Mail letters to Letters, Santa Fe Reporter, PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver them to 132 E. Marcy St., fax them to 988-5348 or email them to the editor.
We Didn't Do It
I liked your article “Fiasco Frontier”, just didn’t like the very end: “Northern New Mexico voters chose him [Jerome Block Jr.] for office nevertheless.” That statement holds me (a Santa Fe resident) and other northern New Mexico county residents to blame for Block Jr. taking office. The truth is Bernalillo and Sandoval counties overwhelmingly were the real reason Block Jr. took office. Although [Rick] Lass only won Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties, the other surrounding counties—Rio Arriba, San Miguel and Taos—obviously were [comprised of] the more educated voters (in my opinion), with close results on voting day.
See the official election results from the secretary of state’s website, sos.state.nm.us.
I very much appreciate the work you do and the information you provide; it just doesn’t reach enough New Mexicans.
Greg Smith
Santa Fe
Analog Idea
Zane Fischer does not name the exquisite European or Mexican hill town in the photograph accompanying his Zane’s World article. This compelling picture is captioned to imply it represents the design standards for the controversial Northwest Quadrant development plan. Who in their right mind would not want a piece of that?
Zane, if you actually believe there will be any similarity between this image of under 20 gorgeously ancient hilltop structures and the 773 houses proposed for the NWQ, please call me about a great deal I have for you on a fine, rarely used analog television.
[Santa Fe City Councilor] Patti Bushee would indeed fortify her already impressive political legacy and endear herself to future generations of Santa Feans if she has a hand in preserving acres of open space. Permanently protecting community land from development is the high-minded goal of conservationists in cities and suburbs across this country. To define opponents of sprawling development as fearful, racial bigots wearing wadded-up panties might be a perspective worth reconsidering.
Susan McMeans
Santa Fe
Other Reasons
As a resident of the Casa Solana neighborhood, I don’t appreciate being accused of having “petty bigotries” or being told that the “true” cause of my concern over the NW Quadrant is that my neighbors might not be white. Can you for a moment, at least, assume our concerns about this very expensive development project are legitimate ones about traffic and the city’s ability to carry out this project?
Santa Fe is in deep trouble. We have a brand-new ghost campus where College of Santa Fe used to be. We have a large toxic waste dump where the Paramount used to be. We have “For Rent” and “For Sale” signs up everywhere. There are problems aplenty without the city biting off a whole new project before solving the traffic problems.
For example, I invite you to visit the intersection of Camino de las Crucitas and St. Francis Drive. There is a small bridge crossing an arroyo. Out of the crack of that bridge are growing numerous trees and bushes. Is that slated for repair or replacement anytime soon? I don’t think so. Instead they are budgeting to pump sewage uphill (please explain how that’s sustainable).
Park your car away from the bridge and start counting the cars that come zooming through on their way to the dog park. Estimate their speed. Now put yourself in the shoes of a father raising a young child. You’d like him or her to be able to play after school, but with all the traffic and the speed, you are afraid to let your child outside. Now triple or quadruple the amount of traffic and ask yourself how you feel about that.
Before you start accusing people of horrible things, you need to do your homework. Talk with us here in the Casa Solana, residents of all races and a wide level of incomes. We are not afraid of “the Other.” We’re afraid of too many cars ruining our cherished homes.
Brian Harris
Santa Fe
Viable Films
I was sad, but not surprised, to read the complaints of New Mexico independent filmmakers who are not eligible for state production loans.
Despite the erroneous and entitled expectations of New Mexico’s fledgling filmmakers, New Mexico’s production loans aren’t grants to artists—they’re business loans. And as such, it’s reasonable and responsible that the recipients of those loans prove their production is commercially viable in the marketplace, which most independent films aren’t.
New Mexico’s indie filmmakers will never be viable in the film industry until they let go of the naive and inaccurate expectation that filmmaking is an art form and realize it is first and foremost a business.
Clare Spencer
Santa Fe
Collegestruck
In “Starstruck,” [entertainment lawyer and New Mexico’s film incentive program advisor Peter Dekom] states, “Look at the courses available at [University of New Mexico], New Mexico State.” Say what! Those are fine schools, but what about the courses offered at Santa Fe Community College?
SFCC has had a crew program for several years. This teaches students to work in various positions on a film crew. SFCC also has courses in production, editing, acting, directing and a special course where students are given the opportunity to make their own 20-minute film (the kind of production that helped director George Lucas begin his career).
This fall, SFCC will add an associate degree in film studies. From this, a student can focus on screenwriting, criticism and critique, and/or production. This comprehensive program is an alternative to out-of-state film schools in which a student can learn the same information for $20,000 or $30,000 more than he/she will pay here.
The fact that SFCC offers this whole package is something that SFR should be aware of and touting. In fact, maybe it deserves a complete article by SFR, but, at the least, it deserves mention in pieces such as “Starstruck.”
Rick Reichman
Screenwriting Teacher at SFCC
Santa Fe
Potty Plans
What’s the point of Dave Maass “outing” all the medical marijuana providers. By revealing as much as possible about them, he’s only making it easy for the feds to sniff them out and put them in jail. That would really help the sick people that need their medicine. It also gives the “gangsters” and thieves ideas…Hey David, you’re a jackass.
Jenny Petrinka
Santa Fe
Correction: Luminaria producer Karen Koch sought state funding for what the company had intended to be its first project, Living and Breathing, in 2006, not its recent film, Spoken Word [Cover story, June 10: “Starstruck”]. SFR regrets the erro r.
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