Editor,

CASA wants to thank everyone who worked so hard to put on our benefit event Friday, August 7, and many thanks as well to all of our enthusiastic guests. Located on the terrace of the CASA building in Santa Julia, the party offered delicious appetizers, beautiful views of San Miguel, lively music, a theater presentation and of course, margaritas!

Guadalupe Alvarez of Penzi Events and Weddings donated the time and materials necessary to decorate our terrace for the occasion. CASA staff circulated in shirts donated by Cristobal Martinez of Imprenta Martinez and Don Luis Campos of Imprenta CAMAR.

The benefit was well attended by over 150 guests and our participating restaurants did not disappoint, supplying margaritas of all types and flavors. Local restaurants donated the margaritas as well as the staff to serve the cocktails. We cannot thank them enough for their support and all of their efforts, without which the evening would have been impossible.

Special thanks to our lively band led by excellent musicians Gabriel Hernández and Kimani Lazarrana. Thanks also to Arnulfo Mancera for the encore percussion presentation.

Local caterer and chef extraordinaire Kirsten West was responsible, with the support of the CASA kitchen crew, for all of the appetizers, donating her time and efforts. All the food was prepared using indigenous, organic produce graciously donated by Rancho Toyan’s Ricardo and Marta Juarez.


The event raised a stunning 34,360.08 pesos. In a surprise announcement during the festivities, we learned that Hector Gonzalez of the Fundación Nutrición y Vida of Celaya generously donated the funds to cover half of the cost of a vehicle for our new nutrition program. His gesture will have an enormous positive impact on the work we will be able to do.

All the proceeds from the event support CASA’s new program “I Choose Healthy!” to help teach people to make choices that will enable them to live healthier lives. Proper nutrition impacts all areas of life from self-esteem, to success at school and work, to preventing a host of health complications. By educating people of all ages on how to make healthy choices, CASA can positively influence lives in a myriad of ways. CASA’s theater troupe and radio program will use the evening’s proceeds to advance this important cause.

Cynthia S. Villagran
CASA Development Director 



Editor,

On behalf of the board of directors and employees of Vía Orgánica, we would like to thank Atención for helping us with the publicity for our first agricultural workshop that took place on August 8. There were presentations by Ing. Nacho Simon Zamora, Luis Suarez of Las Glorias del Huerto and Luc Monzies of the organization Via Orgánica. We were so lucky to have also had the presence of the 2008 Goldman Environmental Award winner Jesus Leon Santos, whose entire trip from Oaxaca was made possible by a number of donors who we would like to mention here: Georganne Johnson, Anna Griffith, Linda van Doren, Hinda Growick, Regina Thomas, Roger Jones, Doug Weatherbee, Ronnie Cummins and a number of others whose help and participation greatly exceeded our expectations. Almost 300 people participated in the workshop, 200 of them local campesinos, who were treated to a beautiful array of local and organic food prepared by Alicia Rivero and Gerardo Ruiz of Comida D’Alicia.

We would like to invite all those who are interested to attend the next workshop to be held on Saturday, September 19. For more information. visit www.viaorganica.org, call 152-8042 or come to the Vía Orgánica store on Calle Margarito Ledesma 2 in Colonia Guadalupe or call the Ranch at 185-2194 

We are looking forward to more of these inspiring events!

Many thanks from 

the staff of Vía Orgánica



Editor,

At the beginning of this month, we brought to your attention some concerns regarding the construction of the Cachinches bridge (between Colonias Guadalupe and Manjarrez de Mexiquito). We felt that various inconsistencies and possible illegalities should be brought to the surface.

Unfortunately, after reading the article by Jesus Ibarra (Atención, August 14, p. 8), we were more than a little dismayed. Here’s why:

1) No mention was made in the article of the other two bridges built over the Cachinches after the floods of 1998—both of which were small and still provided for two-way traffic. Each of those cost approximately half of what the Municipality is now expending for this new “overpass”.

2) Sr. Ibarra’s article omitted any mention of our meeting with Interim Mayor Rudy Jurado on April 21 in order to discuss the engineering plans. At that session, Arq. Eduardo Arias showed his alternative design to the Mayor. Documents from that meeting demonstrate that his plan was rejected for only one reason: the city had already submitted a proposal to CNA (National Water Commission) which cost US$50,000 for a much more grandiose plan. Raul Barrera, Director of Obras Publicas, claims that “his plan” was accepted by CNA, but we have never been shown the approval. Is this just another example of throwing good money after bad?

3) The contract signed by developer Jim Dolan and the Municipality is dated June 24, 2009—only 10 days before the Municipal election. In exchange for his services in building the “overpass”, Coates-Dolan will receive Vista Antigua land that was originally donated to the city under the “green-space provision” of the law which obligates developers to do this. From our standpoint, the State’s Ley de Fraccionamientos is clearly being circumvented. That Law provides only for the return of land IF the contractor constructs “buildings destined for this purpose.” The law makes no reference to construction of a bridge or any other municipal project outside the specified area (i.e., the Coates-Dolan Vista Antigua property)—a point that Mr. Ibarra apparently overlooked. In essence, these developers are allowed to benefit twice; first, by retrieving land which was “donated” to the City; second, by constructing an “overpass” which will benefit the residents of Vista Antigua by eventually saving them 10 minutes traveling 
time by car into el Centro. That’s clearly unfair.

There are even more inconsistencies in the 11-year history of this bridge project. However, we think that the above facts should begin to shed a whole new light on why an “overpass” (valued at 6,397,000 pesos) is being built over a section of the arroyo which was barely 20 meters across and does not connect to even a secondary road. Every engineer with whom we have consulted indicates that a two-way traffic and walkway bridge could be constructed at the same Calle Boca Negra location for approximately 3,000,000 pesos!

We stand ready to provide Sr. Ibarra with any additional documentation that he needs.

Lynn Carlton
Patricia Gonzalez
Irene Pagan
Margaret Bongiovanni
David Bossman
Monica Gordillo



Editor’s note:

The underlying issue of this article is the decision-making process of municipal authorities—how are Public Works projects identified, approved, programmed executed and financed. The August 14 article published in Atención addressed the points you mention above, with the exception of the history of the two bridges in the area. A follow up article is being prepared.