The debt scenario in Mammoth Lakes has driven a number of citizens to ghastly imaginings. Will the Town be able to afford more than public safety services? What about all those years of work on
Negotiations over Mammoth's future take place in this high rise in Santa Monica across from the beach where MLLA operates.
recreation and marketing? What about all those tax measures designed to pump up the Town? As residents ponder the dire possibilities, they also say get it over with.
At the end of July, public discussions will point to “what is important to the Town Council and to the community”, according to Marianna Marysheva-Martinez. She and Town Manager Dave Wilbrecht will offer nine areas of priority to start the discussion as the Town goes forward with the Mammoth Lakes Land Acquisition settlement.
When the Town knows what the payments will be on an annual basis, Martinez said, “Then we will look at where to cut or raise revenues.” At last week’s Town Council meeting, Martinez pointed to the very large debt and the new reality for Mammoth. “It’s a new baseline,” she said.
Meanwhile, when asked about rumors that an MLLA attorney had called people in Mammoth about formation of a focus group on the debt settlement, Mark Rosenthal of MLLA said, “At this juncture we are not in a position to comment upon any of the Town’s efforts to address their debt to us.” Privately, some locals said the calls were made, and at least two Town Councilmen knew nothing about it.
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Franklin,
Using the old bait and switch are we… I can’t do anything about Wall Street but guys like Upthecreek are trying like hell to highlight the inadequacy’s of our little slice of heaven called Mammoth Lakes. He keeps hammering out the point that town employees have no liability on any of the bad decisions they make and they have no reason to change until we do something about it. They (town staff) continue to hide behind the widest possible consultation always.
Highly educated town staff. That’s a laugh. Do you need a laundry list? Start with tents, ice rinks (how many), fireworks (or lack of), airlines (or 18 years without one), parks, cross winds runways, sidewalks, landscaping, signs, budgets, name changes, book cooking and even taxes on musicians, I could go on and on re-hashing years and years of blunders…
“Just trying to make a living.” Are you kidding me? The folks working in restaurants, making the beds and loading chairs for the mountain are trying to make a living, town employees make bank and they get pensions. When I see the ones making the least and working the hardest taking cuts in pay, it makes me sick.
Upthecreek is a cynic and a master of irony, he is also a businessman who knows how to run extremely successful businesses. He could teach us all a thing or two.
Nothing free about your request to censor Upthecreek, in fact it smacks deeply of a certain unsavory manifesto from the ’40s. Unless it’s suitable to you… This is still America, isn’t it?
Times are tough and getting tougher. If you don’t fix this we all know it’s going to end badly.
ps, kudos to Friar Tuck, he get’s it!
Realist
The staff only carries what the Town Council desires. I’m sure you do your bosses bidding, if you’re actually empoyed. You have no idea when it comes to the workings of a Town Government. Do you really think all of the workers make the decisions that seem to infuriate you? In any town that has a Govorning Body like the Town of Mammoth Lakes. Council makes the decisions and the staff carries them out. Are you still with me or is this to much for you to understand? The liftees who put people in the chairs are seasonal help mostly from other countries contracted by the Mountain and go home after the season. The others who do live here are only there for the free skiing. There are allot of people making beds and waiting tables in this town which is a very necessary service. They have chosen this line of work in order live here and be able to buy their season passes for the Mountain every year. None of them came here expecting to get rich or have an easy life. If they did they had a real eye opener. It’s been this way since Dave McCoy first started the lifts. For you to infer the people who have gone to school becoming highly educated or worked many years in their particular dicipline should be chastised is (upthecreek thinking). Give me an intelligent reason why pensions are hurting you. What possible reason other than,(they get one and I don’t) could you have? Someone working for 20, 30 or 40 years at the same job should be able to retire and not be a burden on Society through welfare and other assisstance. Are you of the instant gratification generation who wants everything now and never thinks about the future? When the time comes for you to retire are you going to be set or are you going to be the anchor in Societies butt?
Well said, Mr. Ness.
