District Different
In response to Zane Fischer’s op-ed piece on July 16 [Zane’s World: “ Border Wars ”] regarding the joint County and City transit initiative and role of the North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD), I would offer a few clarifications:
First, transit services in the northern counties should not be affected by the recent decisions by both the city and county to form a joint transit district to better manage expanded city and county transit services. Services in the northern counties have been provided primarily with federal and New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) funding, not Santa Fe County gross receipts taxes. In reality, it is anticipated that connecting services from Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Taos counties to Santa Fe and the Rail Runner will be improved with this cooperative city/county transit initiative.
Secondly, Los Alamos County did not fund the Eldorado commuter route. Santa Fe County did, to the tune of $100,000, plus additional assistance from NMDOT. Los Alamos County helped fund a low ridership extension of the Eldorado route to Stanley and Edgewood, which was not a Santa Fe County priority. The county’s immediate service priority, communicated unsuccessfully to the NCRTD in several meetings over the past year, has been service to the Rancho Viejo/Route 14 area. That has yet to be accomplished.
Lastly, the NCRTD was formed before the advent of the Rail Runner, and has declared and fashioned itself as a rural transit district. Its most recent service plan excluded any connecting services to the Rail Runner until the county withdrawal resolution was introduced three months ago.
With the Rail Runner due in town by the end of 2008, and rising gas prices dictating the need for a more aggressive transit program to serve the city and county, the NCRTD has not demonstrated itself to be a viable organization to address these needs. A new joint city/county transit district will utilize the expertise of Santa Fe Trails and private transit contractors, as well as the NCRTD, for better out-of-county connecting services to the city and the Rail Runner. It will be better able to set transit service priorities for the city and county, and be more responsive to local needs and input from the ridership. I would discount those, including your reporter, who bemoans a perceived loss of regionalism. Transit services will go where the demand is.
On Nov. 4 Santa Fe County voters will have an opportunity to decide on a 1/8 percent gross receipts tax initiative to support an expanded transit program with a local and regional focus. I would encourage residents to support this transit initiative.
Jack Sullivan
Santa Fe County Commissioner
What a joke
So the regular gang of locals got together for breakfast at Tortilla Flats on Saturday to discuss the week’s subjects of interest. The subjects included, as usual, the local happenings and events. The subject of SFR’s “Talk of the Town” [SFR Talk, July 16] came up because it included something everybody had an opinion on. We’ve all known of these nameless idiots existing in the city, but never discussed them in depth because they didn’t merit discussion.
No, they weren’t from Santa Fe and yes, they are a joke to us locals: an outsider who actually considers himself an “expert” on Santa Fe history and culture and actually has a soapbox from which to preach this garbage. The SFR had now proven us right and exposed them for what they are: shallow, uninformed/misinformed and definitely not local or worth the paper printed on.
John Lorenzen, we all agree, is just that: a joke in this town, and so are his kind. Wow! Twelve years in Santa Fe! One local mentioned his brother had a dog at the Pueblo with hemorrhoids older than that and these hemorrhoids fell into the same category of value to the community.
It was further agreed that in the future, when you find it necessary to interview pompous, arrogant assholes, change the title from the “Talk of the Town” to the more accurate “Joke of the Town” or “Jerk of the Town,” or maybe “From WAY out of Town.” As for the reporter, Jusinski: Never start an interview with a conclusion in the question: “How do you know so much about Santa Fe’s history?” It actually assumes this clown knows something he obviously doesn’t and also exposes her lack of knowledge on the subject.
The gathering parted agreeing that, other than Lorenzen, this week’s issue was OK and I was elected to write this letter.
Bernardo C’ de Baca
Santa Fe
Well put
Santa Fe is lucky to have a writer and teacher like Seth Biderman. [First Person, July 23: “Just Say Maybe”]. His proposal that schools try and help our teenagers develop some sense of community is right on. That story of reconciliation around a campfire where the kids were “sipping nothing stronger than hot chocolate, inhaling nothing but crisp mountain air” brought tears to my eyes. I wish he were my kid’s teacher. I think parents like myself are desperate for ideas to help our students avoid the excesses of drug and alcohol experimentation. Why not try teaching them to “connect to each other through dialogue and conversation” instead? Every time I read Seth’s column, I feel hopeful.
Marlene Foster
Santa Fe
Best florist
I congratulate you on “Best of Santa Fe ’08” [July 23]…Excellent! However, I take exception to your Flowers category: Best Place to Buy Flowers: Yes, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.
Next year, please make: Best Designer Florist for Weddings/Parties/Occasions, which describes Artichokes and Pomegranates very well. And there are many other fine designer florists in Santa Fe. This year you are comparing apples and oranges.
