OPINION

Mail letters to PO Box 4910, Santa Fe, NM 87502; or email them to editor@sfreporter. com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

COVER, OCT. 20:

“EVICTED, REJECTED & LOCKED OUT”

AS A LANDLORD

As a landlord in Santa Fe with three rental properties, all rented to low-income tenants who pay rent from their earnings, I read with morbid fascination your senseless piece of yellow journalism crafted to demonize landlords, (“Evicted, Rejected” & Locked Out.”)

The article creates the misimpression that when landlords decline to accept tenants paying with rental assistance such as Section 8 vouchers, it’s for a bad reason such as greed. What the article doesn’t say is how landlords know from real-life experience that tenants paying with government assistance often make bad tenants. Those are often tenants who engage in illegal conduct, own vicious dogs, damage the property, tell lies, annoy or intimidate neighbors, live in chaos, routinely pay the rent late, or stash old furniture and junk on the portal. The same tenants often have an endless stream of random visitors coming and going in the middle of the night. Tenants have a zillion ways to exploit and intimidate a landlord and place the landlord at risk, since legally landlords can be held liable for the criminal acts of tenants.

The article also creates the false impression landlords evict tenants for no good reason. To the contrary, landlords don’t want to evict people. When evictions happen, it’s because the tenant is causing problems. Here’s the recipe for tenants to avoid eviction: Pay rent on time, be honest, don’t damage the property, behave respectfully, don’t run a drug or sex business in the property, don’t bother other people, be kind to the neighbors. RAY RODRIGUEZ SANTA FE

NEWS, OCT. 20:

“TWISTED WORDS” LOVE FOR MIDTOWN?

I have read a number of comments in various reports online describing Mayor [Alan] Webber’s rudeness to the employees who work under his direction. That most of them happen to be women is, of course, a coincidence, and in no way implies misogyny or harassment. Rudeness and arrogance from male politicians in the workplace certainly is nothing new. That women catch the brunt of it is nothing new. It is not even the worst thing that could happen… My own issue with the mayor has nothing to do with any such lack of courtesy. Mayor Webber refuses to reopen LaFarge library and the whole of Midtown has suffered for two years from the loss of direct access to books and online services. Those adults who wish to educate themselves are limited to curbside service and, when the schools are closed down due to the [pandemic] the same is true of the kids…It is clear that Mayor Webber has been grossly uninformed. Ignored by the mayor and not represented by anyone on the City Council, Midtown has been unable to advocate for its own services. We need to help the gentrification project along by finding representation elsewhere. Perhaps from someone who has lived in the Midtown area, raised children in Midtown schools and sees its library as centrally located with lots of free parking access. Perhaps someone who is actually interested in meeting the needs of Midtown residents who have homes and rentals that are not on the Midtown Campus and make up most of the Midtown population. CHERYL BARTLETT SANTA FE

ONLINE, OCT. 20:

“IN THE DARK”

COUNTY AND CITY FAIL US

The county makes a promise, then backs out because of cost. They could have done some-