Editorial from September 8, 2006

“I can’t get no satisfaction”

By Danielle Seckler

    Can you smell the dissatisfaction in the Valley? We can. People are disgusted everywhere you look – to the East, North, South, and West of the Valley. Within these mountaintops, there are mini revolutions starting to grow. The people, those who pay the taxes and live here struggling to survive, are getting organized and making their voices heard; much to the dismay of the profiteers. There aren’t bombs going off or gun fire being heard, it more like a steady constant hum by the cannon fodder commonly known as the residents, employees, and the ‘little people’.

   There isn’t a project or subject within these mountains that the people aren’t upset about how it is being handled. Let’s take a few, on the plate for discussion:

1. Water – is there enough for the current and future residents, businesses, and resorts? Is there water in the east end of the valley and none in the west? Is this an East/West issue? Would the water reclamation project be a value to the poor DWP customers, who inherited a really old system and finds itself in the end of the valley where water can’t be collected in large water aquifers? Does the CSD have enough water to fill the shortage in West end of the Valley? Will there someday be a water war, pitting the East against the West?

2. Pool project – the West end of the valley has gotten it’s way to place the pool in Big Bear Lake, having said that they wanted it centrally located so the people (tourists) could see it and get to it easily. Does the location fit to the residents of local children and the elderly? The Parks and Recreation district spearheading the committee of almost 30 people (the majority of representation are from Big Bear Lake), won’t let the public speak and observation has shown that the ‘nay-sayers' have been discounted and basically ignored. At this moment, they have touted that Supervisor Hansberger has donated $1 million dollars to the project; however research has shown that to date the money has not been applied for, nor granted. Though the Aquatic Center is bold and beautiful, Muni Financial (the consultants working on getting a Benefit Assessment District (BAD) set up for a property owner’s vote) and the Parks District haven’t announced the full cost of the design as it pictured everywhere. In fact, people on the design subcommittee of the pool committee never sat down to collectively decide on a design (nor were the full pool committee asked to vote on a design) and they have touted that there haven’t been any design subcommittee meetings for about 6-8 months. The pool committee hasn’t met for over two months; however representatives of the pool and Soroptimist’s club have spoken to many organizations about the project, with no concrete data as to the cost.

3. PHR – if you live next to or near the rental house from hell, 'too bad' says the City of Big Bear Lake or San Bernardino County. There is no money for enforcement and no teeth in the ordinance to punish repeat offenders. An old trick which started in the 80’s – if the political leaders don’t like something, don’t give it any money, so it will be ineffective. Those in favor of the ordinance as it is now are the property management businesses, real estate, and their political cronies; and none of these people want the people to vote on the ordinance. A systematic campaign to tout the program as being no problem to the residents has been waged by the City and their backers, to tell the public not to complain or voice any descent. The problems could have been corrected if taken seriously and earnestly, however it has been easier to placate the public with an ineffective telephone number to complain to (leaving the callers with the feeling that no one is listening) and then to continue the program as is. Those people who favor the PHR as it is are using scare tactics and lots of advertising to tell people that the sky is falling. Within the last 2 days, we have had 3 people come to our door to have us sign the petition for the new ordinance and their sheets were filled with signatures of residents fed up with the status quo.

4. Parks outside of Meadow Park – the people outside of the city limits feel that their parks are not being maintained as well as those at Meadow Park. The Parks District says it doesn’t get enough money. Both are true. Yet, the East Enders are researching the possibility as we speak, if they can do the job better than San Bernardino County. Apple Valley broke away from the county, so that they could get grants and donations to build their pool, without taxpayer's dollars. Those on the east end believe that if they were given the money which now goes to the Parks District, they could do a better job of maintaining and expanding their parks on the same amount of money. Supervisor Hansberger has never come to a CSD meeting personally, while at the same time, he manages to go to Big Bear Lake or Chamber events.

   This is just a list of the tip of the iceberg. There are many more. The problem as most of the people see it is that the civic leaders are just too arrogant to even listen to their concerns. This has become a fact and can be seen in the apathy of the voters everywhere. Here in the valley, people believe that all the political and civic leaders in the valley are corrupt, self appointed demigods, and have lost touch with their neighbors and residents. To add salt to the festering wound, any one who stands to speak will be publicly ridiculed or persecuted by the very people who are supposed to watching out for their interests. There is no trust in the people in charge and the public is really angry.

   They are sick and tired of the ‘same old – same old’ and they are willing to get together to break up the monopoly of the valley’s big businesses and leaders. Lawsuits will continue. Petitions will be signed. Coalitions are being formed. Recent editorials and mailed material to residents have put a fire under the people’s behinds. The motto is being heard loud and clear; ‘I can’t stand it and I’m not going to take it any more!’ The people want to be heard and the first step for them is to get those issues and people voted into law and office. If the fat cats of the valley refuse to take their concerns seriously, then send them packing.

   The war is on. This valley has changed; new people have moved here. These people, who originally started volunteering their time to different organizations, who moved on to become more educated on the workings of the valley, and have stood up to voice their concerns, are going over time to take over the control of the valley. We think it is about time. This valley belongs to the people and their majority will not be silenced. This valley has serious problems and needs serious people to stand up to make the serious decisions.

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