Public Works, Planning and Zoning, Taxes and Controversy

El Sombrero Negro: the Cowboy and Public Works

One can never truly tell whether “incompetency” or “conspiracy” is at the heart of subverting the procurement code or due process in greater Taos. Over at the Public Works Department, French Espinosa’s shadow government, the contracts for cuates program frequently gets renewed, due to inaction, with lucrative results for engineers.

For instance: in 2006 the Town entered into a contract with Souder Miller & Associates for $643,083.92 for engineering water improvements in the Weimar area during the Duran administration. The contract expired on 12.31.2007 and was renewed 1.29.2008 and the budget was revised. The Weimar Foothills water line distribution project was added. In May of 2010 the contract was amended and the budget revised. On July 1, 2014 the Town entered into another contract for $337,552.67, which contract includes a fee of “104,802.01″ to update the previously designed Weimar Hills distribution plan, plans already designed and paid for in 2009, suggesting how the Town got gouged.

Letter from Patrick Nicholson:

Dear Mr. Bellis,

For more than nine months, beginning in July 2014, I and others of the Este Es Neighborhood have contacted your office on more than four occasions and requested that the illegal development occurring at 211 Este Es Road be stopped. The new construction of a duplex on this property is taken place without approval of the Town of Taos Planning and Zoning Commission and is in clear violation of several zoning regulations and the Town Land Use Development Code.

The property owner appears to have been granted a building permit from the Town’s Building Official, which in itself is a violation of town regulations and procedure, as this level of development must first be reviewed by the Town of Taos Planning and Zoning Commission. For months we have patiently waited for your office to act and correct this blatant flouting of the law and adverse impact on our neighborhood and properties.

At this time, we requested that the building be immediately ‘red tagged’ and all new construction be removed i.e. demolished and for the lot to be brought back into zoning conformity. Continually delay and inaction by your office is noted. The neighbors and I expect prompt attention and resolution to this matter.

Signed

Patrick Nicholson

Conclusions

In effect, the Town has paid a total of about $620,000.00 more than required because the Director of Public Works disregarded fiduciary duty during the last ten years. Further, due to inertia i.e. foot-dragging and the inability of the Town Council and Mayor to supervise and monitor the Public Works Department, the Town is negatively affected by the “pothole” problem.

Meanwhile the Mayor and Council have engaged in a divisive policy aimed at Plaza Merchants in the controversial Farmer’s Market matter, a matter easily resolved by reconfiguring and/or moving the market and preserving traffic flow to benefit merchants in an increasingly difficult retail-tourist environment.

The voters elected Barrone, Hahn, and Cantu to bring honest government and some reform, especially financial oversight, to the Town of Taos. The focus on controversy, Bellis’s job, the Red Willow social justice project, and the Farmer’s Market, the airport controversy, has diverted the Council from concentrating on the nuts and bolts of managing the Town, planning and zoning issues, marketing, and potholes.

Belatedly, the Town has acted to combine the Chile Line and Blue Bus, a good thing. Still, the Town has done little in the way of addressing the excessive costs charged by the private contractor, which manages the Waste Water Treatment Plant or the outlaw property owners who ignore town water ordinances.

On a positive note, yesterday at the County Commission meeting, the Director of Stray Hearts gave what sounded like a miraculous report in terms of how well the animal shelter has been reorganized. Thanks to what sounds like the near genius of the current director and the collaborative environment at the shelter, volunteers have been trained to care for animals, and, in turn, animals are being adopted out in record numbers, according to the report.

Meanwhile, rumors about potential property tax increases to benefit the Hospital circulate. Given the poor performance and lack of transparency, the reported conflicts of interests,  perceived gouging at Holy Cross Hospital, and the negative public relations associated with mismanagement due to Quorum, it seems unlikely voters will support property tax increases.

Similarly, the Town has made a muddle out of the Eco Park plan and basically ignored the volunteers, who keep hope alive at the so-called Taos Sports Authority.

A tax increase amounts to a referendum on management and operations and reflects the confidence a community has in its elected officials, all the elected officials. Governments that can’t fix roads or potholes can’t be trusted to monitor the black hole of health care, where managers seem incapable of healing themselves.

Aqui en Taos some elected officials operate in the so-called “gray area,” and, like the DA’s office, seem beyond the reach of custom and the ” law.” And some appointed officials ignore the “procurement code” and seem untouchable. So it goes.