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GIVE
'
EM A BREAK
I'm writing in regard to the article by Dan Frosch on the City of Santa Fe sewer main break [Outtakes, June 28:
].
The City of Santa Fe needs to get its head on straight and its heart in the right place in its treatment of Nina Hart and her neighbor, Robert Wilson. Contrary to the opinion of the city attorney, I DO want our dollars to be spent to repair the lives of these two people. They each should receive $100,000 to fix their houses and their mental emotional health and Ms. Hart should be reimbursed for all legal fees.
The current policy is to disperse $100,000 per incident. So, if 10 houses were involved in one incident, then each household would receive only $10,000 to repair their lives. A situation like this could happen to anyone. Let's face it: If it happened to our city officials or to their city attorney, they would insist on full coverage for damages to their property and their lives. I think Ms. Hart was overly conservative in asking for only $85,000. Her attorney fees alone must be over the top to fight this for the rest of us.
The city needs to undertake a full overhaul of our sewage system in order to prevent future scenarios like this.
Government is here to serve the people. The city needs to quit sidestepping and avoiding and deal with this situation and the overall condition of our sewage system now. We pride ourselves as the "city different." Let's not become the city indifferent.
Cynthia Rose Adams
Santa Fe
HAVE A HART
The city treatment of Nina Hart and her neighbor, Robert Wilson, is deplorable. Ms. Hart and Mr. Wilson should each be granted $100,000 to repair their property and their lives. Ms. Hart should also have all her attorney fees paid, as she is fighting this situation to insure it will not happen to other unfortunate citizens in the future.
Also, the city needs to engage a full-scale overhaul to the sewage systems.
Yes, I do want our tax dollars spent taking care of our city citizens. Our city officials need to remember who they serve. They are here to serve to people. Let's keep Santa Fe as the City Different and live up to the honor of our patron saint, St. Francis.
Joanna Kennedy
Santa Fe
PIG PROPS
This is a public thank you to Christopher Willett [Outtakes, June 28:
] for being a compassionate human being and saving a life (the pig he took to Arizona). It's one of the coolest things I've heard of in a long time. No kidding.
Diane Stayner
McIntosh, NM
HOME-Y DON
'
T PLAY
In regards to this nonsensical brouhaha stemming from a negative review of the latest Robert Altman film,
A Prairie Home Companion
, where does one get off in questioning someone's morals due to simply not enjoying a film [Letters, July 5:
; June 21:
"Home Defense," "Glass is Full"
]? Seriously, have we come to that point in society that we criticize the person for simply stating an opinion? And speaking personally to the film, I found it petty, cloying and a waste of whatever money the ticket cost me. But then, that's my opinion and I have a right to it. Robert Altman's films have admittedly always been 50/50 in terms of success. For every
The Player
and
Nashville
, there's been a
Dr. T and the Women
or
Popeye
. This recent film of his was chock full of poorly crafted jokes, had little-to-no plot, and was consistently falling back on cutesy conversations to fill running time. The ending was also sadly conventional and I found myself laughing at the characters, not with them, on one too many occasions. This opinion comes from a relatively informed person, someone who majored in film and theatre studies; so I say this to you, Santa Feans who don't like
The Big Lebowski
, you have no moral fiber. Do you have a mission statement? Oh, and on an end-note, the "mainstream" does not include fans of Robert Altman films; by any standard definition, that would be the people lining up to see
Click
on opening weekend.
Sean Gardner
Santa Fe
GROWING PAINS
I am writing in response to the letter by KC Mosier II stating that Santa Feans "celebrate weirdness" [Letters, June 21:
]. I have lived and taught school in this community. It is not weird to believe that others have civil rights. What is weird is that there is a political and social platform promoting hate and intolerance in our county and anyone who "breaks out of the box" is considered weird. I think it is strange to work harder at being the same as someone than to have the courage to be yourself. I would say "grow up," but I think encouraging you to simply "grow" as a person is enough. I have had the privilege to know the young woman on the cover for several years, since she was a child. She is not weird as you suggest; she is amazing. I would be honored to have an articulate, intelligent, thoughtful young lady, like Anya, to claim as a daughter. Our society would be very different if more teens concerned themselves with civil rights issues as opposed to
American Idol
or MTV. I sincerely thank all the teens in the article for their honesty and bravery.
Michelle Douglas-Davis
Santa Fe/Grand Rapids, MI
LIGHT/DARK
As a graduate of Southwestern College I was very distressed to see that, once again, Katherine Ninos has been a destructive and divisive influence at the school [Cover story, June 21:
. She is best described as a spiritual and academic bully. Beware if you do not agree with her, you may be asked to take a year off of school and rethink your academic choice if you are a student. If you are a rival instructor, your name will be bantered about in class to the student body. Katherine thrives on intimidated consensus. She tolerated interlopers like Mary Lou Butler, Alan Brody and Larry Detweiler, as long as they fell in line with her ideas about how the school should be run and did not call her to account. If the new board does not remove her or bring her in line, she may very well take the school down with her as she raises her fist in victory. She is the "dark side" and the dangerous thing is, she sees herself as the light.
Sophie Creek
Santa Fe
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