Taos: County and Town: the Macro and Micro versions

Revelations Below: County Culture, Abeyta Issues, Farmer’s Market 

(Sorry about the length but it was a long day. Here are the highlights.)

County Ramble: Historic News for HCC

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the Taos County staff hosted a work-study session for commissioners to discuss the general financial health of the County with Finance Director, Leandro Cordova, as the star witness. He and his staff, ably assisted by elected officials and their staffs, have provided Commissioners with a tight budget, conservative projections and a policy aimed at keeping the county solvent. Though I don’t have the figures in front of me, basically, expenses have declined and revenues increased. Due to tight management the county is in a sound fiscal condition.

As Leandro sat there discussing the various county departments and responsibilities, including the tight management of the Senior Center, which the County rescued from chaos only a year ago, I marveled at the change in government culture from when I first began covering county issues in late 1998. During the first part of the 21st Century, finance director Lovely Lorraine Coca-Ruiz had to call Santa Fe for assistance from DFA to keep commissioners from running their trucks over the cliffs. Indeed, it took several years for the County to establish a trial balance and do a proper audit.

The finance department has appointed a series of smart young people, mostly women, like Amanda Rael, who is in charge of making certain the Senior Center adheres to financial guidelines. In the last year Jeanna Elam, a veteran of what might be called the County Circus during the Morrison Memorial years, has joined the department and works in payroll; she is largely responsible for keeping the Art and Artifacts Committee on track, which has resulted in the permanent exhibition of historic photos (more to come), the proposed sculpture on the courtyard, and the coming of Ted Egri’s fabulous “Flight of the Wind” to an elliptical resting place in front of the Complex.

Jeanna, as I remember it, first came to attention when she workd in Solid Waste for the County during the Morrison regime and was only 17 when she entered the fray. I think Abby (sp) is still there, also a veteran of the Morrison years. Others too have dedicated themselves to County service and flourish under the auspices of the county’s emphasis on quality and control. Planning department’s Becky Parraz and grant administrator Anita Padilla, both county union leaders, were present and watchful as Leandro presented a variety of reports on one of several overhead flat screens. We all feel more secure in the community what with Becky’s “lifetime” commitment to the County.

Thanks to a united commission, and Leandro’s financial vision, as well as the support of County Manager Steve Archuleta and his deputy, Brent Jaramillo, the County has come up with a refinancing scheme to complete projects at the Ag Center and provide the Historic County Courthouse (HCC) on the Plaza with ADA access, including an elevator, bathrooms, and improvements to the electrical system.

It will take about four months to work out the financing but the preliminary architectural study for the HCC has been done by David Henry. Some engineering, archeological, and environmental studies remain. Commissioners will have to make design decisions regarding specific uses and infrastructure. Construction Manager Richard Sanchez, who, oversaw the completion of the Complex (along with Jeanna), and, who incidentally chairs the Art and Artifacts Review Committee, has studied the HCC and is prepared to discuss various approaches. Commissioners Blankenhorn, Fambro, O’Donnell, and Romero all appear to support the Courthouse project.

The importance of the Courthouse project can’t be over-emphasized in terms of contributing to the revitalization of Taos Plaza. Yesterday Commissioners bandied about notions of a “restaurant and museum,” while using the upstairs for culturally complementary organizations and expanding on the use of the Mural Room. The focus by Commissioners on the Courthouse recognizes the organic connection to the history and culture of the community as well as its potential attraction for experiential tourism. Visitors frequently bypass courthouse shops in favor of visiting the historic frescoes and old jail even today.

Shotgun Water Issues

After listening to Commissioners and the Public Welfare Water Advisory Committee discuss a water rights “transfer protest” with representatives of El Prado Water and Sanitation District (EPWSD), I adjourned to the Town of Taos to see what was up with the Farmer’s Market scheduled for location on Taos Plaza. But who should I see if not El Prado Water and Sanitation’s John Painter and Attorney Jim Brockman in attendance with Northern Constructor’s Joey Perovich, requesting use of the Town’s mas y menos 1200-foot deep test well at the airport as a source for water to help construct the crosswind runway. The Council voted to approve contingent upon Taos Pueblo’s okay.

