COUNTY DECLARED DISASTER AREA? BECAUSE OF ROADS?

Try these numbers. Town of Taos 2003. Violent Crime 77, robbery 28, aggravated assault 48, property crime 570, burglary 98, larceny 451, motor vehicle theft 21. Just look over the headlines in Taos News over the last 24 months. Is Taos a place you would want to bring your family for an enchanted vacation? I suspect, the number of visitors has too, declined in Fallujah and Mosul recently. No one wonders why and no research is necessary. Go figure.

Full Text of Letter sent to the Taos News, HorseFly and Abq Journal........................

COUNTY DECLARED DISASTER AREA? BECAUSE OF ROADS?

There has been something fundamentally wrong in the way we, in Taos, prioritize our needs. I say we, because we are the ones who elect the people who do the prioritizing. It is my opinion that Taos Town/County should be declared a disaster area because it is in the midst of violent crime crisis and I, for one care far less about the condition of our roads than I care about the safety of the residents of the County. It appears to me that we have grown numb and accepting the shocking level of violent crime.

According to the FBI 2003 report, Town of Taos has the distinction of being #1 in violent crime in New Mexico cities with population less than 10,000. Surprised? Don't be, as we, by electing the same public officials over and over, we (again "we") are condoning the current state of affairs, as these elected officials are the same ones, on whose watch we have reached the level of violence which we are experiencing today! You have heard the one about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, right?

Only a change in the make up of our governments and finding the long absent courage and leadership among the elected officials will bring about a change and reverse this hideous downward spiral! Our elected officials need to be held accountable and if they do not do the job they were hired (elected) for, they need to resign or be fired.

The time for rhetoric, cronyism, nepotism, ineffectual politicking and finger pointing is over, it is time for action! We need to bring integrity and competence not only into the local government, but also into the judicial process.

What I mean is, do away with the often incompetent and sloppy police work and ineffectual/incompetent prosecutorial work (like the one where the jury was literally begging for the prosecution to give them something tangible to convict a shooter). We all need to change our lethargic attitudes toward crime and wake up from our apathy!

On a different note, YES, Taos Tourism is the "numbers game". (

How bad does crime have to get before you and I do something about it? In the meantime we will have better roads, however poor Danica Concha and too many others will not be here to enjoy them!