News and Events in San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende made the New York Times again, this time for the recurring controversy over the authenticity of the Frida Kahlo collection, owned by an SMA antiques dealer and the subject of an upcoming book from Princeton Press: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/arts/design/29frida.html.

The city is enmeshed in the annual September and early October festivities for Independencia, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, and San Franciso, with upcoming processions the Sundays of Oct. 4 and 11, and the 4 am La Alborada (the dawn) fireworks Saturday, October 3.

And some protestors continue to fight the past and current city council approvals of new development in the area bordering El Charco protected environmental region. Incoming mayor Lucy Nuñez, who takes office October 15, has vowed to overturn the past approvals. For details on these stories see www.atencionsanmiguel.org.

September 12--Vice consulate from US State Department Embassy in Mexico City speaks on issues for US citizens who die in Mexico

At the meeting Callahan presented to Clancy the Meritorious Honor Award from the State Department, "for the extraordinary service and attention Ed Clancy provided to a severely injured American citizen which made the difference in ensuring his successful recovery." Earlier this year Clancy had arranged immediate medical evacuation for a man who had received a critical brain injury.

October 1 deadline for entries in short film competition on theme of domestic violence

"Speak out against domestic violence" short film competition has a deadline of October 1, 2009. The call for entries and online registration is at www.expresionencorto.com

San Miguel Democrats Abroad Speakers Bureau is proud to present Bob Melton, former Texas State Representative, speaking on "Democrats in Texas Then, Now, & the Future," at the Biblioteca Santa Ana Theater Tuesdy, Aug. 25, at 3 pm. Donation is 60 pesos. He will also answer questions on current political topics including the town hall meetings over health care reform.

September 6, 2009--Amigos de la Presa open house and clean-up campaign, 10 am-2 pm

Save the Date: Sunday, 6 September! At the Allende Dam! Directions below.

The president of the Board of Directors, Mike Lambert, invites you to an 'open house' for Amigos de la Presa, on Sunday, September 6, 10 am-2 pm.

Please come and see the new location for Amigos de la Presa near the end of El Camino Viejo de San Miguel on the `shore' of the Presa Allende.

Your neighbors, friends, and family are also welcome to share all the news of Amigos de la Presa and to encourage membership.

Bring your canoe, sailboat, kayak, or rowing shell -- although the current
drought has put some limitations on how far we may row and sail. Also, do take a picnic along.

As is our usual practice, we will spend at least part of the time walking about the shoreline cleaning debris. Bring gloves and maybe a plastic bag if you want to help with this effort.

On the agenda for the open house:

1) See the location where we eventually will have a boathouse for Amigos de la Presa

2) Celebrate the fact that we are now an Asociación Civil which means we can accept charitable contributions.

3) Hear about the plans we have to improve the water quality of the Presa and learn about other similar efforts underway.

4) Help the Board to learn of your wishes

5) Meet other members of Amigos who share your interests and concerns!

We hope you can attend!

Alan Grishman
Member of he Board

Directions:
Starting on Canal, follow it straight out of town past the bus station, past Immigration (both on the left). Shortly thereafter the road enters the 'parking lot' for the train station - bare left and cross the railroad tracks, go straight ahead on the cobblestone road (not the paved road to the right). Follow for about 2 miles. (At the fork in the road - stay straight/bear right). When the cobblestones turn to a dirt road there will be chain link fence on the right and the entrance of the Otomí development on the left ..go about 100 yards more and … that's where we will be at 10 AM.

If you need a ride, call Mike at 044-415-114-4882.

Amigos de la Presa is a citizen-based organization whose object it is to promote the recreational use of the Presa and to work toward the continual improvement of the water quality of the Presa Allende.

The bestselling author of The Poisonwood Bible along with 12 other books will be the featured keynote speaker at the San Miguel Writers' Conference February 19 - 23, 2010. Visit http://www.sanmiguelwritersconference.com/conference1.html for upcoming details.

Barbara Kingsolver's new book, The Lacuna, due out in November, is set in Mexico and the U.S. during the 1930s, 40s and 50s and will be the featured book for the Literary Sala Community Book Read.

August 13, 2009: The San Miguel Literary Sala (formerly the "Authors' Sala") is thrilled to announce our second anthology, inviting submissions now! After the impressive success of our first book, Solamente En San Miguel, we are now requesting submissions for a second anthology. The director of the project is writer and professor Mary Katherine Wainwright. We welcome submissions in all genres from anyone who has ever spent time San Miguel.

