The Grand Prix de Santa Fe, an annual charity horse show jumping event that has donated more than $145,000 to nonprofit human and equine service organizations in New Mexico, was founded in 2004 by Guy McElvain and Brian Gonzales. The Feb. 5 article "Bank lone bidder for Kokesh's horse park," regarding the foreclosure of the Santa Fe Horse Park, incorrectly reported that Charles Kokesh "launched" the Grand Prix de Santa Fe.

Mr. Kokesh was in no way involved in the founding, "launching," or organizing of the event at any time. The Grand Prix de Santa Fe, organized and produced by its dedicated volunteers, held its first three annual events at the Horse Park, for which Mr. Kokesh received compensation as the venue owner. This information could have been easily obtained by the article's author by contacting the Grand Prix de Santa Fe for verification prior to printing the article about Mr. Kokesh's ongoing financial and legal issues.


Commonweal criticisms

Regarding "Galisteo-area project merits consideration," the Feb. 6 editorial about the Commonweal project on U.S. 285: Not only are we concerned regarding water and other natural resources and their impact on the long-standing communities in the Galisteo Basin, we are also concerned regarding traffic flow and our night sky.

We praise the Commonweal Conservancy for its approach to a green project, but we ask that it respectfully change its project name to not include "Galisteo Village" in the title, as there is already a historic Galisteo Village in the immediate area.

We would also ask that when reporting on such topics, other residential area projects along U.S. 285 and N.M. 41 areas, such as Spirit Wind, the development of Lamy Crest, etc.. be reviewed to show the challenges of mass residential development in these areas. Great intentions aside, it is not a question of can you do it, it is a question of should you do it!

I was appalled by your partisan presentation of the Galisteo Basin Preserve plans for development. It read like it had been composed directly from a brochure written by Commonweal Conservancy. You obviously made no effort to ascertain facts, instead climbing out on a limb with a personal opinion in no way reflecting them.

A newspaper owes its readers truth and accuracy. True, the county's Development Review Committee, which is an appointed, not elected, committee, approved variances for this project, over the objections of the professionals at the Land Use department. The county commissioners subsequently, and wisely, demanded more information before approving anything.

Where did you get the idea that there is no opposition to this project? Commonweal does not possess adequate water rights for its entire project. Traffic, ecology, lights, sewage, pollution, crime are all concerns. Calling yourself a "conservancy" doesn't change the primary objective, which is development.


Your biased editorial, "Galisteo-area project merits consideration," regarding the Commonweal Conservancy project is concerning.

Commonweal will be a vast community, when completed, with 2,000-plus people residing there. It will greatly increase traffic and use up precious water resources. Their water needs still have not been met. The carbon footprint will be devastating.

It's all about money. Developers must build large numbers of homes, and while the first phase of this one seems small, it will be just the beginning. Las Campanas is finding it a challenge to manage its community since the developer is in bankruptcy. This project could go the same way. The poor economy and the predicted road back for real estate will take years. Take note of the commercial development foreclosure in Eldorado a few miles up the road.

Ethical lapse

New Mexico needs clean governance. Especially in today's strained economy, we cannot afford the waste and inefficiencies that result from pay-to-play politics and the lack of adequate oversight that exist in our state. This is a short legislative session. It is already in its final days. Though several important ethics bills were submitted this session, our legislators have yet to act on them. This is unacceptable.

It is time for our state senators and representatives to aggressively act to pass effective ethics legislation. Those lawmakers and public officials who, in the past, have sold out to special interests must now be reined in.

Those lawmakers and public officials who realize that New Mexico can afford neither the waste of its tax dollars nor the disdain of its citizens must have the tools that will enable them to bring about a more just state government.


Uphold the law

Torture, rendition, detention without charge and unfair trials do not work, are illegal and immoral.

I urge President Barack Obama, U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Rep. Ben Ray Luján to respect human rights and follow the law: Fully investigate and prosecute U.S. torture and abuse, close Guantánamo, end illegal detention and reject military commissions.

None of state's biz

The New Mexico House approved a measure (HJM 9), sponsored by Rep. Nate Cote, that asks for officials from four state agencies to work with federal officials to coordinate safety and other efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Border security is essentially a federal responsibility. It is our opinion that it would be more useful to consider legislation that would address matters more directly within the authority of the state government. It would be our suggestion that the bill be amended to prohibit city and/or county governments from passing so-called "sanctuary" laws that limit the ability of law enforcement to deal completely with persons here illegally who are involved in criminal or other unlawful activity.


Circumcision is available

Some members of the community have expressed concern regarding the lack of resources available to perform circumcisions within Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. The decision to perform a circumcision is made by the parents alone, in consultation with a physician. Christus St. Vincent does not have a policy addressing circumcision nor does it have a policy limiting its availability.

Part of the challenge lies in scheduling and performing the procedure in the short amount of time a mother and newborn are in the hospital. Most providers prefer to schedule circumcision in their offices, as it is a quick procedure.

We are working with our physicians to establish a process and to implement a schedule that is convenient for the mother and newborn, and for the physician performing the procedure in the hospital.

We hope to have this process and schedule finalized by spring of 2010. We apologize for the inconvenience caused to families who choose this procedure for their children.


Clean, clear water

The Jan. 31 article, "What's in Your Water?" by Staci Matlock was journalism at its best — complete, clear and relevant. although I did need a conversion table to find that the two liters a day mentioned several times in describing legal versus health limits is about equal to 8 eight-ounce glasses.

Thanks for giving us information we can use and thanks also to the city's water workers for their due diligence and continuing good public service.


Let him RIP

Regarding the Jan. 29 article, "Scientists hope to exhume da Vinci": Digging up da Vinci is like trying to excavate God.


Plumbing problem

The public should be aware of a deception perpetrated by at least one local plumbing service.

The customer is led to believe that the impending service is a complicated one. The firm asks the customer to sign a work order authorization at a specific cost. The work is done and, surprise, the job was not very big after all.

However, the customer is still obligated to pay the greatly inflated bill.