Stories read the most at Taosnews.com, September 6-12
1. High speed crash on Kit Carson Road
2. Taos County deputy found guilty on one count
3. A new village in Taos County
4. Opinion: What has become of Kit Carson Park?
5. Town cracks down on Indian Hills
This letter to the editor caught a wave of Facebook comments:
Opinion: What has become of Kit Carson Park?
I do not live in Taos but did live in the area for a short period of time and enjoy visiting. I attended a concert in Kit Carson Park and while I enjoyed the music I was very concerned about how the venue was managed. I could see the damage the crowd was causing to the lawn and the trash they left strewn everywhere. I completely agree with all the points made in this Opinion piece.
TERI PATRICK I pretty much agree that Kit Carson Park should be kept a park for the people instead of being marketed by the town as a site for big name concerts. I think the town should leave that to Taos Mesa Brewing, which is doing a good job of attracting big name artists and has the room for people and parking. When they put on an event, it doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything and the benefits are the same - some of the out of town people who come stick around and spend some money here and some of them stay in local hotels. And there’s no traffic congestion or parking problems downtown. I found out why they are doing it. They made a deal with the hotels and motels that the money from the lodging tax they imposed has to be used to impose tourism. (I was told this by a councilman.) To me this is wrong – we should be able to impose a tax on them as a cost of doing business here and should be free to spend the money on whatever Council decides – with public input, we really need the most. Personally I think we need a lot of things more than promoting tourism. But I am OK with having a few popular local events there, the Mothers Day concert and the Big Barn Dance for example. I thought the Big Barn Dance did a good job of putting down mats to protect the turf.
RICK BROWN It’s a mess and it smells like an outhouse around the bathrooms. I hate taking the grandkids there to play too. There’s bullies around the playground, and they have no supervision. I hate letting the kids run around without shoes too because of glass and syringes. Terrible there.
CARRIE KIRK What’s wrong with using the rodeo grounds or at least the other parks in the area? Rotate the events? Eco park for instance? Kit Carson is a mess without the events. Seems like no one cares anymore. Grass is high and litter everywhere. Walkways are broken to the point where someone could trip and fall.
DEBORAH STAHLI Turning the green into a concert venue is destroying a historical park. Nothing will be done, sadly, people need to listen to their live music. Just like we’ve destroyed historical buildings to make room for trendy shops and galleries that cater to tourists. At least I can rely on the Pueblo to protect our history.
CASSANDRA MARTINEZ