Taos Swim Club still upset as pool remains closed to the public
Members of the private Taos Swim Club who use the Taos Youth and Family Center pool are still hoping for more public access, as they see surrounding counties open their public swimming facilities.
As COVID overwhelmed the Taos community, the pool was shut down for obvious reasons. However, since the county has started to get back on track, the pool has reopened to the Taos Swim Club’s Masters Program – a paid membership program that involves “a blend of fitness and competitive swimming for adults over 18,” according to their website.
As Jesse Moya reported for the Taos News in September of 2020, Taos Swim Club members had hopes of a larger opening, but six months later, that still hasn’t happened.
Club member Alden Cockburn, M.D., said he feels the club has sufficiently proven the pool is safe. “We pose ourselves as the guinea pigs for the efficacy of the rules, and [we have had] the ability to maintain a complete 100 percent adherence, and with 100 percent negative testing,” he said. Cockburn added that while the club is able to swim, “it is being denied to the rest of the community.”
Both Cockburn and Taos Swim Club director Kat Duff said the chlorine helps to clean the pool and kill the virus, and pointed out there have been zero confirmed cases of anyone contracting COVID from a swimming pool in the past year.
Despite these stats, they say the town remains unwilling to reopen the pool to the public. Local resident and swimmer Ron Hagg pointed out the fact that surrounding communities like Santa Fe and Española have opened their public pools. “The pool obviously isn’t closed to lap swimmers because of health or safety reasons. It must be because of money,” he questioned.
Duff said she feels “the town takes its responsibility to protect residents very seriously,” and that she understood the initial decision to close the family center pool as the pandemic worsened. Now, she feels it has been proven safe. “It’s become more and more evident that at least swimming in that facility is very safe. We’re unhappy [the town] wasn’t taking that kind of thing into consideration.”
Cockburn explained he felt it was time the town took on the expenses the Taos Swim Club has been handling. He said he and several others had to go through training for lifeguard certification “because the town wouldn’t do it. So with that extra effort that we’ve donated to the town, we’re saying,
‘Hey, it’s time for the town to ante up’ because there is money coming in now, we know that.”
The town’s response was fairly straightforward. Town of Taos Mayor Daniel Barrone said that due to a budget cut of 20 percent, or approximately $2 million dollars, opening the swimming pool just wasn’t a priority. He pointed out having to pay pool staff and maintain operations – all while the county is “going from yellow to green, green to yellow” – wasn’t the smartest idea. “We’re trying to open it as we can, and do the best we can without getting anyone sick,” he said.
Barrone suggested that anyone wanting to swim join the Taos Swim Club. However, Duff pointed out that to join the club, there is a monthly fee, “which is more than some people can pay.”
Taos Swim Club members say it is about more than just swimming, and for many, it’s a health issue. “There are people with diabetes and other health issues and the pool is fundamental to their maintaining their health,” said Hagg.
Duff agreed that swimming was important for people’s “physical, mental and emotional health.” She said sometimes, “people will come to swim, and they say, ‘you’re the first person I’ve seen all week.’ Just to be able to be around others and remedy that social isolation is huge.” She also mentioned some people with chronic illnesses are only helped by swimming.
All in all, they want more communication and help from the town. “I think the most important thing would be for the town to allow some more employees, so more people can make use of the facilities in a safe way. That’s it. That’s the key.”
‘I think the most important thing would be for the town to allow some more employees, so more people can make use of the facilities in a safe way. That’s it. That’s the key.’
KAT DUFF
Taos Swim Club director
After months of chasing leads and tips, the Taos County Sheriff’s Office has apprehended the suspect in the robbery of the Bestcare Pharmacy in Questa in November of 2020.
On Nov. 2 a man entered the pharmacy and proceeded to steal approximately 1,000 oxycodone pills, according to court documents. The man got away, but one of the pharmacy employees got his car description and license plate.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Luis Enciso shortly after he became the incident at the pharmacy, but authorities were unable to identify his location until this week.
According to Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe, he and Detective Marvin Armijo had information that the suspect, Luis Enciso, had fled to Colorado, California or Mexico. Hogrefe said that “disappointingly, people who knew him were tight lipped on his whereabouts.”
Eventually, Enciso showed up in Taos using a fictitious name. On Monday (March 15), a Taos Police officer spotted who he believed to be Enciso in front of Smith’s. When asked for his name, Enciso said it was Alfredo Enciso. The officer then confirmed that the individual was indeed Luis Enciso and apprehended him.
Enciso is facing one count of robbery, one count of larceny, and one count of distribution of a controlled substance for selling the pills – all third degree felonies. He also faces one charge of concealing his identity – a misdemeanor – for lying to police. He is currently being held on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond.