Lest we forget

Dan Barrone is a nice guy. He and his wife are people anyone would like to have as friends and neighbors. But I can’t support Dan for a third term as mayor. “Why?” you ask. In eight years, he’s had one Town Manager, Rick Bellis, who calls all the shots as the de facto Mayor. If Dan is re-elected, nothing will change.

I don’t trust Rick. I also know he won’t change his ways and miraculously start to engage the citizens of Taos in dialogue to see what it is they want nor will he act in a transparent fashion.

Shortly after he was appointed town manager in 2014, Bellis spoke to a group of Taos residents about his vision for Taos. As I listened, I got the distinct impression Rick wanted to change the face of Taos. He wanted to make it more like Aspen. Two questions immediately came to mind. What would it mean if Taos became more like Aspen and do the residents of Taos actually want to become more like Aspen? Time has revealed the answer to both questions.

In 2015, Rick laid the groundwork for a new Smith’s to be built on the Couse Pasture, a large tract of undeveloped land bordering the Historic District. The development included a 110,000 square-foot grocery, six 8,000 square-foot buildings, and a huge parking lot in the middle.

When Bellis put a simple rezoning issue on the council’s agenda, no one knew this mega complex would be the end result. That is, until the Taos News published emails that revealed Bellis had planned every detail. As soon as he got his rezoning, all of the puzzle pieces would have fallen into place and the mega marketplace would have become a reality… without any public input. It would have transformed the heart of Taos and certainly made it more like Aspen.

Public outcry was fierce. The Council Chambers were filled to capacity with the overflow crammed into adjacent meeting rooms. Angry citizens drowned out the few people who spoke for the project. Only Fritz Hahn, a Bellis acolyte, voted for it. It failed.

In 2016, Bellis initiated another rezoning plan (actually begun in 2015). Once again, emails revealed his promises to a developer waiting in the wings. This project, just north of Ranchos de Taos, would authorize four-story hotels, making Taos look even more like Aspen. Equally fierce opposition ensued but, this time, the citizens’ voices went unheard. The other Bellis acolyte, Nathaniel Evans, joined Hahn and Barrone broke the tie, approving the ordinance change. That zoning is still in place today. Four-story hotels can be built at any time along the southern gateway to Taos.

Other examples to make Taos look more like Aspen while ignoring the wishes of Taos’ citizens are too numerous to outline in detail here.

I will close by citing one current example of Bellis’ eight-year way of doing business. The plan to expand the Taos Regional Airport, i.e. the Airport Master Plan, calls for the expenditure of millions of dollars to make us more like Aspen. The Airport Master Plan has been developed without the input of the citizens of Taos and without ever having been voted on by the Taos Town Council. This comes at a time when the citizens have made it clear the airport is at the bottom of their list of priorities. See taoscompplan. org. Does this sound familiar? Yet another mega venture to make us more like Aspen while ignoring the will of the people.

The current administration’s insensitivity to what the people want and the lack of transparency is why I, unreservedly, support Pascual Maestas for Mayor. His experience as a Town Councilor, his intellect and education and his expressed desire to engage the residents in dialogue to determine their wishes, and to act in a transparent fashion to achieve those wishes, make him an obvious choice.

If I wanted Taos to become more like Aspen, I would have moved to Aspen sixteen years ago instead of coming here.