Love to get together for a chat before we go back in a couple of weeks. Might even spring for a mojito!

Arturo

We have many wonderful laws that aren't enforced, and their simple enforcement backed by a functional justice system would make a world of difference in making Zihuatanejo a better place to live, work and play. Zoning, building, ecological and other important regulations and laws have been so poorly applied, not to mention that we have such poorly prepared people to enforce them, that many of our worst problems we currently face could have been easily controlled and managed if not avoided altogether.

A few obvious matters to me that should be priorities on our TO DO list would be to impose a building moratorium and get our house in order. Our infrastructure has long been outdated and not up to the task that will be required of it in the near future. We also need a plan for growth that reflects local culture and aspirations, not some result of a paid analysis by people who don't even live here. Zihuatanejo's elders had a vision that most of us were in agreement with, but now that most of those altruistic community leaders have passed on, electoral ambitions and influence peddling have undone much of their hard work and condemned us to a future much different than we envisioned for our community as recently as 10 years ago.

That vision was one of preserving our main attractions and allowing Zihuatanejo to grow naturally and be a place for locals to live while Ixtapa and outlying areas received most of the new tourist-related and urban development, since we've long known it would be a disaster to grow vertically. Our hillsides would remain undeveloped above the 70 meter elevation mark.

I won't even bother pretending a different system of government existed, or that city administrations had powers they don't have.

Personally, I would've liked to see the entire peninsula that makes up La Ropa, Las Gatas and Manzanillo mostly preserved as a natural park with the huerta especially preserved as well as the La Ropa lagoon. There actually used to be a community of locals at La Ropa, but it's been a long time since poor working local folks could afford to live there, and thus a community loses itself little by little, being eaten away by several cancers at once. But there are still folks like my wife, her friends and me that refuse to give up on Zihuatanejo and give it away to unscrupulous and greedy people with no love for the community.

That's all I can tolerate typing on this tiny keyboard of my micro-pc for the moment. But feel free to peruse my blogs and my Message Board Archives for more details.

I'm outta here.

You clearly have a tremendous amout of passion for the area, and its people.

I both commend, and respect you for that.

That being said, we differ in opinion, in both your politics and your hopes for the region.

I guess what I'd like to hear from you is *your* vision for the area. If you woke up tomorrow and were elected to local government (and btw, if you feel you represent the wishes of the local community why havent you run for local office??)

If..tomorrow..you woke up with the "King of Zihuatanejo" magic wand in your hand...how would you use it? What programs would you put in place? How would they be funded? To what end? What would Z look like 10-15 years after your reign?

I ask this in all sincerity. Please avoid using words like "sustainable", "ongoing". Be specific.

I work for a news organization and hear this sh$t every day...and make apoint on calling the weasels who mouth these platitudes on exactly that...

I'm genuinely interested in you thoughts here

Thanks
Andy