Letters to the editor

Mill levy election sign of

 

political system woes

Editor,

Tuesday’s mill-levy ballot did not discuss a citizen’s oversight committee or a temporary tax increase, yet pre-election rhetoric did.

Could this clash between the ballot and verbal promises be the fingerprints of big-shot politics?

I’ve seen big-shot politics pose the question of who’s going to pay the piper and when.

I’m not accusing anybody of anything. My point is a cranky old grievance against the system.

There is too much of big-shot politics these days. All around there is big-time lawyering, big-money business, big-deal time and money, and just plain big.

These things produce nice convenience and well-being, but civics and bi-partisanship are being left to old party lines.

On daily affairs through the years, officials and big-shots have dealt with bottom lines so much that only a few can now read through the jargon and see pitfalls to avoid.

Maybe the string of big-shot bouvine feces finally broke during these times and the system it created has to go through correction.

As in the adverse financial management supervised by the current county commission. Maybe the commissioners had to pay the piper during their watch.

Mill levys are always unplanned actions to meet some crisis.

This crisis we are in is truly bad and, certainly, big. Cooperating across and down the chain of command in all circles involved, public and private, Democrat and Republican, climbing out of this mess with least ill-will is one solution.

Most big-shots make me uncomfortable.

Nathaniel Charles Wilson, Jr.

Los Lunas

MLB committing suicide

Editor:

I am responding to T.S. Last’s column concerning the negative publicity toward Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig which appeared in the June 19 edition of the News-Bulletin.

My thought is this: I would not completely blame Selig for the slow death of Major League Baseball. With the exception of the enormous growing popularity of football (Arena, NFL and NCAA), my favorite sport, I believe Major League Baseball has been killing itself and football has taken the throne as “America’s Sport.”

I believe that baseball has still not recovered from the players/owners strike which occurred a decade ago. Because there is no present salary cap in MLB, owners like George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees can practically buy World Series championships (with the notable exception of last year, when New York lost to Arizona) while other teams like the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers don’t have a chance. Add a controversy with steroids and a feud among umpires and one has a cyanide MLB.

I remember how much of a baseball fan I used to be (my favorite team was the Los Angeles Dodgers) before the strike. I would even stay up late at night so that I could watch the Dodgers/Braves game in Los Angeles (when I lived in Kansas). Every morning, the first thing that I would do when sitting down at the kitchen table was to open the daily newspaper to see how my Dodgers were doing in the win-loss standings.

Even when I was younger, it was a thrill of excitement to go to a Royals game to see George Brett hit another home run. But, after the strike, I began to see a sport that is dying; where more and more kids are interested in playing soccer and football in the summer rather than baseball.

Selig’s not killing baseball. For the most part baseball is committing suicide. May it one day finally rest in peace.

Jim Wilburn

Belen

What’s up with the

 

LL ‘Y’ recycle center

Editor:

The Village of Los Lunas’ decision to close its recycling collectionpoint on Smith’s parking lot a the Valencia “Y” could prove shortsighted, from an economic standpoint.

Did anyone consider the likely impact on shopping in Los Lunas?

Although I live in Rio Communities, I patronize Valencia “Y” businesses because, in one trip, I can also dispose of discarded paper, cardboard and plastic.

But now, with recycling activity there scheduled to transfer to the main collection site on Don Pasquale effective July 1, I might as well shop in Belen and save myself the drive.

I know others in my area feel the same, and I also know of Los Lunas area residents who are displeased with the shutdown decision.

I hope Mayor Huning and village councilors will reconsider the plan.

Neil Boggs

Rio Communities

Are engineers right?

Editor:

Wake up, citizens of Los Lunas and its extraterritorial zone!

The government of Los Lunas seems determined to follow its own agenda, regardless of who it hurts. “Our engineers say so” is a standard answer for any questions put to the village council regarding any significant change to our area.

Molzen-Corbin, “our engineers,” is under contract to the village government for approximately $28,000 a month.

Wouldn’t you strongly lean towards giving the recommendations your employer seemed to want for that kind of money?

“Yes,” say the engineers, “Los Lunas must seize the Jarratt farm. The effluent does not comply with EPA standards.”

Bud Williams requested an independent study to satisfy all of us who are wondering where Los Lunas and Molzen-Corbin are getting their numbers from that will ultimately spend millions of dollars, destroy precious farmland and ultimately destroy a man’s livelihood and dreams plus the future he wanted to leave to his family.

He addressed the council, giving specifics from their own recent studies that don’t indicate a need for expansion. “I assume our engineers wouldn’t recommend this if we didn’t need it,” said Councilor Charles Griego. Molzen-Corbin seems to have a lot of control over Los Lunas. Need I say the study never happened? If it had, would it have been done by a referral from Molzen-Corbin?

Also, be aware that the village settle a Public Records Act Request lawsuit regarding information on that same condemnation. They were supposed to turn over all pertinent records that show that an expanded wastewater plant is in truth necessary.

There were no new standards anywhere in those papers. Nothing indicated that the current facility does not meet EPA standards or any other. Either the paperwork doesn’t exist or the village still hasn’t complied with their own negotiated settlement. So much for open government.

So why is the village so determined to take over this prime farmland with its “old water rights”? There are ads on the internet encouraging people to move to the lovely Huning Ranch with its beautiful large water-hungry golf course. Is this a variation on Robin Hood — take from the poor and give to the rich?

If expansion should eventually become necessary, constructed wetlands are an excellent option. Every single argument against them has had a political spin. According to the engineers, Molzen-Corbin’s wetlands expert says it won’t work; but that same expert put in writing and stated at open meetings that it’s a win-win situation for Los Lunas.

The council says the federal government will not give money for such a project now. I personally contacted all our senators and representatives who all not only said there was money available but put that fact in writing.

Now the village says federal money isn’t available if the village doesn’t own the land. This low cost leasing of land from one government to another is common throughout the country and does not cause problems. The state is very willing to work with us to ensure the federal money is given to supplement the state funding that has already been committed.

To those of you who fear a smelly, ugly mess (like the wastewater treatment plant), please be open-minded and visit a subsurface flow wetland being used in Las Padillas Elementary, La Promesa Elementary and Corrales Elementary; see how it would vastly improve the area.

And what we want isn’t subsurface flow but free water surface flow for clarifying the effluent to an even higher quality while providing educational and economic benefits. Nowhere has the village taken into account free land, grant funding, or income such as that which the Rio Grande Nature Center enjoys. This is irresponsible to the rate payers of the village who foot the bill for the entire project, including the attorney’s fees necessary to maintain this single-minded track.

In New Mexico, we’re guaranteed open government. Make Los Lunas responsible to and work for the residents and not just the council, their engineers and certain well-connected individuals.

Suzanne Williams

Los Lunas