By RHETA MOAZZAMI
Los Alamos

“Before you speak, ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful.” –Bernard Meltzer

Ms. Smith and Mr. Schroeder, while I’m sure their intentions were good, did not follow these precepts (link).

They went to the county, found out the requirements for opening a fruit stand, then ASSUMED the peach vendor (name of stand: “Fruit Shak”), who has set up in Los Alamos for several years, was hampered by the county regulations.

Yes, there are a number of regulations that must be met by the county to keep us all safe. Yes, he met all of those regulations in the past, and he had met all of those regulations this year, weeks before he opened, thanks to LA county employees’ guidance. I verified this with the person at the county responsible for her employees’ making sure he had met all of the conditions required by the county and that he was set to go and was not being held up by the county.

He set up in Santa Fe a few weeks before he opened here. He closed down his location in Santa Fe, then he opened here the next day or the day after. I verified that the stand was open in Santa Fe. The owner told me it had been shut down when he opened here.

If you want to make changes to county regulations, you can find out how to do that and work on it. But, spreading gossip about the county, based on a false assumption (similar gossip was also thrown about on local FB groups) is not true, kind, necessary or helpful.

The county may or may not need changes. It could be that understanding some of the safety concerns would make people understand why we have the regulations. Maybe not. But, work on it honestly, not using assumptions or gossip to prop up your argument.