James Siebert's Nov. 8 My View, "Historic-district suit would hurt our community," correctly states that the city of Santa Fe's proposed lawsuit claiming the power to enforce its historic preservation and land use ordinances on future county, state and public schools building projects makes no sense. Such a lawsuit is a needless gamble.

While the lawsuit wouldn't affect ongoing construction of the downtown county courthouse, state parking garage or Carlos Gilbert school, the city wants to settle the question now, so we won't have to engage in the tiresome, repetitive dialogue that led to accommodations by other governments to the city of Santa Fe's land-use concerns in those cases.

The question of which governmental entity has power over another on a particular issue is interesting. The uncertainty, however, drives all players to the bargaining table and keeps the discussion open. If the city wins this lawsuit, will it stick its tongue out at the state and say "we don't have to listen to you, and you have to do what we say"? If the state wins, what kind of developments will we have lost a voice in? "Creative ambiguity" is serving us all quite well now. Let's not risk stopping this conversation.



Your Nov. 19 story "Work on asphalt plant halted" says the New Mexico Environmental Department would be "responsible for monitoring compliance with emission controls" at the plant.

Unfortunately, the NMED will not be monitoring emissions at the plant. The cash-strapped NMED has only two air-quality monitors in the entire county: at the Santa Fe Airport and on the Runnels Building. Statewide, there aren't enough monitors to go around. Also, because of industry pressure, the federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations are weak, allowing for higher levels of dangerous air pollutants than EPA scientists themselves recommend.

That's why the Fisher asphalt plant has a permit to dump into the air, unmonitored, throughout the year: 23 tons of hazardous air pollutants (carcinogens and neurotoxins); 50 tons of sulfur dioxide (acid rain); 95 tons of particulate matter; 95 tons of volatile organic compounds;
95 tons of carbon monoxide (flammable, poisonous); 95 tons of nitrogen oxides (ozone/smog). During the day, southwesterly winds will blow this noxious air over the town, harming citizens and negatively impacting tourism.



I learned the following at a Nov. 18 Santa Fe County meeting to discuss the landfill's asphalt plant:

* Operation of the plant could produce significant health hazards to the community, which could lead to significant loss of property values in Santa Fe County.

* The plant's owner has apparently violated many environmental laws at similar plants in Arizona.

* Neither the county government nor the landfill's executive director can explain why the plant was approved without adequate public input.

* Commissioner Virginia Vigil, in whose district the plant was built, was absent from the meeting.

After public protest, the commissioners halted operation of the plant pending further review. This is reminiscent of the county courthouse fiasco where the county also failed to exercise due diligence regarding health and safety. Lessons learned: The plant should never operate at or near the landfill, and we must hold the county government accountable for another miscue.



Some gift! Your Nov. 17 article "Furlough plan could stretch state holidays" makes it sound like everyone should be happy because the governor's furlough program is going to "give" state employees extra-long holidays.

The fact is that three of the five days come in successive pay periods — and right around gift-buying time, too! This is painful news because it hits pocketbooks when we need them most full. It diminishes holiday spending, which hurts all local businesses. And if we have, say, a mortgage, and three days are lost from one month's earnings, how are we going to make our payments?

This double-dunning is even worse than the double dipping we've heard so much about already. The least we can hope is that the guv will apply these same charming double-dunning standards to all his elite exempt employees as well.



Regarding Santa Fe public school board president Angélica Ruiz's "moral" qualms about Alvord's emergency funds: After conversing with Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Bobbie Gutiérrez, I agree that legislative changes to the funds last month do open SFPS to bureaucratic issues that are ethical concerns. Moral qualms are not ethical concerns.

I recently paid my property taxes, and most, 35 percent, goes to SFPS; 6 percent to the state. I support Angélica Ruiz; she is a creative problem-solver and listener and an admirable role model. I hope she remembers that two years of emergency support are at issue, not one. Alvord won an award for a project to compost cafeteria waste. I will throw this fertilizer onto the pile, with a smile. Anyone interested in our accredited sustainability/environmental curriculum is welcome to our rally/ turkey bingo (some organic) today. We have fun, do our part, and learn along the way.