Plastic Bags At the County Council on Friday August 14, 2015

Hey all you BAG PEOPLE out there! 

Here it is!  The day we've all been waiting for, for months.  The County Council will hear the plastic bag discussion on Friday, August 14, 2015, at NOON ( yes that is 12 PM -- in the middle of the day).  That is FIVE days from today, as I write this.

Things to remember:

1.  Los Alamos does not want a plastic bag ban and tax.  We'd like to choose for ourselves how we carry home our stuff.

2.  The Environmental Sustainability Board has voted, TWICE now, to "Take No Action" on this issue.

3.  Even the Sierra Club admits they have lost.  So let's just let this issue go away -- like a dandylion puff in the breeze, or in other words, without much fuss.

4.  The Rs on our Council: Councilors Chrobocsinski, Reiss, and Girrens have made their positions clear, that this is, and always has been a waste of time and resources, and that it is government overreach.

5.  The Ds on our Council: Councilors Henderson, Israelevitz, O'Leary, and Sheehey, voted to keep this issue going in April.  I hope they have changed their minds since. 


As I've already mentioned the majority of Los Alamos residents do not want this ban and tax and would like the County to focus on the real issues we face.  There are also the legal issues to consider: One, if the County keeps the money collected from the forced tax on plastic shopping bags, it is considered an excise tax and must be voted on by the public, per New Mexico law. Two: if the money collected from a tax on plastic bags is retained by the merchant, it violates New Mexico's anti-donation law, and would have to be granted an exception by the State Legislature.  We don't have time for that.  These Councilors need to be reminded they do not want to be the ones who got Los Alamos sued for violating the most basic of state laws over a stupid plastic bag or saddled with an unnecessary and costly (at least $30,000) election that is sure to fail.

Please email the Ds on the Council today and ask them to accept the ESB's recommendation of "Take No Action" and to move on.  Their email addresses are:

Council Chair, Kristin Henderson:  kristin.henderson@lacnm.us
Council Vice-chair, David Israelevitz: david.izraelevitz@lacnm.us
Councilor Susan O'Leary:  susan.oleary@lacnm.us
Councilor Pete Sheehey:  pete.sheehey@lacnm.us

In the end, we all want a nice, clean Los Alamos, however we also know that people need to be left to decide for themselves how to do this.  We also know that the burden of this law, if it were to pass, would fall on our local merchants.  Do we want to yoke our small businesses with this radical environmental non-sense?  The answer is no, we do not.

If you can make it to the Council meeting on Friday, please find me and say hello. If you cannot come, that's understandable this is at the worst time of the day, but please make sure to email the Ds on the Council. If you would also, please ask a friend or two to email them as well.

As always, thank you for your support with this effort.  I have been richly blessed by the many friends I have met along the way.  When this is all over, we will keep on top of what is going on in Los Alamos County government ... silent and clueless no more!

SAVE THE BAG LOS ALAMOS! 

BAG THE BAN!