Letters to the editor, 08/29/2007 - Thornburg Mortgage deserves better from paper

Thornburg Mortgage deserves better from paper

I am writing to complain about the tone in your coverage of the recent downturn at Thornburg Mortgage Inc. For the last 25 years, your coverage of Thornburg’s growth and success has been minimal or nonexistent but now, when the company stumbles, they get headlines and plenty of negative coverage. Thornburg companies operate with integrity, employ 300 locals, pay well, do not pollute and donate generously to charity. Yet The New York Times covers the Thornburg companies more accurately and positively than The New Mexican. You did not write a word about Thornburg’s recent 25th anniversary celebration and have never covered any of the possible human-interest stories connected with its beneficial impact on this community. I am not employed by Thornburg and never have been, but the hundreds of New Mexicans who work there deserve better press from their local paper.

Rachel O’Keefe
Santa Fe

Missed the point

Regarding the Aug. 26 letters from Pete Olmstead (“Think ‘investment’ ”) and Paul Chapin (“Consequences, Inc.”): They seriously missed the prime point that Gregg Bemis made in his Aug. 10 column, “Entitlements not in the Constitution.” Whether or not “entitlements” are warranted, Bemis quite specifically made it clear that the decisions concerning entitlements should be made at the lowest level, not the highest (federal) level. Whether it should be an individual, a city, or a state program could be argued another day depending on one’s political leanings, but he made it quite clear that unless the program involved was national in scope, the feds were the least qualified to do the job efficiently. How could Olmstead and Chapin miss so completely such a well-expressed point?

R.C. Doc Weaver
Santa Fe

O’Keeffe inclusive

Since moving to Santa Fe in 1977, I have both participated in and helped produce community events, but I’ve never so enjoyed activities as those that were offered last week as part of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s 10th Anniversary celebration. From the jaw-dropping treat of watching Sam Waterston transform himself into Edward Stieglitz ($25 tickets) to the breathtakingly honest revelations of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ($15) to the heart-melting vocals of Diana Krall (range of prices), the O’Keeffe 10th anniversary committee members gifted our community with a terrific series of world-class events. Although many extra activities were priced to raise the needed funds to continue the efforts of the museum, many events were reasonably priced for all but the most challenged check books. The committee even kicked off their celebration with a free event on the Plaza, months earlier. We are all trying to raise money for the more than 900 nonprofit organizations in Santa Fe, but we need to remember to also include events that are priced to welcome the entire community.

Nancy Benkof
Santa Fe

Pack it up, out

I really appreciate all the men and women who keep Santa Fe’s roads beautiful by putting trash in garbage bags on the side of the road. But why do they wait so long to pick them up? People hit the median and pow, trash is everywhere. Can’t the trash collectors pull a utility trailer behind their van and pickup as they go? It would be a win-win situation.

Kandie K. Stanford
Santa Fe