No Locals Need Apply, Part II
Out of Nothing, Nothing Comes
Though I am informed that only a small percentage of non-locals work at Town Hall, my source is suspect and biased by “social engineering.” Those who, as Taosenos say, “are not from here” currently fill all or most of the elite and more powerful positions at Town Hall. There appears to be little opportunity for upward mobility or experienced nortenos. Even the native Taosenos on the Town Council can’t seem to get the “information” they need, due to the manager’s and attorney’s “metaphysical claims and nonsense” about the code.
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
In terms of life and death “potholes” might be considered trivial but there is a consensus among the community and even at The Taos News that the issue requires attention: what does the Town propose to do? If the Mayor and Manager won’t tell Councilor Gonzales, or Fred and Judy, how much money is in the budget, why would they tell us? Apparently the “cabal,” Bellis, Barrone, and Hahn are keeping their shovels and the checkbook behind their backs.
This “cabal” will not issue a press release nor hold a “state of the town” meeting about their plans or issue a “vision” about their plans for the community. Off the record they warn supporters that “the other guys” might take over. They are happy in their paranoia.
Apparently Mayor Barrone has exchanged his work gloves for political inertia and uses Bellis’s “metaphysical nonsense” as his excuse to ignore the problems.
The “Cabal” won’t tell the community—honestly—why the manager or HR department stonewalled and did not answer former town planner Lou Baker’s application for the vacant planning job. She said that when she was ignored by the manager, no answer, she then applied later for the “Building Inspector’s” job. As a licensed contractor with a Master’s in planning from MIT she was informed that she wasn’t qualified for a job that has historically gone to a high school graduate from Taos or, literally, the dog catcher.
The “Cabal” gave applicant and planner Patrick Nicholson the “runaround” and only interviewed him after he begged the mayor, whom he supported, for a shot. Rejected for “nebulous reasons” (some folks “said” they didn’t like him and he doesn’t have the experience—except for a Master’s degree and 15 years of experience in and around Taos and northern New Mexico) and maybe because he has, according to rumor, a “brittle personality.” Too often he tells the truth. Now he’s trying to find a job in Milwaukee. He has letters of recommendation from former bosses and, my goodness, he’s been fired by a couple of Pueblos. The Town Manager didn’t return Patrick’s calls despite promises.
We don’t’ know why the “marketing job” remains unfilled, despite the desperate need for tourist GRT. Maybe the “Cabal” is truly ashamed of the potholes. When Barrone and Hahn and Cantu were elected, surely they understood the need for revamping and envisioning a new marketing campaign more than a year ago. According to the “other” council members, Bellis won’t furnish documents detailing the expenses of the controversial and expensive Kongos. Pretty Christmas tree lights, paid for by KCEC members (all of us), divert our attention upward but the potholes below remain.
Even as the manager Mr. Bellis insulted the tourist base, i.e. the “blue hairs” and flaunted the “new demographic,” (his craft-beer friends) he couldn’t pull the trigger and find somebody to help guide Griffin and Associates, the Town’s desultory p.r. firm. We know the Lodger’s Tax Association Board (LTAB) and the Chamber of Commerce are, historically, afraid to speak up. Business mavens understand little about the nuts and bolts of local politics and governing but they shouldn’t be browbeaten.
Barrone, Bellis, and Hahn have frozen out what appears to be a potential brain trust and enthusiastic group of Tuesday Marketing Meeting promoters. I can think of four or five folks, four juniors and one senior, who could contribute much to a brain trust: Adrianna Blake, Jonah Reynolds, and Jaime Tedesco. I’d call on Janet Webb for experienced guidance: what worked, what didn’t work in the past. Young David Cortez could offer assistance about video and Internet flogging.
Locally, Ernie’s granddaughter, Ms. Blake, studied under a “master of public relations” who is equaled only by R.C. Gorman in the annals of ingenious and low-cost public relations campaigns aqui en Taos. We always had more snow when Ernie was on the radio. The mountain was steeper and the sun warmer in Ernie’s press releases.
Mr. Earthships’s son, Jonah Reynolds, and Susan’s boy, grew up under the aegis of grandfather Lee Solters, legendary L.A. p.r. man, who fronted for Sinatra as did Jonah’s mother, and Streisand, the Ringling Brothers and just about every major showbiz figure that his Uncle Larry didn’t represent, who himself worked with Wings and Paul McCartney, etc. (I once attended a concert by Fleetwood Mac in the company of Larry, Susan, and the Eagles in LA.) Jonah worked with the Hopper Day deal last year but apparently got run out by Bellis, according to Cantu, who described the manager (Bellis) as playing a game of bait and switch. Who else can call Mom and have instant access to top show biz folks? Eh?
My personal favorite for marketing coordinator is Jamie Tedesco, a low key hard-working guy, who is married to a Pueblo woman, worked at the golf courses in Pojoaque, sold ads for Horse Fly, ran p.r. at The Taos Inn for several years and has hung in there to promote Taos Tourism despite the vacuum at Town Hall. (Bellis’s buddy Dawn Richardson of Solar Fest left so many of us high and dry after she and Danny bankrupted their production company. Naturally Bellis turns to her and Robbie Romero, another ne’er do well.)
You don’t need to pay Taosenos so much and jobs help folks stay in the community, I’m told. Hiring local is like advocating in-fill for planning or digging up information so you can do your job.
Here’s a quote from The Taos News: “I think it should be at the discretion of the council as to whether they [Town Council] choose to engage the manager in any information request,” Gonzales said. He asked that a formal change to the town ordinance be drafted and put to a vote at a future meeting.”
The Councilor wants some information so he can do his job. According to Gene Sanchez when he was on the Council, a councilor was entitled to information and could get same from the clerk or whomever. Of course there were famous exceptions and scandals ensued. But what are Bellis, Barrone, and Hahn hiding from the others besides their own “political inertia” while trying to cover up for Bellis’s “metaphysical nonsense” and excuses.
The Taos News says, “Bellis did not weigh in on the discussion, but councilor Fritz Hahn cautioned that such a change could lead to “micromanagement” and “inappropriate manipulation.” Who’s doing the “micromanagement” and “manipulation” eh Fritz?
What’s wrong with hiring “local” and why the secrecy? (The Town is not covering up the potholes.) Why does Bellis insult our longtime visitors and imply that the county, which hires local, is wrong? Who’s incompetent? The Town appears to be doing less with less and making more excuses to do less about potholes and less about everything else due to Bellis’s excuses to do nothing.
It’s time for Mr. “Ex Nihilo” himself to exit so the “others” can retrieve their shovels and find the checkbook. You can borrow some work gloves from the County. Whatever happened to the “Smith’s” expansion project? We’re only asking.