Town Mugs Sign Man: Cheap Gas at Smith’s

Mr. Mayor:

The town is currently holding two sets of my signs, plus several stuffed dogs. The signs and dogs seized on Dec. 8 continue to be held; though the town had the ticket from that date withdrawn, and charges dropped, from the town municipal court on December 29, without a hearing or trial.

The other set of signs were taken from me on Jan. 1, and no ticket was issued, nor any receipts given. I’ve asked town code enforcement official William Morris to return all this property, but he refuses, saying that he can’t make a move until he talks to an attorney, apparently town-hired Las Vegas barrister Dave Romero.

At the opposite end we have Smith’s gas which brings positive economic consequences to Taos citizens, unlike the huge waste by town government of taxpayer dollars. For the last several days there has been but one gas station in Albuquerque that had gas cheaper than Smith’s in Taos; that station jumped from $2.70 to $2.83 yesterday, while our Smith’s hangs in at $2.73. Presently in Albuquerque there is one station at $2.75, one at $2.77, and one at $2.78; but for these three, the cheapest gas in Albuquerque is $2.82. And for most of the last month or so, Albuquerque has been acknowledged to have the cheapest gas of all large cities in the United States.

Josh Griego is our Smith’s store manager, and does the job for us. I doubt that he can withstand the current market forces much longer, but he (and the previous manager) continue to keep our fuel prices competitive with the cheapest in Albuquerque. I’ve asked the town council on many occasions to honor and recognize Smith’s, but they
refuse.

They have no problem with constantly “honoring” town employees for the “phenomenal” work they do (with no substantiation that the honoree is anything but a lazy bloodsucker), but fail to recognize Smith’s contribution. Mayor, you and your council (save for the departing Gene Sanchez) are pathetic.

Yours sincerely, wasting away,

Jeff Northrup