Dorothy Rogers
Santa Fe
Wrong category
With regards to the “Best Of” edition—by describing the band D Numbers as “experimental,” you do not only a disservice to D Numbers, but to the 100+ years of experimental/avant-garde music and to the readers of the Reporter. D Numbers is by no means experimental. Neither is Chocolate Helicopter, which was dubbed best experimental band in one of your last “Best Of” editions. A certain facet of post-modern thinking has posited that we do away with agreed-upon sets of conditions that have come down to us through history so that we no longer have to exercise critical thinking and/or research into the subject we are talking about.
What has been bandied about, particularly in Santa Fe, and particularly by the Reporter, as “experimental music” is really unusual, unexpected or strange hybrids of genres. Experimental music, in all of its myriad forms, including the broad moniker “electro-acoustic music,” new music, noise, musique concrete, etc., have a long and established tradition going back to the Italian Futurists, Arnold Schoenberg and Charles Ives. Experimental music is also often indescribable or, at best, difficult to talk about. That is precisely its function—to challenge what we think music can be and is, so that music progresses, grows and undergoes transformation by our discussion of difficult works. The same is true for any artistic medium. D Numbers could better be described with another set of terms. So would Chocolate Helicopter.
Every time I’ve seen the Reporter describe something as “experimental” that is in no way in hell actually “experimental,” I’ve wanted to puke—not only because I’ve studied experimental and avant-garde music for most of my life, but am also one of its practitioners. By doing this you keep your readers in ignorance. It’s also lazy journalism.
Martin Back
Santa Fe
Get on board
At the beginning of August, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, partnering with a number of organizations, groups and citizens, will propose a City Council Resolution for Free Public Transportation Ride for the Nov. 4 general election.
During this historic voter registration cycle, providing access to Santa Fe’s polling locations is crucial to ensure public participation in the political process. Informal surveys and studies indicate that economic issues and access to polling locations are barriers to voting. Distance and time limitations for many of Santa Fe’s citizens have also been identified as a concern. In today’s climate of high gas prices, extra trips are an inconvenience for some and a hardship for many citizens. In Santa Fe, many of those who have been left out of the voting process include low wage and hourly workers, people with disabilities, those who experience homelessness, seniors and veterans.
Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza says she is in favor of free bus transportation to the polls on election day and, if the City Council passes the resolution, the County Clerk’s Office will help get the word out.
By providing accessible and free public transportation, the City Different can truly be different by helping its citizens express their political voices—many for the first time.
Please help by calling and e-mailing your city councilors in support of the resolution.
Maurice Martin
Community Organizer
Santa Fe
Enough is enough
Now that the Reporter has successfully dug up all the dirt on and let all the skeletons out of the closets of Jerome Block, Jr. and Rick Lass [Outtakes, June 25: Failure to Appear”; Outtakes, July 23: “Manning Up”], candidates for the state Public Regulatory Commissioner office—would it be possible to cover the actual issues and why they are running? The PRC is in the pocket of PNM, a private corporation that raises its rates according to its lobbying needs at the Roundhouse. Which of the candidates will continue to let them run amok in New Mexico? Who will promote renewables and who will “stay the course”? I find your coverage of the race increasingly sensationalistic and trashy.
Scott Shuker
Santa Fe
Wi-fi information
Discussion at a recent community meeting on cell phone tower placement [Outtakes, July 23: “Voices Carry”] was handicapped by an understandable but unfortunate lack of knowledge about the nature of electromagnetic radiation in general and cell phone transmissions in particular. In response, I gave a talk to city government staff about these issues, based on long experience in teaching introductory physics, but without using math or physics background. A video of this talk is now available at www4.ncsu.edu/~basherwo. My goal is to provide a framework and vocabulary that will assist city staff, residents and company representatives in discussing issues associated to cell phone towers and Wi-Fi.
Bruce Sherwood
Santa Fe
Ride safely
Zane’s approach to the treacheries of bicycle commuting, outlaw riding, is politically immature and poor advice to anyone on two wheels. When one rides a bike in a manner described by Fischer: curb-hopping, rule-breaking, sidewalk-riding, arroyo-crossing, alley-racing, wrong-way, urban-shortcut, freestyle transit [Zane’s World, July 23: “Mine, Mine, All Mine”], motorists, pedestrians and law enforcement are alienated by cyclists (could this be the source of your cement truck driver’s road rage?). Furthermore, when cyclists ride in these ways, they have no protection under the law. Recently I was in a collision with a driver who made a left turn in front of me. At first he said, “I did not see you.” But when the cops came, he saw me riding on the sidewalk. Since no witness stepped forward, it was my word against his. He got off without a citation or any liability, and I had to buy a new fork and build a new front wheel.
All cyclists are entitled to a safe commuting environment whether you are in lycra or cutoffs, whether you are a hipster on your fixie or you are a mom picking up groceries with kids in tow. It is the responsibility of city officials to take this into consideration with all city projects.
Chip Upsal
Santa Fe
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