Jan. 26, 2005

Child care

It's unfortunate that the reason given for why the Laboratory can't have child care is because"the community doesn't want it."

Firstly, there appears to be little evidence to support that statement. The Los Alamos County Council has not voted against it. The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos supports it. And, the Los Alamos School Board even agreed to entertain negotiations with the Lab regarding some of its properties to house child care. In truth, the Lab has made no serious effort to keep the community (or even its employees) informed about dependent care. The last Daily Newsbulletin article was published Oct. 23, 2001.

Secondly, when the Laboratory attempted to briefly force one approach down the throat of the county, there was predictably a lack of enthusiasm, and criticism from a few special interests. In this town, if you try to declare a "Be Kind to Marsupials Day," some people will come out of the woodwork to vehemently and emotionally object. Those yelling the loudest do not necessarily speak for the entire community.

But even if the statement that, "the community doesn't want it" was true, what of it? The community almost certainly did not want Pajarito Road closed or three-plus months of a suspension of work at the Lab. Nor were local businesses happy when the 9/80's were implemented without notice or opportunity for comment. Nevertheless, these measures were introduced because they were deemed (rightly or wrongly) to be in the best interests of the nation, the Department of Energy, the Laboratory and Laboratory employees.

" The community doesn't want it" is a lame excuse for keeping the Lab as the only major DOE facility without a child-care center, for continuing to waste (as has been documented) millions of dollars a year on lost productivity, and for missing a critical opportunity for improving recruitment and retention, as well as career opportunities for women and younger employees. Sound business judgment and common sense ought to prevail, not misogyny and scapegoating.

--Janie Enter