News, October 4: “County codes, take me home”
Darwinism at work
Quite a change for the county. Years ago, if a county inspector couldn't see it from a paved road—it didn't exist. Now to get a permit one has to bring the road up to county standards? Let people do their own inspecting! If you can't build a house or structure that isn't going to fall down and kill you maybe that means you need to be out of the gene pool.
This is a totally absurd rule. If the county wants a road to meet county standards, let them build it!
Philip Taccetta
SFReporter.com
Not fair, guys
I don't understand [the] position that two vehicles must be able to transit past each other at any point along a roadway. Many country roads have pull-over spots for passing that offer good line of sight and would nearly half the costs being discussed for converting a country lane to a two-lane street.
Regardless, it's clearly unfair that any single homeowner on a multiple-access road should have to bear the upgrade burden alone. Having lived on private lanes in several states, it is nothing new that road building and upkeep are part of the cost of such privacy. Some of our properties have even been covenanted that homeowners should expect periodic mandatory assessments for such upgrades, without their particular approval or consent. We haven't often liked it when such assessments came, but it was fair that the cost was shared by everyone in the neighborhood. It certainly pushed a lot of community engagement and creativity when such improvements were being contemplated.
Kathy Smith
SFReporter.com
Don’t need no cops
If they want to waive essential services then let them opt out.
Aleks Kostic
via Facebook
Developers stay out
Modifying your existing home (a breezeway? A carport?) should not at all be tied to road improvement; that's ridiculous and the county needs to pay attention to that. But developing a 40-acre open-space parcel in a settled neighborhood with a non-county maintained road—a development that could substantially increase traffic and wear on the road—absolutely requires some mechanism to be sure the existing infrastructure is upgraded and maintained. The county has to start taking responsibility for its roads. I live on one of these roads and getting neighbors to equally bear the burden of ongoing maintenance is impossible.
As in many neighborhoods, we are lucky to be able to rely on 1) those neighbors who have the means to contribute, offsetting the many neighbors who either can't afford it or don't want to, and 2) neighbors with equipment who manage the maintenance themselves. Without legal covenants in place requiring "dues" or "maintenance fees," neighbors have to fend for themselves. Facing the development of a vast swath of open space, you can bet there will be fighting over who is going to upgrade and maintain the road.
Candelora Versace
Via Facebook
News, October 4: “The Grocer Network”
Tortilla Tip
The tortilla chips back at the tortilla machine at El Paisano are literally the best in town. Go out of your way to get them and avoid the industrial crap on the gringo grocery shelves and what's served in all the so-called Mexican and New Mexican restaurants in Santa Fe.
JT Johnson
SFReporter.com
Cover, October 4: “Nuclear Neighborhood”
You gotta help me out
Just makes so damned angry! Airport [Road] has always been a place where the people and the land get placed on the back burner. All of the people here mostly live paycheck to paycheck. Can we just clean up the Eberline eyesore, get the toxic crap barreled up and sent down to WIPP please?
Atinae Morjavia
Via Facebook
Letters, Sept. 26
We’re Russians
Are you aware that one of the tenets of "fake news" is to attack people personally rather than stick to the issues at hand? Your choice of letters for the Sept 26 issue is disturbing. From a very personal attack on our mayor, to attacking the character of an Entrada protester, to the use of the term "half-breed" by one writer. This is just more fake news: Divide and conquer is what we are up against, let's not feed it.
Look, it's not the Hispanic community's fault that it chooses to celebrate the Entrada; no more than it is the protesters fault that they choose to defend their history. We cannot change the past, only the way we feel about it.
Nobody has ever officially and publicly apologized to the native Americans for these atrocities. Think about it: what if our mayor, or our governor were to actually make an official proclamation of apology? It's been done in other countries.
That would be a new beginning, it would also allow all sides to prove their moral competency in the matter.
Since you seem to like bad language, let's put it this way: It's cajones vs. baloney.
Pablo Thacher
Tesuque
News, Aug. 30: “Thinkin’ of a Master Plan”
Lifestyles of the …
Less than one percent of Santa Fe taxpayers can afford to charter or own a plane or jet. Yet ninety percent of our airport's traffic is generated by privately owned and leased planes and jets. Meanwhile, commercial flights are often priced too prohibitively for ordinary Santa Feans to afford.
Any industry will externalize as much of their costs as the public will allow. We're seeing this now in Santa Fe, as the airport exports noise pollution into the backyards of south Santa Fe and La Cienega residents. Our taxpayers bear the airport's financial burden, while the one percent reaps the benefits.
Let's think hard before we prioritize profit over the best interests of our own. We must consider what commercial flights are truly bringing to our city, and whether an onset of jetsetters is truly enhancing the quality of our town. It's our responsibility to preserve Santa Fe's tranquility, a commodity we all deserve to enjoy in equal measure.
Kate McCahill
Santa Fe
