Compromise and the Colorado Trail

Dear Will,

I thank and congratulate you on the opinion article in the September 22, 2005 issue of theTelegraph. Watching the heated community debate with great interest, I found myself actually afraid to pen an article favorable to a singletrack trail on the edge of Perins Peak SWA. Myself and many of my friends are in favor of such a trail but unwilling to speak out because of the legitimate fear of being branded “anti-wildlife” or worse. This despite my conviction that extending the Colorado Trail into Durango would be an exceedingly favorable outcome to both the community and the nearby wildlife.

I consider myself a wildlife advocate and firmly believe that creating thoughtful ways of integrating wildlife and human life is something from which we all benefit. Creating trails that allow people to access the wild is one of the most important ways that we will be able to maintain and extend support for keeping things wild. We need convenient access to our nearby open spaces so that people will fully appreciate and thereby willingly support their protection.

The Colorado Trail is an amazing accomplishment... that came to be born only because people across the state were able to work with one another in a spirit of consideration and compromise. I sincerely hope that reasonable members of this community will prevail in seeing the Colorado Trail extended to its natural conclusion in Durango.

Thank you for clearly articulating the real state of Perins Peak SWA and suggesting that trail lovers in favor of a trail along Perins Peak may be looking at the issue clearly and with far-sighted vision.

-Regards, Seth Furtney, via e-mail

Hard questions for Ignacio

To all Concerned Citizens:

I have questions about the sanity of the Town of Ignacio government at this time.

1. Why did the entire town maintenance crew quit on Monday 9/26/05?  This is a danger to the town as these men run the gas distribution system under the Public Utility Commission regulations. NO ONE is currently fully qualified under the town’s operations to manage the gas system.

2. Why in the last 9 months have six staff and one Board Member QUIT? This is a loss of 136 years of institutional memory and skills. Can Ignacio really afford that?

3. Why did the Town Board go outside its STATE APPROVED BUDGET for 2005 to purchase a piece of property for TWICE the money it sold it for last year?

4. If the Town Board is approving money to purchase a piece of property not in the 2005 Budget, where are they getting the money to match an approved $325,000 grant to build a needed water line replacement?

5. Why did the Town Board agree to a stepped salary plan that allowed no administrative or maintenance staff to receive a significant raise, but automatically gave the new Town Manager an $11,000 raise after being on duty only 3.5 months?

And these are only the questions I know about, based on my own experience and knowledge with the town. What else is there?

I was part-time assistant to the town manager for 5 years and acting town manager for 2 months before the current town manager, Miguel Sandoval, was hired in June 2005. All but two of the people who quit have left since June. All the decisions I am questioning have come about since July. When not working for the Town of Ignacio, I was consulting to Fortune 50 companies. I have consulted for 25 years during the most vigorous of mergers, downsizing and culture changes and have NEVER seen any organizations choices and changes that were more dramatic. What is so imperative in a town with 700 people that the Town Board could think these decisions would be wise? It implies an arrogance that is astounding and assumes an ignorance that is dangerous. Please join me in asking more questions from the Town of Ignacio Town Board, using your knowledge and instincts to return to a balanced and fair city government.

Call the Town Hall at 563-9494 to put yourself on the Public Comment section for the next Board Meeting. Agendas are also publicly posted in the town.

- Sincerely, Patricia Senecal, Durango

How can you resist?

Hello Prospective Dog Adopters!

Us dogs here at the La Plata County Humane Society would love to come live at your house, go for long walks, snuggle with you, and chase Frisbees at the park. There are so many new dogs here, and some of us in the Lonely Hearts Club have been here for quite a while, and we would all love to love you.

Within the first seven days after you adopt one of us we could take a walk down to Gardenswartz Outdoors and get a new leash or harness or a new toy for 20 percent off!

Then we could go show off at the 5th annual Mutt Strut Adoptathon on Oct. 2 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Santa Rita Park. How can you resist?

You can recognize us by our eager faces and wagging tails. We hope to see you soon.

- Sincerely, Your New Best Friends at the La Plata County Humane Society

P.S- This discount won’t end soon and neither will the number of dogs that need good homes. If you are not quite ready to adopt now, keep thinking about it, and we will all be ready to congratulate you when you are. Thank you.

All eyes turn to Palestine

Dear Editors,

Now that the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and four settlements in the Northern West Bank has pulled out almost 9,000 Israelis from the territories in barely a week, what next? In this complex action Israel showed itself at its finest hour, making sacrifices for peace and doing so with almost no violence and great humanity. The burden, as many world leaders from President Bush to Javier Solana (foreign policy adviser for the European Union) have said, is now on the Palestinians to reciprocate this bold Israeli initiative for peace. The Palestinians must end the massive terrorism and suicide bombing that killed over 1,000 Israelis (including 700 civilians), dismantle the terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades), reform the corruption-ridden and inefficient Palestinian regime, stop the massive incitement to hatred of Jews and Israelis and build a Gaza and Northern West Bank that functions under the rule of law and not anarchy, terror and violence.

The Palestinians need to move towards the main global trends that are successfully transforming so much of Asia (especially India, the Four Tigers and to some extent China) and Eastern Europe: free market capitalism, democracy, Internet, rule of law, tolerance and civil society.

Israel has already done so with great success. It has become a First World, democratic country absorbing almost 3 million impoverished immigrants from all over the world. It has made the desert bloom and become a world leader in high tech, bio-tech and nanotechnology. And, as seen in the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, the 2000 pullout from Southern Lebanon and the 2005 pullout from Gaza and parts of the Northern West Bank, Israel stands ready to make painful sacrifices for peace.

But, thus far, we hear little encouraging from the Palestinians. Many have misread the bold Israeli action as a sign of weakness rather than strength. Many of its leaders (including Prime Minister Abu Ala), rather than focusing on building a new Gaza, speak of “liberating” Jerusalem, the West Bank and the territories (meaning Israel itself). Polls show that the terrorist group Hamas may well win the parliamentary elections scheduled for Gaza in January. Other soundings find that the majority are not prepared to acknowledge the legitimate existence of Israel within any borders.

Once more, many Palestininans seem determined to prove the truth of Abba Eban’s observation 40 years ago that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Let us hope that they will yet move away from violence and terrorism and instead seize the olive branch and make a real contribution to a lasting and durable peace in the Middle East.

- Yours, Jonathan Adelman, via e-mail