October 06, 2003

Stop the extension of Paseo del Norte through the Petroglyphs—Register and Vote!!

By, Rob Marshall

Well dear friends just when you thought that "thing" had finally quieted down or gone away—the game is still afoot. Yes, the new mayor, Martin Chavez, and all the proponents for land developing on the Westside of Albuquerque are still at it.

This, "thing", about the Petroglyphs is not going away. Inspite of the rather heated debates over the last 10 years or more, and all of the duly noted oppositions to it, they are still doggedly determined to add to the sprawl of the Westside by extending Paseo del Norte through our "Sacred Ground"—our church.

Yes, our church! Imagine this concept, a house of worship without walls, windows, or a ceiling—just a dirt floor, the ground—the body of our Earth Mother. The Petroglyph National Monument area is such a place. In the minds of the Native Americans, all indigenous people around the world, and some enlightened people and archeologist, the Petroglyphs is akin to a place of worship or a church.

Because the ancients who lived, worked, fought, worshiped, and died there didn’t leave any large structures behind—…"just some crude etchings of unsubstantiated origins…"—these are dismissed as unimportant.

We are constantly being told by our politicians and big business interests that we are not aware of, or we are not considering the "Big Picture" whenever it concerns the Westside’s development issues.

The "Big Picture" here is very simple really, if you have an open mind:

What the indigenous, tribal people practice and believe in is not considered "mainstream", and is of little importance. After all they're just unenlightened savages,

This is just barren, open area here with no large grandiose structures involved, the only physical limitations is finding a way to stabilize the volcanic substrata, which is no easy feat,

Their urban sprawl has pushed right up on the borders of the Petroglyphs with hardly any breathing room left,

There are plans for even more developments on the far-western side of the Petroglyphs, with no regards about water use—just making money (another issue), thus, with big-business, and bucks—a proposed $11 million plus on their side,

This portion of the Petroglyphs is just the beginning. If this succeeds there is the extension and widening of Unser Boulevard through the center of the Petroglyph State Park,

The general public, on an average, is all too caught up in the daily pressures of their "rat-race" existence to be bothered by what is happening here. So through this climate of apathy there’ll be little opposition—until it’s too late, then,

They will bulldoze through a "Street Bond Issue", and then just cut through this insignificant area and everything will be okay.

Well if you stick to that way of thinking, what would happen if there were proposals to widen one of Albuquerque’s streets? And it just so happens that it will evolve taking out just an "insignificant" corner or wing to an established, major religion’s church. Need I go further? I think not! The answer is that it wouldn’t happen. Not anywhere for that matter!

So, why here? Why let it happen here?

The "Big—unadulterated—Picture" is money, Money, M-O-N-E-Y!!!

The extension project will not serve the existing housing tracts, they will be restricted to using Golf Course Road. The only ones who will benefit are the speculated, mass development opportunities that are looming over the horizon after the proposed extension is finished. The end result is more, seemingly mindless, urban sprawl.

As I was doing some journeywork in the Piedras Marcadas Canyon area of the Petroglyphs, I happened upon some 14 people hiking through the region. Most of them were locals, but three of them were foreigners, French, German, and Italian. One of them now lives here. We talked about what I was doing and some of them at times changed their direction and walked along with me. They all remarked at how our land usage seems to have no kind of rhyme or reason to it. "If you have an open space we act as if we must put something in it as fast as possible." We talked about how there isn't any stewardship of the planet and the legacy we're leaving for future generations, and how we are only in the mind-set of money/profits now and let those in the future worry about it then.

The time for turning a deaf-ear to this matter is over, there is no more time for apathy, we can not keep procrastinating until the time runs out so we can say, "I guess I wasn’t suppose to make a decision." The time for action was yesterday—in other words people—RIGHT NOW!

Stand up and be counted!

Business and politics is always referencing the "Bottom-Line." The people of this city need to take their city back and get more involved, and not always reacting to every little string that gets jerked. It is time for a new mind-set, if the people lead then the leaders will have to follow. And with that comes a new word "democratization". In the holistic based New World order it means that the corporate structure is directly answerable to the people—its customers. The new equation states—the people are the new bottom-line and not corporate profits!

The issue of the Paseo del Norte extension will be decided by a vote on the Street Bond Issue, on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. Absentee votes will be accepted starting October 4th. What is needed here is that everyone needs to get registered to vote before Sunday, September 28, 2003. All you need to do is go to your local library, pick up a voter registration form, fill it out and mail it. Its that simple, a no brainier! Please show the city government and the developers where you stand on this issue.

So, I ask you, my brothers and sisters, where do you stand in the scheme of things?

I am extending an invitation for you all to attend a Prayer Pipe Ceremony at the Petroglyphs area where Paseo del Norte dead ends. This will be a prayer vigil for the community to come out and to show your solidarity on this issue.

It will be held at 2PM on Saturday, October 25, 2003. Hope to see you there.

Directions:

Take Paseo del Norte west to where it ends at Golf Course Road. At the stoplight get into the outside, the first, left turn lane. As you go through the light, turn right, into the little driveway/street in front of you. There is an abandoned shopping plaza and sand-filled, open area you can park in. If there is no parking left, you can go to the shopping center just due south on Golf Course Road, on your right.

Points of Contact:

Rob Marshall—

P O Box 1412

Sandia Park, NM 87047-1412

505-286-7641

orionsgate@nmia.com

Sonny (Sage Council & Stop Tax Waste, NM)—

505-280-2502

sonny@stoptaxwaste.com

Bineshi (Stop Tax Waste)— bineshi@stoptaxwaste.com

Sage Council, NM—

505-260-4696

sage@sagecouncil.org

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