Opinion

Letter To The Editor: 2016 Legislation/Clearing The Air

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By MARCO V. LUCERO
Los Alamos County Sheriff

This letter is to provide clarification to those who have submitted letters in opposition to SB-203.

First of all I want to make it clear that none of my testimony at our State Capitol is self-serving. The legislation I support and have always supported since my election as your sheriff has been to enhance public safety, protect our children and to better serve our communities as law enforcement officers. If one wants to consider self-motivation for their lobbying, consider the articles written in opposition to SB-203.

Should SB-203 pass, this will Read More

Letter To The Editor: New ACT Schedule

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By DAREL MADRID
Long time Park & Ride and ACT rider
 
With regard to Mr. Mark Paris’s previous letter posted on Feb. 6, I wholeheartedly agree with his kind observation. 
 
The new schedule is a serious problem. If the change was intended to improve service and convenience, then I would say it failed on both counts.
 
The old schedule which took years to refine worked quite well for locals, Park & Ride, LANL taxi and RTD commuters alike. You could always count on getting to your destination within a reasonable time frame. 
 
Unfortunately,
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Letter To The Editor: On SB 203

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By JOHN N. HORNE
Los Alamos
 
After reading Jaret McDonald’s letter opposing Senate Bill 203 I immediately began drafting a rebuttal.
 
During this process I happened to read another letter by Mr. Robert Gibson. Mr. Gibson’s most recent submission to the post is an excellent synopsis of the driving force behind our politicians in this county.
 
While I am not surprised that our politicians are as addicted to other people’s money as politicians are in every other locale, this fact is a fitting backdrop for the conversation regarding Senate
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Letter To The Editor: Los Alamos County Is Unique – Not Comparable To Taos Or Roswell

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By Concerned County Employee (not in management),
and long-term Los Alamos County Citizen

As a county employee, I am unwilling to identify myself on this topic, however, I feel compelled to write this letter, because I feel John Arrowsmith’s Feb. 1 letter made some points that require context.

First, I have not checked, nor do I dispute any facts, which Arrowsmith cited in his letter, namely that the cost for Los Alamos County’s administrative services in 2015 was $10.9 million, while Taos was $2.2 million and Carlsbad was $6.2 million. I also want to acknowledge that John did say, “there may be Read More

Letter To The Editor: Robotics Club Gives Thanks

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By Barranca Mesa Elementary
Robotics Club
 
The Barranca Mesa Elementary Robotics Club students got a welcome surprise after winter break.
 
Fourteen EV3 Lego Mindstorms Kits were waiting for them as they arrived back to school in January. This very popular after school club had been limited by the failing 11 NXT Lego Mindstorms Kits that they had been using for the last four years. Aging motors and unreliable sensors made it necessary to make an upgrade to the EV3 kits.
 
The Barranca Mesa Elementary Robotics Club would like to sincerely thank all of
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Letter To The Editor: County Council Works For Its Citizens

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By MICHAEL WHEELER
Former County Councilor

My friend and colleague former councilor (Robert) Gibson is at it again. He is correct that local revenue comes from gross receipts taxes mainly from the LANL contract. Where he gets it wrong is that Los Alamos County was never able to afford quality of life services to our citizens except for those occasions when contracts or the LANS actually supported the community.

DOE and LANL provided less and less support to Los Alamos County over the years and as a result our local infrastructure (built during wartime with low bid materials and labor) was crumbling. Read More

Letter To The Editor: Council Should Be Concerned About SB 203 And SJR 16

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

Friends on the council: I don’t know if you’ve been following this but I think you should be concerned. I’ve attached the new bill SB 203 given a do pass by the Senate Public Affairs Committee, and SJR 16 proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate the term limits for Sheriffs.

SB203 would require every candidate for Sheriff to have a law enforcement certification before running for office, and to be a resident for a year prior to running for office.  Currently a newly elected Sheriff can get the training he/she needs after being elected.  Read More

Gibson: County Council Puts Government Before Citizens

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By ROBERT GIBSON
Former County Councilor

Our County Council last week again demonstrated that it works more for the county government than the citizens it is elected to represent.

At its regular meeting, Council adopted its Federal Legislative Agenda to guide is delegation in discussions in Washington this week and throughout the year. The very first item is “a for-profit institution must be given priority for managing LANL.”

The majority of the county government’s revenue comes from gross receipts taxes (GRT) on the for-profit LANS. A non-profit manager would pay no GRT.    Read More

Letter To The Editor: SB-203 Has Potential To Poorly Serve Los Alamos And Other Counties

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By JARET MCDONALD
Los Alamos

I believe SB-203 has the potential to poorly serve New Mexico, especially smaller counties like Los Alamos. “One size does NOT fit all.” The needs and requirements of Bernalillo County (pop. 674,221; 1,161sq mi) are not the same as those of Los Alamos County (pop. 17,798; 109 sq mi). As written, the proposed bill fails to provide for the varying needs of the diverse counties in New Mexico, especially Los Alamos.

In Los Alamos, as per County Charter, the Sheriff has no real law enforcement roles or duties. The Los Alamos County Charter defines the role of Sheriff as:

304.4. Read More

Letter To The Editor: The New ACT Schedule

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