By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
Democratic Party of Los Alamos County Chair Cat Ozment and Megan Green moderated the Democratic Party of Los Alamos sponsored Virtual Forum Thursday evening on Local Policy.
The forum featured Democratic candidates for County Council Denise Derkacs, Rodney Roberson and Sean Williams.
The Republican Party of Los Alamos hosted a virtual forum Friday for its County Council candidate David Reagor. RPLA Board Secretary Lisa Shin was the moderator. Libertarian James Rickman and Independent Aaron Walker also are Council candidates but have not yet participated in a forum.
The Democratic candidates first fielded a question about the County’s Master Plan for Los Alamos and White Rock. Derkacs pointed out that addressing the state of older structures downtown is important, but there is more space for development in White Rock.
Transparency and community engagement and input are key, Roberson said.
“My biggest fear is that this is not going to be a plan, but a ‘vision’,” Williams said. “The plan is like a cookbook with finished cakes and soufflés, but no pictures of the process.”
In order to capitalize on White Rock’s potential as a tourist destination; Williams suggested building a plaza fronting N.M. 4 with a pedestrian walkway leading to businesses on Longview Drive.
Derkacs preferred mixed use or housing for Longview, with businesses clustered on N.M. 4.
When asked how Los Alamos can be a good neighbor to nearby communities, Roberson said the County needs to coordinate with Los Alamos Public Schools and also ensure that afterschool programs are adequate. The County should work with other counties on opportunities to expand housing.
Williams said he supports the use of County funds for infrastructure outside the County. Derkacs said the County should put more effort into education and training.
All the candidates felt that the County should promote the expansion of broadband, or high speed Internet in Los Alamos County, especially now during the pandemic.
“We should work on getting a number of providers in the County,” Roberson said.
“I support broadband as a public utility,” Williams said. “There are communities that have it.”
Roberson sees “a role, but not a key role” for tourism in the County.
Williams said Los Alamos must first be made attractive to tourists. Once the downtown is more attractive, Williams favors event-based tourism for downtown Los Alamos and ongoing tourism for White Rock.
Derkacs agreed with Williams about the downtown. “I love Los Alamos and it has lots to offer,” she said.
Derkacs and Roberson live in White Rock. Williams lives in Los Alamos..
Republican candidate David Reagor also lives in White Rock. He is retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory and chose to remain in the town.
The major problem facing the Council is lack of support for the business community by County staff and the County Council, Reagor said. He pointed to the recent problems with getting the new site of UnQuarked up and running.
Reagor opposes the County’s Green Energy Plan.
“You should serve the public by keeping your rates low,” he said. “We don’t matter in the carbon footprint of the world.”
The “climate alarmist theory” has problems, Reagor said.
On gun control, “Whatever Biden does, it will be a mess and I hope we don’t have to find out,” Reagor said.
The nuclear power option being considered by the County is “the best thing we could do,” he said, adding, “If the governor turns off carbon power, we need another option. We need to diversify our energy options.”
“Over representation by Democrats is driving down the County,” Reagor said. “We don’t want monolithic government. Democrats don’t care about businesses and only care about government.”
Reagor pointed to the problem of lack of land available for businesses in the County. He said restricting offices and the lab to the upper story of business locations as one way to address this.
He said building senior housing in the Longview area could help address housing needs. Reagor does not think the area is suited to business. He worries that White Rock cannot absorb more people without improvements to N.M. 4.
Reagor urged the audience to support Republican candidates “from Trump down”.
