BY JIM RICKMAN
Los Alamos

I like to begin each day with an affirmation of at least one thing for which I am thankful. Today I gave thanks for Ellen Walton’s commentary https://losalamosreporter.com/2024/09/04/response-to-councils-august-28-approval-of-the-los-alamos-county-affordable-housing-plan/ which very succinctly and respectfully summed up a huge reality in Los Alamos that is glaringly obvious to the “seasoned” residents of this community, but often denied by the profiteers and their minions, who attempt to shame realists into silence with their platitudes of toxic optimism and wishful thinking. Newcomers should know this déjà vu drama has been replayed in our community for at least four decades now.

One might wonder, after such a long history of unsuccessfully using the same playbook over and over to achieve dubious results, why our community leaders haven’t learned that perhaps the best strategy for our community rests with not trying to artificially influence the business sector through “public-private partnerships”—an economic chicanery that puts public resources into the hands of wealthy interests who have no stake in our community other than short-term profit, all while creating an unsustainable business climate from the get-go?

It’s certainly something to ponder on the way to the polls.