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City of Mammoth Lakes · Statewide General Election

Mammoth Lakes Town Council

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of three seats up this cycle on Mammoth Lakes's 5-member Town Council (elected at-large) -- town ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Mono County resort town of about 7,000 residents. A 4-year term. The Council chooses a Mayor from among its own members rather than electing one directly.

Eight candidates are running for three open seats on the Mammoth Lakes Town Council: Lakota Mikulicich, Mark Barrow, Jason Elwell, Stacey Slichta, Cory Rice, Danielle Bauman, Tarek Nuttall, and Steve Shatkin.

Mammoth Lakes's Town Council has five members, all elected at-large (no districts) to staggered 4-year terms, for this Mono County resort town of about 7,000 residents. The Council chooses a Mayor from among its own members rather than electing one directly.

All three seats up this November are open -- none of the outgoing officeholders (Mayor Amanda Rice, Councilwoman Chris Bubser, or Councilman John Wentworth) filed for reelection. Bubser resigned in August 2026 and the town appointed a temporary replacement to serve only until the November winners are sworn in. Whoever gets the three highest vote totals wins the three seats outright, with no runoff.

Stacey Slichta

Slichta is Mammoth High School's first-year culinary arts instructor, who arrived in town this year after a 25-year career as a private chef in Los Angeles. Raised in Buffalo, New York, she attended Rutgers University on a rowing scholarship, worked her way up through the hotel industry to a San Francisco catering-director role, then trained at the Culinary Institute of America after realizing she lacked hands-on kitchen experience. A mentor later pushed her to audition for a private-chef position with the family of the late Sweet'N Low CEO Donald Tober, launching a decades-long career cooking for high-profile clients. She moved to the Eastern Sierra for her son, a competitive snowboarder, and built Mammoth High's previously dormant culinary program into a hands-on restaurant incubator that has students design, budget, and run their own pop-up restaurants.

Strengths

A distinctive professional background (decades as a private chef to high-profile clients, formal CIA training) and a record of building something from nothing at Mammoth High in under a year.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed public office; her public profile so far is built entirely around her teaching program, not municipal policy positions.

Keep in mind

Her entrepreneurial energy at the high school is well-documented, but this dataset found no statement from her about town budget, housing, or land-use priorities specifically.

Lakota Mikulicich

Mikulicich was born and raised in the Eastern Sierra (Swall Meadows) and graduated from Bishop High School. She studied journalism at an international college in Nairobi, Kenya, then did humanitarian aid work before returning to the area in 2019. She worked for Mammoth Mountain and Nomadness Rentals before opening her own small business in housekeeping and property management, and also holds a real estate license. A millennial, she says it's time for "next-generation leadership" and cites her direct insight into what the town's workforce experiences daily; her priorities include workforce housing, bear mitigation, small-business support, and wildfire prevention -- her family lost its home in the 2015 Round Fire.

Strengths

Deep local roots plus small-business ownership directly in the property-management and housing space central to Mammoth's biggest policy fights.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed local office.

Keep in mind

Her family's own experience losing a home to wildfire gives her wildfire-prevention priority a personal, first-hand basis -- worth weighing alongside her specific proposals.

Mark Barrow

Barrow, 31, works in Information Technology for the Mono County Office of Education and is studying for a graduate degree in cybersecurity online through Western Governors University. He graduated from Miami University (Ohio) in January 2020 planning to join the Peace Corps, a plan COVID derailed; he instead moved west and has worked as a liftie, trail host, and baker before landing at the county office of education three years ago. He says he's running because he has "been on the receiving end of" the town's housing policy, while stressing that he loves living in Mammoth and wants to be a more active community member.

Strengths

Current technical/IT experience in local government (county office of education) plus a firsthand, personal stake in the town's housing-affordability debate.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed office; the youngest and newest-to-full-time-employment candidate in the field.

Keep in mind

His housing critique comes from direct personal experience as a renter, not a policy paper -- worth asking what specific changes he'd pursue on the council.

