Dear Sir,
I had the opportunity to drive into Guadalajara several times last week, one to take some visitors to visit the historical district in Guadalajara and another to drive them to the airport for a flight back home.
As we were leaving Chapala on the way to the airport we came across three dead cows which were in various stages of decomposition, laying beside the road. Obviously they had been hit by a passing vehicle at some point in the past few weeks or months as the stench from the dead cows was so bad that one could not help but notice their presence.
Seriously, there has to be a better way to tell visitors to “Please Come Back Again” than to leave dead cows alongside the road on the way to the airport. Perhaps a sign would be a better option, but not “Dead Cows”.
Tony Day, Ajijic
Dear Sir,
I am disappointed in the new municipal administration for ignoring the conditions in Ajijic. Now that property tax money has been collected (most of which comes from Ajijic), there is no reason for the potholes we have to navigate on a daily basis.
I have also given up hoping for smooth pavement on main streets in Chapala. I only ask for crews and materials to fill the many potholes.
Jim Scherer
Dear Sir,
I feel compelled to answer two of the letters concerning the confrontation reported in the March 2-8 issue. The first one expressed the opinion that ”there needs to be consideration of the sensibilities of others.” I wholeheartedly agree with this. The problem is that the writer goes on attacking conservatives instead of telling us the virtues of the liberals. Criminality is a charge that is extremely slanderous. Thus what he said and what he does are the opposite of each other.
The second article is a real contradiction of fact. He says, “We have a tyrant in the White House whom GOP illegally support.” Our president was legally elected as per our Constitution. We conservatives who live down here also love this country and the people. I have lived here for 23 years.
Those of you who support the liberals, I guess also support late-term abortions, as recently passed into law in New York and more than likely will be passed in Virginia. You must also approve of any attempt to do away with the capitalist form of government which has made the United States one of the strongest countries in the world. We now have a 3.8-percent unemployment rate. All groups of people, including women, Hispanics, African-Americans, are at the lowest levels of unemployment in many years. Our GDP has been consistently over three percent which is much higher than under our last president. We are also energy independent for the first time, I believe, in our history.
The coffee shop owner who caused this ruckus has, according to statements made in last week’s Reporter, displayed his boorish behavior many times in the past. He, as the writer of the second letter describes him, is not a patriot. I really cannot see what evidence you have to say that he is a patriot.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for the excellent service the Guadalajara Reporter provides to residents here at Lakeside and elsewhere. I particularly enjoy the work of Dale Hoyt Palfrey and Elaine Halleck and have learned a great deal from both of them. Well done!
I have lived at Lakeside for almost five years and have rented an apartment for the entire time. It has recently come to my attention that there are a variety of rental arrangements practiced here at Lakeside that new arrivals may not be aware of. The majority of the renters I know have what we call a “straight peso” arrangement. This means that at the time tenancy is initiated an amount is established in pesos and is paid in pesos. That amount stays the same unless the landlord chooses to exercise the annual rent increase of no more than 10% and then the amount due is adjusted accordingly.
A second arrangement allows the tenant to pay by direct bank payment from the person’s account, whether in Mexico or another country, to an account belonging to the owner or manager of the rental property. Sometimes the owner asks that money be sent to his/her bank in the United States or elsewhere outside of Mexico. The rent is most often set in U.S. dollars. It may also be satisfied through PayPal or a similar vehicle.
The third arrangement I am aware of is this: the rent is set in U.S. dollars, regardless of one’s nationality. The rent, however, is to be paid in pesos every month. Because the dollar and peso trade variously – with the peso having unfortunately lost against the dollar for years – the amount of pesos due each month is recalibrated on the day the rent is due. So, for example, someone who began renting at a rate of 14.8 pesos to US$1 in January 2015 paid 4,810 pesos on a rental of US$325 per month. In January 2018, when the peso traded at 19 pesos to US$1, the same rental rate would be at 6,175 pesos. I know of Canadian prospective tenants who refused this arrangement, saying that they had no access to U.S. dollars and would be financially penalized if they agreed to such terms. The landlord and the property management company backed off and set their rent at the straight peso formula.
I think it is important that renters be advised that they have choices here. It is also my understanding that many of the real estate and property management agencies which handle rentals here prefer to subscribe exclusively to the third arrangement. Prospective renters should know that they do not have to accept such an arrangement and can insist on either of the other two options, if they so choose.
Laurel M. Linden, Ph.D. Riberas del Pilar