Didn’t EPSWD’s John Painter say El Prado would lease Charmin’ Joey some 300 acre feet of “main-stem” Rio Grande Water rights for the project? Hey, Joey’s a good customer. The Town can only provide some 50 acre feet from the well during construction, according to Painter.

The $130 million Abeyta—Taos Pueblo Water Settlement, expected to take effect or be implemented in 2017, has been characterized by critics as a kind of hydrological shell game. Superstitious politicians, most of whom have neither read nor understood the document, cite “Abeyta” as an excuse to avoid making the tough decisions. Some folks think Gov. Martinez’s latest appointment to the OSE (Office of State Engineer) Tom Blaine, will protect them but he’s a civil engineer from NMED with virtually no experience in acequia, watershed, and water rights issues, according to his resume. Indeed, he’s a city boy.

Throughout the community parciantes are beginning to rise up and question and even expel their leaders who signed on to the Abeyta agreement. “Beneficial use” is beginning to look like “self-interest selfishly understood” as the Abeyta Boys raid the watersheds and acequias in Questa and especially Sunshine Valley, looking for “paper water rights” with which to plunder water from deep aquifers and thereby deplete the springs that feed the Rio Grande. The Public Welfare Water Advisory committee on Tuesday reiterated their recommendation, protesting transfers, to commissioners, based on issues concerning impairment, conservation, economic potential, and concerns for the environment.

It’s a conundrum for the Commissioners because they have a duty to protect the residents of El Prado and the residents of the northern watersheds up in the Questa area, which citizens also need water and more water rights. What scares the County’s Advisory Committee about the Abeyta water grab is the potential for setting up a market in water rights, a so-called slippery slope that would permit Taos County water to be sold down the river to thirsty municipalities as has already happened when, unknown to the local parciantes and leaders, Santa Fe bought water rights attached to “Top of the World” from everybody’s favorite millionaire in the late nineties, the man who brought you El Monte Sagrado.

El Prado W&S District’s John Painter and the Rio Lucero’s water maven, TVAA guru Palemon Martinez, are seen as the incarnation of Santa Fe and the millionaire vendido by Questenos. Palemon, we hear, has been “allegedly” deposed by parciantes and Painter is being questioned about his use, “allegedly” of “white-out” in a lawsuit filed by a contractor who claims EPWSD ignored contractual obligations. We also hear EPWSD had to borrow dough from a local bank to pay Brockman, their attorney. Indeed one must wonder about the solvency of EPWSD. Meanwhile, the Commissioners are beginning to listen to their constituents re: the wholly (not holy) scripture of Abeyta, which is so subject to loopy “holes.”

Farmer’s Market Intrigue

After much discussion, ad nauseam, the Town Council voted to “lease” the Plaza for one more year to the Farmers Market folks, three to one. Councilor Cantu voted “no” apparently because the executive team has ignored prior requests to provide the council with a study of the issues: a master parking plan, business plan, plan for keeping the Plaza open, provisions for expanding into the alleys and in the Bent St./Dunn House area, a quantifiable survey of merchants and farmers, provisions for signage and other events on the Plaza. In other words, Cantu wants something more than an ad hoc response from the manager and mayor, especially given that this is the second year for the location of the market on the Plaza.

Yesterday’s meeting focused on the pros and cons of locating the market on the Plaza. Not only did some merchants object but also at least one veteran farmer, Daniel Carmona, many years the President of the organization, said he preferred the historic early 1980s location of the market at the County Complex parking lot. At the Complex farmers would have exposure to highway traffic, vast parking resources, and the ability to load and unload their product to booths from adjacent vehicles. The set-up and breakdown could be accomplished in a more leisurely fashion, given the Plaza restrictions on parking and time. Several young farmers, however, testified to the thrill of selling out their product each Saturday on the Plaza last year. They noted the positive reaction of tourists and locals who patronized the market at its historic downtown Plaza location.