Jason Elwell

Elwell, 37, has worked for Mammoth Mountain for six years, currently as a lead vacation specialist with its 1.800.MAMMOTH reservations team. He is also a licensed cosmetologist with a booth at Tangled Web salon and is working toward a bachelor's degree online. He says he's running partly out of frustration with federal policy -- he describes losing affordable housing at The Parcel development after 2025 federal DOGE-driven cuts affected local housing grants and, in turn, rents -- and wants the town to hold corporations more accountable for housing mitigation. He also objects to the town's contract with Flock Safety, a license-plate-reading surveillance company, calling it a privacy invasion.

Strengths

A specific, personally-experienced account of how federal and corporate housing decisions affect Mammoth renters, plus a clearly stated privacy-policy position (opposing the Flock Safety contract).

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed office; balances two distinct careers (tourism sales and cosmetology) rather than one focused professional track.

Keep in mind

His housing story is specific and personal, not a broad platform -- worth asking how he'd translate it into policy on the council.

Cory Rice

Rice owns Anything Goes Fine Catering, a Mammoth Lakes catering business, and works part-time in sales at Wave Rave, a local snowboard shop, per his own FPPC financial-disclosure filing. He also owns a rental property in town. He is the husband of outgoing Councilmember and Mayor Amanda Rice, per The Sheet's own reporting -- though he is not himself an incumbent, since it's her seat (one of the three) that's open this cycle.

Strengths

A small-business owner (catering) with ties to Mammoth's tourism and food-service economy, plus close familiarity with town government through his wife's outgoing tenure.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed office of his own; his campaign inevitably invites comparison to his wife's just-ended council term.

Keep in mind

Voters may want to ask directly what, if anything, he'd do differently from his wife's approach on the council.

Danielle Bauman

Bauman is a self-employed real estate agent, and also works for Eastman Homeowner's Services (snow removal) and as Fitness Director at Snowcreek Athletic Club, per her own FPPC financial-disclosure filing.

Strengths

A real-estate background directly relevant to Mammoth's central housing and development debates, plus multiple local jobs giving broad exposure to different parts of the community.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed local office was found for her this pass; no platform statement or campaign site was found either.

Keep in mind

As a real estate agent, her professional interests intersect directly with council decisions on housing and development -- worth asking how she'd navigate that.

Tarek Nuttall

Nuttall owns Highland Plumbing, a local plumbing business, per The Sheet's own reporting -- he was the one candidate the paper could not reach for a scheduled introductory interview.

Strengths

Local trade-business ownership relevant to housing and infrastructure issues.

Trade-offs

No prior elected office; the only candidate not reachable for a press interview this cycle, so his platform isn't in his own words anywhere found.

Keep in mind

Of the eight candidates, his public presence is the thinnest -- worth seeking him out directly if you can.

Steve Shatkin

Shatkin has a campaign site (steveformammoth.com) with the tagline "Less Politics, More Solutions," though it carries no further biographical detail as of this dataset's retrieval. He has filed an FPPC financial-disclosure statement confirming his formal candidacy, but the document is a scanned image with no occupation or business detail this dataset could independently read from it.

Strengths

A real, identifiable campaign presence distinct from the other candidates.

Trade-offs

The thinnest independently-verifiable background in the field -- no occupation, prior office, or specific platform point was found this pass beyond his campaign tagline.

Keep in mind

His site's own framing ("less politics, more solutions") doesn't yet specify what those solutions are -- worth checking his site directly closer to the election for updates.

