It should be noted that the numerous disclaimers about maintaining Edgewood’s rural character seem to be less prominent in the current version of the ToE website. In 1999, many of the people promoting the creation of a new layer of government appeared to genuinely believe that we could “have our cake and eat it too,” but 25 years on it is not possible to pretend any longer that adding more government has not had a profound effect on Edgewood’s essential character. Whether this is a good thing or not is a subjective assessment.
- This meeting has some interesting items in the agenda/packet available at the town website. If the meeting is live-streamed, there is usually a link to watch on the ToE home page for those who cannot attend in person.
- One welcome procedural innovation is that the Town Commission has firmly shut the door on earlier attempts to reconstitute and then allow the group to operate out of public view.
- The SWOT analysis discussion will give a snapshot of where this latest in a long line of the town’s “economic development” efforts is headed. One new trend seems to be convincing people to accept high-density housing projects.
- What to watch for on higher residential densities: Do the proposed locations make sense within the town’s past and present Comprehensive Land Use Plans, or are the locations chosen on the basis of who owns the land?
- Another possibility to consider: Locations where the town has exercised its recently created administrative resolution of code violations which, in turn, appears to have opened the way for public/private re-development projects.
- While many people initially thought this mechanism would be a good way to resolve some bad situations, the first discussion of the solid waste ordinance served to reveal that it has morphed into a “cottage industry” which could, if not properly managed, drag the town into federal lawsuits.
- Using this mechanism to skirt due process and equal treatment considerations and side-stepping the lawful authority of the elected Municipal Judge was not good idea. The Town Commission needs to take a second look at how the policy has been used, and either put some restrictions in place or do away with it altogether.
- The Santa Fe County Tax Assessor’s website would be a good place to begin researching the above-mentioned topics.
- The other issue to watch is the new Water Ordinance (text included in packet) which seems to portray a new innovation in town official documents: A shiny foil seal is affixed to the signature sheet. One thing to keep in mind on this issue, like all town ordinances, it is a tool.
- The use to which this one will be put is dependent upon who administers it and to whom any presumed costs and benefits will accrue. It could be used as first step to secure local control of the town’s water supply, or it could be used to tax Edgewood residents in order to subsidize a for-profit corporation which sends money out of Edgewood.
- The CORE group which served as a tool to facilitate the change from Mayor/Council to a Commission/Manager form of government, seems to have fragmented. However, its voluminous social media posts have preserved a number of interesting insights. Many of their assertions have since been shown to be projections of their own intentions onto their political opponents.
- One of the more curious assertions was that former Mayor John Bassett was scheming to “…send your water to Campbell Ranch!” No evidence was forthcoming in support of the assertion, and the original post was later deleted.
- However, this begs the question of how such a project might be brought into being. How indeed? Take a close look at this water ordinance: Who wrote it, who promoted it, and who voted for it? John Bassett certainly cannot be either blamed or credited with this latest innovation.
- Four of Edgewood’s five Town Commission Seats will be on the November ballot. Water should be a major topic, but I expect lots of emotional appeals and very little in the way of specific policies.