TIDD Sought by Private Developer Raises Yellow Caution Flag for City

In a work session Monday, the City Council will discuss an unusual deal with a Nebraska developer that could be a costly mistake. 

 

The deal concerns the old country club area, where Nebraska developers have built a “boutique” hospital that may help or hurt Las Cruces. They now want to add retail spaces near it. 

 

The developers want the City to create a Tax Incremental Development District (TIDD) in which city-authorized bonds would fund infrastructure and other costs that developers usually bear. The city would pledge substantial future increased GRT revenues to pay off the bonds. One document suggests that could be tens of millions of dollars. 

 

TIDDs can work well for public needs (such as downtown Las Cruces) where a city wants to develop or improve an area and increase GRT income, and uses a variety of developers to do so.

Las Cruces has never created a TIDD for a single developer. In Albuquerque, TIDDs to help single developers have a somewhat sorry history.

TIDDs are intended to draw new economic activity and jobs – not to move businesses into the district from surrounding areas. They shouldn’t be used unless they’re the only way to bring about desired development.

Here, the area is appealing, and the boutique hospital got built, so is a TIDD necessary? If developers screw this up, and bonds don’t get paid off, bondholders suffer. Does the City’s reputation or credit-rating? If the development just shifts business and jobs from downtown or El Paseo, that’s not NEW economic activity that enriches us – but Cruces tax monies would go to pay off the bonds. 

 

Legally, this developer is the brand-new “LC Nova LLC,” which lists Zachary Wiegert as manager and registered agent. The out-of-state entities that own the surrounding property are apparently involved, and the value of their property stands to increase, particularly if this works. 

 

Quick Google hits for Wiegert do not show mayors happily cutting ribbons.

Rather, one (from 2011) describes old friends of Wiegert’s trying to hold him and his partners to an oral agreement – but when they met, Wiegert “lost my temper” and shouted insults in an allegedly intimidating manner. The entity with which Wiegert was associated dropped out. The deal fell apart. 

 

In another, Project 19 LLC (for which Wiegert spoke) announced it was abandoning promised plans to develop the site of the old Omaha Civic Auditorium, though the same developers had expressed great excitement about the project. The deal required a major tenant. Omaha’s mayor said the developers’ failure to sign one was the reason they walked. 

 

Whoever was to blame, those reports don’t tend to instill absolute confidence these folks will do better by Las Cruces. Each included allegations Wiegert’s team wasn’t sticking to a deal. 

 

Perhaps more critical are the many questions the basic idea raises. If we use TIDDs in this way, won’t every developer want one? Should we do TIDDs at all? How do we protect our interests? How much potential “public good” do we require for a developer to get this help? If we’re now going to subsidize developments, hadn’t we better agree on coherent ground rules before facing the onslaught of applicants?

We owe it to ourselves, to residents near the TIDD, and to folks who buy the bonds – to be very cautious, and to be quite careful who gets help from our GRT revenues and gets to have the city’s good name behind their operations.

                                                          – 30 --


[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 28 June 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and (presently) on KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week on both KRWG and KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org) and will also be available on-demand on KRWG's site. ]

 [I have little to add.  This was a column I felt less than usually comfortable writing, because I don't have detailed knowledge on the subject.  There appear to be some passionate economic-development fans advising the city who have not really looked at this thing as critically as one might wish, but also a lot of passionate opponents.  There seems, as there often is, a lot of misinformation floating around -- to which I hope I haven't contributed any.  It does seem that the weight of what evidence there is tends to suggest caution with this kind of development tool; the city should require pretty strong evidence that this development would really CREATE economic activity here rather than draw it from elsewhere in the area, to these developers' profit but with no significant gain to the City; and it's pretty obvious that if the ice cream truck starts offering stuff like this other kids will join the crowd around it.  So, yeah, I'd be instinctively skeptical.]

[Thanks to Greg Lennes, who responded to this column by supplying, this morning, a link to this story on a detailed study of how such things work out.  The referenced study was by something called the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.  (It is not named after Abraham Lincoln, but after some wealthy but thoughtful gent named Lincoln, and studies how to use tax policies and such to improve things.  It lists as its six core concerns: low-carbon, climate-resilient communities and regions; efficient and equitable tax systems, reduced poverty and spatial inequality, fiscally healthy communities and regions, sustainably managed land and water resources, and functional land markets and reduced informality."  Sounds like more than six, but all laudable, although I've no idea what "reduced informality" is.  It also has a fairly heavyweight and varied board -- and several Lincolns still working for it.)  The study suggests some policy considerations and would be worth a read by city councilors.]

