OP/ED

Op-Ed: Higher Density Housing Is Water-Wise

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By STEPHANIE NAKHLEH
Los Alamos

For a lot of reasons, proposals to increase the stock of high-density, affordable housing in any town are always met with opposition by some residents. Some of the reasons are terrible, and I just wrote a letter about that. But some opposition follows much more reasonable lines, such as this worry about water resources.

Before we tackle water, let’s examine the implicit, possibly unconscious argument behind all opposition, which is that Los Alamos shouldn’t increase its population or its stock of housing, but should stay the same or shrink. That’s a perfectly Read More

Hanrahan: The Most Beautiful House In The World

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By LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos

I grew up in the most beautiful house in the world. It was built in the latter part of the nineteenth century as a lodge for the Ancient Hibernian Society — I always mean to look them up. Anyhow, for a long time it served as shelter for the Irish new to America.

A century and a half came and went and in the summer of 2002, I found myself alone with two toddlers there for the month of April trying to think what to keep. It was a gorgeous month filled with trips to the lake, endless tornado warnings, and all the blossoms which make Southern Ohio lovely. I got practically nothing Read More

McKerley: A Golden Opportunity

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By BILL MCKERLEY
Chair
Republican Party of Los Alamos

We are blessed to live in a great community with many opportunities and resources. We also have a number of challenges that require steady, focused and conservative leadership. We are fortunate to have three outstanding, conservative candidates running for County Council.

Sharon Dry, Reggie Page and Gary Stradling will provide strong leadership and practical solutions to issues facing Los Alamos County. They are longtime residents who have reared families here. They love the community and know its strengths and problems.

The next County Read More

Chandler: Best Practices…

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

The takeaways from this article are three:

(1) The parking requirements in the new development code appear woefully short of Los Alamos on-the-ground reality, and unsupported by any relevant evidence;

(2) The character of many Los Alamos single-family neighborhoods is now vulnerable to an uncontrolled proliferation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU); and

(3) otherwise the new code is pretty good and a long overdue replacement for the previous hodge-podge that was Chapter 16 of the County Code.

The last year-and-a-half I have met every week or two with a “Steering Read More

Op-Ed: To Revitalize Our Town, Update The Code

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By STEPHANIE NAKLEH
Planning & Zoning Commissioner
Los Alamos County

This week the Los Alamos County Council and the Los Alamos County Planning & Zoning Commission have had the amazing opportunity to give our input into the long-anticipated update of the Los Alamos County Chapter 16 Development Code. Does it sound boring? It’s not. These decisions have a direct impact on questions like “What the heck is going on with the old Smith’s” and “What the heck will go up where the Hilltop House is coming down” and “Why the heck don’t we have anyone to staff anything around here” and “Where the heck Read More

Op-Ed: New Mexico Policymakers Should Take The Food Tax Off the Table

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By KRISTINA FISHER
Associate Director
Think New Mexico

Over the past year, New Mexicans have been hit hard by rising food costs. Grocery prices have risen by more than 13 percent, the largest annual increase since 1979 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, state tax revenues are reaching record levels due to high oil and gas prices and production. The latest projections anticipate that state government will have a surplus of $2.45 billion next year.

With families struggling and state coffers overflowing, it is unbelievable that legislators would even consider bringing Read More

DeVolder: Did Constituents Get What They Wanted?

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By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Reference: McCollough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Shuster.  2001. p.136.

Given the choices made by Los Alamos County voters, did they get what they wanted?  

On the negative side, voters received wildfires, traffic congestion, rampant construction, loss of open space, shuttered businesses, crumbling infrastructure, and overreach by municipal government in the form of inept/regressive building construction practices as well as the Nuisance Code. 

Added to this are some incompetent, distracted, and substance abuse-affected drivers in Los Read More

DeVolder: The Way Things Are

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By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Reference 1: Los Alamos National Laboratory Director’s Colloquium – “Out of the Ashes,” circa 2000.

Reference 2: Los Alamos County – Building Safety Division – Code Compliance Section – Policy,  Procedure and Process Manual, August 28, 2018.

Local elections are not too far off in the future. It is worth reviewing what has and has not been accomplished in Los Alamos County (wildfires, infrastructure, Nuisance Code, traffic congestion):

Wildfires

There have been wildfire issues in the Los Alamos area for more than 100 years. Historically, large-scale sheep grazing Read More