Santa Fe Provocateur

In Santa Fe the old Berkeley street adage on Telegraph Ave was 'You can't tell (who are) the agents without a program.' This is really true especially around Cerletti Park and especially during the Legislature. Oh you don't know Cerletti Park ... Fountainhead Rock in downtown, Water and Don Gaspar.  The place has become a hang out for crazies, bums and dopers. The crazier they act and the more grungy they are, the more likely they are cops or spooks or informants.

Unlike my "plumbing" as former Mayor Sam Pick ("without an r") would say, my street sense doesn't get softer with age. Feeling, knowing and caring about the 'program' that is being run on a your neighborhood or your City or your Country makes it hard not to respond.

The more connected an apparent street person is, the more the cops' Dicks get limp. The cops become excuse makers for the implanted provocateur who is out to 'sample by example'.

This sliver of a City of Santa Fe park is the responsibility of at least a half dozen Municipal Departments including the Police, Parks and Rec., Arts Commission, Maintenance, Parking, and complaints, handled by Constituent Services ...and of course the Mayor and City Council.
 The entire race of lazy irresponsible City Employees are the responsibility of a somewhat wimpy City Manager.

Cut to: Super Bowl Sunday
I'm driving past Prep on may to that horrible Trader Joe's store having decided not to go downtown and take pictures of the nut-cake terrorist stationed down the street from Fountainhead Rock. He is  the big blond guy who chalks the sidewalk and tries to talk in tongues, not the best part of his performance. But the better angels of Tao, not Taos, told me to forget it and go check on my sister-in-law who was feeling crappy. But right there where Jill, the mean St. John's librarian, would run I saw my good old friend Mayor Gonzales vigorously walking with a friend and his dog.

"I've been meaning to come talk to you Mayor. But I want to finish a painting of you that I'm working on."


Clearly the guy did not want to even see me no less chat.
Through a open car window I cut to the chase. "You got to do something about Cerletti Park."
"We did (blah blah) and (blah blah) we've got to do more" said the soft hunk of a Mayor. His partner and the dog said nothing. He did not inspire me to finish the painting.