There was a hearing this morning on the “Motion to Reconsider the Court’s Order Denying Motion to Reopen Case and Set Aside Default Judgment”. This is the second attempt by Ariana Solare’s two attorneys to reopen the 2004 case. They attempted once again to argue that the intervenors in 2004 had no legal standing to intervene because they had no competing claim to the property. It was asserted by attorney Carol Neelley that there was in fact a hearing to determine standing in 2004. I was present at that hearing and, as I remember, the quote from the judge was that “There is an appearance of fraud or impropriety and I am going to allow this intervention to proceed”. Solare’s attorneys continued to attempt to argue their point but the judge denied their motion in the middle of their arguments. Then there was some back and forth between Solare’s attorney’s and the judge about whether the judge’s determination could be appealed or was final. There was no clear answer given but the judge didn’t encourage appealing in any way and said that Solare’s adverse possession claim would be dealt with in the November trial and that was the proper venue for her to present her evidence.

On Sunday September 7th, we held our 3rd community meeting and pursued reincorporating the Tres Orejas Neighborhood Association. We elected our first board of directors with the officers on the board being Ruth Fahrbach, President, Angie Fernandez, Vice President, myself, David Baca, Secretary, Jonathon Burton, Treasurer and Johanna DeBiase member at large. We discussed the whole land grab attempt and I presented a short history of it starting in the 1990s when the Taos County Assessor’s office reassessed a large amount of property in Carson Estates to the original subdivider, the Great Southwestern Land Company and continuing to the present along with possible consequences of the land grab succeeding. We held a pass the feather circle discussion and the related issue of squatting in our community came up several times. At this point we have several houses that have been squatted in and some lots with RVs from what was said. It is a growing problem. I will put a more detailed account of the meeting on the Tres Orejas Neighborhood Association page soon.