To start off the Mammoth Town Council meeting tonight, Mammoth Community Water District General Manager Pat Hayes will make a presentation on water conservation efforts. Even with the late snowfall, water supplies remain low.
Hayes will be followed by two public hearings – one on the Zoning Code update and the other on a Community Development Block Grant.
Under Policy Matters, the Council will likely proceed with the amended ordinance that spells out Town Council compensation. At the last meeting, Council members Matthew Lehman, Michael Raimondo and Jo Bacon supported a raise of the Council pay from $300 per month to $735. The raised figure represents the 5% increases allowed by law over the past 29 years in which the Council never took any raises.
Council members Rick Wood and John Eastman opposed the raise saying you don’t serve on Council for the money, and times are too hard to spend more. The other three members said they want to make sure council members do not lose money. Lehman said a bit more money might open the door to candidates who otherwise could not afford to run. He said their voices deserve to be heard. The raise would take effect after the upcoming election.
Another item is back that started at the last meeting – regulation of e-cigarettes. Before the Council is an amended ordinance that includes e-cigarettes in the Town’s already existing tobacco regulations.
The Council meeting starts at 6pm in Suite Z of the town Offices.
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Plutocracy at work ?
Hide your wallets folks their not done yet, we still have some property to buy.
MLLA lawsuit vote + T.B.I.D. for millionaires vote = Raise for the already wealthy politicians.
It’s easier to rid this town of cockroaches then these pigs at the taxpayers trough!
Now that the deadline for potential town council candidates to pull paperwork has passed, the reasoning that the raise may encourage a different pool of candidates who otherwise could not afford to run to do so, now appears to be a moot point….at least for this upcoming 2014 election. It doesn’t seem like the possibility of a higher monthly fee brought too many others out of the woodwork to run so why not spend more time discussing it, as Mayor Wood suggested even if it would delay a raise being implemented for awhile. As Charles O. said, the timing is not right. Sadly, the public does not have the final say on this matter if the current town council can approve the raise with a majority of them agreeing to it regardless of what the public consensus may be.
Sorry, but I don’t buy the excuse given for the proposed raise for council members.
The town is deeply in debt, they have eliminated many positions – including a large chunk of the police department, now the council give themselves a 100+% raise? It’s a poor example to set as leaders and the citizens should just say NO to the council regarding this raise. Wrong time, wrong place.
What a coincidence!
5 thumbs down and 5 council members…
I think the thumbs up should be a strong indicator for the council of how the citizens feel about this ill-timed plan.