Apperances matter for economy

I have to admit I’m a little hacked by recent developments in Tucumcari, but I’m more puzzled than angered by the situation.

Einstein is credited with saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way over and over again and expecting different results.

Tucumcari needs to change some things if it expects to improve its economic situation in the foreseeable future, but not everyone seems to see it that way.

Tucumcari voters may be going to the polls in a couple of months at a cost to the city between $6,000 and $7,000 to determine whether to recall some city commissioners.

Recall petitions have been successful for three of the four active commissioners, including Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield (District 3), Amy Gutierrez (District 2) and Ralph Moya (District 3).

Robert Lumpkin, District 4 commissioner, may be spared the recall if 11 doubtful signatures are found to be invalid, either because the signers do not live in his district or they are not registered voters, according to Angelica Gray, Tucumcari city clerk.

Procedures to learn whether these signers were actually qualified will delay a possible recall election, Gray said.

District 5 has not had a representative since the death of Commissioner John Mihm last December.

The recall petitions resulted from the commission’s attempt to make changes in the community designed to invite new business and investment.

The current commission and administration have passed and are enforcing a law that requires people whose property poses a hazard or a nuisance — containing abandoned buildings, tall weeds or long-unused vehicles, for example — to do something about it. If they don’t, they face fines and criminal charges.

Some, however, apparently think you don’t need to clean up your town to attract investment.

One is Keith Hayes, who spearheaded the recall effort. He is quoted in the Quay County Sun as saying, in effect, that cleaning up the city will not affect economic development.

Hayes, president of Hayes Trucking and Concrete, has been fined under the nuisance law, and his response was the petition for recall.

Ultra-low turnouts in the past several local elections make it pretty easy to get enough signatures to command a recall vote in any district.

With all the respect due to a long-time entrepreneur, however, I have to say I think Hayes is wrong about appearances and economic development.

Appearances do matter.

When I arrived in Tucumcari in 2008 to begin a new job, the abandoned Shell truck stop, crumbling former motels and the burned-out Sands Dorsey building almost convinced me to turn around and go home.

If I had come with money to invest, I can assure you my money and I would have gone back to California.

Abandoned, overgrown, junk-strewn properties slam home a message that no one cares any more. It’s like waving a tattered surrender flag.

Investors think, “Why should I invest in a place that has given up on itself?” Most won’t throw good money after bad.

Something has to change if more investors are going to see promise here. The city should look like people are proud to live here. Since I arrived, much more of the city looks like people care, but in too many places, it still doesn’t.

The city’s nuisance ordinance is a good first step to correct this situation.

The recall election, which costs Hayes and his supporters nothing beyond shoe leather, forces the city to spend tax dollars it can’t afford but must use now to comply with state law.

The only thing voters who like the commission’s current direction can do now is rally the troops to get out and vote to retain the current commissioners.

That will be a mandate for them to continue to enforce a good law.

Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: [email protected]