Letters, Dec 22, 2006

Send your letters to the editor to letters@atencionsanmiguel.org 
Atención will not publish offensive or defamatory material.

Editor,

On Sunday December 10, my partner and I attended a fundraiser for “Fluviales de Vida—Waterways of Life.” This festive “comida” was sponsored by Casa de Aves, Salvamos a Rio Laja and Audubon Society of Mexico. Special thanks go to Casa de Aves, which professionally hosted the event and presented a delicious, elegant buffet menu, and to the Fluviales de Vida Steering Committee for their wise, succinct organizing of this informational and entertaining event.

Between the admission and raffle tickets sold, over US$4,000 was raised to go toward the completion of the first of three projects aimed at improving and rehabilitating the Rio Laja basin and its riparian hydrological network, including the Presa Allende.

Having read so many recent stories on the negative impact of foreigners inhabiting and developing this beautiful town, I felt the need to publish this one clearly positive effort that foreigners and natives alike are making in order to save our Rio Laja, its basin and thus the Presa Allende. 

Bottom line: Human waste has been contaminating this waterway for years and only human intervention can save it. It will take time and money and collaboration, and with this past Sunday’s event, we are obviously off and running! 

“Fluviales de Vida—Waterways of Life” has a plan to save our Rio Laja. It is well studied and ready to put in motion once enough money has been collected. The stages of rehabilitation are as follows:

Rehabilitation of the House of Prayer’s gray water treatment plant (short-term);

Construction of a black water treatment plant to service the whole of our community; Atotonilco, San Miguelito and El Cortigo, including sanitation, drainage and sewage, plus potable water. This urban renovation in Atotonilco will be important for the 2010 national festivities for the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Mexico. Having an ecologically clean Atotonilco is a national priority (short- and medium-term);

Rehabilitation of the Laja River basin, establishment of a watershed management system and expansion of riparian resources (short-, medium- and long-term).

No one can argue that clean water is more than just a good idea. We need to decontaminate this once beautiful waterway and allow it to thrive. This will ultimately help clean up the Presa Allende, too. Foreigners and natives are joining forces to collaboratively make this happen. I, for one, intend to pitch in.

For more information and/or to offer your services in helping to save our local river, contact: Susan Page at 185-2225 or susan@susanpage.com.

Kelly Gordon

Editor,

I read the December 15th edition of Atención late on Friday night and had the following dream early Saturday morning:

I was driving down the Ancha de San Antonio and right next to the Instituto there was a new three-story building with a huge Frederick’s of Hollywood sign on it. Wow, I thought, when did that happen? As it will occur in dreams, I was next in the area where the Hotel Aristos used to be. Two men were fighting, each with a gun in his hand. One of the men shot the other one, dead it would seem, and I made a run for a phone to report this. The man left standing with a gun spotted me and shot me. As I fell to ground my last thought was, I don't want to die like this. It doesn’t take a Freudian to figure this one out ... San Miguel is dying right before my eyes.

Helene Kahn

Editor, 

I was able to attend the meeting on Friday evening regarding the construction in San Miguel that has many of us very, very concerned. It was a great meeting, led by the members of the organization for the preservation of the “patrimonio” of San Miguel.

Probably 90% of the attendees were leading Mexican residents of our town, a fact I found very encouraging. I also found that the stance of this protest is simply to insist that the authorities of the city continue obeying existing laws regarding the approval of construction permits. This has nothing to do with liking or not liking certain kinds of building, but rather complying with existing laws that are meant to protect this unique town. 

Just my opinion: while some good work was being done publicly by the last president of the municipality on restoration of historical monuments in the city, behind our backs maybe 40, 50, 60 permits for construction were being signed for developments that will forever alter San Miguel. It’s even more disappointing to realize that these unprecedented permits were authorized at exactly the same time as our last municipal president was launching a big campaign to become senator. 

One of the issues that came up was a question as to the legality of foreigners being involved in protesting actions such as these construction projects. A lawyer present stated the law: We are absolutely permitted to involve ourselves in efforts such as these. The law only prohibits us from trying to influence elections and the governmental process. In cases such as this, we are clearly allowed to express our opinions in any public forum.

I felt this was important information, since many of us in the foreign community, including myself, were concerned about doing something that was not permitted in our host country.

Now is the time for us to say that we know what is happening, that it is not good enough for San Miguel and that it must not continue. I hope that we are not so comfortable here that we can’t find the energy to let our voices be heard. 

