Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page K004

OPINION JOURNAL NORTH WEEK OF AUGUST12-18, 2016 PAGE 4 SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Recreationists enjoy the Arkansas River in Salida, in 2010. BY SUSAN J. TWEIT WRITERS ON THE RANGE hen New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker recited Maya poem Will with its refrain of like dust, I will in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, I thought of Salida, the town lived in and loved for 19 years. At the foot of the Rocky Mountains with the Arkansas River running through it, and with a thriving arts communities and great recreation opportunities, Salida is often described as idyllic.

Despite some serious local issues, including a lack of affordable housing, the warmth of the culture has often made it feel that way. Until recently. An anti-growth faction has taken control of the city council, purging city government and blocking long-planned local development projects. The council has voted 4-3, with the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote, to revise the contract of our city administrator, effectively firing her, despite the overflow crowd speaking in her favor. The council also by the same narrow majority fired the city attorney and hired a new one who has zero experience in municipal law, but who bills at a substantially higher rate.

The highly regarded finance director quit, citing harassment; the public works director decided to retire. Other city employees also say been harassed at work and at home by supporters of the anti-growth faction. Moreover, public meetings these days are more often punctuated by insults and accusations from all sides, and our town discourse has devolved into the twisted in poem. as if the national habit of declaring those who disagree with you the has infected our town, too. At the end of a recent town hall meeting, mayor and the head of the anti-growth faction admitted that the city council and the community were need he said, and asked for time to assess how to move forward.

the mayor said. The audience response was, to put it mildly, not positive. The anger in Salida, and in our polarized country, feels too much like poem. How do we get over this? Maybe something to learn from called which aims to increase the health by acknowledging problems, working with all species, no matter how disruptive, healing broken relationships and re-building biodiversity. Although I know about this approach at the time, how worked to restore the stretch of degraded urban creek that runs by my property, which is considered industrial, just off downtown.

Rather than attempting to restore the creek to some possibly imaginary pristine ecological past, I chose to work with what was there, gradually reducing the area occupied by invasive species. In a project been 19 years in the making, I encouraged species that helped bring about healthy relationships. Today, the banks of the once-barren creek are alive with birds, and monarch butterflies and other pollinators. The addition of native wetland plants helped cleanse our urban runoff on its way to the Gold Medal trout waters of the Arkansas River, so now the block is a model for a community-wide trail restoration project. In a way, been an experiment in reconciliation ecology, minimizing what was ugly and work, while enhancing what was healthy and is now productive.

succeeded in adding beauty while encouraging both biodiversity and community health. The word comes from the Latin for bring back a good metaphor for what we need in Salida and this nation: to rejoin our splintered communities. We could start by remembering what Westerners have always known, that we thrive by finding commonalities to build on. Suppose, for instance, you must evacuate because of a forest fire; as you hastily load up your most valuable possessions, you realize the firefighter leading the crew and defending where you live is the neighbor you disagree with on just about everything. You disagree totally, except for the fact that you both love the place where you live.

what we can build on to create community, a word whose roots are in and when we cease to exercise civility and start treating certain people as the that we forget where living and cease to be neighborly. What I want for Salida, this nation and for the entire world is reconciliation. We may never agree with each other, but I hope all of us want people to have the chance to rise. Susan J. Tweit is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News (hcn.org).

She is a writer and plant ecologist who would rather wade into the muck of a degraded urban creek than venture into political discourse. TWEIT BY ELENA ORTIZ ast September, peaceful demonstrators carried signs that displayed a different version of the events that led up to the celebration of Fiesta. They were hoping to raise awareness of the racist, revisionist history being celebrated. That this city still celebrates the subjugation of the Pueblo people is unconscionable. It is an affront to all Native people who live in Santa Fe, and to all of those who travel to sell their arts and crafts under the portal of the Palace of the Governors.

The following week, Mayor Javier Gonzales promised a dialogue. proud as I was to participate in this important community tradition, I do believe it's time that we were truthful about the actual events that occurred during the Gonzales wrote. can be honest about what happened and, through truth and respect of historical events, become even more Last November, the city Finance Committee postponed a vote on a resolution that would direct city staff to plan a symposium on the history of Santa Fe, including Don Diego reconquest of Santa Fe. It was never taken up again. Shame on all of you! What happened, Councilors Peter Ives and Patti Bushee? Councilor Joseph Maestas said it was an overreaction.

An overreaction to what? To the protest or to the truth? So, asking the city to address the concerns of its citizens about a public event that celebrates colonization, murder, oppression and outright lies is an overreac tion? Last week, City Councilor Ron Trujillo said, one wants to hurt anybody. the last thing anyone wants to do. The purpose is to bring people together to commemorate part of our Fabulous! When can we start? With and the warriors of the Pueblo Revolt attacking Santa Fe and laying siege to the city? Can we commemorate the first battle for religious freedom fought in the Americas by creating a statue of its leader and placing it somewhere prominent? Oh yeah right. is in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Not DeVargas or At least that is an accurate history, not the pomp and pageant of inaccuracies and untruths celebrated by the Fiesta Council.

