonize “liberals” aka Democrats, 3 straight hours a day, 5 days a week, and reruns on weekends. In between, they “catch up on the news) by watching Fox News do the same neocon B.S.
This childish angst-building nonsense has taken hold in America with no let-up (or open communication) in sight, polarizing the country like it was back during the Civil War era.
I concur with “H” totally.
Mr. Eastman and Mr. Wood have been in the middle since day one.
This is no mystery to anyone.
Resignations are most certainly in order.
The deal is 20,000,000.00…..its a done deal
When all is said and done with the settlement, then its time for our two Councilmembers who were on Council when most of the decisions were made to resign. These two individuals can blame staff, attorneys, and anyone else they want but ultimately they voted for and directed all actions and strategies that got us into this mess. Its time that Mr. Wood and Mr. Eastman look into the mirror and recognize their actions and contributions rather than going around for the last several years acting as innocent pawns in this debacle. Mr. Eastman has amnesia (of course) and actually believes he played no role in this mess the past two decades as our Councilmember. Mr. Wood deep down knows this to be true, but has carefully spun a web of lies to the community regarding his involvement or so-called lack of involvement (memo to Mr. Wood, there may be some you have pulled the wool over but most of us know your culpability with your behind the scenes manipulation of just about every decision made by past Councils). You mean to tell me that the two of you did not discuss almost every airport detail with Mr. Manning going back to the beginning on your regular weekend hikes together? Do the community and yourselves a favor and resign – its a necessary step for our community to move forward.
yup…..those hikes….the “deals” done on those hikes….everyone knows about the hikes….time to resign “gentlemen”!