Thumbs - Our high country lowdown on the news

THUMBS UP! GETTING IT DONE. The city is clearly getting serious about its efforts to clean up blighted areas of town. A couple of weeks ago, crews began the task of hauling away about 150 vehicles, owned by Tony Ortega, near Interstate 25, and last week they took on Bob Dalton’s property across from Robertson High School, hauling off about a half dozen dump truck loads of trash and other debris.

It needed to be done. Health and safety are a concern, in addition to the overall appearance of our town. We commend the city for finally getting this accomplished.

THUMBS DOWN! CHAOS. After considering the possibility of creating a second polling place for its District 4 election scheduled for May 10, the Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees decided not to do so, contending that it was too late in the process to add another voting location. That’s unfortunate, since coop members are already deeply suspicious that the board is rigging the election.

At a meeting in Mora last week, chaos dominated. In fact, it became so rowdy that a state police officer was called in to maintain order. This coop is in such disarray that it can’t even manage a simple meeting.

THUMBS DOWN! PUNISHING SUCCESS. A tentative reorganization plan in the Las Vegas City Schools district has teachers at Paul D. Henry Elementary upset, and for good reason. Because that school has done so well — it’s the only school in the district to make adequate yearly progress — the plan could result in teachers at this school being moved to other schools in the district.

For a school to be successful, it’s not simply about the teachers, it’s also about the teamwork. Split up the staff at Paul D. Henry and the district may find itself with no schools meeting AYP next year.

THUMBS DOWN! ‘PAID LEAVE.’ What is it about government work that justifies placing high-level administrators on paid leave — in other words, giving them paychecks for staying at home — while they look for other work? Turns out that’s the reality for some of the finalists for the Las Vegas City Schools superintendent post.

Just a question. We suspect there’s no good answer.

THUMBS UP! USEFUL ALLIANCE. Several residents from the Gallinas, Tecolote and Sapello valleys have formed the Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance to address watershed health in the Las Vegas area. One of the group’s first projects is in the upper Gallinas watershed — all the land that drains into the Gallinas River above the Las Vegas Diversion.

Such an alliance in place is a positive step in the right direction.

• • •

AND WE QUOTE

“The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.”
— President Obama, hours after U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.