It all started with static on the phone line, then no phone service, then sporadic service. Residents of Swall Meadows and surrounding areas just want to rely on their phone service. So, when they heard that Verizon would run a fancy fiber optic line right by their community, some citizens asked for part of the fiber to give them clear phone lines. Verizon said no.

Stephen Kalish of that area decided to fight back. He recently spoke to the Mono Supervisors about the issues and about what he says has been Verizon’s failure to follow the rules as they lay the fiber line from Bishop to Mammoth Lakes.

Kalish alleges that Verizon failed to tell the truth on one application and failed to obtain permits to string fiber on the State’s Scenic Highway 395 between McGee Creek Road and the Highway 203 exit.

While Kalish and others still fight for reasonable phone service, the California Public Utilities Commission has decided to hold a meeting in Mammoth to hear from the public on the Scenic Highway issue. Verizon has claimed that overhead fiber will not “significantly alter the visual impact of the Scenic Highway relative to existing aerial utility lines.

The meeting is set for Wednesday at 10am in the Mono County Social Services Conference Room, 3rd Floor, Sierra Center Mall in Mammoth.