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Thursday, 28 August 2008 |
The Town of Mammoth Lakes is looking at a budget deficit, so one would think that they'd be a bit more cautious of reckless spending. But what else can you call it when they offer $10,000 of tax-payer money to the Bear-With-Us organization with no contract, no plan, and no reassurance of results? No offense to Bear-With-Us, they stepped forward when the Council asked for a community based wildlife program, but they don't have any wildlife management experience from which to create a program.
From the Council meeting, it was clear that there was some miscommunication as to what Bear-With-Us was supposed to do with that $10,000. Mayor Sugimura thought that the Town was paying for a public education program. Bear-With-Us thought they were supposed to hire Steve Searles and call it good. This is why most businesses (make no mistake, running a town is a lot like running a business) make written agreements for things like goods or services being paid for.
You can't fix the mistakes of the past, yes, but now Bear-With-Us needs more tax-payer money. And it looks like at least Councilmember John Eastman is willing to pay it. Councilmember Jo Bacon made a reasonable comment about reevaluating the goals of their contract and see what progress is being made. Oh, wait... no contract.
The Town Council has been showing steady progress in being more money-wise when it comes to development and planning issues, but it seems to have gotten more careless elsewhere.
Mammoth needs a wildlife management program more than ever. It's been a dry summer so the bear's natural food source will be more scarce. Bears trying to put on the pounds for the upcoming winter will be all over our town like Yogi on a picnic basket.
But, instead of giving money to a group of well-meaning individuals with no plan, maybe the town should have a plan of it's own. A community-based wilderness program may be the answer, but better guidelines need to be given and a means to measure the value of any investment needs to be in place before any more money is spent.
Better lock your dumpsters this fall because, like it or not, it makes more sense to spend money on the well-planned program tomorrow than the no-plan program today.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 September 2008 )
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