[Monday's work session is at 1 -- and can be watched on various media including  Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CityofLasCruces/), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/CLCTV20), the city's website (https://lascruces.civicweb.net/Portal/Video.aspx) and Cable Television 20. ]

(c) pgoodmanphotos 

(c) pgoodmanphotos

I should probably add this comment from a friend:

"I worked diligently along with many others in about 2010 on TIDDs here and in ABQ.  The NM TIDD law was newly passed then, focused on a big development in ABQ.  TIDDs were all the rage around the country.

"The TIDD concept, as with many others, is good.  The devil is in the details, starting with the state law.  The entity in control of the TIDD can do amazing things with the tax money they get, and they are free from all normally expected rules of transparency and good practice in how they spend the money.

"Cities have set up TIDDs to get things going, and suddenly found they gave away so much of their tax money they can no longer operate to support the new business, if it ever shows up - it really messes up the bottom line if overdone.  If Las Cruces approves this new one it could put them in a fiscal bind down the road.  The financial flow into the TIDDs is for a very long time.  And once started it is very difficult - maybe impossible - to stop.

"Since the City has yet, to my knowledge, to face their immediate fiscal problems due to the economic shutdown, I wonder if their fiscal analysis capability has the ability to assess the impact of this TIDD.

"The City's Downtown TIDD is a textbook example of the best way to set up and administer a TIDD, and a perfect use of the money.  The funds are from a bet against future growth - and that bet is not sure to pay off, so there is risk - and should be used conservatively and to build the infrastructure needed to enable new development.  The Downtown investments are yet to pay off - we'll see.

"A concerted effort stopped the County from approving a TIDD for Verde in the Santa Teresa area.  The way it was written it had the capability to bankrupt the County while enriching Verde.  

"The group got the state to turn down a huge TIDD in the petroglyphs area in ABQ which was a bold rip off.

"If the City sees the TIDD for this area as a "Must Have" for some reason, it should be set up as a City TIDD, just like the downtown one, with the City running it and controlling the use of the funds.  That is about the only way to keep it under control.

"The more things change....   It didn't take long for the TIDD lessons of 10 years ago to fade into history and the experience begin to repeat itself.  Reminds some of us old farts of the Police Review situation.  We had it in pretty good shape and getting better 10 years ago, then it was allowed to just fade, then lapse, and we are right back where we started.  Maybe we need an 'Office of Corporate Memory'."

Two Saturdays

One beautiful Saturday morning a family ventures out from pandemical isolation to the Farmers’ Market. Kids, grandma, and cousins are all enjoying aguas frescas. Suddenly a woman starts shouting at the family, “We don’t want you N_____s here!” The beautiful day is worse than ruined.

A school board member tells me this happened to an LCPS program director, whom I’ll call “Teacher.” I’m appalled. That it happened, and that no one spoke up for the family. 

 

A walk is planned for the following Saturday, to express support for the family and affirm that racism has no home here. Before the walk, I question the vendors, from whom we buy fresh local food weekly. None witnessed the attack. One, a conservative Korean War Vet, says someone should have shot the hate-spewing woman. Another says, “I did see a beautiful black family, kids and grandparents, maybe 15 people, having a great time.” (Later I learn that it happened a little north and west of the Plaza, where vendors were very unlikely to hear it.) 

 

I join the walk. Without publicity, we’re a good-sized group, including U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres-Small. I meet Teacher, her mother, and her eldest daughter. She’s left her two youngest at home, uncertain what might happen. This week, crafts vendors have returned to Main Street. They and others are supportive, though unaware of the previous Saturday’s incident.

Outside City Hall, Teacher and some school board members speak. Teacher truly teaches us, by the grace and directness with which she describes the attack and expresses her appreciation of the support. “I didn’t realize my Superintendent would be like a second mother, calling to inquire about the kids.” Afterward I have the pleasure of talking with Teacher awhile, and days later we discuss the attack on radio.

The walk is a little island of peace and sanity. The attack – coming at a moment of joy and laughter, when the market must have seemed a refuge – was a grim reminder that there is no refuge in the U.S. if you are not white. The attacker didn’t permanently harm Teacher, who recognizes that the attacker revealed more about herself than about anyone else. Teacher’s mother, from Georgia, may have experienced worse, and would have liked to leave that in the past. The children are struggling with an ugly memory they’ll digest, and learn from, in their own ways. (Some day, “n___” will be as dusty an insult as “pleb” or “tsoulus.”)

Friends and I discussed what to do in such a situation. Stand with the family, absolutely. Some friends said ignore the attacker, don’t make it worse. I might quietly ask the woman, “What’s so weak or poisoned in your life that you have to take things out on strangers?” She is simply so unable to handle her pain or problems that she’s lashing out wildly at a family with more love, education, and class than she could aspire to. 

 

The attacker has earned our hostility; what she did is despicable; but her hatred is a poisoned cup she offered the family – who were wise enough not to drink it. Hating poisons the hater. One might pity her, but this old white guy shouldn’t advise anyone what to feel. 

