Why I Love this Town and County

The Town might as well dismiss Griffin and Associates because when it comes to generating nationwide publicity, Taosenos are public relations geniuses. There is no bad publicity for pendejos. As Billy Rose said, “Just spell my name right.” Not everybody can pronounce Taos correctly, but everyone can spell it. Here in Taos, comedy follows quickly on the heels of tragedy and despair gives way to hope. If you don’t like the way you feel wait until tomorrow.

When the infamous Van stop occurred, followed by a stop and go parade of cops and perps, busted windows and shots fired, so the video went viral on the worldwide Internet. Now the national news media keeps on coming to see the local tumult that keeps on giving. Thank goodness nobody was injured or killed though plenty of feelings were hurt and substantial losses of income will occur.

If you watch the video, you can’t help but see one error, compounded by a second or third. If a wise man or woman were in charge, he or she would say, “hey mistakes were made, let’s forgive and forget.” But the righteous DA and a state police chief, caught up in the hungry glare of publicity have found a way to keep the tale alive, a tale that keeps on giving. As more information comes out, the parties to the debacle will suffer and their supporters will feel more righteous, hence the drama continues.

A temporary lapse in judgment is sad but no reason for lynch mobs or political persecutions on either side of the aisle. On a personal note, our ostensible governors from Santa Fe and Albuquerque are always driving my favorite cops and judges from office. Quien Sabe, if you catch my drift. Nobody’s perfect, we know, but let us examine our human foibles with some tolerance.

Now comes the Billionaire buyer of Taos Ski Valley and a second developer of some 400 acres worth of custom homes, one for every ten or twenty or thirty acres on the road between Desmontes and Hondo: more worldwide publicity. We have been accustomed to observe millionaires, the Harvey Mudds and Tom Worrells of the world, who both lost portions of their fortunes in Taos and left, limping away to lick their wounds. But this billionaire business is a new kettle of fish and it’s difficult to get one’s mind around the spectacle.

We assume this guy, this Billionaire, earned his money in the new financial economy, betting on the outcome of this or that. In other words he didn’t inherit the dough or resources the way the two above-mentioned millionaires did. He appears to be a contemporary member of the new elite but sympathetic to the environment, having kicked Tri-State’s ass when they wanted to build a new power line across the Forbes—Trinchera ranch up by Fort Garland, which he’d purchased. He also dedicated or gave some 100,000 acres to the U.S. Wildlife Department, according to reports. So we might be able to enlist his help and stop Tri-State from despoiling the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

Let’s be honest, TSV needs an infusion of cash to remain competitive in terms of its loveable but sad looking holes in the ground at the base area what with its still-born various master plans without portfolios. It’s one of the best ski mountains in the country but the area could do with a little nourishment. We are entering a new dimension of financial reality here, not unlike the changes wrought by the accelerated effects of skiing on the community in the late sixties and throughout the seventies and eighties.

But when it comes to a reality check, the banishment of TMS’s El Weston, alleged superintendent of schools, we are reminded of what matters most in Taos. You can abuse, as TMS has done, the Special Ed kids for more than a Pasternack decade and violate PED compliance codes but if you fire the basketball coach, a favorite son and prodigy, who returns to town and turns a favorite program into a winner, you are in serious trouble—especially when the coach is tied by blood to a favorite former Taos County Sheriff. I dare say El Weston will be terminated for this among other egregious sins. Sure, they put you on leave, the school board said, for violating state compliance codes regarding Special Ed, a convenient and defendable claim.

But don’t be firing the basketball coach because the Athletic Director whispered sweet nothings in your ear and a couple of alleged basketball parents caught your attention. Doc is way more important to the community: he’s part of a new breed, who believes in discipline, attendance at practice, and winning for chrissakes, at least, according to Friction sources. You and the AD better send out those resumes because Taosenos are about to play a full court fast break game. Taosenos will say they are interested in what happens to Special Ed students or how the students score on tests. But when it comes to basketball, passion speaks for itself. And you, El Weston, lose. Adios. Pack it in, bro.

And that’s the way it is here on Friday morning, at least until noon or so in this most unpredictable political environment.