.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Letters

  • CRC-LAGRI debate rages on

    Dear Editor:
     The county council, having failed to recognize legal precedent and logic, ads and letters are now appearing in the Los Alamos Monitor using mockery and invective to support their ballot proposals.  
     The county council has ruled illegal the LAGRI petitions about capital spending (which were signed by over 2,000 voters) on the grounds that they were logrolling, and subsequently the acting county attorney claimed that logrolling is akin to fraud. (Logrolling is the practice of placing multiple questions addressing separate issues on a ballot.)  Ignoring its own precedent, the county council has now rolled 21 complex issues into four ballots.  Now that’s logrolling!

    Click here to read more...
  • More on the CRC debate

    For some time, it seemed to me, the Los Alamos Monitor was begging for letters to the editor to supplement the tedious daily op eds. A recent spark has arisen though in the Charter Review debate between:
    • those who desire administrative smoothness by strengthening discretion and prerogative of those in office (representative democracy); and
    • those who support the messiness of more participation by students even if it delimits or delays action by elected officials.
    I’d be bemused by this dichotomy in this small and often considered most educated community, but I find it sad.

    Click here to read more...
  • Stable owners thankful

    On Tuesday June 5, Los Alamos Police reported that 3 boys set fires in the  North Mesa Stable Area. Fortunately, LAFD responded immediately to extinguish  the fires and no structures or animasl were hurt. One of these fires burned to  a 10-by-10 foot area.
    The Los Alamos Stable Owners Association would like to  thank Roberta MacInnes for quick thinking in calling 911, and for the  emergency responders for their good work in keeping us safe. There have been numerous instances of petty crimes (thefts, moving horses to different locations, taking equipment) in the past year. The alleged arson is another  category entirely.

    Click here to read more...
  • Presenting 4 groups of ordinances is logrolling

    The Los Alamos County Council adopted twenty-one ordinances to amend the Los Alamos County charter and intends to present the amendments for approval by the voters in four ballot questions at the November general election.  Each ordinance is on a separate subject as required by the current County Charter.   They should not be rolled into groups for voter approval just for expediency.
    Los Alamos Governmental Review Initiative (LAGRI)  presented a request for petitions for six of those ordinances to the County Clerk.   Each petition requests the council to rescind the ordinance or send it separately to the voters.  

    Click here to read more...
  • Have we gone crazy?

    On Wednesday, May 9, the county council passed a record 21 ordinances, 598 through 618 in 4 hours.  These were not just any ordinances; these were proposed rewrites of entire sections of your county charter, some of which drastically change your rights as a Los Alamos voter!
     How did they do it?  They rolled them together and passed them in four groups like a bad piece of pastry, also a first for our county.  

    Click here to read more...
  • The vote we deserve

    In a recent letter, John Hopkins suggested that the members of LAGRI distrust the citizens of Los Alamos and are trying to block democratic processes.
    In fact, the exact opposite is true.
    The CRC recommended and county council approved proposals consisting of 21 ordinances to be condensed into four questions for voters to approve. The reason there were 21 ordinances is because the county charter requires that ordinances be on a single subject.  We have all heard repeatedly that it is important for ballot questions to be on a single subject. So why are they being squeezed into just four questions?

    Click here to read more...
  • Several energy options exist

    or my humanities class I was asked to do research on a topic of my choosing.  I decided to research on energy and specifically renewable energy. I learned a lot about the new attempts and new ideas that we can use as viable ways to  replace the fossil fuel energy source, and I want to share my information  that I have found.
    Our community in Los Alamos has been expanding in different sources of  energy. We have a new solar array at our middle school on North Mesa and we are even in the process of getting one around our dump near the lab and in a  nice open space with lots of sunlight able to be collected. This is one way that our community is making an impact on changing the energy source. This is only one alternitive and there are many more.

    Click here to read more...
  • Congress must seize conservation opportunity

    An unfortunate, and little noticed, casualty of the present political gridlock in Washington, D.C. is the protection of our nation’s outdoor recreational resources. Budgets for the operation and maintenance of America’s iconic National Park system have been slashed in the interest of balancing the federal budget and parks are only part of this tragedy. With so many of us relying on public lands for our quality of life and our livelihoods, ill-considered cuts to conservation programs only make hard times worse for most Americans.

    Click here to read more...
  • Looking for alternatives

    On April 24, more than 20 ordinances were introduced by council to amend the county charter to toughen existing petitioning requirements, add new requirements such as legal reviews and judicial determinations, as well as numerous other changes.  The ordinances also rewrite charter sections to eliminate ambiguities; however, this means that all of the ordinances need to be squeezed into four ballot questions.  Council will debate these ordinances on Wednesday .
    This is a major problem for citizens.

    Click here to read more...
  • Remembering George Cowan

    In all the many obituaries that have appeared in the area and national press astonishing us with the remarkable life and activities of George Cowan, one important recognition he received has not been mentioned: in 2003 he was elected a Los Alamos Living Treasure.
    As he was ill at the time of the ceremony, he recorded a message which he sent with his wife Satch, and the tape was played at the event. Along with other graceful remarks, he spoke feelingly of the pleasure he felt at being  honored by his home town.
    He said that of the many he had been given over the years,  this award was one of the most meaningful to him.
    George Cowan’a remark summed up the essence of what Living Treasures is all about.

    Click here to read more...