Bellis Sings Kumbaya But Where are the Work Gloves?
“Our role as citizens seeking responsive, informed and effective government does not end on Election Day. Picking the right leaders is just the start.” ——Rick Bellis
Below, Town Manager Rick Bellis sends out his thanks to the citizens for saving his job. Last Friday night folks showed up for what amounted to a melodramatic community catharsis. Councilor Judi Cantu withdrew her motion to terminate Mr. Bellis. Many of the vocal attendees were not necessarily voters or residents of the Town.
According to Mr. Bellis’s note below, which is filled with appropriate sentiments and sensible propositions, all would be well if we could just find it in our hearts to cooperate for the purposes of the community. He says, “on January 22nd at 6 pm at the Council Chambers we will be holding an important community-wide meeting to talk about the future of the downtown; from parking and signage to events.”
Despite Bellis’s claims on Friday night about keeping the public informed, policy discussions. according to council members, have occurred behind closed doors, which doors have been shut to two-and-half council members. Given Mr. Bellis’s quick response to the infrastructure crises, broken pipes and road projects, I think it’s time he issued similar press updates about other matters.
To me, the terms, “Transparency” and “collaboration” have become buzzwords or euphemisms for “cover-up” and “do it my way.” Councilor Cantu has filed multiple requests for public information, according to the The Taos News, implying that the Town refused to give it to her. Where’s the collaboration and transparency?
On Friday night Bellis said that the high cost of living, low salaries, and political turmoil turned away highly qualified staff. He buttressed his argument by referring to Taos County and the state of New Mexico. But County Manager Steve Archuleta has adapted and promoted longtime employees from within at HR, Planning, and Public Works. Mr. Bellis himself survived at the county, where he got fired and rehired, and was able to get promoted as manager to Town Hall, thanks to voters, due to the election of a popular Mayor and former commissioner.
In one of his essays Wendell Berry points out how rural communities hire “itinerant professionals” to tell them what and how to do what they already know. Now that Mr. Bellis is no longer an itinerant professional but has been baptized by the “bar fight” culture of local politics, he should look around and hire local Taosenos. For instance, I hope Matt Spriggs stays on in the Planning Department despite his public resignation.
I sympathize with Councilor Cantu’s distress when it comes to hiring a marketing director. Bellis and Mayor Barrone could and should have hired an interim director last March or April. It was an important issue at the time. At the Tuesday morning marketing meetings many good ideas were aired but nothing was done. Now we have fallen a year behind. We need to promote tourism to create revenue to fix the community infrastructure. It should be a priority.
Below Mr. Bellis says “people with personal agendas can often drive public policy for the entire community and convince officials that “the people” are happy or not happy with something when, in fact, the opposite is true.” That’s how I feel about the “Kongos” and the “Red Willow Park” events and issues. Some of Mr. Bellis’s most public associates are considered local “con” artists who have a history of having “burned” community members.
As for Mr. Work Gloves, residents and merchants would like to see the Mayor’s men on the streets, filling potholes, and cleaning up the sand. If the street sweeper is disabled, brooms will do. Or we can put Ranee Malanga in charge of Plaza cleanup. A former Town Councilor reminded me that the fire chief used to come out with his crew and wash down the streets after the snow and mud accumulated.
Before we “collaborate,” community members also want to see signs of good faith, not excuses, from town government. (Currently, the spectre of “collaboration” has, ironically, stymied progress at the Historic County Courthouse for more than eight years.) Before we sing kumbaya we need to concrete signs of progress, not more cheesy signs in the historic district or Christmas Tree lights that overwhelm traditional farolitos.
(BTW: contrary to the propaganda on the Bellis petition, the County Commissioners and the voters stopped annexation and implemented a state of the art E911 system: it was a community effort.)
Bellis’s Heartfelt Message
A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO ALL THOSE CITIZENS THAT PARTICIPATED IN FRIDAY NIGHT’S COUNCIL MEETING
On behalf of the Mayor and myself, I would like to thank everyone that (sic) took the time to sign petitions, make calls, send emails, write letters, that testified, or that spent your Friday night in a very long Town Council Meeting; whether you were for or against.
“Government FOR the people and BY the people” only works when the people are informed and involved. And if we, your servants, are to be good in our jobs and effective for the community, we must hear all opinions, whether we agree or not.
If you the public do not attend meetings or participate on committees, we your public servants and elected representatives can not be sure that what we are hearing or doing is what you want; whether on an important vote, who we hire or the type of events we put on.
Inversely, when you don’t participate a persistent handful of determined naysayers or people with personal agendas can often drive public policy for the entire community and convince officials that “the people” are happy or not happy with something when, in fact, the opposite is true.
Those that are new to how government works may be particularly susceptible to these rumor campaigns, financial self interests and hidden agendas by a vocal and persistent few. And that is why transparency and hearing from the ENTIRE community as often as possible is so important.
This Mayor and this administration are committed to having as open a government as possible,and that means that major issues that impact the community will be discussed in widely advertised special PUBLIC FORUMS and reviewed by citizen committees before critical decisions are made.
For example, on January 22nd at 6 pm at the Council Chambers we will be holding an important community-wide meeting to talk about the future of the downtown; from parking and signage to events. I urge everyone to be there to both be informed and to be heard. This will not be a Council meeting, but your ideas will help myself, the staff, Mayor and Council decide how to proceed next summer and for years to come. We also need your ideas!
Lastly, I want to personally thank each and every one of you that had such wonderful things to say about myself, the Mayor, what we are doing and your community.
We often don’t know when we do something in government, other than looking at cold numbers, what the real impact is that we are having or if anyone even notices, and Friday night you ALL touched my heart so deeply.
This is a very diverse community in so many wonderful ways. But that can often appear to make compromise or consensus impossible. However, my experience has been that with all of the so very talented and concerned people in this community, there is no compromise that can’t be found and no problem that can’t be solved when we all get in the same room and are willing to let down our prejudices and listen from our hearts.
We all love this wonderful and unique community. Sometimes for different reasons, but for all of us our goal is the same; to make a better, kinder, fair and safer way of life for all people and creatures, and especially our children, while leaving the least impact on the nature, culture and history of what has for so long come before us and that for so much longer must survive us.
There is so much that needs to be done that has been ignored for so long. But there is also so much that we can get done, so quickly and so easily when we stop listening to those that are trying to divide us by what makes us different, and instead focus on why we need to work together and what we have in common.
We are undergoing a dramatic social change in how our community works, from those in institutions and positions of power telling the people what to do and deciding what THEY want, to the people choosing and directing leaders and institutions that will deliver what the PEOPLE want. It will not be easy. Change never is. But it is necessary. And, with your help, it has already begun.
I truly believe that there are good leaders and great staff at the Town and County that want to make this happen, but we all need your input and your help. We need your involvement, at meetings, at forums and especially on our citizen advisory boards and committees.
Our roll as citizens seeking responsive, informed and effective government does not end on Election Day. Picking the right leaders is just the start.
STAY INVOLVED. STAY INFORMED. WE NEED YOU. YOUR COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, each and every one of you.
Rick Bellis