Campaigns Focus On Issues of Revitalization
In the current election for the Town of Taos, mayor and council candidates Dan Barrone, Fritz Hahn, and Judi Cantu are emphasizing their grass roots connections to the local community and culture, a culture of public service focused on renewed fiscal responsibility and concentration on cooperative elements that will knit the town and county together. While emphasizing the grass roots, knocking on doors, showing the flag i.e. campaign signs, the three candidates basically agree on what Fritz has emphasized in a recent Taos News op ed:
Return to fiscal responsibility, refocus on collaboration with the County, Revitalize acequias, and Restore streets, sidewalks, drainage, sewage and water pipes. In her last campaign, as Cantu campaign assistant David Cortez has pointed out, Judi emphasized many of the same issues Fritz has summarized as a vision for community. In addition Judi has suggested she has ideas about ways of Recycling waste in order to reduce expenses at the landfill and increase the number of jobs associated with what might be called a “win win” proposal.
When you make the community a better place to live, for instance, by revitalizing historic acequias, it’s a win win for residents and visitors. What better way to show off Taos history than implement a study, shelved by the town, to revitalize historic water ways as exemplars not only of history but as the way forward to victory gardens and private food security.
When it comes to focusing on cooperation, Dan Barrone has the advantage of his record, the experience of incumbency at county government in terms of understanding the issues of balancing citizens’ issues and the policies of governing. Even as the County and Town have discussed the advantages of mutual cooperation, the differences in personalities and culture have divided the two primary organizers of local government.
The current town council has emphasized personal gain at the cost of public service while County Commissioners generally consider the interests of the citizens as well as the county communities as a whole before making decisions. In county government commissioners respond to constituents for good or ill in terms of gravel for roads or help with land use regs or money for organizations as wildly diverse as the garden club and the Mother’s Day event. The controversies concerning the Command Center and Annexation only serve to emphasize the differences between a town seeking to satisfy the back door lobbyists and commissioners who are trying to protect the safety and security of the public.
The incumbent mayor and council have taken personal advantage of the public purse for the sake of broadcast contracts, dirt work contracts, doors and windows sales, real estate development, the deregulation of water ordinances, the sign code, and chaos at the planning department that allows realtors and developers to prosper at the expense of the community as a whole. While the mayor and council have focused on notions of the “quick buck” in the short term, they have ignored current trends and changes in the economy as a whole.
As shop keepers, art dealers and artists know, the fluctuations of the market, driven by competitive and changing tastes, as well as a decline in income affecting Taos visitors has affected the revenue of the retail business. Yet, the hospitality sector, restaurants and hotels seem to be holding on if not flourishing. The Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is symbolic of an increasing emphasis on year round outdoor activities—the sights and sounds of the natural world. The recent sale of Taos Ski Valley serves as an exclamation point.
TSV’s Mickey Blake says he sold the family business because they couldn’t afford the necessary upgrades. Well, I don’t think we’re going to find a billionaire to buy and upgrade the historic district. But a new vision or vision of culture reborn is emerging downtown on the Plaza and in the environs with a new emphasis on art, history, and culture, which requires a different kind of tourist, less interested in t-shirts and more interested in La Cultura.
Changes at the Harwood, the historic museums, publications about local history, the town and county plans for the old County Courthouse, as well as stop and start plans involving the arts and culture district show how the community is evolving. For the first time since the County abandoned the historic old county courthouse and moved to Albright St. in the early 70s, we have county commissioners who recognize and expressly intend to revitalize the historic courthouse.
Commissioners, at the urging of Deputy County Manager Rick Bellis, have adopted a pro-active downtown Plaza program, taking on the arts and cultural district, funding director Cynthia Spray when the town refused. And the County is trying to reinvigorate the Mainstreet program. Thanks to the Town’s help, Architect David Henry received a grant to create a study and plan for restoring the old courthouse. (Locals and visitors love visiting the old “Easy Rider” jail and the WPA Murals, which has been open to the public since Fiesta.) Though the County was turned down for a CDBG grant, still county staff, time and money permitting, can be seen studying and remodeling the upstairs area, i.e. slowly coming to terms with this cultural gem.
Commissioner Barrone is quick to recognize his fellow commissioners in their contribution to cooperation on the Plaza projects just as he recognizes their help and the help of local officials and citizens in their contributions to the construction of the new County Complex. Similarly Fritz Hahn recognizes the contributions of acequia parciantes in showing him how ditches like the Spring Ditch and others could be revitalized.
Some folks have asked me what I know about Judi, her passion for the place and the people of Taos. When you live here a long time you develop a kind of affinity, based on memory and experience, for folks and their families. I remember Judi’s father, Mayor Phil Cantu, an even-tempered good guy and the family business, Cantu Furniture. Mayor Cantu even gave my wife Susie back then a job as an assistant planner at town hall. He and his town manager Nestor Gallegos tolerated and recognized the value of the creative programming at the Plaza Theatre. We did business in passing over lunch at La Cocina in those days.
Many of us have fond memories of Judi’s cousin Reggie, who operated La Cantina, next to the Plaza Theatre and Reggie’s production of Woody Allen’s “Oh God” at the TCA, not to mention his and Waldo Cantu’s appearance in the movie version of Milagro Beanfield War. And I remember Loretta and Phil, Judi’s sister and brother.
Judi’s campaigning hard, attending meetings, and focusing on many of the same issues that are common to the Hahn and Barrone campaigns. I believe you can trust the community’s best interests to these tried and true Taosenos.
According to http://livetaos.com/events/judi-cantu-town-council-candidate-meet-greet/ , there will be a Judi Cantu Town Council Candidate Meet and Greet & El Moises Gallery Opening Saturday, January 18th from 12:30 PM-5:00. It’s also the El Moisés Immaculate Heart Gallery opening, and you can meet & greet Moisés Salcedo. What we see here is another emerging and creative multicultural Latina Taosena like KCEC Coop Trustee Luisa Valerio Mylet who doubles as elected representative and as the heart and soul of La Cultura at the Hacienda Martinez and the Blumenshein Museum. Viva Judi.
