UnQuarked

10/29/2024

Before we were "hey, aren't you Sirphey," we were "hey, don't you have a giant dog?" It is with heavy hearts that we announce our most popular greeter, assistant event planner, and assistant quizmaster at UnQuarked has passed away. She lived a full life, adored by us and so many of you.

10/18/2024

"Ms. Derkacs implies she was not and is not involved in the Sirphey litigation. This is not true, and Ms. Derkacs was involved in the Sirphey appeal and she has been a member of the County Council for the duration of the Sirphey litigation."

BY PHILIP J. DABNEY, ESQ AND PAUL F. GEISIK, ESQ.Philip F. Dabney, P.C.Attorneys for Prashant Jain and Sirphey, LLC The purpose of this letter is to respond to Denise Derkacs’s October 15, 2024 let…

11/05/2023

2nd decision from the district court on the validity of the red tag itself.

BY MAIRE O’[email protected] Note: The following is Part 2 of several Los Alamos Reporter articles on First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard’s ruling on certainly one of t…

11/02/2023

It has certainly been a long road, and we still have a long way to go toward justice. But this decision means the world to us.

At every step, these past four years, the county had the option to do the right thing. And at every step they chose not to, often actively engaging in abusive and inappropriate conduct to do so. From a judge that called our possible demolition "special good news" to a judge that engaged in ex parte communications and took out an op ed against us with claims the county's own lawyers have stated are untrue. Receiving such a thorough decision from the District Court has at times felt like a pipe dream.

Also a huge thanks to Los Alamos Reporter and it’s exceptional one person team for shining timely light on this issue. Encouragement we have received, over the years, from those who coverred Maire’s reporting, has been an incredible source of strength.

BY MAIRE O’[email protected] Note: The following is Part 1 of several Los Alamos Reporter articles on First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard’s ruling on certainly one of the big…

06/05/2022

Huge thanks to Anna and to all of you!

Los Alamos resident Anna Llobet Megias delivered some 150-200 portions of food from Sirphey to St. Elizabeth’s Shelter in Santa Fe. Courtesy photo SIRPHEY NEWS RELEASE Local restaurant, SIrph…

06/02/2022

It is becoming more and more difficult to do business in Los Alamos County.

UPDATE: LAFD has informed us that we will not be allowed to run any cords in that part of the parking lot, as it would not be safe. Unfortunately, this means we will not be allowed to serve hot food at tonight's concert. This is not the fault of LAFD, though, who have no control over where CDD/Recreation places us.

We hope to be able to do business at the concert, tomorrow, but despite our submitting paperwork and $600 payment for a spot with outlets on May 16 to the CDD (both processed and we believe we were one if the first), we have been placed in the middle of the parking lot and aren't sure if we will be allowed to run cables that far for the required electricity. Doing business in this county is only growing in difficulty, unfortunately.

05/10/2022

04/29/2022

Please do read this article for in-depth coverage. The District Court granted sanctions, today, in the handling of the UnQuarked case by Los Alamos County and its attorneys. We are incredibly thankful to the public, as well as to the Dabney Law Firm.

BY MAIRE O’[email protected] First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard has granted a request by Prashant Jain, owner of Sirphey, LLC for sanctions against Los Alamos County& #…

04/29/2022

Today, the First Judicial District granted sanctions against Los Alamos County and its attorneys, as well as compensation of some attorney's fees to Sirphey in the UnQuarked case. As Judge Lidyard explained, a government cannot deprive a citizen of property without cause, and that reason can simply never be "because I said so."

We expect there will be far more in-depth coverage of the hearing in local press, but we wanted to let our subscribers know, as well as to thank everyone for the many kind words and wishes you've given us. They've truly been fuel on hopeless days.

03/27/2022

'"Mr. DeCandia has been telling you that this is a case of first impression and you shouldn’t award sanctions because they didn’t know what they were doing and they didn’t know how to do it but Sara Scott told my client in February 2020 that this is the same procedure that we use in every County hearing like this. So which one is it?” he asked.

“I submit to you that the County engaged in the worst kind of oppressive, due-process abusing conduct against my client that you could possibly think of, in order to prevent any meaningful examination of what this reckless Building Official was doing and try to understand why and get to the bottom of it to protect a citizen who was simply trying to open a business in a pre-existing place that needed no construction. Yes, we need discovery and I now know where to start digging. There’s a rat in this hole and it really smells terribly bad. ”'

BY MAIRE O’[email protected] First Judicial District Judge Jason Lidyard on Friday withdrew his prior order allowing Sirphey, LLC owner Prashant Jain’s attorney Philip Dabney 9…

03/27/2022

The below exchange during the UnQuarked hearing (3/22) left us stunned.

After making the specific illegal work we're alleged to have done a moving target for two years, the County finally stated that this all originated with Michael Arellano's "guess[work]."

And the guess that there was "construction, too" certainly seems like a concession that painting, building furniture, and moving items -- all we'd done inside the space -- were not construction.

When the lawyer for the CBO admits it was guesswork, not actual work, that inspired the red tag, how can it stand?