Joseph McClain

Editor,

Three years ago when the Pípila with its traffic circle was finished, there was a huge bump because of the unevenness of the street leading out toward Celaya. Then, the new administration took office with a young mayor who seemed eager to improve matters in San Miguel. The huge bump disappeared overnight. One could see matters were being taken in hand and streets and sidewalks, among other concerns, were being taken care of. It seemed San Miguel finally had a mayor with a vision to change things for the benefit of San Miguel.

Now, three years later, it seems these superficial improvements were done to keep us, the citizens and residents of San Miguel, blind. Big business was carried out behind closed doors. Since there is no transparency in what the government does (despite the fact that the federal government of the same party campaigned for more transparency), San Miguel was totally unaware of the monster developments and projects they planned for this town. We are paying a heavy price in many aspects: visually, economically, and ecologically. Unfortunately, the past administration showed no vision at all aside from greed and the longing for power. 

What we see is not only a “Celaya-zation” but the same thing that happened to the magical towns of Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico: a few blocks of history in the center of town and the rest taken over by real estate developers and Wal-Mart and the like. 

San Miguel with its unique character is facing the same fate if we don’t put a stop to these developments. One step toward more control would be to oblige the local government to make public any commercial or private development exceeding a certain size and call for a public forum. 

Claudius Ruile

Editor,

I read with interest and understanding the remarks of “Name Withheld” in your issue of December 15, 2006, concerning the Garambullos Development. Obraje is a delightful colonia, but one ill-served by services that other colonias in San Miguel benefit from.

“Name Withheld” rightly points out that there is one small road in and out of the colonia. That road is unpaved and causes a permanent dust storm around the colonia in the dry season and is a mud bath in the wet season. 

This is a health hazard to Obraje residents.

The municipality of San Miguel will shortly begin upgrading this road at a cost of over four million pesos, both paving it and putting in sidewalks. Garambullos is making a substantial contribution to this cost. The upgraded, tree-lined road with 1.2-meter-wide pavements on either side will largely remove the very circumstances that “Name Withheld” seeks to blame us for. Old people will have somewhere to sit in safety to watch the world go by and children can safely play on the pavements, not in the road as they do at present.

Yes, we are going to use a short, public road for access to the Garambullos development. The main entrance gateway through an existing building, which cannot be altered, is too small and steep for certain public service vehicles, such as fire engines. It is necessary on public safety grounds to have an alternative access. To minimize inconvenience to Obraje residents, it is our intention to strictly limit the hours each day when vehicles use this road. 

Garambullos is a low-density urban development project designed on the basis of the utmost ethical responsibility and respect for the natural environment. It will bring benefits to the community, both through the creation of job opportunities and through the responsible and impeccably planned growth for this section of San Miguel. Strict ecological standards will be applied, meeting, and in some cases exceeding, the legal requirements set down by the authorities. 

We have constructed a one-million-liter potable water tank to supply not only Garambullos, which will only ever need a tenth of that capacity, but also the northern section of San Miguel. These communities will benefit from increased water pressure and a more reliable supply, at no cost to them or the municipality of San Miguel

Approximately 50 percent of the development is designated as “green” area, and home sites will be strictly planned so as to preserve and maximize protection for the indigenous flora and fauna. Homes will be restricted to heights that meet city standards and preserve views. Noise, which is a form of pollution, will be kept to a minimum.

These safeguards will foster a model for environmental development, not only for San Miguel, but also for the state of Guanajuato. We intend to create the minimum ecological impact on the wider community while creating the maximum economic benefit for the municipality of San Miguel.

John Barnham points out on page 69 of the same edition of Atención in his article on the Mexican economy that 50% of Mexicans live in poverty and an extra one million people a year seek to enter the workforce. He says that much greater economic expansion will be necessary to alleviate this poverty and provide the necessary jobs. It is developments like Garambullos and the wealth and expenditure they spread throughout all levels of society that will provide this growth.

“Name Withheld” says at the end of the letter, “In this season, it seems a perfect time to speak of consideration for those with less money.” We agree, and what those with less money want is the dignity of worthwhile jobs such as those developments like Garambullos will create so that they can house, feed and clothe their families. 

The author’s recipe of no development is not an option for Mexico. We invite him or her, and those of similar views, to join us in encouraging ethical and ecologically sound development in and around San Miguel. 

Nicholas Gordon





THANK YOU

This issue of Atención was made possible by contributions from …

Meredith Beaumont

Barbara Erickson

Mauri Formigoni

Tim Hazell

Pat Hirschl

Nataraj Ishaya

Charles Miller

Gary Mitchell

Susan Page

Carol Schmidt

Kathy Snodgrass

Linda Sorin

Stephanie Turner

Editing & Proofreading

Darryl Clifford

Robert de Gast

Arlene Krasner

José Luis Mendoza Aubert