La Plaza: There's a Lot Riding on Taos's New Mayor and Councilors

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

For once, Tuesday's election brought good news locally: Taos voters finally got it sufficiently together to boot Darren Córdova from the mayor's office.

The Taos News, the local weekly, inexplicably (or perhaps not so much) endorsed Córdova for re-election, despite his thoroughly dismal record. That record includes, among other things, an ill-advised effort to annex county lands for his airport scheme; a disastrous boondoggle of a "command center" with emergency dispatch services that fail to function; and a near-constant stream of charges of self-dealing and promotion of his many local businesses via his public agenda. Of course, that hasn't stopped him from trying to take credit for every single "project" in town and the immediate county environs, whether he was involved in any meaningful way or not, whether anything came of them or not. 

Two new members were elected to the town council: Judy Cantú and Fritz Hahn, neither of them "new" to the area or to local politics. Cantú comes from an old Hispanic political family; her father was mayor here decades ago. Hahn, a local business owner, is well-known and well-liked, and is one of Wings's old friends. A lot of folks are hopeful that their election will mean increased productivity for town government, and a less adversarial relationship with the county. For those of us who live outside the town limits, the latter prospect is especially attractive, assuming that it actually comes to pass.

With regard to Mayor-Elect Dan Barrone, it remains to be seen whether he'll be the reformer that he promises. Right now, he has a great deal of goodwill banked. But a lot of hopes are riding on his tenure, and it's not going to be easy. There's a lot of damage to undo: a lot of barriers to tear down; a lot of fences to mend; and as always, the diverse and divergent, disparate, downright parochial nature of politics in Taos County to work around, over, under, or through just to get the most basic jobs accomplished.

This household wishes luck to the new administration and new councilors. For that matter, we wish luck to all of us.