BY ALLAN SAENZ
Los Alamos Network
SALA Los Alamos Event Center
Los Alamos Business Coalition

Dear Los Alamos County Councilors,

I am writing to express a deep frustration that’s been growing for some time—particularly after hearing recent statements made by Dr. Shanna Sasser during council meetings. She has claimed that her department is actively connecting with and supporting all local businesses, but my experience has been quite different.

In fact, just today I met with Anita Varela, and our conversation only confirmed that those claims are not accurate. There is currently no clear effort or concrete program being offered to support my businesses or others I know of. What we’re seeing instead feels like a checklist exercise—talking points without real action or measurable impact on the ground.

I also want to mention that I’ve previously met with Dr. Sasser, and that meeting highlighted the same disconnect between what is communicated and what is actually delivered to the business community.

Additionally, it’s frustrating to see that while the council’s campaigns emphasize supporting local businesses and making that a priority for the community, the reality is that these efforts are having little tangible impact. We truly hope that staff can be redirected to focus on more effective initiatives and that the input and efforts of the coalition, including the forums we’ve created to gather feedback and inform the community, can be better aligned with actual policy and action.

I also want to highlight the many hours of hard work I’ve dedicated, along with the coalition, to gather information that truly represents the challenges local businesses face and to propose viable solutions. Despite these efforts, it often feels like our input is ignored, and that there remains a significant disconnect between local businesses and the county.

We will be expanding on these matters in our final coalition report, where we’ll delve deeper into the challenges we’ve identified and the solutions we propose. This report will be released at our final forum in the coming months, and we hope it will provide a clearer picture of what’s needed to bridge the gap between the county and local businesses.