By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Reference 1: Los Alamos National Laboratory Director’s Colloquium – “Out of the Ashes,” circa 2000.

Reference 2: Los Alamos County – Building Safety Division – Code Compliance Section – Policy,  Procedure and Process Manual, August 28, 2018.

Local elections are not too far off in the future. It is worth reviewing what has and has not been accomplished in Los Alamos County (wildfires, infrastructure, Nuisance Code, traffic congestion):

Wildfires

There have been wildfire issues in the Los Alamos area for more than 100 years. Historically, large-scale sheep grazing adversely affected grasslands on the Pajarito Plateau. Cutting old stands of Ponderosa pines trees in the 1880’s made things worse. Grazing and logging activities gave rise to the ingrowth of large quantities of smaller trees. Lightning-initiated fires occurring every 5 to 20 years helped to check the growth of the smaller trees (Reference 1).

The older Ponderosa pines trees (most of which were cut down) were resistant to disease and could withstand low-intensity grassland fires which tended to destroy the smaller trees (based on tree ring/burn scar data). The policy of suppressing fires only helped to increase the density of smaller trees for a period in excess of 100 years. The dry climate in New Mexico, coupled with high winds (particularly in the spring) along with thunderstorms will continue to cause wildfires in the future. Given that wildfires create embers which can travel long distances, the risk to Los Alamos County and LANL will continue unabated into the future. (Note: The spread of fire due to embers has been observed on wildfires in the Los Alamos area since 1954.) All of the Hot Shot crews and brand-new fire engines will not be able to effectively control situations similar to the Cerro Pelado Fire, Las Conchas Fire, Cerro Grande Fire, Dome Fire, La Mesa Fire, etc.

Possible solutions include promoting the growth of historic grasslands and Ponderosa pine stands, reassigning Hot Shot personnel to tree-thinning activities instead of suppressing fires (particularly in the various canyons in the Los Alamos area), integrating structures into the landscape (for example, residential and commercial structures which to a large extent are below grade or provided with substantial earth berms.) (Note: The United States has issues with tornados, hurricanes, flooding, droughts, etc.  Then there are climate change issues which Democrats and Republicans argue about continuously.  Yet, builders continue to construct above-ground residential and commercial structures primarily from timber.   Los Alamos County is no exception with the recent construction of multi-level, low-income apartments made from timber. If these silly practices continue, residents will most likely continue to lose homes and businesses in the future.)     

Infrastructure

It is a sad situation to see crumbling sidewalks in Los Alamos County (for example, Spruce Street). It was downright annoying that Los Alamos County had the gall to consider dumping the expense of maintaining the sidewalks on Los Alamos residents as a part of the revised Nuisance Code. Degradation of Los Alamos County infrastructure has been occurring for decades. Los Alamos County residents have enjoyed a “County Club-type” environment and various recreational amenities while the County infrastructure has continued to rot. Take a look at the rusty electrical transformer substation on the south side of the Chapel Apartments or the rusty electrical substation south of the Los Alamos Middle School or the rusty pipe enclosure on the east side of Diamond north of the Pueblo Complex. 

Repaved roads which are less than two years old are already showing signs of cracking. These are only a handful of decaying infrastructure issues which I have documented for some time now. Take a lesson from Houston in the early 1970’s. Houston built the Astrodome. Then there was no funding left to make minor sewer repairs. When the sewer system in Houston failed, the expense was in the millions of dollars. So, continue to yuck it up with all the recreational amenities in Los Alamos County. However, the winters in Los Alamos are lengthy and anything can go wrong with the natural gas supply, the water system, the electrical system, the sewer system, the telephone system, and the internet system. It gets pretty cold out there when things begin to fail.

Nuisance Code

I spoke with Anna Dillane after the Los Alamos County Council rejected her petition related to the biased Quality of Life Survey implemented by Los Alamos County. She told me, “This place will never change.”    It is clear to me that the rot in Los Alamos County goes far beyond the issue of infrastructure. In response to the biased survey, I wrote to Los Alamos County personnel (that is, John Gustafson and others) indicating that each and every section/ordinance in the Nuisance Code needed to have a reason why it was in the Nuisance Code.

