Opinion

Letter To The Editor: Budget Time, Los Alamos … Let’s Not Go Down A Rabbit Hole

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

Budget time, Los Alamos! Once more down the rabbit hole. 

Our Sheriff is the wabbit, leading us on. Even though the voters last fall simply chose to keep the office as it was then (register sex offenders, wear the Hat), he now approaches the council announcing that the result was a mandate to expand the office so he can provide unspecified “services” to the tune of $348,118 (link).

Now we see the end game: TOYS! A $65,000 ¾ ton truck with a gooseneck hitch for transporting HORSES – to scenes! A $46,000 passenger vehicle for carrying the FLASHING LIGHTS and SIRENS. Read More

Letter To The Editor: Governor’s Glowing Picture Of Education At Odds With Data

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By J. TAUB
Los Alamos

What a glowing picture of education in New Mexico as presented by Governor Martinez in her April 2 announcement of changes to the teacher evaluation system – what many teachers feel is a tiny step in the right direction to simply superficial. 

Reading on through her missive, what should I believe – the Governor’s rosy picture of public education in New Mexico, or various education review evaluations that appear annually? For instance, the one reported on by Kim Burgess, Jan. 4, 2017, Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer, Study: NM ranks 49th in quality of education Read More

Letter To The Editor: Consider This Solution…

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By PATRICK BRENNER
Los Alamos

The proposed amendment to eliminate the Office of Sheriff failed. Rather than continue breeding contempt between the Council, the Sheriff and the Police Department, I invite you to consider an alternative solution.

Rather than amending the County Charter to remove the Sheriff or remove the Chief of Police, why not amend the wording involving duplication of duties? Redefine the duties as shared responsibilities. Everything that the Police do, the Sheriff is equally responsible for. Everything the Sheriff does, the Police are equally responsible for. The separation

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Sen. Sanchez On Veto Of Bill To Raise Minimum Wage

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Sen. Clemente Sanchez
 
By Sen. CLEMENTE SANCHEZ
Cibola, Socorro, McKinley and Valencia
 

In the late hours of the night, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed Sen. Clemente Sanchez’s Senate Bill 386, which would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour. Throughout the legislative process, the bill received broad support from labor unions and business groups alike with representatives from AFSCME Council 18 and the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce standing in support.

“This session the business and labor communities came together to support a modest raise for families who too Read More

Letter To The Editor: Sheriff Seeks To Build Empire

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By CORNELL WRIGHT
Los Alamos
 
Sheriff Marco Lucero proposes to increase his office’s budget to $348,118, up from a 2017 budget of $85,411. That’s an increase of four times.
 
This is empire building, plain and simple. I wonder if Los Alamos County residents would have voted to retain the Sheriff’s office if they knew this increase would be the outcome.
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Letter To The Editor: Zero = A Lot? PAC Math

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By DAVID NORTH
Los Aamos
 
If “a lot of these projects are going to be self-sufficient” as claimed by a board member of the PAC pushing the rec bond, why do consultants to the County say all five will lose money?

That “self-sufficient” quote appeared in a March 23 front-page Los Alamos Daily Post article. Anticipated annual costs include $546,210 for the rec center, $298,376 for the leisure pool, $37,432 for the splashpad, and $60,695 for the baseball fields. That’s a tidy $942,713 total.

The losses will have to be covered by the County every year for as long

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Letter To The Editor: Grateful To Smith’s Employees

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By Grateful Los Alamos Resident
 
I’d like to thank the person or persons at Smith’s who have kept the mobility carts for handicapped use fully charged and ready for use in the last six months or so.
 
In the past, most, if not all, of these carts were not available for use because of fully discharged batteries. No one would plug them in. Sometimes all 12 carts were not usable and I had to go back home without shopping and try again the next day.
 
So thanks again to every Smith’s employee who has been helping all of us who need the carts for shopping.
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Letter To The Editor: Immigrant Is Not A Bad Word

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By That Concerned Citizen
Los Alamos
 
Dear Mr. Savage,
 
I am glad to see that you acknowledge the constitution and call human beings born in the US “citizens” (link).
 
In the present political climate in this country (including the present administration and immigration enforcement), there are areas where it is viewed differently. Way too often the news reports White Straight Americans (predominantly among those who voted for Mr. Trump) equate people who do not look “acceptable” to them to terrorists or illegal immigrants and are aggressive against them. The present administration
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Letter To The Editor: Glad You’re Sorry, But…

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By TERRY GOLDMAN
Los Alamos
 
While I’m glad to see that Daren Savage is sorry, (link) (Sorry, that is the correct legal term for people who enter the United States without legal immigration documents), he still is making a common error: Nothing is definitely illegal until a judge (or jury) says so in a court of law.
 
Even ‘undocumented’ is an incorrect term, as those involved may well have some documents. Or they may qualify for refugee status. The only factually (independent of politically) correct term is ‘unauthorized’.
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Op-Ed: When Native Students Succeed, NM Thrives

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By Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos
Chairwoman of the House Education Committee
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Rep. Derrick J. Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo

 

When Native American students succeed, the state of New Mexico thrives. This principle was the driving force behind House Bill 484. House Bill 484 would have provided a mechanism for New Mexico’s Native American students to obtain the culturally relevant support they need to achieve academic success, helping to close the achievement gap and instilling the importance of education after high school.

 

But last week, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed Read More