bears-in-campgrounds.jpgA special edition of Bureaucrat Beat today so that we can read, in their entirety, a memo from Mammoth Police Officers and a response from Councilman John Eastman.

The Town of Mammoth seems to find itself in a polarized place with the police on one side and the public and Town Council on the other.

After the Town Council had unanimously voted to work on a contract to hire Steve Searles as a wildlife specialist, Councilmen John Eastman and Neil McCarroll held one brief meeting to start discussions on a proposal. Two days later, the Mammoth Police Officers Association wrote a memo and sent it to Town Manager Rob Clark. Councilman John Eastman shared it with us. It reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Clark,

The Mammoth Lakes Police Officer's Association has been watching with interest the ongoing political maneuverings of the Town Council and Steve Searles over the need for a TOML employed Wildlife Management Specialist. It is clear that a decision will be made shortly regarding this controversial issue and we can assure you that the MLPOA will support whatever decision is made by the Town Council and the Town Administration.

It is our desire, based on a majority vote of the Association members, to express to your our experiences working with California Black Bears and with Mr. Searles over the last 10 years in the hope that it might shed some light on this topic from the field officer's perspective.

Bears in Mammoth Lakes are a fact of life. They were here before Mr. Searles started working as a Wildlife Management Specialist under Chief Mike Donnelly and they will continue to be here long after all of us have retired. We can state emphatically, and back up with statistics, that the bear problems in Mammoth Lakes have not changed appreciably going back as far as 1997, aside from fluctuations that can be attributed to biological cycles.

We have achieved a heightened public awareness of bears, which have resulted in bear-proof dumpsters and bear-proof food storage lockers in local campsites, but even with those changes the bear problems have remained basically unchanged with or without Mr. Searles. Furthermore, the practice of hazing bears has failed to drive the offending bears into the backcountry due to their heightened fear of man. The practice has only succeeded in moving the bears from one town food source to the next; a fact that is consistent with what Department of Fish and Game officials have asserted from the beginning.

MLPD officers have and will continue to respond to wildlife calls. We handle all of the calls for wildlife management service 24 hours a day and generate reports for each bear contact. Mr. Searles has required officer assistance in the past in order to write wildlife contact reports. Mr. Searles responds to a smaller percentage of calls and sometimes is unavailable. Consequently this issue about the need for a Wildlife Specialist seems to us to be moot in light of the fact that each officer that deals with these calls is a wildlife specialist.

The myth that Mr. Searles possesses some extraordinary knowledge or ability with Black Bears that is over and above that of our officers is arguable. On one morning, officers responded to the Old Mammoth area at the Mill City Tract regarding a distressed and injured bear. Mr. Searles was called and also arrived. The bear was located and was in fact very distressed and smelled of gangrene. Attempts to get the bear to move into the forest failed and the bear just sat there with labored breathing for well over thirty minutes as we watched him.

Mr. Searles was advised that the bear was gangrenous and that he should be put down. Mr. Searles stated that the smell was only fecal matter and that the bear should be left alone. Mr. Searles was told that fecal matter and rotting flesh smell distinctly different, but he was not moved and officers on scene deferred to Searles' "expert opinion" as was our practice and left the bear in place.

Later that night, another call was received regarding the same bear. The bear was only a few yards further into the forest from where he had been the day before still breathing labouredly, but immobile. Mr. Searles eventually destroyed the bear and discovered that maggots were festering over a gangrenous wound under the bear's fur. The bear suffered needlessly for many hours and the public was placed in needless danger from a wounded bear, all based on the wrong "expert opinion".

Regarding economic matters, the TOML has several unfilled/frozen positions. The police department has two unfilled positions. The town budget is tight and OT has been cut. It seems unwise at best to create a politically motivated seasonal/ part-time position and hire a new employee or contractor to fill that position when that job is being handled very well by existing employees with better training, greater professionalism and greater oversight.

If the TOML makes the decision to hire Mr. Searles in which department would he be working? Would he be used half the year to write parking tickets or work the front desk? The police department would be the logical choice for the Wildlife Specialist position, but we already have an Animal Control Officer. Mr. Searles wants a uniform and has worn MLPD patches; will he be held to the same standards as current employees? I.e. will he be asked to conform to our Policy and Procedures manual, report writing, uniform, grooming, ethics, discipline and record keeping standards? Do we have the right to conduct a background investigation and/or psychological screening? Will he have access to RIMS or CLETS? Will he be enforcing TOML municipal codes? Can he write citations or testify in court? If so will there be Brady issues? Will he be given PC 832 powers? Our experience has been that Mr. Searles has and will lie to the media and the public in the process of promoting himself and his agenda.