Why do we continue to allow a public commemoration of the Spanish conquest of the Southwest? Why do we sanction this continuing legacy of racial inequality? This serves only to perpetuate the myth of European superiority and indigenous or mestizo inferiority. And, just to be clear, is this a community celebration or, as Joe Mier, president of Los Caballeros de Vargas, states: a religious celebration. That should be the main If it is a religious celebration, why is lodgers' tax used to promote it? The city spent $50,000 last year to promote Fiesta, while Indian Market got only $31,000 in advertising money. Indian Market brings hundreds of thou sands of dollars into Santa Fe by way of hotel rooms, meals, etc. In addition, the use of public funds to promote a religious celebration is in clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits use of religious symbols in public displays or celebrations, i.e., the of Church and Make up your minds, oh fearless leaders, is it about community or religion? Because, if about community, like a say in how we celebrate.

If about religion, keep it away from my kids. It is long past time for the city of Santa Fe to take steps in order to change the narrative of the annual Fiesta celebration. Those of us who live here, raise our children here and pay taxes here are not going to stand down. We will not be silenced. We will not be ignored.

Elena Ortiz is a Native New Mexican and member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Annual Fiesta commemorates brutal conquest of Pueblo people WHITMAN JOURNAL Andy Lopez Sandoval portrays Don Diego de Vargas in this 2011 enactment of the Spanish re-entry into Santa Fe that occurred in 1692. Setting aside differences to build community ORTIZ PED comes down hard on coach Give new parking rates a chance, with tweaks EDITORIALS he leadership of the school district has put itself between a rock and hard place. It rehired basketball coach Richard Martinez last month, even as an investigation of Martinez by the state Public Education Department continued. Now PED has issued a report saying it is moving forward to take action against coaching and teaching licenses.

The report, among other things, maintains that Martinez: created a climate of fear, humiliation, intimidation and among players, physical education students and parents. Sometimes has had players engage in physical fights to determine positions on the varsity team. Called students and players racist, sexist and derogatory names, and once berated African-American players by asking if he needed throw bananas on the court to get you guys to move Sometimes got physical with players or students, allegedly slapping one across the face, hitting others in the forehead and administering what was called an to players who failed the game. Made two gay students sit away from the rest of a class. Used as a coach to flout applicable state and local regulations, policies and standards, as well as well as specific instructions from his As usual, the release of the report Martinez has 20 days to challenge it and ask for a hearing was greeted with silence by the school district leadership, including the usual refusal by the superintendent to return calls from news reporters.

The lawyer said again that the charges against Martinez are false. The most heard on why Martinez was rehired after he was fired by former Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez is that district administrators are afraid of being sued by the coach. If so, that means the climate of fear and intimidation extends to the upper reaches of the public school system. Has PED ever taken over management of a school district a move usually reserved for financial mismanagement for being cowed by a successful basketball coach? an option the state department should look into at this point. anta new, higher parking rates that went into effect last month have been met with predictable criticism as drivers find themselves having to scrape up change to pump the meters downtown it now generally costs $2 an hour at a meter, double the previous rate.

The higher rates are part of the plan to balance a stressed city budget. But also good public policy in the new overall parking scheme, which includes the meter rate increase. The city is trying to encourage more turnover at metered spaces, which some workers and others having been occupying for a full day, and increase usage at the parking garages and lots, where been unused space and the rate is now $1 for the first hour and $2 an hour after that, with a maximum fee of $12 a day. And the city has come up with a new low rate for downtown employees who make $31,200 or less a year $35 dollars a month to park in city garages or lots, an alternative a lot cheaper and less hassle than trying to keep a metered space full of coins all day. Santa Fe is apparently the first city to offer this rate.

Some of the criticism is of the damned-if-you-do, variety. Downtown businesses complained before that a lack of turnover at the meters was hurting the bottom line; now, some shop owners claim higher meter rates are driving them out of business. One thing the city must do to make this new system work is upgrade all the meters to accept credit or debit cards, and quickly. Expecting drivers to have handfuls of change for meter parking is too onerous a step in the effort to push motorists to the lots and garages, and failure to have card-readers for all meters by now was bad planning on the part. And we continue to say the city should find a way to keep metered parking around the Santa Fe Farmers Market at $1 an hour and the $1 special rate for parking until noon on market Saturdays at the nearby Railyard garage, small subsidies to promote a community institution that supports local farmers, healthy eating and the tourist industry.

Maybe that could be included in the next announcement of financing. Overall, as argued before, the new rate system makes sense, although obviously a tough sell. News that the city plans to hire another top bureaucrat at more than $100,000, coinciding pretty much with when the new rates went into effect, certainly help make the case for higher parking rates. EDDIE JOURNAL Higher costs at Santa parking meters, such as these lining Galisteo Street, have left some people disgruntled..