Opinion

SANTA FE — To paraphrase an old love song, “Changing administrations is hard to do.” It’s especially true in tough times after a long romance of voters by both sides.

We are getting smarter, however. When Franklin Roosevelt beat incumbent Herbert Hoover in 1932, he had to wait until March to take over. Now the date is Jan. 20.  New Mexico switches over on Jan. 1. That may be an even better idea.

I read with interest the lead story on Monday Nov 24 detailing deficiencies in our city parks and recreation center.  The sad condition of the parks was one of the first things we noticed upon our arrival in Las Vegas over 11 years ago, when our children were of an age to care about swings and slides. I hope the task force recommendations will have an impact.

UP thumb ... GOOD REPORTS. The citizen-based advisory panels that Las Vegas Mayor Tony Marquez has named in recent months are proving themselves valuable in highlighting problems facing our community on various fronts. Both the Parks and Recreation and the Plaza task forces have reported back to the Las Vegas City Council on the need to clean up and better maintain our parks and rec facilities and to improve the lines of communication between filmmakers and local businesses and residents affected by their activities.

For experimental purposes only, I wanted to test the frequency of capital letters adorning products. Accordingly, I’ve arrayed a dozen items in front of me to test the theory.

My belief is that most people overuse capital letters, LIKE THIS. And they like to play with exclamations marks as well!!!!!

But it’s hard to hear anything or anybody when everyone’s shouting.

Let me explain:

The die is nearly cast and America’s newest presidential hope has chosen Hillary Clinton, the senator from New York and the spouse of an aberrantly brilliant American politician, for the important post of Secretary of State.  

Bill Richardson, the affable, ingenious, out-of-the box guy, our ever-popular governor, ended up a distant second in the competition for this post. Those of us who like Bill and know of his uncanny capacity for insight and sound analysis — Wen Ho Lee excepted — are saddened and a bit querulous.

It’s all but certain that Gov. Bill Richardson is on the way to becoming the secretary of commerce in the Obama administration.

For the last year, Richardson has given all the signs that he wants to get out of New Mexico and work the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. As such, we’re sure that Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has been preparing for the likely transition to the governor’s office, even though she has joined with Richardson in being annoyingly coy about the possibility.

I’ve come to at least one conclusion about Tony Marquez after his first nine months as Las Vegas’ mayor: He’s not giving anyone any special inside tracks to city government.

Marquez’s critics have plenty to say: The mayor has yet to bring any of the real changes he promised in the campaign, and the city remains in a holding pattern because the mayor’s administration has yet to fill six vacant director positions.

They also say he’s too worried about publicity at the expense of action.

SANTA FE — “Be careful what you wish.” It’s a popular warning these days because one never knows the form in which one’s wish might come true.

When we planned a cruise through the Middle East many months ago, friends and loved ones cautioned us to be mindful of the dangers before we made a final decision. Some even pled with us not to go.

My usual response was that it might be exciting to be captured and held hostage for awhile. Think of the book I could write.

Open letter to the County Commission:

Just recently, the San Miguel County Public Works Department, along with my company, completed a job in San Ignacio, which included road repair involving the placement of culverts and base material. In order to get the most of out of most of the limited funds for the project, County Manager Les W. Montoya and Public Works Supervisor Harold Garcia agreed to use county employees to place the base material and culverts while my company would supply the base material.