 

Although we wish nothing had happened, this ugly incident inspired our community to share its love and respect for Teacher and her wonderful family, with hopes that this place can still feel like home to them. 

Racism has no place here. Racism has no place here.

                                                     – 30 -- 

"Uncertainty"  (c) 2020 pgoodmanphotos

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 21 June 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week on KRWG and also on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org), and will be available on demand later today on KRWG's site.]

[I know that the woman who shouted at the family is an outlier.  The overwhelming trend of history is toward recognizing that we are one human race and come in all shades and a variety of ethnic groups.  I truly believe that some day only historians will recognize "the N-word."  That is so despite a brief wave of nativism and ethnic violence represented in the elections of folks such as Donald Trump and Narendra Modi and in Britain's "Brexit."  However, vigilance is always wise.  There are particular dangers present in the 2020 election.]

[Meanwhile I'm grateful to have met Teacher and her family, though I loathe the attack that sparked that meeting.]

Supreme Court Gets Something Right

The U.S. Supreme Court says limiting worship services to 25% of the fire code’s maximum occupancy does NOT violate the U.S. Constitution.

By a 5-4 margin, California’s emergency health rules passed muster because “Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods.”

Courts resist interfering with state governments. Particularly where the issues are fact-intensive, fluid, scientifically uncertain, and urgent, courts say officials “should not be subject to second-guessing by an ‘unelected federal judiciary,’ which lacks the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health and is not accountable to the people.”

These decisions are complex matters of judgment. There’s no clear violation of rights, and it appears preachers of God are being treated just like teachers – or preachers of other subjects. (Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote this opinion, showed similar restraint upholding Obamacare and dissenting against recognition of gay marriage.)

The decision also shows the danger (or delight) of letting Donald Trump continue to occupy the Casa Blanca. Trump-appointee Brett Kavanaugh wrote the dissent, in which Trump-appointee Neil Gorsuch joined, as did Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Reading that dissent, I paused. Kavanaugh wrote: “The basic constitutional problem is that comparable secular businesses are not subject to a 25% occupancy cap,” including factories and pet-grooming shops. Treating comparable businesses differently would be a constitutional problem; but hadn’t Roberts said that wasn’t happening? (Justices should not be disagreeing on facts, but on the facts’ legal significance. 

 

Then I realized what Kavanaugh was up to. 

 

Because judicial precedent (previous relevant cases) matters, the language of lawyers and judges is often less “A is right, B is wrong,” than “C, in a previous decision, is more like A than it is like B.” For example: if we’re litigating who owns a blue coffee cup (something no court has ever decided), if there are decisions saying I own blue things, I’ll argue that I win; and if other decisions state you own bowls, dishes, and wineglasses, your lawyer will argue that the cup is functionally similar to those – so you win. 

 

The majority opinion compared churches with universities and lecture halls. Kavanaugh says churches are like factories and pet-grooming places, not classes and lectures.  Kavanaugh’s argument is absurd, but it’s a great example of justices wanting to reach a particular result when the law mandates otherwise, and resorting to a silly argument. Among other things, factories and offices are often large and spread out, with employees sometimes working relatively alone, rather than sitting and listening and singing all in one room. For public-health purposes in a pandemic, the physical differences are significant.

Kavanaugh’s and Gorsuch’s willingness to espouse such a dumb position seems to say, “We owe the Donald, and as Christian fundamentalists are his people, we’ll go all out for them. Screw the Constitution.”

(Wonder if they thought through this idea of churches being like factories and gyms. If churches are essentially businesses, producing faith for profit, rather than places where people seek and share spiritual solace and exchange ideas, then why can’t they be taxed like factories and tattoo parlors?)

But seriously. Even non-lawyers should be able to see how far Kavanaugh is from honest legal decision-making. In this country, we should all hope our justices will show at least some respect for law.

                                                – 30 --

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 14 June 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website.  A radio commentary based on this column will be available later today on KRWG's website under News / Local Viewpoints, and will air during the week both on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org).]

[You can read the U.S. Supreme Court opinion here.  It's relatively short.  Of course, the chutch has emphasized the procedural nature of the case -- standards are higher when asking for pre-trial injunctive relief than in a full trial -- but I would tend to expect the same result if the parties push on for some final ruling.  If I were Roberts, I would ask why I should tie the hands of governments in future pandemics; and worship services would still seem more like lectures or college classes than like factories or pet salons, even a year from now.] 

