Letters to the Editor (May 15, 2025)

Goodbye to the Kuhn

Editor:

Belen citizens said goodbye to the historic Kuhn Hotel now that it has been demolished.

Richard Melzer and Jim Sloan wrote a very complete history of the Kuhn Hotel for the Valencia County News Bulletin in 2020, but I’m saying goodbye to this building by honoring the people who ran the hotel, the nameless who were chambermaids and maids, and those in Belen who financed the building of the hotel in the early 1900s.

There were more than nine owners from 1913 to the 2000s — real people behind an historic landmark.

Ruth Kuhn, 1913 to 1929, in the trusting years of no indoor plumbing and electricity, ran it as a boarding house. John Becker, of First National Bank, helped finance the building for Ruth.

Bernard Vanderwagen, 1930, refurbished the hotel during the Great Depression.

Garland M. Whittington leased the Kuhn and, in the 1940s, moved to Belen and died in the hotel in 1943.

In the 1960s, Albert Villenueve sued the state for building the overpass, which damaged and hid the building in its shadow.

Foster Butt in the 1960s was willing to buy the hotel “as is.” Recognizing a bargain, Foster Butt sold the building to Oliver Blais.

In 1964, Oliver Blais gave new life to the hotel and renamed it City Hotel. Joan Artiaga, granddaughter of Oliver Blais, worked hard in the hotel.

Blais sold the hotel to Roland Kindsvater in 1972. Blais died of cancer in October of that year.

In the 1970s, Alan “Dean” Noftsker eventually purchased the hotel, running it as a boarding house and exploring other money-making opportunities.

Lloyd Sais bought the business when Dean passed away, and he did a lot of work, cleaning up and working on the electricity, the old sewer line and aging roof.

He was to sell in 2003 to Joan Artiaga, who had plans for an art center.

When the bulldozers came, they realized it was built on 5-foot deep footings with 3-foot wide adobe walls.

Kuhn/City Hotel — you put up a good fight!

Susanna Gilbert

Belen

Democrats were wrong

Editor:

This election is over and it looks like Americans finally had enough of the Democratic leadership and the lobbyists.

Among other groups of Americans, it appears that Blacks and Hispanics in record numbers voted for President Trump. I am old enough to remember Barack Obama (even John F. Kennedy).

The Biden side of the political equation will not give up the ground they have gained over the years. The trouble with that is that the American people have decided that what they witnessed in the Biden era was not their cup of tea.

My opinion only, but I think the biggest issue for the American people was the claim that Joe Biden was on top of his game, great mental acuity, full of energy and a real leader. Well, all Americans now know that was a lie.

Of course, there are countless other lies and failed manipulations of our culture. Democrats impeached Trumps two times, had him in courts all over the country with Democrat-elected attorney generals or appointed judges.

All the time, the Democrats kept getting bolder and bolder thinking that every day Americans were simply too busy with their irrelevant lives to pay attention. Guess the Democrats were wrong; we were absolutely paying attention and gave Trump a historic comeback and unprecedented landslide victory.

Unfortunately, here in New Mexico everything is controlled by Democrats. We are at the bottom of almost everything that is worth having.

Do you think New Mexicans are finally getting tired of all this failure run by New Mexican Democrats? The rest of America is tired of this kind of Democrats. We want to return to normal.

I will make a cautious prediction in the next presidential cycle, New Mexico will have less Democrats in Washington and maybe even in New Mexico.

Dan Garza

Los Lunas