All submissions should be about San Miguel. You are welcome to submit a fictional short story, portraits of people you know here, funny or touching incidents, cultural comparisons, historical information, emotional moments — anything that helps readers know more of the real San Miguel.

The deadline for submissions is midnight, December 1, 2009. The Sala plans to publish the book in the spring of 2010. A panel of five literary judges will select works for inclusion in the published book, and will also select the "Best Of" in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, to be given special recognition in the anthology.

Submissions will not be accepted if they do not adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The work should be about San Miguel and previously unpublished (except in a local San Miguel publication or a blog.) Any and all genres are acceptable. Midnight December 1, 2009 is the final deadline.

2. Prose works — 3000 words maximum. Poetry— 5 poems (of reasonable length) maximum.

3. A submission fee of $16 US or $200 pesos should accompany each prose work or each set of five or fewer poems.

4. How to Submit: Please submit your manuscript in 12-point Times New Roman font and double spaced. PLEASE NOTE: Do not put your name on the work itself, but do put the title of the work. Then, include on a separate cover sheet all of the following information • Title and genre of submission • Word count • Your name • E-mail address • Phone number • Mailing address for snail mail • Amount of time you have spent in San Miguel and when (This is for information only and will not be considered in the judging) • When and what method you used to pay your submission fee.

5. Where to Submit: You may e-mail your submission as an attachment to anthologysma@yahoo.com If you do not receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours, please re-submit. Or, if you are local, you may deliver a hard copy to Solutions, Recreo #11, Box 314.

6. How to Pay Submission Fee: You may • deliver a check to Solutions, Recreo #11, Box #314. Make check, in pesos or dollars, payable to "San Miguel Authors' Sala." • Mail a check to Mary Katherine Wainright, 5802 Bob Bullock Loop, Suite C-1, #84-314, Laredo, TX 78041. Make check payable to "San Miguel Authors' Sala." • Pay on line with a credit card or your own Pay Pal account. To do this, go to www.paypal.com. Click on "Send Money." Send your money to this e-mail address: arazi.dorit@gmail.com. (Dorit Arazi is the treasurer of the San Miguel Literary Sala.)

Start writing now, so you have plenty of time to rewrite! We hope to hear from you! * The San Miguel Authors' Sala and the San Miguel Literary Society have now merged into ONE organization, called The San Miguel Literary Sala! The official announcement will come next week when we launch our new web site.

PLEASE JOIN US AT GALERIA6 IN POZOS FOR A COCKTAIL RECEPTION CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF MENSAJES GUARDADOS, A COLLECTION OF NEW WORK BY ARTIST LENA BARTULA

James Harvey, space 9-D in Fabrica Aurora, will be giving oil painting classes for beginners M-F, 10 am to 1 pm. The five day workshops will cost $300 USD with all materials included. There are six spaces per workshop.

Mayor-Elect Lucy Nuñez calls for military liaison on crime be located in San Miguel de Allende

Below is my report on Lucy Nuñez's speech to expats last week. Photos of her speaking are on the San Miguel Scenes album of the photo gallery.

Mayor-Elect Lucy Nuñez told expats July 30 that she will ask the Mexican military to send a liaison to San Miguel de Allende, to advise local officials on how to deal with the drug cartels that are extending their criminal influence in many areas of Mexico.

In her first address to the foreign community since her electon July 5, Nuñez, who is SMA's first woman mayor and who will take office October 15, addressed a packed meeting at Los Milagros restaurant, organized by SMA Democrats Abroad. She spoke for nearly an hour and answered questions for another half hour.

She and her primary opponent Cristóbal Finkelstein Franyutti had clashed often during the campaign on how to approach the drug wars. Franyutti (who dropped his name Finkelstein during the campaign) urged a high-tech approach with better surveillance, sophisticated searches for money laundering, helicopters, and faster communication methods and information-sharing between police departments at all levels. Nuñez's campaign concentrated on improving the local police with better and more sensitive training, higher salaries, and attention to corruption.

It was her promise to contact the Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional to ask for a military liaison to be present in San Miguel that drew the most attention Thursday. "I want to have a military presence here both for the image that we are serious about fighting crime and for the certainty that we are doing the best we can do." She said that the highest priority of her administration would be jobs creation and the economy, and second would be improving health care delivery.

