Here is my monthly "New Wrinkles in Aging" column from the Albuquerque Tribune, May 20:
Pat Baca Keeps Finding a Way to Serve Us All
By Arthur Alpert
Pat Baca is a retiring type. His first retirement came after 37 years as a teacher and principal. He retired again after four-terms as City Councilman, one on the County Commission and a run for Albuquerque’s top political post. (In our wisdom, we chose the Stealth Mayor.)
Observing him back then, I thought Mr. Baca made politics honorable.
But he waved goodbye to all that years ago; so long to all those eternal meetings on intractable issues. So who’s the Pat Baca currently chairing the Unification Charter Commission? Couldn’t be, could it? At 77?
Suddenly, I knew what I must do.
"Why?," I would ask him. "Masochism? Temporary insanity?" His answers would throw light on the travails of retirement.
That was my agenda.
Pat Baca, it turns out, had his own - to proselytize for unifying the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County governments. We agreed to a showdown and once seated at Barelas Coffee House, a neutral site, whipped out our dueling agendas .
I shot first. "Why this thankless job?" I hoped he would talk about aging. No such luck.
"I always thought," he replied, "there’s got to be a better way." To govern ourselves, that is.
He got a call, agreed to throw a resume into the hopper, and – presto! - City and county representatives wanted him. That simple. The UCC’s job is to put a charter on the November ballot. The panel, Pat Baca stressed, is not advocating metro government. He is.
Back to my agenda - what did you do in retirement?
Some property management, he said, which kept him "fairly busy," and lots of travel with his wife, Marie. "It was a good pace for me, better than I ever had. My garden is better taken care of than it ever was." Tomatoes, that is, and roses, daffodils and tulips. A little work with the Storehouse, too, driving some disabled friends to the doctor, reading when he felt like it. Bull sessions with old friends. The good life.
But he couldn’t resist the job. Pat unholsters his weapons now. He says we need metro government to keep qualified professionals in office. Not long ago, he remembers a County treasurer who told the newspapers, without shame, that he worked 10 hours a week. An assessor guilty of "hanky panky." And clerks, plural, who couldn’t count.
He believes a single government would be more efficient, too, saving money by reducing duplication.
I point out that the voters said a loud "No," last time. That’s because the opposition was organized, Baca says, and proponents weren’t.
And our taxes won’t go up? He figures unification will make them fairer – right now City residents subsidize the County – and down the road, lower.
OK. I try again to reach the human story. Was taking the UCC job – a good decision or a mistake?
"Certainly my life in full retirement was tremendous, something I didn’t imagine life could be," he said. "But everybody has to have a sense of public service. It’s our responsibility to be of help to the community."
Service? Responsibility? Community?
However we vote on unification, we should never let Pat Baca retire again.
Alpert’s column appears the third Thursday of the month. Find him at ArthurAlpert@swcp.com.