Today's Opinions

In response to the idea of a fifth council member being suggested by Cruz Roybal and Morris Madrid, may I remind them that the council already has a fifth member, in the personage of his honor the mayor.  His job is to break those tie votes and he does represent the entire town.

If a fifth council member slot is created, either as a councilor-at-large or as a representative of a fifth ward, the mayor’s position then becomes one of moderator.  

To what lengths will some people go to connect with their roots? And what means enable them to do so?

These questions arise in the case of Florence Bordj and her mother, Therese Bonnafous Bordj, from France but now living in Tahiti. They flew to the states to be close to the haunts of their great-grand-uncle and grand-uncle, respectively, Msgr. Adrien Rabeyrolle, the pastor of Immaculate Conception church.

For many of my grandparents’ generation, the Biblical words, “Be fruitful and multiply,” were more of a command than a suggestion.

Grandma and Grandpa Medina complied, delivering 16 children, of which my mother Marie was the oldest daughter. Six remain, most in their nineties, and most of the others lived into that decade as well. And a few of them procreated so efficiently that in the ‘50s it was fairly safe to tell people, “I’m related to half of Santa Fe. If it’s a Medina, there’s a good chance it’s a cousin.”