The State of the City -- need more bike lanes / fewer leafblowers

Reading Mayor Miyagashima's “State of the City” speech prompted this citizen to reflect on the subject.

Generally, the state of the city seems good. The mayor, council, and city manager have done much. I particularly applaud the city's commitment to environmental/sustainability issues; and I agree that passage last year of four bond issues illustrated a healthy willingness of citizens to invest in improving Las Cruces – and our quality-of-life. 

I experience the city driving, walking, or bicycling around, playing pickleball, attending meetings, and the usual other ways. 

The pickleball courts are way overcrowded; we need a new gym to supplement Meerscheidt (where I started playing basketball in 1974); and I understand from youth soccer folks and others that we're not alone in needing more and better facilities. I hope the planned improvements will make a real difference. Physical fitness, for kids aged 7 or 72, is critical. 

Bicycling through Las Cruces is a mixed bag. Most motorists are courteous and thoughtful; but we need more bike lanes (and wider ones in some places), and at certain intersections along Solano and El Paseo, and Alameda, it's a challenge to get across while the light is green. I hope planned improvements are meaningful.

Two random suggestions: city council meetings at 1 pm. are tough for working folks to attend. With two meetings a month, has anyone thought of holding one at 1 pm. and the other at 6 pm.? Just sayin'.

Second: every time I see a gas-powered leaf-blower I mutter things about our city administration that I can't write here. 

The damned things are zillions of times more polluting than four-wheel-drive trucks. Ken and councilors: read up on this (and I will be the cranky old guy shouting about this at a council meeting soon), but, yo! You guys bill yourselves as sustainable; and you do some great stuff; but here's an easy one you're fumbling. 

I keep seeing city-owned leaf-blowers operated by city employees. Under the best of circumstances, leaf-blowers make little sense. Blow leaves (which are healthy for lawns and gardens) from your yard to mine, while making a godawful noise and using enough gas to drive a tank to Albuquerque. In mid-winter, frankly, there ain't a whole lot of leaves on the plaza or on the ground outside Meerscheidt. The city should stop using these things, stop using even battery-operated blowers except where there's a specific (cogent) reason, and consider an ordinance banning the things (with an appropriate “grandfathering” provision). 

I have mixed feelings about all the stuff about revitalizing downtown and attracting new businesses. I'm guardedly optimistic; but I'm underwhelmed by what Virgin Galactic has done for our area so far. And city leaders have engaged in some other weird flirtations with some other weird folks, e.g. ARCA Space Corporation, which got $57,000 from the city, and Pegasus.

Better mental health services are a critical need. Recently a visiting mental-health professional commented that mental-health services here used to be quite good – but no longer are.

I understand that Governor Martinez savaged a functioning southern New Mexico mental- health system to help a campaign contributor. Not the city's fault. But the city needs to take an active and intelligent role in rebuilding what we lost. 

The municipal court is the city's responsibility, and needs to be instructed that poor folks, the mentally ill, and the homeless are people too – and deserve fair and lawful treatment.

                                          -30-

[The column above appeared this morning, Sunday, 10 March 2019, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week on KRWG, as well as on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM), Las Cruces Community Radio.]

[Las Cruces will hold its mayoral election this year.  City Councilor Greg Smith has announced his candidacy.  A lady named Gina Ortega has also indicated that she intends to run.  Three (?) -term incumbent Miyagashima hasn't announced his plans yet, but someone pointed out that the staging and content of the state of the city address didn't seem the work of a man looking forward to retiring from public life.

In any case, the election has not commenced.  As it happens, Walt and I will host Mayor Miyagashima this Wednesday (13 March) at 8 a.m. on "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" -- our regular show on 101.5.  Councillor Smith will join us on Wednesday, 3 April, also from 8 to 9.  (The show runs until 10 a.m.)  (KTAL can be streamed live at www.lccommunityradio.org and also repeats at midnight.)

As there's no election in progress yet, these are non-political interviews regarding the city and its government.  However, we are seeking to reach Ms. Ortega as well, to schedule an hour with her discussing her views on the subject.]

[On the leaf-blower issue, just google "leaf blower" and require also either "pollution" or "environment."  I just did that, and the top entry was a Wall Street Journal story Wall Street Journal entry that told me I'd understated the level of pollution: "The California Environmental Protection Agency estimated that operating a commercial leaf blower for one hour would emit more pollution than driving a 2016 Toyota Camry for about 1,100 miles. ... The reason leaf blowers and related devices are so dirty is because many use two-stroke engines."    It cites a California EPA study of which I read part, a while ago.  This is a good basic site covering the issue  if you've used up your free reads of WSJ, WaPo, and New York Times articles.  Here's the US EPA paper on this. ] 

[So I will show up at a council meeting soon and rant about this like the cranky old fart I am.]