Taosenos Dislike a Vacuum: Silly Season Begins

Congrats to Billy Baron, cartoonist: Two home runs, two weeks running. Lament: a well-known local journalist (or government operative?) has been transferred. Hope springs eternal: The Frisco Giants have one or two more shots at a turnaround and the Eagles’ Michael Vick got the big contract of redemption.

Turmoil is thy name

Taosenos dislike a political vacuum, meaning an absence of turmoil. Next year, 2012, will be a banner year for elections: Town of Taos, KCEC Board of Trustees, County Commissioners and elected officials, District Court Judges (Two with the same last name? Que confusing), and even a Presidential contest: Obama and the seven dwarfs.  A number of candidates have already begun jockeying for the postposition in the local races.

Only the voters are bored.

In what must be considered a hilarious return to the future, sign man and performance artist, Jeff Northrup, the ultimate political conceptualist, sent up a balloon near the Blinking Light. According to a sign, we could infer that Northup might throw his support—almost two hundred votes—behind former mayor, Bobby Duran in next year’s muni election. Can Fred and Gus be far behind? The interested, if unknowing punditry, suspect that the TMS Board President, a product of the Sylviano politicos in El Prado, may be looking at the council race in anticipation of much bigger things down the road.

At the County you can’t keep a retired politico out or a term-limited commissioner in the closet. We hear former Commission Chair Charlie Gonzales is lobbying for a job in the executive suite along with none other than Nick “the Nitpicker” Jaramillo, possibly as his assistant. The fact and thought of retirement is just, too, well, boring. A powerful personality, new to politics but not to the public, may throw down for Nick’s vacant seat in the Hondo-Valdez area. Nick, by the way, is the ultimate movida-maker: He’s got a recipe for both disturbing the peace and managing the disaster that follows. You gotta love it.

As for the KCEC Trustees, there’s blood in the water. Luisa Mylet is considered a shoo-in if she runs—she votes on behalf of members—like Virgil Martinez. But (M) Medina, (F) Cordova, and (T) Martinez, all representing Taos (not so well) are expected to be targeted. This last year Medina has shown his Rodarte-Mascarenas colors but due to a woman’s skirts, he’ll be tough to beat. Cordova and Martinez, due to broken promises, are considered mincemeat.

Below, the watcher responds to The Taos News stories about TMS. Much of what goes on at TMS—PED is as arcane as medieval arguments about the number of flies dancing on the lunchmeat left outside to rot. If you’re an outsider, you don’t get it but if you’re on the inside, it’s the dish of the day on the TMS menu.

Let’s Get Real

By Lorraine Coca-Ruiz

Yesterday’s, Thursday, Aug. 31 Taos New head lines, “School employees to vote on pay cuts” didn’t mention that the Friday August 26 meeting was ignored by the CRAB Hall gang of administrators. Aren’t they employees? Oops, Dr. Weston was there.

The CRAB Hall administrators were not included in the straw polls and TFUSE representative Orion Cervio, a level one teacher, who didn’t get laid off when the two-year teachers were given pink slips due to the  “The Chuby Plan,” is apparently happy with the handouts to teachers that were full of threats? Mr. Cervio will be teaching in an over-crowed classroom while teachers are on furlough days?

Do the math: That’s more then a 5% cut. The teachers—will bear a large share of the burden.

Superintendent Weston said, according to the news, that he was going to call Melissa Sanchez, PED budget analyst during the meeting? That’s the eleventh hour, que no?  When the Super saw PED representatives talking to me, he got nervous. It appeared to me that he was yelling code red.

Poor planning created a need for an emergency meeting. It’s like the students that say, “My dog ate my homework.” When you don’t turn in your homework, which is a fiscal mess, to PED, well it could just lead to massive teacher layoffs.

In my opinion, budget dollars for teachers in the classroom should not be touched! The board and Super should first exhaust all means and resources before seeking pay cuts. I don’t see where that has been done. Where are the public meetings to discuss the subject?

By the way Rod Weston, I was not aware that I did not needed to get even, nor do I have a desire for the “pay back kind of thing.”  After all, you are benefiting from my mistake: I was fooled by your resume. You might consider reading the anti-bullying and harassment policies, making personal attacks.

The school district needs someone, who is interested in educating our students–a thinker and an innovator.

The superintendent and the majority of board made promises to PED to preserve dollars for the classroom. And yes, you bet, I’m glad that they were monitoring the meeting.

Teacher anxiety could last for a few more months. The potential for at least some layoffs is high but it depends on the mid-year state budget and the Legislature. As well, it depends on School Board priorities—how it plans to eliminate the shortfall and balance the district’s spending plan.

Teachers “should not feel threatened.” Why this last minute lobbying by Weston? Where was he last summer? Teachers should be allowed to relax and educate their students.

My sons graduated from Taos High School and are attending the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I often told them basic arithmetic; reading and writing will get you somewhere but not everywhere. The higher your educational attainment is, the better your chances of creating opportunities for yourself. And the better your opportunities are, the better your quality of life is.

That is also my interest in students attending our school district.  One can earn a certificate from a trade school or community college that will train students for a specific career, trade, or profession. Another path is to attend a community college for one to two years and then transfer to a four-year college or university.

In spite of all my efforts to be truthful and accurate, Mighty Matt, Taos News reporter, strikes again: The wrong information was repeated in the media–as they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I never said I called PED. But apparently TMS is one of PED’s most closely watched schools. And I’m glad of it.

I’ll be watching

(P.S. Editor’s Note: Here’s what Mighty Matt and El Weston don’t understand. Los Taosenos have infiltrated every aspect of state and local government. You never know where the next dart is coming from or what ears are listening. Both Big Sister and Big Bro, thanks to primos and primas, are watching you all the time.)