There’s More Than One Kind Of Roundabout
by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)
Quote Freely From the Article — Leave The Pseudonym Alone
Roundabout: circuitous , indirect <had to take a roundabout route> The forgoing is from The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.Â
At first I thought the “Mountain Musing” (The Independent, December 31, 2008; warning: large PDF file) was a belated April Fools job delivered to us by Wally Gordon. The more I read, the more I realized that Mayor Stearley has come full-circle (roundabout) with most of the issues discussed in Mr. Gordon’s column. Mind you, I am not complaining and I’ll explain why; but, it will take some serious consideration or explanation of Wally’s article. As it happens, Mr. Gordon and the mayor each know that through the years, Mayor Calkins and myself along with two current councilors (Hill and Simmons) and two other former councilors tried to garner support from Mr. Stearley in his capacity as a councilor and his first partial term as a mayor for almost all of the items enumerated in Wally’s piece.
The potential $10,000 stipend for Moriarty (which I support and for which I publicly gave my support) was not the first instance of a helping hand being offered to Moriarty. The Edgewood Council passed a resolution (introduced by myself) to join with Moriarty and the then Moriarty School District (district) in an attempt to work cooperatively with both entities to prevent the closure of any school in the district. This resolution was not favored by the Mayor, nor was it favored by Moriarty or the district. Myself, Mayor Calkins, Councilor Hill and Councilor Simmons each worked with Senator Sue Wilson Beffort, the State Secretary of Education, Superintendent Karen Couch, Audrey Jaramillo, Debbie Saita, Seana Hicks, other members of the Save Our Schools group, some members of the school board and some members of the Moriarty governing body to insure that neither Edgewood Elementary nor any school in the district would be closed. The end result was that working together, primarily through Senator Wilson Beffort and other elected and appointed state oofficials we were able to secure funds and commitments sufficient to keep all schools open. A side benefit, albeit far less important, was the renaming of the district to the Moriarty-Edgewood School District. This was done with the support of Superintendent Couch and all but two of the school board members. So, even though Edgewood’s was the only resolution passed, the end results were the same, i.e, the entities worked together and no schools were closed. As to future agreements with Moriarty or anyone else, folks I have talked with believe that caution has to be exercised and any future monetary participation by Edgewood should involve a proprietary interest commensurate with Edgewood’s monetary contribution.
Mayor Stearley tells us that a serious error was made with the sewer bid and as a result he feels he should spend a lot of time in the future reviewing the next bid package. One has to wonder how the mistake or mistakes managed to bypass the scrutiny of our attorney, other contract staff, employed staff, the mayor and the council. It seems this is another reason, among many, to renew the call for the employment of a qualified and fully vetted town administrator or town manager. Government of any sort is prone to display mistakes, but the citizens of Edgewood are starting to feel,as Yogi Berra has reportedly said, “It’s deja vu all over again.”
Mayor Stearley had long been long opposed to high density housing. The Mountain Musing article quoted him as having said (in the past) “I am opposed to it politically.” “Politically” as a word has such a negative connotation given the current state of affairs. I am amazed that Mayor Stearley would make such a statement that appears to ignore a large portion of our area population. Citizens, those on the governing body and members of the business community understand manipulation used to achieve good and bad. That there has been manipulation on the part of some in town government (past and present) to prevent workforce and multi-tenant housing is certainly true. What is in question and commendable at the same time is the mayor’s epiphany toward high-density residential development when he once adamantly opposed any development remotely resembling two houses in close proximity to each other, much less apartments, townhouses or condominiums. I sincerely commend Mayor Stearley for finally realizing that Edgewood is composed of more than affluent citizens and that there is a need for housing and other services for families just starting out or for families who can’t afford the homes that high-salaried folks can purchase. Perhaps the current economic stress brought the mayor “roundabout” to realize that we need more than affluent folks in Edgewood. Whatever the reason, I hope he doesn’t drop the ball and he continues to believe as he was quoted in Wally’s article. Had Mayor Stearley seen the light on housing issues and other issues and favored them before he was against them; Edgewood would be far in advance on Section 16 projects, the waste water treatment plant would be operational and we would have other infrastructure projects completed.
The mayor has spoken of playing fields as if they were his initiatives. The truth is much more mundane and initially involved several soccer aficionados seeing a regional need for the playing fields. Sue West and myself were invited to meet with some of the individuals where we were asked for and promised our support. Subsequent support was also obtained from Senator Wilson Beffort, Representative McCoy and others in state government. Information has been presented in the past without giving any credit to those in government beyond Mayor Stearley. Now it appears there is a possibility that the money for the fields may be returned because Edgewood did not act expeditiously in initiating use of the money. I hope that such is not the case because we’ll have to return to Ol’ Yogi for his tried and true statement and I’d much rather see young people and adults utilizing the fields than to see the money returned for possible dubious uses.
There was some discussion in Mr. Gordon’s article regarding some fear (alleged of otherwise) regarding a decrease in gross receipts tax proceeds. There is NO overall decrease; nor, is there likely to be given the fact that more people are now shopping in Edgewood than the preceding years and especially during the last 10-11 months. Additionally, more folks are employed in Edgewood and few of them are upset about where they work according to what I have been told by those employees I have asked.
Edgewood will remain a rural area whether or not higher density residences or other high density living quarters are allowed. There are many large and small farming and ranching communities in New Mexico that have higher density lots with some having condominiums and townhouses. And, to be precise, it isn’t the cities, towns and villages that are rural, it is the lands outside the population centers that are rural, while the towns act as trade centers and gathering places for those that wish to gather and be a part of the community in ways other than having a mailing address at a postal facility or cluster of postal boxes.
Finally, here’s hoping that the mayor will continue to look favorably toward housing and facilities that serve all the citizens and not just those that are politically expedient to Mayor Stearley and others who believe as he once (?) believed. I, for one, will honestly appreciate the fresh air if it is truly devoid of bull butter.
One Response “There’s More Than One Kind Of Roundabout”
Some may remember my skepticism regarding the future of the sewer, including that expressed in this article back in June, which dealt with the mayor’s claims of success in various areas. It will be interesting to see whether the rush to accept blame (by whichever person it is upon whom the blame rests) will be as enthusiastically undertaken as the rush to claim credit.