San Manuel Miner
The Town of Mammoth is hoping the outcome of a special election will be much different from the last one.
At a special meeting of the Mammoth Town Council held on Tuesday, Nov. 25, the Council voted to call for another election on the Home Rule Option. The Home Rule Option allows towns and cities to set their own spending limits based on the amount of revenue actually collected by the Town (water and sewer fees, for example).
With the defeat of Proposition 406 in the Nov. 4 General Election, the Town of Mammoth will have limits placed on its budget by the state, resulting in a budget cut of approximately $549,000. The projected revenues for the 2015-16 fiscal year are estimated at $2,078,000. This is a budget cut of nearly 20 percent.
New councilman Bob Sloan was the only no vote against the election.
The Council must set up the special May 2015 election by Jan. 5. They will be holding public meetings to talk to voters about the issue.
Several staffing changes were also discussed at the special meeting. Mayor Don Jones reported that Public Works Director David Garcia had resigned his position and that Rudy Burrola was temporarily heading the department. Jones called for the elimination of the $45,000 salaried position of Public Works Director and would like to see Steve Nash reinstated as interim Mammoth Police Chief. He will be requesting this from his fellow council members at a later meeting.