
Would you share one of these bikes with Patti Bushee?
Santa Fe, simple as it sometimes appears, is a complex town. Just consider the array of issues city government juggles: zoning, permits, water, drainage, streets, tourism, development, housing, preservation, parking, transit and the list goes on and on. You’d think they’d be pretty busy over there in the halls of government. Apparently however, someone has enough time on their hands to get picky about newspaper racks.
Senior planner in the city’s Current Planning office, Tony Raeker, confirms that his department has been tasked from on high to experiment with replacing the current rows of newspaper boxes that tend to congregate together (the Santa Fe Reporter, Santa Fe New Mexican, Albuquerque Journal, Eldorado Sun, THE Magazine, etc.) with single, large, modular racks, for the sake of tidiness.
In a case of the squeaky wheel bulging the city’s budget, “some” complaints have been lodged about the occasionally disheveled nature of different colored boxes that are not always in perfect alignment with each other and that sometimes fall into disrepair. Raeker says the city will begin its effort with a rack at City Hall as a test and then will accept public input before making a decision on extending the program to all city-owned property and right-of-ways (including sidewalks). Area publications, including SFR, will almost certainly oppose the modular system, as studies have demonstrated that circulation rates tend to drop under such conditions.
Obviously, there’s no reason the city needs to assume responsibility for the successful business practices of newspapers and publications. However, considering the fact that most publications have a significant investment in their own distribution boxes, (SFR Publisher Andy Dudzik says SFR currently has more than $40,000 worth of boxes on the streets) one has to question the wisdom of replacing an existing, privately funded and maintained infrastructure with one billed to the public. The new, 16-unit racks proposed by the city will cost $4,700 dollars each. Imagine that expense duplicated on every sidewalk where newspapers are distributed and the cost quickly escalates to dizzying heights. Add the cost of maintaining the boxes and combating vandalism and graffiti (for SFR the cost is $5,000 annually, not including staff time) and it is difficult to sustain a compelling argument for the city to shoulder such an unnecessary cost, so far removed from essential service to the public good.
Further, as with the aesthetic consideration—or lack of it—on new street, sidewalk and median improvements within the city (think Guadalupe Street), the neatness purchased by such an investment tends toward homogeneity rather than beauty. Santa Fe’s dedication to retaining its distinctive appearance has been so enormous over the past century—and its resistance to architectural progress remains so formidable—that there is sad irony to be found in watching its difference be chipped away by small, aesthetic technicalities. As far as streetscape goes, the City Different is rapidly moving toward the City Startlingly Similar to a San Diego, Calif., suburb. Soon, even the much-feared Aspen, Colo., will be more distinctive than Santa Fe, at least from the perspective of the sidewalk. The current Planning Department insists that other cities are moving toward modular systems where they have proven effective and popular. The other cities cited? Dallas and Cleveland. Enough said.
The first modular unit at City Hall will either be black or brown, probably depending on input from the Historic Preservation Division (anyone want to hazard a guess?). But if Historic wants to avoid hypocrisy, it’ll have to say, “Sorry, the only thing historic in this situation is the existing, independent distribution system.”
The racks the city should be focused on are bicycle racks. City Councilor Patti Bushee is currently pushing for a bike-share program and the Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee (which Bushee chairs) decided last week to forward a resolution requesting that city staff take 120 days to consider and make recommendations regarding such a program.
One of the debates is whether to sponsor a program in which the bicycles would be free and operate on the honor system or whether they would be available only with a credit card deposit. Predictably, the city is reluctant to embrace the idea of free bicycles because of concern over theft. However, having to pay a deposit burdens users of the system with both accountability and a sense of ownership. In most successful programs, riding a shared bicycle to the store does not ensure that it will still be there when you exit, as individuals are not allowed to lock the bicycles.
One option the city should consider is simply contracting the service to the
, or a similar organization. In Austin, Texas, the bike-share program is run by the nonprofit
(austinyellowbike.org). The organization takes donations of parts and builds and maintains working bicycles that are hand-painted yellow. Enough donations come in to maintain supply, even as some are inevitably taken and repainted. The organization views even stolen bikes as more bikes out in the community and doesn’t press the police to prosecute; instead it just churns out more. The Yellow Bike Project also provides a host of other community and educational opportunities related to bicycles. A city contract with a such a volunteer-based, community service organization could be far more cost effective than supporting the program internally.
For would-be bicycle thieves who are feeling cowed by the current law enforcement intimidation tactic of signs and radio broadcasts declaring “100 Days and Nights of Summer: Cops Everywhere,” here are the facts: The Santa Fe Police Department has a minimum shift of nine officers on duty. The most at any given time is 18. That’s technically one cop for every 2.31 square miles.
The signs are so ridiculous that artists from 18 countries—in town to execute the
—were asking each other, “Whose piece is that?”