Keep the Durango welcome sign as is! (Action Line, Nov. 13, “Durango welcome mat needs some shaking.”) Its shabby condition serves as an advisory for the itinerant hoi polloi, most of whom are easily duped by roadside puffery.

The rundown countenance bespeaks Durango’s unique folkways in which flannel pajama bottoms are suitable garb not only for Walmart but also for church.

But the scroll at the welcome sign’s bottom? It reads, “Incorporated 1881.” Does anyone care about the filing date of municipal documents?

In most other towns, welcome signs feature banal mottos, such as “Gateway To Such-And-Such,” or congratulatory pap regarding local attractions or hometown athletes who made pro.

Thus, Durango’s sign motto should read, “Dude, like, it’s all good, man.” Or, “Scram if you don’t have 5 million bucks.”

Sprucing up the welcome sign would create visual imbalance. It would draw attention away from the weedy island on which the Arc of History statue was banished, then summarily destroyed by some troglodyte art critic.

That the Arc’s pedestal was not removed is testament to governmental commitments for maintaining prominent public properties.

Then there’s that “lake.”

Designed as a leech field, the brackish impoundment must be irresistible for Durango Parks and Recreation, which never met a reservoir it didn’t want to manage.

Let’s call it Nighthorse East and stock it with the bottom-feeding Animas River native, the flannelmouth sucker.

The key word here is flannel. Even the fish in Durango are into soft casual outdoorsy fabric.

Last and certainly least, allow development on the mucky shoreline. Build cookie-cutter luxury townhouses from which to enjoy “the Durango Lifestyle.” Whatever that is.

Mike Smedley

Durango