Letters to the Editor

By AARON WALKER
White Rock

I know budget season for the County usually isn’t the most exciting time of year, but there is an important discussion coming up during the Monday night budget session. There is a budget item for bear-resistant roll carts to be provided to all residents. This is an extremely important item, as bears have been increasingly active in town throughout the years searching for the easy food sources.

Councilor Robinson has been a major advocate for bear-resistant trash bins since being elected to County Council.

Bears having access to trash bins and other easy sources of food Read More

By A Third-Generation America
Los Alamos

“Let’s move because of those Chinese people over there.” My kids continued to play, oblivious to the racist remark the mom of three had just made at Mesa. I was seething.

Fake coughs, lots of them. Oh, you think you’re so funny, jogger mom at Canyon Rim, exercising dude at Urban Park, and fellow patron at Smith’s?

There’s also the teenagers who screamed terrible, racist things at my parents as they drove by, twice.

Racism and hate are not funny nor comedic, as Hank Azaria and Jay Leno have had to admit.

Moms, dads, and any others in Los Alamos who are prone to think Read More

By ROBERT VISEL
Los Alamos

I’m assuming all the property owners in Los Alamos have received their latest 2021 Property Tax Assessment in the mail and that you’ve noticed a significant and outrageous increase in the amount you will owe for 2021.

Everyone who owns property in Los Alamos could, save themselves a lot of money on their recent Property Tax Bills for 2021 by simply taking a little time and writing a “Protest” to Kenneth Milder at the assessor’s office about the recent evaluation of your property. You should do this every time you receive a tax bill showing an unreasonable increase in your Read More

By SUSAN BENJAMIN
White Rock

Dear Los Alamos Community,

During his recent weekly pandemic podcast, Dr. Michael Osterholm ended his commentary by reading this excellent letter from Dr. Teresa Thayer Snyder, a highly respected, retired superintendent from upstate New York.

As a long time Los Alamos resident, teacher and New Mexico State Teacher of the Year, I felt incredibly inspired and touched by Dr. Snyder’s perspective about schools recovering from the pandemic. Yes, we need to listen to our children and to allow their stories to be heard, as the children return to formal education.

Traditional Read More

By MORRIS B. PONGRATZ
Los Alamos

Folks,

The actions you take in approving the level of property tax revenues in April/May end up setting the property tax rates that you will be asked to approve later in the summer. At that time citizens will protest the property tax increases, but the state will give you no option but to agree with the rates they propose.

So the time to keep property taxes from increasing is during the current budget process.

Property tax revenues (page 76) are proposed to increase by 6.1%. LAC does not need the increased revenues. “Unassigned” in the “Ending Fund Balance” is over Read More

By KATHERINE BRUELL
Executive Director
Pajarito Environmental Education Center

The Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is happy to see that Los Alamos County Council will be considering a budget option to provide bear-resistant roll carts to the entire community.

We believe this action is crucial to protect our wildlife and to save time and resources for our law enforcement agencies.

Bears require a huge number of calories every day, and even more so when they are preparing for the winter. While black bears will eat anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 calories a day, their actual caloric  Read More

By JAMES RICKMAN
Los Alamos

I would like to echo the sentiments of another letter and publicly thank the New Mexico Legislature and our governor for outlawing the use of traps, snares and similar devices on public lands in our state.

Senate Bill 32, The Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act, had four committed sponsors, including Sen. Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales and Rep. Christine Chandler, both of whom represent Los Alamos; as well as Sens. Brenda McKenna and Matthew McQueen.

Forty-five years ago my family came upon a trapped animal during a Christmas tree outing in the Jemez mountains. Read More

By TERRY DUBOIS
Los Alamos

On April 5, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law, Senate Bill 32, Roxy’s Law. This Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act, prohibits commercial and recreational trapping on public lands in New Mexico. 

It took nearly a decade for this to be achieved thanks to some wonderful politicians and citizens of this state. Special thanks to our own Rep. Christine Chandler who was one of the sponsors of the bill. We are fortunate to have such forward thinking and progressive law makers making these decisions. 

New Mexico now joins Colorado and Arizona in boasting trap Read More

By OLIVIA KOO
Los Alamos

Growing up in Los Alamos is often seen as a blessing and as a curse. Having grown up and having attended the Los Alamos Public Schools since I was in kindergarten, I would wholly agree with this statement.

There’s a certain charm and comfort in the familiarity of your classmates as you grow up with each other from elementary school to middle school to high school. But then again, the awkwardness I feel seeing my teachers shopping at Smith’s hasn’t ever really gone away, even though I’m a high school junior. You’d think I would’ve gotten used to it by now.

However, there’s another Read More

By ANDREW M. FRASER
Los Alamos

Broadband will be on the agenda for the County Council meeting April 6, 2021.

Living with the ongoing pandemic we find both that our broad band connections are inadequate and that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) available in the County offer various combinations of high prices, hostile customer service and low data rates. 

I believe the best way to address the problem is to have a County owned communication utility that operates fiber optic infrastructure throughout the County.

I encourage all residents who want the County to help address the inadequate broadband Read More