Letters to the editor Jan. 5

Street work defies logic, planning

| The New Mexican

1/5/2008 - 1/5/08

I'd like to know the name of the engineer who ordered Guadalupe Street/Paseo de Peralta to be stripped of pavement last month at the onset of winter. That person must know that new paving can't be effectuated in below-freezing temperatures, so why strip the existing pavement now? These roads will remain a cratered mess until March at the earliest. Santa Fe has its hands full maintaining its deplorable roads network as it is; this sort of thing just points up the folly of multi-million dollar projects such as the Railyard and convention center.

David Franke
Santa Fe

Whatever works
Several stiff jolts from protruding manholes as I navigated the Guadalupe Street obstacle course gave birth to a marvelous money-saving idea for our city.

City budgets are tight. In a rush to please constituents, tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars, have gone to pretty white bicycle decals — nonfunctional yet oh-so European — and roundabouts, speed humps, speed bumps and those mysterious traffic tables.

I propose not spending another penny on "traffic calming." The city should simply quit maintaining streets. Hey, there's nothing like tooth-rattling potholes to slow traffic. As with speed humps, attractive yellow warning signs could be placed at intervals as the hazard nears. Voila! In a few months, speeding on our city streets would be totally eliminated. Consider the savings!

Del Mulder
Santa Fe

Enough rentals already
There are hundreds of legally zoned vacation rentals and room for hundreds more in the Business Capitol District: Casa del Toro, Sunterra, Fort Marcy, Otra Vez and Las Palomas alone offer more than 200 vacation rentals and there are hundreds more.

Pretty much everyone who has an illegal vacation rental for a neighbor does not like it. No one has stood up in any of the meetings and said, "Yes, please bring vacation rentals into my neighborhood." I wonder if any of our city councilors would want a vacation rental next door, with people coming and going, packing and unpacking at all hours. If our councilors don't want vacation rentals next door, how can they vote to impose them on their constituents?

Bruce Kuehnle
Santa Fe

Bag a Latino
Your Dec. 28 editorial ("One state takes on immigration its own way") was right on. In my native state of Oklahoma, we had a small-business "man of the year" who made saddles who employed 50 persons. Department of Homeland Security officials, in the form of a SWAT team, swooped in, arrested him and closed his shop.

Republican Congressman Tom Cole lauded the action. Fifty families in the small town of Sulphur, Okla., were either deported or left homeless. Rep. Cole and his immigration-vigilante crowd are (to quote you) "quite proud, que no?"

Open season on Mexicans, Central Americans and American citizens of Latino origin is here. I can't wait for those $25 packages of strawberries and $30,000 roofing jobs. Trust me, they're coming.

James Clark
Santa Fe

Suspicions mounting
I understand that the public hearing for the revised oil and gas ordinance is to be held on Monday, Jan. 7, at 3 p.m.

What an odd time for a public hearing. Was this time set because the hearing may go on for many hours because of the expected responses from concerned citizens? How many people will find it difficult to attend because they will have to arrange to leave jobs early? Others may be forced to miss this important hearing because they can't.

How does the public find the Jemez Room at the community college, and will it accommodate large numbers of people? Why isn't this information posted on the Santa Fe County Web site?

I've become suspicious of everything that concerns the county commissioners and the proposed gas and oil ordinance. We who are trying to protect our aquifers, water wells and properties are being faced with a most challenging situation; it's beginning to seem as though there's a sinister game in progress, and we must figure out the next defensive move against those who do not share our interests.

Dana Myers
Cerrillos