Blankenhorn’s Report

Editor’s Note: If what Commissioner Blankenhorn says below about E911/Dispatch Services is accurate, then we in the community must reconsider or hold public meetings on what is increasingly a danger to the community’s fiscal health. The brinksmanship being played out between the town and county is getting absurd. I’m not saying what is right or wrong but perhaps discretion, waiting, might be a better ploy on the part of the county. Just because the mayor and town council want to slide down the slippery slope of insolvency doesn’t mean the county must follow. Let us not overreact to the machinations of KCEC and the Town Council. Perhaps we need to wait for municipal elections and a potential return to sanity. I’m just saying…  

Regular Meeting Summary

November, 5, 2013

DH Lawrence Ranch

A local alliance is forming to preserve and open the DH Lawrence Ranch to the public by raising donations and grant funding. Taos County agreed to adopt a resolution at its next meeting in support of these efforts.

The DH Lawrence Ranch was willed to the University of New Mexico by Freida Lawrence providing that it be maintained as a shrine to her husband, the great writer, DH Lawrence. The ranch was given to Freida by Mable Dodge Lujan in the 1920’s when it was known as the Kiowa Ranch. Before that it had been homesteaded from the late 19th century. It is a place of great beauty located in the hills above San Cristobal, and of interest to Lawrence fans worldwide. Unfortunately, UNM has not kept it up or open, and so, until funding is available, it remains an unused Taos treasure.

Old County Courthouse

Architect, David Henry presented the results of his study of the Old County Courthouse, which was funded by a grant obtained by the Town of Taos and administered by Taos County. The report included a pictorial history of the Courthouse along with a detailed itemization of design and construction ideas with cost estimates to preserve and improve the building. Total Costs are estimated at over three million dollars for completion of the work, but it could be fully functional and open to the public for around eight hundred thousand dollars.

The site that the Old Courthouse occupies on the Taos Plaza was the center of civic life in Taos County for nearly 200 years, and the Old Courthouse itself was the center of County Government for nearly 40 years. Law enforcement, property taxes, court proceedings, and other public services were all housed in that building and it drew a steady stream of activity to Taos Plaza from the 1930’s to 1972 when County Government moved to its present site.

The Old Courthouse should be open to the public. The second story contains an impressive set of Fresco Murals completed in the 1930’s by some of Taos’ most famous artists, while the back portion of the ground floor houses the old steel jail cells. The remainder of the building is suitable for office and retail spaces. Unfortunately, the Old County Courthouse has been underutilized for many years. Now that the design grant has been completed, local governments and organizations can use it to seek the necessary funding.

Public Works

2014 Road Projects

The Board unanimously approved the use of next year’s $290,000 in annual State Funding for Road Projects, which includes a 25% match from Taos County, to improve, Weimer Road, Millicent Rogers Road, and Abregadero Rd. near Questa. The cost of the improvements will far exceed the funding available and so these funds will have to be packaged with requests to our State Legislators.

Human Resources
Economic Development Specialist

The Board unanimously approved the position of Arts and Cultural District Coordinator. This position had been filled by the Town of Taos, but they have discontinued their interest in this project as they scale back their services in order to accommodate their budget, which has been burdened by E-911 and Airport Annexation issues. The Taos County Board’s approval was contingent upon staff’s commitment to revisit the creation of this new position within 6 months of its to consider the progress in its purpose of raising funding for the development of the Taos Plaza area, including the Old County Courthouse.

Dispatch/E-911

Staff presented the Board with cost estimates for the completion and operation of a County Dispatch Center. Those costs have risen to over two million dollars, including approximately $300,000 up front plus annual operating costs of over one million dollars per year. Taos County has been paying less than $300,000 for these services since 1995 when the current JPA was first established. The additional $700,000 per year that the County is considering adding to its budget will reduce available funds for all of our other health and safety responsibilities such as roads, law enforcement, detention, firefighting, and emergency medical services. I have continued to argue for entering a new JPA with the Town, Questa, and the Ski Valley before committing Taos County to this budget, which we cannot afford without severely compromising our other responsibilities.

Letter to the Editor:

The way I see it (and ‘Mall Wart’ is a major peeve of mine), there are a few stats missing here… like how many thousands/ millions the store rakes in and speeds on to Bentonville each day/ week. And how the lousy wages for the ‘associates’, are not only  unliveable, but end up on the back of all Taos and NM taxpayers thru public benefit programs the underpaid employees qualify for. And it’s disgusting that the lowly paid Walmart workers have to raise money for their own holiday parties (and they do), and other community charities besides.

Now let’s talk about the taxes Walmart and other mega corporations are NOT paying in NM. Shameful. How about all the local businesses this corporation has tanked in Taos over all those years? Disgusting. I have a good friend who worked in the Taos store more than 20 yrs until they capped (froze) her salary and told her she would never get another raise and harassed her into quitting.

What about the union issue? The County employees do enjoy the benefits of a union. Walmart has helped bring down wages all over the U.S. and the world w/ their rapacious manufacturing and buying policies, 19th c. wage controls, and vigorous union suppression.

The very good news is their workers and those of other low wage- paying corporations are rising up all over the country to fight back. They are striking and demanding their rights as workers who are human beings first, advocating for fair wages and working conditions, and trying to survive in the current depression and austerity culture.

Dan Barrone, the mayor, and other local officials, as well as all Taosenos who continue to line the pockets of the Walton family, making them the richest people in the U.S., need to see Robert Greenwald’s doc: ‘Walmart– the High Cost of Low Wages’, for starters.

Respectfully,  Bonnie Korman

(Editor’s Note: Incumbent Mayor Darren Cordova is supported by Councilor Rudy “Walmart” Abeyta, and promoters of the Walmart Superstore, Moises “Little Ramon” Martinez and his sidekick, Ken Blair, who never saw an overnight they could resist or a water bill too low to pay.)