A Note on Political Doings

In response to the Sept. 4 Taos News story on the new Town Council, I think the Mayor and Council are doing just fine, regardless of my disagreements with the free-wheeling Fritz Hahn. I supported Hahn, Cantu, and Barrone and still do. I hear and see good things. The “Red Willow” and “airport” controversies are great conversation starters but, looked at closely, turn into smoke and mirrors.

We can do little but discuss history by informing ourselves and responding with sensitivity to the sins of our collective forefathers. As for the airport, the FAA, per the “wisdom” of the U.S. Congress and their acolytes has seen fit to fund the devilish landing strip whether for reasons of safety, air jockey hobbyists, or to prop up the trade with wealthy tourists and future military ops. Quien sabe?

We Taosenos must tap into bits and pieces of the high-end tourist trade and take advantage of the trickle down lest we starve. And there’s another twist on the Robin Hood tradition, rarely talked about among polite folks here. But in Taos, the Taoseno is bound and determined to take from the rich or the feds and keep the dough for self and family. Ask a second homer or a local how many plumbers, electricians, septic haulers, or contractors he or she must entertain before finding a competent and honest crafts person? Eh?

(Kit Carson, too, had to leave Josefa behind, repeatedly, to earn a living abroad due to a lack of opportunity between “tourist” trade fairs.)

Anyway, the Barrone-Bellis administration is keeping the streets clean, the flowers watered, and the Plaza full of life on Saturdays. Thanks to the resolution of the E911-Dispatch issue and the end of El Prado annexation there is some peace in the valley. Hahn says he wants to get the financial house in order at Town Hall. We all support fiscal responsibility.

Meanwhile, the E911 fix and fix for Taos Senior Center, both historically neglected by the Town, have given Taos County fiscal fits. I won’t say Bellis and his expensive sidekick poisoned the well at the Old County Courthouse between Town and County but he has miles to go before he sleeps peacefully among commissioners and staff.

Taosenos never forget.

While Bellis supports the idea of the “new demographic,” appealing to the younger athletic “Kongos” generation of energetic experiential tourists, some ten thousand baby boomers each day are turning sixty-five and sill constitute the majority. The gray hairs will be with us in greater numbers for another generation. Regardless of Gen X, Gen Y., the Boomers rule. Surely, somebody besides Big Pharma can compete for the pensions of the aging ones. Think on it.

Here’s my pet peeve about which the Town of Taos has done nothing. I’m talking about the anti-beauty brigade. A plague of tacky banners up and down the Paseo and on Kit Carson Road disturbs the historic district: town banners, commercial banners, sandwich boards, federal, state, and national directional and safety signs obscure the sight lines and smother the attractive adobe architecture and viewscapes along highways and byways, town streets and even alleys.

The Town fathers have seen fit to place a huge banner on the east side of its public restroom, announcing same, behind the Old County Courthouse, despite having two other signs already in place. Desperate merchants are buying neon lights. Local artists put out scribbled sandwich boards. The Taos News promotes the sales of tacky banners to draw your attention to the favorite local this or that.

I remember when Lady Bird Johnson‘s “Beautify America” campaign joined with Ed Abbey’s “Monkey Wrench Gang” to make Taos a more civil and attractive environment for both locals and visitors. Everyone’s got a sign today except, alas, the sign man.