Update on the Perils of PSAP, Annexation, and visiting New Orleans

(The historic photo shows the Tio Vivo, circa 1940, above when musicians played, and local men, right,  hand-cranked the merry-go round for children during fiesta. )

At a joint meeting on Feb. 19, as has been well-covered in the news, Taos County responded to the Town of Taos’s proposal for moving the E911 operation to the KCEC Command Center (CC) and annexation with a bid for collaboration, including management and financial support. Reports from the town regarding asbestos at the current location of the E911 center came back negative at the end of January, The county pledged to assign gross receipts taxes to the town for expansion and financial support for annual operating deficits at the airport. But the county resisted moving to KCEC CC, due to a conservative financial analysis. Why rent when you already own public buildings.

Now, despite the feelings of good will and implied promises to cooperate, the town immediately took action to sever relations with the county, due, in the opinion of insiders, to the county’s rejection of the highly expensive relocation to the KCEC facility. First the town manager, according to a memo, asked staff to re-evaluate the 911 facilities. In a memo to town manager Oscar Rodriguez, dated Feb. 21 from Steven Kennewick, Director, Facilities Services of the Taos Convention Center, the memo states, “It was the consensus of the group that there was a strong indication that the older ceiling tile…likely contained asbestos material.” Further, the memo states “that there was a preponderance of indicators that the ceiling and floor tiles were `highly likely’ to contain asbestos material.”

We are reminded of numerous political myths: the Bush administration took this country to war because of WMDs in Iraq; most politicians retire to devote more time to family; and Senator Domenici, who delivered the dough–a loan–for the KCEC Command Center is a secular saint (except for this or that one-night stand).

In further developments, the bi-polar Town of Taos, which wanted to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to relocate the 911 facility but says it must follow through on shoestring annexation, due to decreasing revenues, met secretly on or about Feb. 21 with El Prado Water and Sanitation principals and offered to buy out the District for two or three million dollars ( ten cents or so on the dollar). Go Attorney Brian James, go.

The Town is broke but anxious to spend and tax and expand.

Meanwhile, in a demonstration of “pique,” the town met with representatives of Espanola, honorary home of Onate, in an effort to relocate 911 operations to our sister city to the south, according to Friction sources. Say goodbye to the employees, institutional knowledge, and the longtime custom of “taking care of our own” when emergencies arise. First the town wants to spend hundreds of thousands to improve public safety, then it wants to out-source the job completely. We’re talking about a serious mental affliction here.

On the agenda for the Town of Taos meeting, Feb. 26, 2013, the council will consider terminating its Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) for Dispatch Services, effective December 31, 2013 with Questa, TSV, and Taos County. Meanwhile it will consider approving the DFA-LGD grant for enhanced 9-1-1 services and equipment. So, it appears as if the town will sequester its services for fire and police but continue in the role as fiscal agent and administrator of the PSAP (Public Safety Access Point) but who knows when and where? Go Oscar, go.

Coop News: We hear that CEO Luis Reyes and Trustee Manuel Medina are visiting New Orleans, not for the Oysters and Crab Cakes, but at the request of the NFL and Super Dome authorities. As many of you know the Super Bowl experienced an electrical outage during the game. NFL Chief Roger Goodell said call in the best. And who knows more about electrical outages than the representatives of KCEC? Eh?