A Letter to County Residents: Support Grass Roots Campaigns
Whether we live or vote in the Town of Taos, we are all residents of the greater Taos County community. Whether we live in the villages or the town, due to the organization of political subdivisions, neighborhoods, villages, acequias, the collection and allocation of tax revenue, the government infrastructure, we are all connected. Local fire departments and police departments collaborate during times of emergencies. Mother Nature’s watersheds do not recognize political boundaries.
The greater Taos economy involves small and large business from village stores and gas stations to TSV, tourism, and super markets, support for schools and the delivery of utilities. Historic family relations and the relations of friends don’t depend on the artifice of political subdivisions. As we all know turf wars, competing for water or gross receipts taxes, can undermine common goals. Cooperation can seem like an idealistic goal and democracy can be a messy and improvident process. The current election cycle at the Town of Taos is crucial for the well being of the whole county community due to the Town’s impact on public safety and fiscal responsibility as well as economic opportunity for all residents in the County.
The current administration of the Town has focused on rewarding the few, the private drive for profits, at the expense of the public good: examples include the follies at the Command Center (E911-Dispatch), arbitrary and capricious annexation, controversy at the library, poor m&r at the Youth and Family Center, decaying streets, water and sewer infrastructure, impairment of acequias, spending the historic reserves, and ignoring the community as a whole.
Politicians have always rewarded their supporters with jobs and attention to roads or back room deals for friends and developers with deep pockets. But rarely have so few profited on the backs of so many in such a selfish manner. Whether the profits come in the form of contracts for elected officials at the Town or in the drive to satisfy powerful egos—visions of airports and command centers and broadband connectivity—we see today how the Town and its puppet masters have upset the historic checks and balances. We can’t afford a town mayor and council held in thrall to a local utility company that thereby creates financial hardship and threatens public safety.
Due to the absence of a fair minded or concerned media, the antidote to aggressive government by the few lies in the hands of the many—the citizens’ grass roots campaigns. We need “to take back the town” and “stabilize the county.”
Dan Barrone, Judi Cantu, and Fritz Hahn represent the traditions of Taosenos: roots in small business, the Olguin sawmill, the downtown Cantu property, and the Hawley family’s Taos Herb Company, the latter inspired by Taosenos’ historic curandera practices. Further all three named candidates believe in family and public service first—not profiting from the public purse.
Dan and Della have demonstrated their support for community as volunteer “Boosters” at Taos Municipal Schools athletic events and are known to be active participants in their church. Judi’s passion for social and environmental justice as well as a passion for people and place is displayed in quiet, steady, and respectful ways. Fritz combines a bookkeeper’s brain or astute analysis of economic issues with the heart of a compassionate social worker, whose practice concerns “families in crisis.”
The entire County needs to support these three public advocates the old fashioned way: via word of mouth. Phone, talk to your friends and relatives within the town limits. Limit the influence of the biased and unconcerned media. Talk to friends and family in the grocery stores, at Walmart, on the street and on the phone. Remind town voters to vote for the greater community in Taos: Vote for Dan, Judi, and Fritz. Talk it up. The community you save may be your own. You have all been deputized.