Re: "City Handles Rocks With All Due Respect"
Albuquerque Journal Editorial

By: Laurie Weahkee

To the Editor:

 The Albuquerque Journal stated that it is “hard to imagine…any greater measure of respect” by the City of Albuquerque in moving Petroglyphs to make way for the Paseo del Norte Extension.

 It takes great stretches of the imagination to conclude that wrapping these boulders in a blanket and moving them during the quiet of the Christmas holidays constitutes “respect.”

 “Tragic” might be a more appropriate descriptor, for Mayor Chavez has desecrated a nationally recognized cultural treasure and religious site in order to save just 4.5 minutes of commuter time for Ventana Ranch residents, by the City’s own study.

“Deceitful” is another good option, for Chavez still has not explained to taxpayers why he gave up federal funding for this project to avoid conducting an Environmental Impact Statement. Rest assured, we will soon see major new cost escalations, like the recently reported new bridge over the Piedras Mercadas arroyo, done to avoid approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. Let us not forget that Mayor Chavez use to say that not a single Petroglyph would be impacted by the Paseo Extension.

 The Albuquerque Journal and Mayor Chavez have known for over a decade the strong opposition to this road by every tribe in New Mexico and the National Congress of American Indians. To use the word “respect” to describe the very act that desecrated this area is, in a word, appalling.

Sincerely,

Laurie Weahkee, Executive Director

SAGE Council

505-260-4696