Town of Taos: The Politics of Procedure and Prejudice

Since some of the Friction readers are focused on two experiential changes in the community, both promoted by the Town of Taos and its staff, let’s look at what was done fairly in terms of the Farmer’s Market and rather unfairly during the procedure that ensued in renaming of Kit Carson Park. 

In the case of the Farmer’s Market, both construction in the area of Town Hall and a visionary attempt to rejuvenate Taos Plaza coincided. The timing is impeccable: spring weather, a renewed focus on growth and acknowledgment in the change of tourist demographics. Manager Rick Bellis met with Plaza merchants and courageously took the heat and explained his reasoning to the naysayers who resisted the change.

The critics said unusually nasty things and engaged in Taos type ad hominem attacks. The advocates were calmer and rational. The success of the endeavor can be measured by attendance, the wonderful feelings, and the return of the locals to the Plaza. At the same time, Bellis also said that if the decision seemed impractical, it could be changed. Folks appear to be voting with their feet for the Farmer’s Market on the Plaza.

Now, let’s look at the issue of renaming Kit Carson Park. Those who advocated the change in name and those who voted for it treated political procedures as secondary. Councilor Hahn said it was permanent, he’s not changing his mind. The advocates of the name change did not reach out to meet with critics, who had a different set of criteria regarding the park and a firestorm erupted. The description of Kit Carson by Fritz Hahn (“notorious Indian killer”), according to news reports, and by Judi Cantu (“Hitler”) reported on her web site, suggest a bias toward the adopting the anti-historical prejudicial pop culture view of the iconic figure. The decision by the council and the reasons to rename Kit Carson Park as “Red Willow “ park explained by Bellis in news reports confirms the private nature of the procedure.

Unlike the Farmer’s Market process, Bellis and the Council listened only to one side.

On the Taos News blogs the informed historical commentary on the subject has been extraordinary.  Contrary to the Town Council’s position, most folks, according to The Taos News survey, just wanted a say so or public hearing.  A fair debate would have offered citizens a chance to learn something from each other. Surely, there  is a certain lyricism to the name “Red Willow” and a kind of harshness associated with the name “Kit Carson.” If we can somehow derive a “feeling of justice” from the change, so be it.

According to the historians, the people who support the name change ignore the facts of history. Political correctness, prejudicial popular notions, and the deconstruction of political imagery equate to private grievances, which the Town Council has now elevated into public policy. The current policy is all the more anathema, due to the Council’s rejection, regarding the rights of the voters, which undermines political confidence in the council and executive officers. On a more mundane level, it will take years to correct the publicity, names on maps, etc. associated with directing tourists and locals to the park.

For those who think the controversy is a tempest in a teapot, I can only say that history is alive and well in Taos, whether with regard to land grants, occupiers, hippies, or the Gringo take-over. Many of us still refer to the “Blinking Light” intersection of Highway 64, Highway 522, and Highway 150, where travelers split off to Questa, Arroyo Seco, Taos Ski Valley and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We take pride in our provincial ways, our prejudices, never more so than by changing the name of a local park, while ignoring local facts and the facts of history.