In addition to honesty issues there are concerns over Mr. Searles' ability to handle the stress that can come with the job. On one occasion, an MLPD uniformed officer was forced to disarm Mr. Searles because he lost control of his emotions and was a danger to himself and others. Therefore we have grave concerns over any connection between Mr. Searles and the Mammoth Lakes Police Department.

Steve has been carrying loaded concealable firearms on calls, yet has refused to comply with the requirements of his CCW permit. He has not qualified since the fall of 2006 and failed to attend the most recent CCW holder's qualification range that was held on November 8, 2008. His permit requires him to qualify annually and to take an 8 hour CCW legal update every two years. The signatories below are opposed to the hiring of Mr. Searles as a Wildlife Specialist.

Respectfully,

Det. Jesse Gorham
MLPOA President

Sgt. John Mair
MLPOA Exec. Vice President

Officer Andrew Lehr
MLPOA Vice President

Councilman John Eastman, recently leading efforts to deal with the considerable bear issue and public needs, responded to the officers' opinions with this statement. Eastman writes:

In an email to the Mammoth Lakes Town Council Members from their Town Manager, Rob Clark stated to his council members that he had instructed the employees of the MLPOA – Quote – "that it is very important for us to work cooperatively with Steve Searles, because there is a perception in the community that if we are not working with him (meaning Searles) we are not doing everything we can to address wildlife problems." I agree with Rob's statement, and it is likely true.

Yet, from reading the November 14th MLPOA memo, it is very clear, that the MLPOA did not take Mr. Clarks' recommendation to heart.

Because, in 10 of the 12 paragraphs in the memorandum, the MLPOA either questions Mr. Searles bear management capabilities, or they personally attack him.

Before I address the memorandum in greater detail and therefore lose everyone, I feel it is important to say, that I believe the citizens of Mammoth Lakes have already spoken as to how they feel about Mr. Searles and his wildlife capabilities.

Already, on two separate occasions, supporters of Steve Searles have packed our council chambers. Whether Mr. Searles is "the Bear whisperer", or not, that is not the issue. Because there is the perception within our community that we are all better off, including the Bears, when Steve Searles is watching out for our wildlife. When Steve is not out there, we worry. When Steve is out there, we feel more comfortable. Simply stated, it is a matter of "TRUST". The citizens "trust" Steve Searles. That's why for every one "bear call" to the Mammoth Lakes Police Department concerning Bears, there are 20 additional Bear calls, or more, to Steve directly. People "trust" Steve to handle Bear situations appropriately. This is a matter of the will of the people, and presently the MLPOA appears to be "tone deaf" to the will of the people. End of discussion!

The MLPOA accuses the Town council of "political maneuverings", then proceeds to submit a "political memorandum" themselves.

The MLPOA states that the memorandum was "based on a majority vote of the Association members". Then why have two of the "Association members" contacted me individually and told me they were never shown, nor consulted about the memorandum,
and didn't even see it until several days later?

Why did the MLPOA "state emphatically"- "Bear problems in Mammoth Lakes have not changed" over the past 11 years. I'm just guessing, that we currently have more bears and more bear incidents in Mammoth Lakes than we had 11 years ago. Just a guess!

The MLPOA states that each officer "is a wildlife specialist". I'm sorry, but once again, we seem to be reverting back to "Alice in Wonderland."

Paragraphs 6,7 and 8 detail an incident where Mr. Searles did not "put down" a sick Bear. In hindsight, Mr. Searles could/should have "done the deed" less than a day sooner. But instead, Searles gave the Bear one final chance to survive. Shame on Steve for giving the Bear every chance of survival, and giving it a few additional hours. For every distorted example given, in hindsight, where Steve could or should have done something different, there are 10 similar stories where Steve has done what people feel was correct. I'll match every bad story about Steve, with 10 Good stories.

Enough! The reality of the November 14th MLPOA memorandum is that it has, in effect, pitted the MLPOA against Steve Searles, against myself and against the majority of our citizens.

Respectfully,

John Eastman

We in the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom devoted this air time to the Mammoth bear issue since it has become a community and political matter of significance that goes beyond wildlife and into human life of the town.

It is our hope that Mammoth leadership will find a way to serve its people.

And, with that, this is Benett Kessler signing off for Bureaucrat Beat where we await your word on our lives in the Eastern Sierra and beyond.

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