Town: No “Competent” Locals Need Apply

While the Barrone-Bellis administration diverted our attention with “bread and circuses” (literally) for more than a year and hired a sound and light man, they ignored the planning department and the marketing department. We also hear their favorite hobby horse, the Arts and Culture District/Mainstreet project has disappeared into the abyss of indecision.

Still, we love the Cutler paving job in the Historic District.

Meanwhile, the Bellis-Barrone team has ignored “qualified” locals with top credentials, who applied for jobs. One fellow is now the director of planning in Espanola. Several former Town of Taos employees work for Angel Fire. Former Town planning department employees and code enforcers, work for the County, Taosenos all. Yet the Town seeks outside help for enforcement at Angel Fire.

Of course the “outlaw Taoseno” is grateful. He, who refuses to ask for permission but begs for forgiveness later, can just proceed building a fence, shed, or house willy-nilly today.

Unlike the Mayor, who, reportedly has resumed living at his residence in Lower Las Colonias, where Bellis, historically, has been his tenant, some Town employees and rejected applicants for jobs actually live…in Town.

One young man with an engineering degree, specializing in civil construction, applied for a job as a building inspector or code enforcer and couldn’t even get an interview. Councilor Hahn, the Bellis-Barrone factotum, told us the Town couldn’t find anybody who could pass the test! Oh, Please. This young guy, we hear, with his civil engineering degree, is working at Holy Cross Hospital, emptying bedpans or something.

Meanwhile, the Town spends a dollar and a dime on outsourcing jobs and taxpayer revenue to, among others, Angel Fire and Albuquerque or Santa Fe, where all the so-called “qualified” inspectors and engineers live.

Bellis and Barrone will do anything for tourism but little for locals. See the potholes and pavement in the neighborhoods. Oh, yes, I know I’m up against The Taos News and the Chamber and the Tourist Industry. But somebody has to stick up for the average local, who lives in the Town of Taos. Even the Boss of the Traveling Trustees at the Coop, Luis, lives in Town.

The Town could hire a qualified local Engineer like Alex Abeyta. (Full disclosure: I’ve known Alex since he shined shoes on the Plaza as a kid. And I’ve listened to his “traffic counts” at numerous planning meetings.) The Town could get a “two for one” in Alex: get the streets designed and planning jobs done. He’s a pro: Alex actually knows where all the potholes are just like the planning department’s inspectors at Taos County, a mile or so south of the Town’s offices, know where the code violators live.

In their paranoia (?) the Town appears to hire folks who need to reinvent the wheel. Send the new “marketing team” out to analyze the community. Send the new Planning Director out to learn about the streets and residents? Pobrecito. Taos is a test and a way of life, not meant for “one size fits all.”

We appreciate the Cutler Paving job in the historic district but wonder why the Town couldn’t pull the trigger earlier if they truly wanted to get rid of “pavement payola” culture, which manipulated contracts on behalf of questionable bidders.

The Town asks for waivers from the Council to hire the “relatives” of current town employees, relatives who will never question those who enforce the Mayor’s “cover-up” code.

What happened to Dan Barrone? Barrone can’t seem to walk and chew gum unless Bellis whispers in his ear. The likeable Mayor has turned local government over to his Rasputin, while our favorite town councilors have been “psyched out” by the cabal. Maybe somebody poisoned the Town’s well with LSD.

Here’s the really weird aspect of this retrograde cultural paranoia at Town Hall. Barrone and Bellis both worked at Taos County government. The County, currently, is a model of competent if tight-ass government. Barrone was part of bringing in the new Complex under budget and under deadline. Course he had a lot of help. Even when I don’t agree with County Commissioners or staff, I don’t question their “competence.”

Sure there are a few departments heads and even elected officials in the greater County family, who arouse skepticism. But at the County, native Taosenos have earned their stripes, been recognized and promoted and continue to uphold high standards in many departments, including planning.

I was there when the legendary “Pablito Red” Trujillo was boss and mumbled through meetings. Commissioner Virgil Martinez repeatedly got it right when he said, “I feel sorry for Taos County.” In those days, 1999 and 2000, the Town, under Fast Fred and Slick Gus, was deservedly proud of its quiet, dull, and steady operation. Today, not so much. The Town and County have gone into reverse. One’s up, one’s down.

Still we love the Cutler Paving job.