Source review: Strong (82/100) · 11 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • townofmammothlakes.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Town of Mammoth Lakes -- official Town Council page: confirms a 5-member council, staggered 4-year terms, no separately elected Mayor (chosen among sitting members).
  • mammothtimes.com (opens in a new tab)Mammoth Times -- "Three Mammoth Lakes Town Council seats up for election this November" (published Jul. 9, 2026): "The councilmembers currently occupying those seats are Mayor Amanda Rice, Councilwoman Chris Bubser and Councilman John Wentworth."
  • thesheetnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Sheet (thesheetnews.com) -- "Chris Bubser Resigns" (published Aug. 6, 2026): confirms Bubser's resignation and states plainly, "No incumbents are running" for the three seats up in November. Independently identifies Cory Rice as "husband of current Councilmember Amanda Rice."
  • townofmammothlakes.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Town of Mammoth Lakes -- official Elections page: the town's own FPPC-filing index for the 2026 General Municipal Election, listing which forms (700, 501) each of the 8 qualified Town Council candidates has on file. Independently corroborated by Mono County's own "Local Candidates List" (monocounty.ca.gov/2493/Candidates), which confirms the same 8 names and marks none of them incumbent.
  • thesheetnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Sheet (byline Jack Lunch) -- "A Fair Mauling" (published Aug. 20, 2026): a second round of introductory candidate interviews. Lakota Mikulicich -- born/raised in the Eastern Sierra (Swall Meadows), Bishop High School graduate, studied journalism at an international college in Nairobi, did humanitarian aid work, worked for Mammoth Mountain and Nomadness Rentals before opening her own housekeeping/property-management business (also holds a real-estate license); her family lost its home in the 2015 Round Fire. Mark Barrow, 31 -- works in IT for the Mono County Office of Education, studying for a cybersecurity graduate degree online (Western Governors); graduated Miami University (Ohio) in Jan. 2020 planning to join the Peace Corps before COVID intervened; has worked as a liftie, trail host, and baker. Jason Elwell, 37 -- a 6-year Mammoth Mountain employee (lead vacation specialist), also a licensed cosmetologist with a booth at the Tangled Web, currently working toward a bachelor's degree online; cites federal DOGE-related housing-grant cuts as his motivation for running. Also independently identifies Tarek Nuttall as "owner of Highland Plumbing" (the one candidate the paper could not reach for an interview).
  • thesheetnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Sheet (byline Paige Fisher) -- "The Culinary Institute of Mammoth" (published May 7, 2026): a full profile of Stacey Slichta, Mammoth High School's first-year culinary arts instructor. Raised in Buffalo, NY; attended Rutgers on a rowing scholarship; worked her way up the hotel industry to a San Francisco catering-director role; trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park; became a private chef for the family of the late Sweet'N Low CEO Donald Tober, launching a 25-year career cooking for high-profile clients in Los Angeles; moved to the Eastern Sierra for her son and built Mammoth High's dormant culinary program into a hands-on restaurant incubator.
  • sierrawave.net (opens in a new tab)Sierra Wave -- "Mammoth High School Celebrates Student-Created Mural and Student Talent" (published Aug. 26, 2026): independently corroborates Stacey Slichta's role leading Mammoth High's Culinary Arts program, describing students under her direction preparing and serving refreshments at a school event.
  • townofmammothlakes.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cory Rice's FPPC Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests), filed as a candidate 7/25/2026 and hosted by the Town of Mammoth Lakes: discloses he owns Anything Goes Fine Catering (an LLC catering company, gross income over $100,000/yr, clients including The Rodear restaurant and Mammoth Unified School District), works part-time in sales at Wave Rave (a snowboard shop), and owns a rental unit in Mammoth Lakes.
  • townofmammothlakes.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Danielle Bauman's FPPC Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests), filed as a candidate 8/12/2026 and hosted by the Town of Mammoth Lakes: discloses she is a self-employed real estate agent (gross income over $100,000/yr), also works for Eastman Homeowner's Services (snow removal) and as Fitness Director at Snowcreek Athletic Club.
  • steveformammoth.com (opens in a new tab)Steve For Mammoth -- Steve Shatkin's own campaign site (steveformammoth.com): a real, identifiable campaign site, but minimal in content as of retrieval -- a single tagline ("Less Politics, More Solutions") with no further biographical detail.
  • townofmammothlakes.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Steve Shatkin's FPPC Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests), hosted by the Town of Mammoth Lakes: a scanned document with no extractable text this pass -- confirms formal candidacy (a filed disclosure) but no occupation or business detail was independently read from it.

Last updated September 2, 2026.