[Obviously I agree with the decision. As the Ninth Circuit opinion, by 2-1, said, “We’re dealing here with a highly contagious and often fatal disease for which there presently is no known cure.  In the words of Justice Robert Jackson, if a ‘court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.’ ”
Further, I've wondered recently, talking to friends who do not wear masks, just what version of Christianity holds that it's appropriate to risk others' health or lives.  One acquaintance told me yesterday that there were "spiritual reasons" for omitting the mask.  Another said his faith and his avoidance of masks were two separate things, but I still suggested that despite his political irritation at being told by the State to wear a mask, I suspected his God might want him to do so too.  We agreed to disagree.  I still love him and his family.]

[Roberts's deference to elected governments in this case was consistent with his votes in other notable cases, on both sides of the ideological chasm. When Roberts led the Supreme Court in upholding Obamacare's individual mandate against conservative challenges in 2012, for example, he justified his decision as an act of deference to the elected officials who enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to life, writing "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices." (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius). Similarly, in 2015, when the Court recognized the constitutionality of gay marriage, Roberts dissented, . Criticizing the majority for second-guessing the wisdom of the democratically accountable lawmakers that prohibited same-sex unions." (Obergefell v. Hodges).]

George Floyd, Donald Trump, & All of Us

There’s way too much to say.

A uniformed man with three armed pals keeps his knee on the neck of a prone man for many minutes, and when the prone man politely says he can’t breathe, his tormentor taunts, “Then get in the car!” – keeping his knee on that neck until the man dies.

The “president” of a country threatens to turn the military on citizens. Embarrassed by mounting failures and by having been whisked away to a bomb shelter for protection, he wants to distract folks with a photo of himself holding up a Bible before the boarded-up windows of a church. Because peaceful protesters are in the way, including church people, he teargasses them to facilitate the photo op. (Saddam Hussein’s Iraq? Syria? A dictator in some Latin American “shithole country?”) 

 

Black Lives Matter. All lives matter. We shout “Black Lives Matter!” because our country often acts as if they don’t, and requires reminding. Loudly. We don’t mean black lives matter more than white. If we shouted “Save the Eagles!” because they were endangered by people shooting them, would we be ostracized for omitting that cats and dogs matter too? If followers of some small sect were routinely thrown to the lions, would shouting “Christian lives matter!” mean centurions’ lives didn’t?

Blue lives matter too. And are sometimes endangered. While some cops are white supremacists or just-plain-bullies, most are not. Racist or not, cops are on the front-lines of the war between a racist society and people of color, and between people of property and people without. They need better training and pay. They also need to understand that a laudable loyalty to one’s “brothers” can make them accessories to murder. 

 

We are all part of the problem. All somewhat racist. That doesn’t excuse racist cops; but owners of property or businesses are the ones police are generally protecting; and if we are silent about police excesses – or a systemically racist police department – we are complicit.

At a recent vigil in Albert Johnson Park, a woman eloquently illustrated “white privilege” by reading a list of activities, such as jogging, going to the store, selling CD’s, asking someone to leash a dog, waiting for a friend in Starbucks, even sitting home watching TV. After each activity she said the name of someone who’d been killed or harassed for doing it while black. 

 

Where whites act casually, blacks must always be wary. My closest friend in San Francisco was a fellow lawyer, highly skilled and successful, a star in his field. But when he washed his white convertible in the driveway of the house he owned, cops often intruded to ask who he was and what he was doing. Wanna guess why? 

 

I could write whole columns (nay, books!) on white privilege, and the direct and indirect ways it has helped me; I’ve watched black friends have to be better and tougher and politer than anyone white, just to stay in the game. I’ve also seen firsthand how racism, broken families, and poor educations can stunt kids’ hearts and minds. Yes, whites have problems too; but people of color didn’t cause most of those. 

In November we’ll be asked to retain a personally racist President who has exacerbated a pandemic and is supported most passionately by white supremacists – or choose a highly imperfect alternative with better skills and experience and some human decency. I think it’s an important choice.

                                         – 30 --

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 7 June 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website ("White Privilege, Black Lives, and the Thin Blue Line").  A spoken version is availoable on KRWG's website ("A Nation in Crisis"), and will air during the week on KRWG and on KRAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org)] 

12 Sept 2001 - copyright PGoodman

[This column was more than usually a struggle to write.  I knew and felt too much.  I have lived longer than most folks, and my life has been more intertwined with the lives of people of color than is true of most whites -- and I've been the foreigner, the "different" one, in many situations, from Harlem to eastern Tibet.  So I started to write about that, but wanted to take myself out of it.  A future post, perhaps.  Then I tried to write more abstractly of our current political situation, including but not limited to the ethnic question of blacks and whites.  (I try even to avoid using the word "race" because, damn it, we are one race, human.)  Way too long and maybe too intellectualized.  Another future post?  So I tried a third time.]