After reviewing Reference 2, I wrote to Los Alamos County personnel indicating that the procedure was poorly written. I suggested that the procedure needs to be revised to include a separate appendix for each and every type of Nuisance Code violation. Each appendix would provide a detailed outline on a potential violation of the Nuisance Code; a detailed, step-by-step outline of how to remediate the violation (including timelines, penalties such as Municipal Court appearances, fines, and particularly the APPEAL PROCESS provided by the Los Alamos County Community Development personnel or Los Alamos County Community Development Advisory Board personnel); a list of resources where residents and businesses can obtain help and services, and the need for Los Alamos County residents to hire an attorney to defend themselves in Municipal Court. 

(Note: No Los Alamos County resident should ever sign away their right to representation by an attorney.  It is a fundamental legal practice for an attorney, for example, the Los Alamos County Attorney, to keep residents and the resident’s attorney in the dark for as long as possible. Secrecy, perhaps hidden behind the phrase, Attorney-Client Privilege, provides protection for Los Alamos County personnel by the Los Alamos County Attorney. Los Alamos County personnel will seldom be forthcoming on Nuisance Code-related issues. The default position is the throw Los Alamos County residents to the wolves in Los Alamos County Municipal Court.  Residents will also be labeled as criminals. It is essential to hire an attorney if a resident has some issue complying with a Los Alamos County Courtesy Notice, for example, age, health, financial, etc. If there is an issue with not being able to comply with the Courtesy Notice, be sure to take an attorney with you to any meeting with Los Alamos County personnel.) 

The bottom line is that the Los Alamos County Nuisance Code (safety, health, and aesthetics issues as addressed by the Municode) is not the problem, the problem is the way Los Alamos County goes about enforcing the Nuisance Code based on input from the Los Alamos County Attorney, the Los Alamos Fire Department, etc.). Perhaps it will become clear why I requested that the Nuisance Code needs to include the reason(s) why a particular section/ordinance is included in the Nuisance Code. It should be equally clear why I requested that numerous issues be addressed in an individual appendix for each Nuisance Code section/ordinance.  

Despite useless revisions, Los Alamos County Councilors for the most part appear to support the continued use of the Nuisance Code. This was quite clear after the hearing associated with Anna Dillane’s petition related the biased Quality of Life Survey. Personally, I think that the Nuisance Code is a method to enslave and coerce Los Alamos residents and businesses into a behavior pattern (or way of thinking) which is acceptable to Los Alamos County Councilors, Los Alamos County Community Development personnel, and/or Alamos County Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB) personnel. That is my rational for saying that the Nuisance Code needs to be eliminated (that is, all provisions related to safety, health, and aesthetics) and not trusting any Los Alamos County personnel who have any official input related to the enforcement of the Nuisance Code.  

Traffic Congestion

There have been sufficient complaints about traffic in Los Alamos County, and I need not explore them in detail. However, I am not seeing anything substantive done about the issue. The construction of new apartment complexes in Los Alamos County will only create an additional traffic burden. I wrote to Los Alamos County personnel some time ago about traffic congestion in Pensacola, Florida, where there has been rampant commercial and residential construction. The only solution I can offer is to extend Canyon to the west so that it will intersect Diamond. The proposal has some negative aspects. It will cost money.  It will entail the installation of an additional traffic light at the intersection which in turn will increase commuting time on Diamond. It will not make the folks in the Denver Steel Area or 15th Street Area very happy due to traffic noise adjacent to those areas. However, folks living on Trinity and Canyon seem to be able to cope with traffic noise in their areas. On the positive side, it will help Los Alamos County personnel evacuate during the inevitable wildfires which will continue sporadically into the future. It will also help to eliminate the useless crosswalk signs near the Pueblo Complex. 

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