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Mammoth motto: “We’re not pretty, now, but, look out … our future is looking bright!”
It’s our town and it’s time to take it back! We can do this! It won’t be easy, nothing worth doing ever is. Local government cannot do this alone! It’s up to us. If we don’t take our town back, we lose future opportunities.
From everything I have read in the general plan and ordinances, and from talking to people, it is evident that we all want the same thing you wanted 10 years ago: Get rid of the blight. Let’s take Mammoth back to its long-standing tradition of taking care of our own “family”. From the first week we moved here I felt like we are home.
A renewed effort citing abandoned/vacant properties is underway. Volunteers are needed for our neighbors homes that need help. Adopt a street New Mammoth? Let’s set the mark. Everyone is welcome to take part, anything you can do. A trailer to loan for trash going to the dump, or help someone clean up their yard. Seniors need someone to help with yard work. Great opportunity for local youth and youth groups. Just need you to take an interest in this project.
I promise you that if we stick with it as a community and make it a habit that will continue, our beloved community will be a place to be proud to live in and raise families again. A town to be proud to say I came from Mammoth! No contribution will be too small.
The first problem to overcome is: apathy: “A sort of living blight,” said Horace Greeley. Think how great, that will feel, and it will be you that made it happen! Just one family, one person to each street or area to pick up trash and keep an eye out for vandals or litterers. I know some of you already do this.
For the police department: please more attention to the quality of life offenses. Public Works has said they will pick up appliances that are at the curb, another reason we need neighbors to help each other. How do you expect others to respect us and our neighborhoods if we don’t?
“Vacant property and the blight that usually follows have emerged as a crisis for cities and suburbs alike. The situation is denying local governments of desperately needed tax revenues, consuming millions of tax dollars, eroding the value of nearby homes, posing health and safety risks, and complicating already challenging neighborhood revitalization efforts.”
“A broken window left unrepaired leads to others being broken and sends the signal that nobody cares. Of course, it isn’t only broken windows, but also abandoned cars, graffiti, blighted houses and other visible signs of neglect. In such environments, the theory goes, community controls break down, leaving a neighborhood wide open to more of the same.”
Tell me this isn’t the case. Just in the last year two more homes in my neighborhood have been neglected and vacant. Of course this affects attitudes. People see that trash and figure “They don’t care. Why should I?” as they throw more trash on the side of our roads and streets.
Your success will make business and people want to live here. Mammoth is blessed with million dollar views. A history rich in family, community attitudes. No two homes are the same. Mammoth offers a rare freedom for people and small business more than most communities anywhere. With this freedom comes responsibility.
Town Council want new businesses, want more revenue? “Build it – rather clean it up – and they will come.”
How wonderful to hear the sweet sound of a train again! If I am crazy for believing in Mammoth, it is a good crazy!
Thank you, sincerely,
/s/ Diane Theobald
Mammoth, AZ
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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