[I had forgotten this, until early this morning as I sat out back editing my soon-to-be-available novel, set in 1914, in which a black artist relates this to a white artist he has just met, but at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the painting "Under the Oaks" won the grand prize.  At the front gate, guards routinely turned away a Negro.  He was Edward Bannister, arriving to accept his award.  (I have also read that the judges, upon learning the skin color of the painter, discussed rescinding the prize, but were dissuaded by other artists' threats to withdraw their works from the show.)] 

[I should also note that on our 3June "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" show on KTAL, 101.6 FM, we talked to a number of people who had attended Monday's vigil at Albert Johnson Park and/or had experienced being of color in Las Cruces.  Particularly moving was the explanation of Russell Bell -- the 70-year-old gentleman who had first stood out on that streetcorner alone, just because he had to, wondering if he looked like a fool -- of what he felt and thought.  It's on our archive, at www.lccommunityradio.org]

[I should probably note that although my life has intertwined tightly with many black lives, reporting news as a young man and writing columns the past decade, and other activities, have given me the privilege of coming to know, trust, and care about a number of law-enforcement officers over the years.  I appreciate their situation, and like them as people, even while disagreeing vigorously with some of them about national politics.]

[ A [white] friend read this column and commented this morning:

 

Thanks for the excellent presentation of our “reality”.

My take on life has been an evolutionary journey.  My childhood was spartan by most standards but I always had what I needed and I always had kind people in my life.  Not all people were kind but the scale was heavily weighted in favor of kindness.

Since I lived in 9 states from coast to coast I felt like an alien at times and I observed injustice far more often than I experienced it.

So it has been quite an experience to see so much crap being dumped on people who are simply living the best they know how.  It’s been reassuring to see that kindness is always lurking in even the worst situations.

But at the end of life I truly would like to see this country overthrow the rotten commercial politics once and forever.  ]

Would U Keep a Malicious Gossip as Best Pal?

If you are still considering a vote for Donald Trump, please, as you read this, try to think if you know ANYONE who would behave this way and expect you to trust him to fix your roof or make a will for you.

I gather that Mr. Trump does not like Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman who hosts a TV show. 

 

Nine years ago, a young woman working in Congressman Scarborough’s Florida office told friends that she had a heart condition and wasn’t feeling well. Shortly afterward she fainted, hit her head on her desk, and died. An inquest held that the death was accidental. “There is no doubt that the head injury [resulted from] a fall rather than a blow being delivered to the head.”  No one disagreed, let alone presented evidence to the contrary. Congressman Scarborough was in Washington at the time.

Mr. Trump, without the least evidence or reason to believe the death wasn’t accidental, proclaimed to the world recently that “some people think” Scarborough “got away with murder” and suggested the dead woman was cheating on her husband: “A lot of interest in this story about Psycho-Joe Scarborough. So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & dies? I would think there is a lot more to this story. An affair?”

Diligent searches turn up NO evidence to support Trump’s lies, which were phrased as questions or prefaced with “Some people think” to evade libel laws. 

 

How is this different from a jealous parishioner telling the whole congregation you molested her kid, or a coworker whose girl you stole in high school telling the boss that you’re sleeping with the boss’s wife – solely for spite? Trump has no interest in truth, and no compunction about inflicting pain on strangers. Anything to deflect attention from his embarrassingly incompetent response to the pandemic. 

 

Actually, Trump may no longer be capable of reaching that level of purpose. He seems more than usually scared, and keeps desperately lashing out in nutty ways Joe Biden couldn’t have scripted but must love. Meanwhile Biden’s recent response to the alleged murder of George Floyd was reasoned, thoughtful, and not political in the partisan sense. Beyond a brief statement that stirring things up right now is probably unwise, he didn’t touch on Donald Trump.

The dead girl’s bereaved husband, seeking to protect her reputation, asks Twitter to remove Trump’s tweet, which has no basis in fact. Twitter, obviously loathe to offend the gentleman in the Casa Blanca, refuses, saying it’s “deeply sorry.” The widower points out that a regular citizen would have been banished for acting like Trump. 

 

Twitter won’t remove the tweet but adds to two unrelated tweets a “fact-check” link suggesting they might not be accurate.

Trump, having been dealt with so generously by Twitter, threatens to destroy Twitter. He alleges that social media are discriminating against Republicans. (Does he think all Republicans make proclamations as patently false and downright stupid as his?) As kids we used to define “egotism” as “a naked ant floating down the East River on his back, thinking about his girlfriend, and shouting ‘Open the Drawbridge!’” Sorry, but Trump, who has no power to outlaw social media, reminds me of that ant.

Would you remain friends with such a person? Trust him with $100,000? Give him the button to launch nuclear weapons? Close the drawbridge!

