What has become of the community discussions on public art and monuments Mayor Alan Webber promised? If this feels like a repeat performance, that’s because last year he promised to create a commission to address the issue of the obelisk and failed to do so. I belief that helped lead to its destruction by vandals. Here we are again, being told there will be a “culture, history and art, reconciliation and truth process.” (The acronym is CHART.)

Yet there have been plenty of excellent designs proposed by local artists, but the Mayor’s Office and the Arts Commission are not sharing them with the public. Recently, the Arts Commission discussed the possibility of a temporary installation on the site but decided nothing should be done until the CHART process begins. We must demand action be taken by the city to find a replacement of the obelisk and that the public be included in the decision-making process. Now there is even a lawsuit over the obelisk. The box in the middle of the Plaza is not a solution.

L.C. Shank Santa Fe