We’ve all lost our cool. Even the most level-headed, unemotional human beings lose their temper occasionally. When that happens most of us do stupid things. Things we regret later.
You can almost forgive Jiron Street resident Randy Sandoval for becoming angry when he didn’t get his way (again) in a variance hearing June 22. He’d traveled a long path and arrived at a dead end.
Sandoval wants to put a trailer on a part of his property that is zoned commercial. First Planning and Zoning and then the Española City Council said no. It went against zoning code. We don’t like to hear “no.” Sandoval really didn’t like hearing “no.”
But it’s necessary. If Española is ever going to join the rest of the world in meeting a properly designed master plan we’ve got to stop the favors and turning a blind eye to bad behavior.
The city must be laid out so that it is business friendly, pedestrian friendly and has proper housing, with services accessible to all. To do that we must stop putting trailers on undersized lots in improperly zoned areas. Every time we allow what Sandoval asked, we take a step back in proper planning and make it harder for everyone except the person who owns the trailer.
When Sandoval lost his appeal, he walked out of city council chambers and kicked a glass door on his way out. He broke the glass. He knows he broke the glass, because reviewing the footage, he looked right at it.
But this isn’t only about Sandoval losing his appeal and acting out. This is about two city councilors regressing to childhood. When they lost the vote that turned Sandoval away, they walked out of the meeting.
We’ve stated this many times in this space when an elected official leaves a meeting for whatever reason, he or she is doing a disservice to their constituents. People are elected to represent their constituents, not act like pouting children when they don’t get their personal way.
John Ramon Vigil and Peggy Martinez were the two yes votes, supporting Sandoval’s illegal trailer placement. They voted against city ordinance. Only they know why they would make such a decision. However, they owe it to those who placed them in the office to explain their votes.
It’s clear they disagreed with the vote. However, do their constituents want people to continue to violate city ordinances? Do the people who voted for them want a trailer to be placed on a commercial lot?
Mayor Javier Sanchez stated it quite correctly during the City Council’s June 29 meeting when he said each councilor represents Española residents and to leave a meeting is unprofessional, leaving those people without representation.
To muddy the waters further, Martinez and Vigil represent the west side of Española. Neither represent Sandoval or the area that includes Jiron Street on the northeast side of the city.
Both councilors should also explain why they stormed out of a council meeting leaving important city business unfinished because of a lack of a quorum.
Vigil has a further sin. He followed Sandoval out of the meeting, presumably to apologize for not getting Sandoval what he wanted.
City Hall surveillance footage shows that as Vigil walked out the same door Sandoval kicked, he sees the broken glass. He too looks straight at it. As far as we know, he said nothing to city officials about the vandalism to public property. He just left. In a text to city reporter Hannah John, Vigil states he didn’t know the door was broken.
There are many things wrong with this whole situation and they all boil down to three adults, not acting as adults, not taking responsibility for their actions and their oath of office. Anyone wondering why so many teens and millennials think it’s OK to act out and not expect to be held accountable need look no further than these three “adults.”
We’re not all always going to get our way. Learning to accept defeat builds character and makes a person better prepared for the next adverse situation.
All three owe taxpayers a public apology and the two councilors should resign if they can’t represent the people who put them there.