                                         – 30 --

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 31 May in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website, sub nom "Trump's Wild Accusation Stinks of Desperation" and on KRWG's website (sub nom, "Facts Matter, Even on Social Media").  A radio commentary based on it will air during the week on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org) and is also available on demand on KRWG's website. ]

[I understand that Donald Trump did many more significant and equally malicious and dishonest things this week.  Bailing on WHO in the midst of a global pandemic, on the flimsy allegation that it likes China more than it likes him these days, is certainly up there.  So is his response to the apparent murder of George Floyd, and his continued fear that saying anything reasonable regarding that sort of thing would strike his "Core" as wimping out.  His rhetoric and now action regarding WHO is worthy of analysis.  Basically, he'd like to shift our attention from his abysmal treatment of the pandemic, calling it a little flu that wouldn't hurt Americans, to his mockery of health experts, cheerleading for protesters in several states, and refusal to wear a mask (let alone his insistence on gathering cadets for a Trump speech at West Point, which West Point didn't want, and his insistence on another gathering recently in Baltimore, where the mayor urged him not to).  Blame the Chinese.  It's certainly true that local authorities in Wuhan seem to have tried to mislead their superiors initially; and likely China's national government was briefly in denial, as Trump was; but WHO was on the scene pretty quickly, investigating, and sounding alarms that Mr. Trump ignored like the clucking of pigeons, and China (which, of course, has powers Trump does not) did a hell of a job stopping the spread, so far.  Trump failed.  WHO was probably not perfect, but its record is a hell of a lot better than Trumps.  However, it has not acted fast enough for Trump to help Trump's "Blame China," maybe because it supposes that trying to contain and ultimately solve the problem is a better use of its resources.  
Most of the world would say China made some mistakes.  The U.S. made many mistakes.  How 'bout we move on to try to fix things, then analyze relative fault later?
But Mr. Trump has other priorities.

I chose this incident because it sums Trump up so neatly and doesn't depend on studying the record of WHO or understanding science or deciding who said what first in some debate.  Trump didn't like somebody.  He made up with no evidence at all (or repeated with no evidence at all, knowing he had no evidence at all) a stupid and malicious lie that that person had been having an affair with a young, married, employee and caused her to be killed.  He didn't give a shit that her family and husband were publicly humiliated and hurt (and her reputation sullied for no reason).  He didn't worry about truth, because he and truth are rarely in the same zip code.  His behavior was not only spiteful, stupid, and dishonest, it likely was ineffective.  Could anyone previously unaware of this sad event not come away with more sympathy for the victims of Trump's barely lawful defamation than for Trump?
And we can all understand it.  We've all seen it happen, in high school or in our social or professional lives, at church or workplace.  Mostly by people who, like Mr. Trump, are deeply hungry for more respect and love than they feel they get, perhaps more than they can ever get. ]

Drive-by "Celebrations" Mark End of High School

Thursday morning I did something new: Walt Rubel and I were the commentators as hundreds of Mayfield High seniors experienced the first drive-by Senior Celebration [not “graduation,”], pulling up in beautifully decorated vehicles to get certificates [not “diplomas”] from Principal Eric Flass. 

 

A first for all of us, with plenty of good energy. An arduous but pleasant way to serve the community. Many beautiful, happy kids. Two stretch limousines, a lot of jeeps, and a big yellow Hummer. Very cute little dogs in laps. Us reading graduates’ words about their fondest memories and their plans. It all moved at a challenging pace, two hours of kids’ smiles, parents’ pride, and loving words about friends who’ll be missed – and then it was over.

In the ensuing quiet, I wondered how it felt to graduate and enter “the real world” wearing masks and worrying about a virus. Does that mute the delight (large groups sure aren’t getting as drunk as we did in 1964), or make everything more precious, and dramatic? Or all of the above?

I remembered my graduation. Spring of 1964 was the last moment of calm before the storm. Within months, three civil rights workers would be killed in Mississippi, Lyndon Johnson would eviscerate Barry Goldwater in an election, and the Vietnamese resistance to the powerful U.S. military would begin forcing that undeclared war into the public consciousness.

I contemplated the decades since. I wanted to apologize to these beautiful young kids for the highly defective government and society we elders are bequeathing them. (What marvelous leaders Johnson and Goldwater were, compared to Donald Trump!) Since 1964 we have made some long overdue improvements, notably in the status of ethnic minorities, women, and folks whose sexual preferences are unconventional, as well as the physically challenged and the mentally/emotionally challenged. But we have encouraged economic inequality to grow rather than diminish, civility and decency in politics have declined, and we have spurned chances to confront climate-change, despite decades of dire warnings. 

 

When I’ve spoken, I think I’ve spoken on the right side; but I apologize for spending so much of the years since 1964 doing things that didn’t advance the ball. Any ball. We are not Nazi Germany; but we have lived in a time when we could have stood up and made a difference and mostly did not. 

