Editorial from March 6, 2006

"Backlash"

By Danielle Seckler

   It all seems to be coming to a head; everybody wants more money. More money for roads and drainage. More money for a new pool. More money for snow plowing in Sugarloaf. More money for the hospital. Pretty soon we will be seeing board members from the City Council, Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District, Sugarloaf Road Commission, and the Hospital board standing around town with donation pots, ringing their bells.

   Last year it was Big Bear Lake asking the voters to add ½ cent sales tax to repair the roads and drainage system within the city limits. This month the residents of Sugarloaf have received their ballots for a $60 per year increase to get their roads plowed. Next month, the ballots from the Park District go out to property owners for $48.50 per property to build a pool. Lastly, in June the hospital board will have a bond measure on the ballot for $9.50 per every $100,000 dollars of our property assessed value. Since the Big Bear Lake sales tax was voted down, that means that the others are asking each property owner to cough up anywhere from about $55 to over $115, depending upon where you live in the valley.

   Each of these issues has a different importance to each person and every project has an importance to the community. They are all worthwhile projects in their own right. However, the voters and or property owners may just be fed up with everyone coming to them to fix everything all at once.

   By June, all of these taxes will have been answered by property owners or the voters. I have to assume that those on fixed incomes will be cherry picking from their own needs. The older a person is; the more important is the access to a medical facility usually is. The health and safety of people and property will certainly be on the mind of Sugarloaf residents. What good is it to have a hospital and in the winter the ambulance can’t get to their home to get them to the hospital? Two thirds of the valley residents are older than 50 years old. Health issues begin long before that age and continue until we die. Compared to these kinds of priorities in life, the pool seems to rank way down on the list and maybe considered by many as a luxury that the valley residents can no longer afford.

   Depending upon the disposable income of each family or individual is how each will vote on the voter’s priorities in life. The PR campaigns are gearing up and soon we will be flooded with ‘Vote Yes on…’ cards in our post office boxes. Advertising in the media will be everywhere. One board member will say that his/her issue is the most important, while another does the same for their issue.

   The real problem will be if the voters or property owners won’t just say ‘the hell with it’ and vote ‘NO’ on everything. Just say NO, maybe the easiest thing for the voters to do. That way they can just ignore all the PR, dump the cards in the recycle bins at the post office, and continue doing what they had been doing before this came up; crossing their fingers and hoping nothing happens to them.

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