Security issues were also high on her agenda. She promised frequently to "change the way things always have been done here, to emphasize qualifications and fairness, not who you know."

She issued several warnings to the foreign community to clean up their act on illegal businesses and B & Bs that do not pay taxes and thus are a drain on the SMA economy. "If you want us to clean up corruption you need to do your part, too. "If you are asking for a city permit and you want the city to treat you fairly, be honest in reporting what you want to do with that permit," she told expats. "You must follow the rules, too."

After an introduction by Bruce Rossley, head of SMA Democrats Abroad, Nuñez had opened by saying that she was very aware of all that the foreign community was doing for SMA, and she intended to involve expats in her administration "because you are a part of San Miguel. I know how much your organizations contribute." She disavowed what she said were rumors during the campaign "that I don't like foreigners in San Miguel. That is absolutely not true. I want to facilitate your efforts, not obstruct them. I want us to be a team for the betterment of all Sanmiguelenses."

A question Rossley said has been raised constantly to him is why expat volunteers in charitable organizations are supposed to obtain work permits before volunteering. She said that changing the federal law can take years, and she understood why the government wanted knowledge over volunteers who were handling donations and business contracts, hiring employees, and otherwise operating in many ways as a business. "I can understand both sides," she said. "But we want to make it easy for you to share your time for San Miguel. We don't want to put roadblocks in your way."

She gave a brief introduction of herself--born in Mexico City, a BA in film and production at the University of Southern California, five years professional experience in the media, and ownership of a small ad agency with her husband here in San Miguel. (Her husband also owns Radio Station XESQ, 1280 Khz, at Sollano 4.)

She said Thursday's address was her first attempt to do an entire presentation solely in English. So she said she sympathized with the difficulties many foreigners have in learning Spanish. "Everyone needs to learn Spanish if you live here, but if you are dealing with the government you need to understand perfectly your transactions with the government. You can't have someone say they told you two months when you think they said two weeks." She promised to have more translation services available within the government for non-Spanish-speaking foreigners.

She suggested the idea of a photo identification card for all foreigners so that they can get the most efficient, coordinated help from the city. "I believe in equality, in full citizen participation," she said. "I am not going to pick members of my administration based on party membership and on who knows who but on qualifications first, and then on a shared social vision, values and honesty. You know how it has been before. Everybody must play by the same rules. Friends cannot get exceptions."

She ran her campaign on a coalition of three parties against the incumbent PAN. She spoke against the industrial park proposed for an area by the city offices. "The previous government promoted the industrial use of one of the most important ecological areas of San Miguel," Nuñez said. "We need to safeguard all our wetlands, our water, our ecological treasures. We need water for everything."

She intends to have people go door by door to all new developments to verify that they have plans for sufficient water and other ecological concerns. "By Pollo Feliz and El Encanto we have developments with swimming pools, while across the street we have homes with no water delivery at all. We have to be fair and equal in our delivery of city services." She vowed to be more active in meeting the needs of the poorest citizens, not just business interests.

Tourism is San Miguel's number one activity and Nuñez vowed to continue to encourage and support that industry. "The highway that is being built to connect San Miguel and the state capital of Guanajuato is important and it will keep us close to the heart of the state. It will also make us closer to the (BJX) airport."

Tourists now often come to San Miguel for only a day and don't know what to do after they've looked at the Jardin and seen a few shops, she said. "We want them to know more about what San Miguel has to offer so that they will stay longer." She said that hotel and restaurant owners will be asked to contribute for the additional services that will draw more tourists and help their business.

Asked about the problem of litter and waste, Nuñez said, "It's horrible. We need to push education. We need recycling. We need to have everyone separating organic and inorganic waste. We don't have a lot of money in the city budget for new programs, we need to be creative in finding special boxes for trash separation."

One audience member questioned why development companies bring in lower-priced construction employees from outside of San Miguel when so many Sanmiguelenses are out of work. Nuñez said that it is the buyer's responsibility to insist on quality and not demand the lowest prices possible. "The image is that San Miguel businesses charge too much, we are an expensive city. But it is not the cost of the construction workers that is too high. The big profits are being made on speculation, not workers' wages."

