Opinion

Town Manager: Worst Job?

February 4, 2011

We know a guy who keeps a list of the worst jobs in the world, or, if not the worst jobs, jobs he would never do, for whatever reason.

They’re the ones you might expect: summer highway construction in South Dakota; working the blood pit in your neighborhood slaughterhouse; working timber on the Sierra’s (hot) west side.

We’ve got another one: Town Manager.

There’s a reason why town managers last only four or five years on average.

What we do best

January 17, 2011

Mammoth Times Editorial

There’s an old coaching expression that goes something along the lines of “Hide your weaknesses; exploit your strengths.”

In the wake of the loss of the $30 million Hot Creek lawsuit appeal, Mammoth would be wise to follow that advice.

We’re really good at recreation.

We’ve known that all along, but during the late 90s and early 2000s, we let other things (development, primarily) crowd into the discussion, and we weren’t very good at it.

But now we have our focus back.

Out of our league

January 8, 2011

MAMMOTH TIMES EDITORIAL

"We were out of our league."

So said former Mammoth Lakes Town council member Kathy Cage, after learning the Town lost its appeal of the airport/Hot Creek decision last week.

“We didn’t have the expertise we needed to negotiate such high level agreements,” she said.

Cage’s assessment could all too easily be applied to far more than just the most recent airport embroilment.

The appeals court’s Dec. 30 decision that found the Town on the wrong side of a $30 million lawsuit is only the latest in a series of high-profile legal snafus.

High hopes for hospitality

December 17, 2010

MAMMOTH TIMES EDITORIAL

We have high hopes for the Mammoth Ambassadors Program.

Our service personnel are critical to our image and to our collective well being, but sometimes enough is enough.

Case in point. At a recent meal in a local restaurant, the waiters were overly friendly and solicitous to the point of intrusiveness on the customers’ conversation. One diner made a specific request, but when the meal came, that request was unfulfilled, ignored.