 

I wondered what I would say to high school graduates. Maybe urge them to read and listen critically, and keep in mind that though Mayfield-Cruces rivalry games were fun, there’s a significant difference between running a country or business and rooting fervently for a team. I would babble about time, that as Dogen said, there is only the present moment, because the past is a bunch of fallen leaves floating away, and the future is not guaranteed. I would urge them to recall the past and learn from it, but never dwell there; and to contemplate the future, and perhaps make plans – but not to dwell in dreams, either. I would say, cherish each moment, and wring out of it all the fun, love, and learning you can. Sustainably, if possible.

But mostly I felt real curious to ask them how they see all this. Some were pretty impressive kids. All had their different interesting vantage points. I know too well what I have to say, so that’s boring. I want to hear from them. It’s their time.

                                     -- 30 -- 

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 24 May 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website.  A radio commentary based on it will air during the week on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org) and will be available on demand on KRWG's site.]

 [The drive-by celebrations were simulcast, too, on www.lcps.tv, and broadcast over KTAL, 101.5 FM.  The moment the school folks approached us, it seemed absolutely the right thing for a community radio station to do.  What was delightful was how well everyone from both LCPS and the station, particularly people whose voices you didn't necessarily hear, did a quick and competent job in making this wholly unfamiliar event work about as well as it could.  Folks also tried to maintain virus-avoidance protocols as best we could.  (I ended up doing three of the four traditional high schools, Mayfield, Centennial, and Onate -- with Walt at the first and last, and with Rich Kadzis (the Buzzman) for Centennial Friday morning.)]

[And I do hope to have several of the students as phone guests the second half of our "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" show Wednesday morning on 101.5 FM.  Durikng the firat hour (8-9 a.m.), we'll have two or three of the three surviving candidates for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.  (Two have accepted at this point.  Waiting to hear back from Mark Ronchetti, after emails and phone calls to his campaign.  If anyone reading this knows him, and he might be interested in joining his opponents on Cruces Community radio, let him know.)  Then from 9-10, students.  I've only spoken to one so far, but I'm hopeful we'll have several.]

[It was a neat event in ways I probably lacked time or energy to process while we were working so fast.  Reflecting on how many of the students recalled so vividly their first day of high school, and the nervous uncertainty they felt, and on how many articulated some version of "I actually made it!" in their comments or in signs on their car, and on the faces of parents and graduates, with joy and even tears -- illustrates how big the high school graduation was for many, and what a struggle it was in different ways.  I think folks forget that part long afterward.  Too, one wrote in his comments, "I did this for my sister, mother, and father, who never had the chance," adding (as several did), "I'm proud to be Mexican!"  Several of these kids struggled with poverty, learning and writing in a second-language, separation from family, and other hurdles many of us did not.  Makes graduating high school pretty sweet!]

[And I couldn't have done my part without a breakfast burrito (to-go) from Nessa's each morning, on my way to the Field of Dreams.] 

Graduation Photo w poppies

Science-based Reopening

Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham - screenshot

While watching Governor Lujan-Grisham’s two-hour press conference discussing science-based efforts to reopen New Mexico safely, I felt this weird dissonance.

On one screen, the administration discussed opening New Mexico without a disastrous increase in COVID-19 cases, by working carefully to balance science, economics, and human nature. They were working out details most of us would miss. 

 

On another screen, FB friends and strangers insisted that the pandemic is grossly exaggerated, even that unspecified elites have ginned this up to control us better. I don’t agree, but hope to talk to those folks further. (Meanwhile the comment-thread during the Governor’s presser was pretty wild. See my blog for samples.)

I keep trying to tell folks in that Facebook world what I see and hear in the reporting world. Friends say, “Why bother? They’re the same folks who deny climate-change.” Three reasons: since I don’t know everything, I might learn something; I too have held highly unpopular views most folks maligned; and if I’m right about this pandemic, COVID-19-deniers who spurn masks could endanger someone they care about. So communication matters. 

 

Dr. David Scrase - Human Svs. Sec.

What I wanted the FB folks to see in the Governor, Kathleen Kunkel, and Dr. David Scrase (New Mexico’s Fauci) is their seriousness and concern; their reliance on evidence; and their willingness to admit what they don’t know. They could be wrong; but they’re damn sure trying, as reasonably as possible, to get it right.

They understand everyone’s frustration, and the very real and serious pain a busted economy causes.

There’s just something about the COVID-deniers I don’t quite get.

I know everything has to be partisan now, and we must root for our team with absolute loyalty. We’re all at least somewhat guilty of that. I understand that people don’t like to be told what to do. My whole life has been a fight against being told what to do or think. I gather that Donald Trump’s cavalier dismissal of anything scientific appeals to some. (I don’t understand that.) 

 

This virus is a serious problem, more communicable than the flu but far less than measles was before vaccines. We keep learning more about how one gets infected. Early projections weren’t lies, or tricks to control us better, but (a) involved a new virus few scientists had encountered and (b) assumed we wouldn’t take such extreme protective measures. 