Questioned on how San Miguel can protect its image as being safe for tourists, with more positive advertising to the US, Nuñez replied that, first, she wanted more positive publicity about San Miguel not only in the US but Canada, Europe, and throughout Latin America and the rest of the world. "But we not only have to keep the image of being safe, we have to be safe." That is why she is placing so much emphasis on fighting the drug cartels through the help of a military liaison.

As the first woman mayor of San Miguel, Nuñez was also asked to keep in mind the problems of the women in the campos who must be heads of households while their husbands are working in the United States. "In so much of our larger community, almost all of the population is made up of women, children and the elderly," she said, promising to serve all Sanmiguelenses.

Here's the link to an article in AM newspaper followed by a www.translate.google.com translation of the first paragraphs, on how this rainy season so far is far less than last year. The Allende dam of SMA is at 44% capacity, while last year at this time it was at 125% capacity.

Mexico City is doing water rationing. I lived through a seven-year drought in LA in the late 1970s and we had to prove via our water bills that we were cutting back sufficiently or hefty fines were threatened. The Phoenix area is in the middle of a far more severe drought than Mexico's central plateau.

Fall prey to half JESUS ROMERO In relation to last year, the dams in the state uptake levels of up to 50% less than in 2008, according to the records of the National Water Commission (Conagua). At the state level is a lack of rains combined with high temperatures, causes the evaporation of water in dams is greater. The report indicates that daily Conagua largest dams in the state have significantly lower levels of abstraction that last year, in some cases less than 50%. Among the dams where the federal agency maintains constant monitoring Allende dam is located in San Miguel de Allende, where last year the level of uptake was 125.8% above its capacity. At present, the Allende dam is 44.2% of its maximum volume, hence the difference is about 80% of the record that was last year.

A news story in Correo this morning says that the head of the PRD, one of the three political parties who worked in a coalition for the election of Lucy Nuñez for Mayor, is trying to get the Sanmiguelada (aka Running of the Bulls, aka La Pamplonada) back for this September, but that date is premature. Nuñez takes office Oct. 15.

Until 2007 when UNESCO inspection officials were to visit SMA the week of the Sanmiguelada, before approving SMA's World Heritage designation, SMA had held the running of the bulls each year the Saturday following the Sept. 16 Independencia week activities. The event was taken by another Guanajuato colonial city nearer the Michoacán border, Salamanca, I believe.

The SMA hotel, restaurant and bar owners have wanted the return of the Sanmiguelada ever since, especially this year because business is so bad with the economic slowdown. The last year the Sanmiguelada was held, 2006, the attendance had doubled unexpectedly and the city was not prepared. (I was in town that weekend--personally the city atmosphere was like hell, urine and feces and alcohol everywhere, all sorts of illegal activity happening out of vans parked throughout town.)

The UNESCO inspection team visited SMA in September, 2007, and SMA was awarded World Heritage status in July, 2008. The hotel, restaurant and bar owners who are the ones who benefit from the event were told in 2007 that if they wanted it to continue they would have to pay for the additional security, portapotties and cleaning required, as a cost of doing business for them in order to make their profits that weekend, but they refused.

And so the city voted to discontinue the Sanmiguelada, as much for that reason as for the UNESCO World Heritage pressure to stop it. They said that they were having to take city money needed to expand basic utilities out to the new illegal ejido communities springing up outside of SMA where the newly-arrived residents didn't even have water, and use it to help the hotels, restaurants and bars make money that weekend.

The PRD officials don't believe that UNESCO would pull SMA's designation as a World Heritage site if the city did bring it back, even though UNESCO has sent a letter rejecting the idea. The SMA City Council has to approve reinstating the event first. I've heard no indication that the current council is interested in doing so. If the event is held outside the city, that is another matter. And that may be a possibility.

Below is the link to the story in Spanish in Correo, followed by a computer translation via www.translate.google.com of the first paragraphs.

"Premature Sanmiguelada make this year" By: American Ortiz, Sunday, 09 August 2009

Currently there is no clear date for a return to the event The ruler of the PRD, Juan Rosario Licea Perales, said that it would be very premature to make the "Sanmiguelada out in September and not to be conducted until December or even in 2010 that, if the City Council gave the green light."

He said that in recent days took part in a reunion tour with businessmen who are in favor of "Sanmiguelada" and that they were shown a letter from Francisco Javier López Morales, UNESCO, which rejects the event. UNESCO calls on not abusing the animals, raising public awareness about the cultural activities of the municipality and make the festival outside the city center. The mayor believes that it should fulfill these conditions.