The classic view of the press-government relationship is one of wary opposition: Patrick O’Heffernan.

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Well, the usual things of course – family, health (such as it is), a wonderful home in Mexico, friends, all of our volunteers. But there are a few other things that come to mind as we Americans celebrate this day of being thankful.   One of them is our local government in Chapala.

The classic view of the press-government relationship is one of wary opposition; the press reports on the corruption and incompetence of government, and government uses the press to tell good news stories (deserved or not) and hide the bad news stories of mistakes and corruption.

But, there are times when the government actually does good things and I, at least, am thankful for them.

First, I am thankful for l00 new lightbulbs in the traffic lights on the Carretera from Ajijic to Chapala. Semanario Laguna  has been covering the miserable state of stoplights in Lakeside for several editions now  – even in my column  in the last edition. Last week crews from the Federal government and the new administration in Chapala repaired those traffic lights.

They replaced old dim bulbs with new LED’s,  they fixed the light housing hanging down at Juárez, they synchronized the lights at the Walmart intersection, and they got all the lights working on the Carretera. The last administration tried and failed; the Aguirre administration got it done. Thank you.

The  second thing I am thankful for is  the current administration’s action to stop the invasions of the lakeshore.  Growing up in California,  I directed parts of the political campaign to stop similar “invasions” of the coastline.  As staff to Governor Brown, my team  helped create the Santa Barbara Channel Islands National monument to stop oil companies from “invading” the islands. So I know from “invasions” and am grateful for the move to stop them here.  

In general, the  current administration has hit the ground running; it responded to the floods with urgency and competence: it blocked trucks illegally filling  the shoreline;  it got the lights back on in the Ajijic Malecon and Plaza.  A pretty good first 2 months  record that Chapala citizens – including me–  can  be thankful for.

Now, if they could just fill the potholes, install a traffic signal facing the lakeside at the Carretera and Galeana,  pave the dirt roads in Riberas, and stop the“cuetes”,  I would be thankful all year round.