 

Cloth masks, though imperfect, can help keep me from spreading the virus if I get infected. I might not know I was infected until too late, because I’d actually be most dangerous during the last few days before symptoms appear. Wearing the mask minimizes the odds I’d spread the virus, and the more people who don’t infect others, the better chance that your 90-year-old grandfather – and our economy – will survive. (New York studies show that 80% of people wearing masks cut the daily death toll considerably.)

The enemy is this virus (which isn’t alive), not Michelle or Donald. As with World War II’s rationing, shortages, and draft, it’s time to suck it up and try to do the right thing for our community and country. 

 

I get that when we’re bickering about Donald and Joe, a flashy Facebook meme that trashes “the enemy” is exciting, and we reach for “Share”; but this virus warrants a more thoughtful approach, like critically reading facts (not someone’s ideological spin) with an open mind. 

Sorry to ruin the party, but someone’s life might depend on you.

                                              – 30 --

[The column above appeared this morning, Sunday, 17 May 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website (sub nom A Tightrope of Science, Economics, and Human Nature) and on KRWG's website, sub nom Science, Not Politics, Must Drive Covid-19 Policy.  A radio-commentary based on it will air during the week both on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM -- streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org. The commentary will also be available on-demand on KRWG's website.]

[Of course, it's not possible to keep politics entirely out of discussions of coronavirus.  For one thing, given the testimony and other information about  Mr. Trump's sluggish response to the pandemic, it's understandable that Trump minions would wish to minimize the problem he was ignoring and Trump antagonists would tend to stress its importance.  However, in the real world there are some facts. For example, we know how pre-symptomatic people can spread the disease, we know the "R-naught" of COVID-19 (fortunately smaller than the one for measles, say) and that the kinds of conduct outlined in the public health order can keep the spread rate significantly lower.  However, all the science is important information that decision-makers need to factor in with economic, psychological, societal, political, and other sorts of information in trying to chart (and continually re-chart based on experience and new information) our best course.]

[A useful explanation of the science is one by Erin Brundage, Ph.D., who points out in KNOW THE RISKS":
“Based on infectious dose studies with MERS and SARS, some estimate that as few as 1000 SARS-CoV2 viral particles are needed for an infection to take hold. Please note, this still needs to be determined experimentally, but [using that number to demonstrate the principle:] Infection could occur, through 1000 viral particles you receive in one breath or from one eye-rub, or 100 viral particles inhaled with each breath over 10 breaths, or 10 viral particles with 100 breaths.
A breath: A single breath releases 50 - 5000 droplets. Most of these droplets are low velocity and fall to the ground quickly. There are even fewer droplets released through nose-breathing. Importantly, due to the lack of exhalation force with a breath, viral particles from the lower respiratory areas are not expelled.
A Cough: A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets and droplets travels at 50 miles per hour. Most droplets are large, and fall quickly (gravity), but many do stay in the air and can travel across a room in a few seconds.
A Sneeze: A single sneeze releases about 30,000 droplets, with droplets traveling at up to 200 miles per hour. Most droplets are small and travel great distances (easily across a room).
If a person is infected, the droplets in a single cough or sneeze may contain as many as 200,000,000 (two hundred million) virus particles which can all be dispersed into the environment around them.]

[This morning I noticed a Washington Post article on how some epidemilogists approach the question of maximixing safety when going out more during these times. Though they said they'd try to stay in until cases decline in their communities, they offered some guidance for folks going out.  Most of those, most of us would already contemplate; but they had a couple I'd not have thought to mention.  They say, in part:  

In general, aside from how necessary the excursion is, they’ll consider: will they be indoors or outdoors; can they stay six feet from others; and how long will the outing be? Outdoors and shorter outings are safer. “I won’t linger in places,” one said. At businesses, they’ll note whether all staff members are wearing masks, employees are observing the six-foot principle, whether or not there’s hand sanitizer or some other easy way to clean/disinfect hands, and are there few enough customers that everyone can keep the six-foot distance. They’ll also carry hand-sanitizer, and use it before and after being in public spaces, focus on not touching their faces, use the bathroom before leaving home to avoid using public restrooms, and carry water to avoid using drinking fountains.]

[I'd intended to include some of the comments on the thread that kept moving up the screen to the right of the video throughout the Governor's press conference; but that's too arduous a task for such a beautiful Sunday morning!  I'll post it soon.  However, several took the Governor to task for not wearing a mask throughout her talk.   However, she did have one, and was wearing it at the start (and, later, even showed folks how to make one from a bandanna), she quite naturally took it off to speak into a microphone, and was quite safe because the cabinet members to her right and left were at least about 20 feet away.]

Photographs  © 2020 Peter Goodman