On a side note, there appears to be a controversial organization, called “Comida” which has inserted itself into the mix with the passive support of Manager Bellis and the active support of the social engineer, Councilor Hahn. Hahn’s Berkeley-like support of the Red Willow justice project, renaming of Kit Carson Park, and now, the promotion of a new agricultural idealism, Comida, reminds me of the historic “Southern Agrarians,” aqui en Taos.

Believe me, I loved the Farmer’s Market but I am well aware of the merchants, most of the north-side brick and mortar tenants and two major tenants on the west side, who oppose the Farmer’s Market and claim their receipts suffer a downturn due to Plaza closures. Different events draw different kinds of tourists and buyers. Very often the hundreds of concertgoers or thousands who visit fiesta, ignore the shops on the Plaza and discourage the buyers who normally visit the shops. The success of Taos Mountain Outfitters suggests management and farmers are in tune with both visitors and locals but that sort of synchronicity is rare. Food and beverage purveyors are more likely to find common ground with the farmers, less so jewelry shops, galleries, or trading posts.

To me the Council and Mayor are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. More signs and better parking plans will not change the equation for merchants. How will the Plaza accommodate growth if there is a fruit season?

The Council has now created more tension between themselves and their voters. Course they like to create tension among themselves, too. The assault on the sensibilities of some Councilors during the now infamous Friday Night Meltdown, due to Bellis’s role as lightning rod, was driven by what appeared to be attendees who are non-residents of the Town. Now the Council has bowed to the will of non-resident farmers but in an effort to revitalize the Plaza. As your social engineer will discover, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Just as the County Commissioners are caught up in the horns of the Abeyta agreement between the signatories and the objectors, so the Town Council has been caught up in another dilemma between merchants and farmers. It’s an easy call for the social engineer ‘cause he just makes up his mind and doesn’t think about it anymore. The other councilors will worry about what their constituents think and feel, except for Councilor Cantu, who recognized her constituent merchants on the Plaza, who also appear to be town voters.

We’re only saying…let’s be glad, dear reader, that we aren’t elected officials. Below is a letter echoing Councilor Cantu’s objections.

Statement for Town of Taos Council Meeting – January 27, 2015

My name is Lynn FitzGerald. My background is with Arizona Main Street and Taos Project.

I would like to request that the vote for the location of the Farmers Market be tabled until
a special Farmers Market meeting is held with the stakeholders that are directly and financially affected by the location decision. The other meetings have been too large with many other issues looped in with the discussion. There are many special issues that affect this decision, such as:

1. Whether a location impedes with the traffic flow throughout the Taos Historic District
during the peak summer season.

2. Whether parking, traffic access and bus access are properly considered for a location.

3. Whether a lease is suitable considering the economic impact and other problems that might arise during the season at any location.

4. Whether specific hours would be applied to a location.

5. Whether existing businesses would be blocked by farmer booths.

6. Whether the number of vendors would be regulated according the available space at a site.

7. Whether farmers would be charged a fee to be paid to the Town of Taos. At this time,
the majority of the farmers do not pay any gross receipts tax. A fee would cover location maintenance and other Town expenditures that might develop. It would also create a funding source for the needs of the Historic District. A fee estimate of $15 – $25 per farmer per event would be reasonable.

8. Whether trucks would be allowed at a site.

9. Whether expanding the Farmers Market to include animals is a safe and a hygienic issue considering open-stall food products.

10. Whether a location is in the best interest for the growth and development of the Farmers Market.

Last summer, the Farmers Market was not properly evaluated when they first appeared on the Taos Plaza. It is now time to review the impact a Farmers Market might have on any location and develop some rules and guidelines. Considering the above listed issues, the Town Hall Parking Lot seems to be the location most suitable for the Farmers Market.