Mark Twain said, "I wonder if the world (or in this case the county) is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it."

A recent Historic Design Review Board meeting included a "courtesy presentation" by Santa Fe County of the design plans for the new downtown courthouse. I did not comment publicly on the design at that time because I wanted to study the design further.

I believe there are very simple and elegant design solutions that would satisfy most of the design problems that were addressed at the meeting. To accomplish this it will take all parties to think more clearly about all of the possible solutions and not just the solutions that force the design into a downtown Albuquerque medium-security prison design.

As an architect and former vice chairman of the Historic Design Review Board, it is clear to me that most of the questions and all of the answers fell short of the ones that should have been presented.

I offer the following simple questions to reopen the dialog of what should be done to accomplish a jewel of a project for the citizens of Santa Fe County, who by the way are paying for this.

My questions:

• For the architects: Is this really your best effort?

• For the judges and elected county officials: If you intend to gain the votes and approval for this project in downtown Santa Fe (I don't personally feel this is the best place for the courthouse, but so be it), then why are you committed to a design that is conceived by Bernalillo County architects, designed to specially to not meet state and federal energy standards, and is remarkably lacking in its response to the unique site and opportunities of a successful regional style architecture that has been well cultivated for the past 50 years?

• For the H-Board: Simply put, each member must ask himself or herself one question. That question is, "Does this building or another proposal that is presented before them support and reinforce the intent of the ordinance to preserve the historic styles and character of the various districts?" Or does the proposal tend to subtract, denigrate and berode the character of Santa Fe historic buildings and districts as a whole?

Dale F. Zinn is an architect who lives in Santa Fe.