I know many Town and County employees and I for one am glad they are working and living in our community. If you really could see and understand what they do on a daily basis you would see that most of these people are hardworking, experienced, dedicated, public employees that serve our community well.
Upthecreek
The Fire Department is part of a Fire District and isn’t paid by the Town. Doesn’t that make you feel better upthecreek? Now, if your calculations are correct the Town is way understaffed. At seven tax payers per public servant it means there should only be 490 people living in the Town. I have tired of your one trick pony statements about pensions being the culprit that took down the economy. Don’t say anything about the execs at Wall Street who are raking in millions of dollars after they raped the American public. I would say you were one of them but you have such a one track mind it’s seems impossible. The people who work in the Town offices are highly educated skilled people just trying to make a living. It’s hard enoough for them to do their job and with righteous people like you out there the job becomes even tougher. They are civil servents trying to take care of your town’s best interests. These are people in the trenches and not the bureaucrats which put this town in jeopardy. If you deem it so important in your life to keep belittling an blaming hardworking people trying to make ends meet why don’t you come out from behind curtain and give them some of your expert wisdom. I’m sure you have answers to help them feed their families, pay their mortgages and buy gas for the vehicles in order to get to work so it gives you a reason to complain. It’a a vicious cycle and you just keep perpetuating it with your rants. Find something else to do and let us be free of your comments unless it’s of different context.
I have a lot more faith in a focus group of informed citizens than I have in Town staff or our elected officials. Many municipalities have gone bankrupt and survived. I want MLLA to get as little as possible out of this judgement. The last resort should be selling off our precious land – not the FIRST consideration!!!
We have to remember that the people who made bad decisions way back there were getting bad advice and they had the best intentions when they were making them. They are not demons, but MLLA are vultures!
This is a lot like watching them move the deck chairs around on the Titanic.
We believe the decision should be put to a REFERENDUM. Take it out of the hands of the people who put us in this situation in the first place. The folks who have no culpability in all the bad past decisions and who will only make decisions good for their Friday paycheck.
Take them out of the equation. They will only do the same thing again given the chance. They cannot manage the simplest of businesses.
Lesson 1: You have to earn money by working.
Lesson 2: Having checks in the checkbook is not the same as having money.
Lesson 3: Going to the comptroller and moving money from account to account is not the same as lesson 1.
Lesson 4: Don’t be sheep, we won’t fall off the edge of the world if we don’t have a police dept. In fact, it was a much better place before the dept.
Lesson 5: Mammoth is a tight community, we will take care of business once the carpetbaggers are gone.
it takes an average of 7 Tax Payers to support one government worker.
remind me again how many public servants we have in mammoth lakes.
upthecreek,
Roughly 70.
BK
it that including the fire, police and courts?
The state pays for courts. Not sure about fire but the Town does pay for police and that includes them.
BK
I sure hope they call me, they will get an ear full crap. Big city losers screwing mammoth lakes.
Time for the town of Mammoth Lakes to fold up the circus tent. I have no interest in raising any revenues to feed the elephants any longer. Time to starve the beast that has eaten us out of house and home.
Do whatever it takes to dissolve the town government and have the county take over public safety, roads etc. There are choices besides the ones being presented here by the town councils lackeys.
The first thing to cut is greedy politicians and business people they represent. I will not spend any discretionary money in this town until these circus clowns are removed and the common peoples interest are the paramount concern of a new governing body.
I urge all taxpayers/visitors to vote with your dollars, after all that’s the only thing these crooks care about. The low hanging fruit have already fallen, time to cut the whole tree down and be done with it once and for all.
This is but a microcosm of the problems we face as a nation. If we can’t get it right at the local level, what chance do we stand as a country?
Boycott all products and services Mammoth, it’s not that hard to do.
with gas over 4 dollars the boycott will happen by itself,
Friar Tuck – That’s one of your best post yet!
You hit the nail on the head.
ditto
I agree, the town got started just to develop and they hoped, line the pockets of the fortunate few. Mammoth ( both town and the mountain) used to be a cool place before all the money-grubbers got control. There was police and fire protection, and snow removal, what else do you need? Certainly not a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy to tell you what to do.