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Thursday, April 10, 2008

N.M. 344 Gets Name Back

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    A road by any other name would not be N.M. 344.
    The Edgewood Town Council rescinded a resolution to change the name of part of N.M. 344 and all of Edgewood 7 to Keaty Boulevard at its April 2 meeting.
    The road would have been named in honor of Edgewood's first mayor, Larry Keaty.
    The original resolution was passed June 6, 2007, when Chuck Ring was a councilor and Howard Calkins was mayor.
    They were replaced in the recent election by Robert Stearley, who took the mayor's seat, and John Abrams, who is serving as councilor. The two new members and Councilor Glenn Felton— who opposed the original resolution— voted to rescind.
    Councilors Rita-Loy Simmons and Brad Hill voted against rescinding the resolution.
    Before the vote, several attendees spoke about why they did, or didn't, want to see Keaty's name on one of Edgewood's most important roads.
    "(The road) is an integral part of most people's mental map of the community," said Janelle Turner, who urged that the council consider naming new roads or buildings, not established roads.
    She later spoke out when Hill said he felt the issue was becoming political.
    "I resent that," Turner said.
    "Excuse me, this is what I feel, this is not what you feel at this time," Hill said.
    Hill also pointed out that Stearley, who was elected last month, ran on a platform that included healing rifts in the town.
    "This is an indication of factionalism," he said, noting that there may be some "angst" as a result of residents' voices not being heard before the previous decision.
    This time around, John Bassett certainly let his voice be heard.
    "I found Mr. Keaty to be rude, arrogant, obtuse ... he was a name-caller," Bassett said. "A lot of people got dealt with left-handed and back-handed."
    Bassett said people tend to believe Edgewood's history began in 1999, when it incorporated as a town. According to him, people forget that Edgewood was a community through the Great Depression, two world wars, a school closure and drought before incorporation.
    "I think after 1999 that was lost; I haven't seen it come back," he said.
    Karen Mahalick, the town's planning and development director, notified Bassett that he'd gone over the two minutes per person allowed for public comment.
    Stearley allowed Bassett more time, however. Felton said he, too, wanted to hear more.
    "It's a different point of view than we've heard before," Felton said.
    Ralph Hill, who owns Chili Hill's, remembered Keaty differently from Bassett.
    "He was like a pit bull, getting this thing done," Ralph Hill said, referring to Edgewood's incorporation. "Knowing Larry, he doesn't care if we honor him in any way."
    Abrams suggested a compromise could be reached with regard to naming a road or another town feature after Keaty, but that there wasn't enough public comment before the road was renamed in 2007.