It seems only like yesterday;
the Big Bear elections had come and finally had gone. Almost a year to the
day later and politicians have already started their campaigns for 2008.
With each state vying to be part of the Super Tuesday or the first state
to have primaries; candidates started their stump more than a year
before the primaries.
Even our local politicians are
getting geared up for their elections. In June 2008 the County
Supervisor Dennis Hansberger has a contender from his party running
against him, Neil Derry. Derry has been building a valley consensus for
the needs of the residents and he will be here on Nov. 13, from 6:30
p.m. at the BBARWA conference room, 121 Palomino, in Big Bear City. The
public is invited and a question and answer session will follow. If the
candidates are starting their campaigns, we should listen.
In November 2008, the Community
Services District (CSD) Bob Colven and Rick Ollila and the Big Bear Lake
City Council members Liz Harris and Bill Jahn are up for reelection. A
stumping we will go - a stumping we will go – hi ho - a stumping we will
go.
Let’s just start with the CSD.
In the summer of 2006, Colven had been very vocal about Hansberger’s
lack of consideration to those who lived in the east valley, with much
applause from the audiences he spoke to. Hansberger was asked to come to
the CSD several times by Colven, to speak primarily about the
deteriorated parks to the east. Hansberger never came to a CSD meeting;
however he did fly in one day and do a walkabout of the parks with the
old general manager, who never told his board members that Hansberger
was coming up. That’s when the CSD created a committee to see if they
could do something on Paradise Way without the county park district and
they must have been doing pretty well. Hansberger must have gotten a
little nervous when his proposed pool project was thrashed into
nonexistence. In early 2007, Colven went with the new CSD general
manager to a fundraising dinner for Hansberger. Since that time, Colven
has taken a complete turnaround and is completely for having the park
district create a park on Paradise Way. As for Rick Ollila, he’s been
keeping his heart and soul mostly on water issues at the CSD, BBARWA and
the DWP. Though when Colven had to be taken off the park committee since
he lives too close to the land on Paradise Way, he was visibly angered
and resented that Ollila replaced him.
With the pool project dead,
Hansberger decided to put the promised $1 million dollars from Prop 12
towards Paradise Way Park and that the county personnel would do the
project. Up until the dead pool, no one from the county wanted to do
anything out there. Then there is the Tennis Ranch purchase, where the
$2.5 million dollars of Prop 12 allocated for moving the zoo went to buy
the facilities. An extension for the pool money was made and is to be
used for an east valley park replacement. When the US Forest Service
finally gets off their duffs and the zoo is allowed to move that money
is gone and other arrangements will have to be made. At this point,
chatter from all agencies is that they will borrow the money and we the
people go into more debt. Improvements to the Tennis Ranch to take it
from a private camp to a public camp and/or park are not known. A road
has to be paved, roofs like elsewhere will have to be replaced, and ADA
accommodations are mandatory to make it a public facility.
Add into the mix, that Marge Mc
Donald has been working on getting a traffic light at Maple Lane and Big
Bear Blvd., citing too many accidents, injuries, and death. For more
than two years she has gotten valley wide agency support and soon a
light will be up and working. Swoop in Hansberger, to take the credit.
Yes, he and the other county supervisors had to approve the expenditure,
however he talks about it like he worked long and hard for the east
valley residents to get the light. Come on, county employees did what
they were suppose to do and get paid for.
In Big Bear Lake, the City
Council majority seem to have it in for the DWP. New board members have
been appointed, who had never been to a DWP meeting in the four years
I’ve been reporting on it. Truth is that one new board member, a
developer, showed up at the public hearing for the commercial water rate
increases in June 2007. Those people who I see attending each and every
meeting, know what and why things were done the way they were; and tried
to get appointed to the DWP board on numerous occasions – never had a
chance. Just not part of the ‘good old boys’ club. This started when the
commercial rate change was to be put into effect and they blasted the
DWP board and the general manager for trying to improve the water
delivery system to all their customers.
The general manager Jerry
Gruber was placed on administrative leave due to a discrimination charge
from a female employee who felt she should have had the top position
after the reorganization from the loss of an assistant general manager a
few months before. Since Gruber went on leave, a closed session on the
‘interim general manager’ was held and no changes were made. An
investigation and a six hour closed session on Gruber’s job resulted in
nothing. The DWP top administration is understaffed and the new board
members still haven’t gotten up to speed on the many issues. That was
Gruber’s job.
If the issue to the east is the
parks, the issue for Big Bear Lake is water. Due to the difference in
terrain, the DWP replenishes its wells more slowly than wells to the
east. With the elected City Council breathing down the necks of the
appointed DWP board; they have taken control and control they will.
Since Gruber was place on leave, the City Council is held a developer
hostage until they can ‘understand’ the DWP’s policies. At the Oct. 8th
City Council meeting a simple zone change for a 70-condominimum project
has been placed on the back burner. Unique Mountain Development and its
president, Dennis Hall, can’t get the zone change until the City Council
has held DWP and Water Summit meetings. In a letter from Mayor Bill Jahn
to the DWP, that since the zone change opened up “considerable
discussion” the public hearing was closed and that “prior to re-noticing
[the zone change], the Council requested a joint meeting”. The letter
goes onto four items that the Council want to explore and understand,
none of which have anything to do with this development. The zone change
from a R1 to R3 for multifamily dwellings is just reversing the change
made about 10 years ago. Liz Harris read or referred to a ‘letter to the
public’ about having a Water Summit at both the City Council and BBARWA
board meetings. Both letters can be viewed in links below.
What does water have to do with
next year’s elections? It is the issue that Harris and Jahn have taken
as their cause. In Jahn’s DWP letter he states that they want the
process for allocating water meters and how this is determined, the
recent development slow down and the 160 meters per year, the DWP Master
Plan, and alternatives for future water demands to be discussed. Without
having spoken to either Council member, it seems to me that this has
more to do with getting the developers and real estate industry to
support their reelections. Since both were placed into office in 2004,
after the 2003 Old Fire, water was not their highest priority.
The real estate industry is
powerful in this valley, just look at the Private Home Rentals (PHR).
Next November an initiative will be placed on the ballot that will
regulate the PHR industry. When the City had to do an economic impact
study, which was rushed into existence, it spelled doom-and-gloom to the
City’s coffers and valley employment. Those who have fought for more
regulation on the PHRs wanted quiet rural neighborhoods and equal
regulation for both lodging and PHRs. The first part, Jahn has done with
new ordinances coming that were hashed out between residents, lodge
owners, and PHRs. Time will tell, if the second part will come into
committee or ordinances. This seems to me that they will give a little
to the residential voters or the residents may pass the initiative.
On Oct. 19, Harris and Jahn
held a fundraiser for Hansberger on the lake. Hansberger is lining them
up; Colven, Harris, and Jahn. Each one is hoping that if they scratch
Hansberger’s back, Hansberger will help them get back into office. Of
course, each local candidate will give to their biggest backers
everything they want as well.
If it goes the way these four
want it to, then when the election is over everything can go back the
way it was. Let’s all sing together now, “Hi Ho – Hi Ho - a stumping we
will go.”
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