Opinion

Cull: My Answers To PCA Questions

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By THERESA CULL 
Democratic Candidate
Los Alamos County Council

I was told about the Oct. 17, article by the Pajarito Conservation Alliance (PCA) and was embarrassed to find that I was the only Democrat to have not replied to the questions posed by the PCA. 

Unfortunately, their email never got to me, so I’m providing my answers to their questions below. For future reference, I can be contacted at theresa4council@gmail.com. That appears to be a more reliable email address.

What do you believe makes Los Alamos County special?

There are a number of things that I believe make Los Alamos County special: Read More

Havemann: Listening & Learning

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By SUZIE HAVEMANN
Democratic Candidate
Los Alamos County Council

When out doing the campaign thing called “canvassing” a couple evenings ago, I was encouraged by several conversations I had with people at their front doors.

In one instance, a very friendly mom and her daughter answered the doorbell. They were clearly in the middle of dinner so I felt bad interrupting their family time. As soon as she saw my candidate name badge, she kindly informed me they had already voted and I was not one of their selections. I expressed my gratitude to her for voting and moved on down the street.

When I made my way Read More

Chandler: Best Practices…

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

The takeaways from this article are three:

(1) The parking requirements in the new development code appear woefully short of Los Alamos on-the-ground reality, and unsupported by any relevant evidence;

(2) The character of many Los Alamos single-family neighborhoods is now vulnerable to an uncontrolled proliferation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU); and

(3) otherwise the new code is pretty good and a long overdue replacement for the previous hodge-podge that was Chapter 16 of the County Code.

The last year-and-a-half I have met every week or two with a “Steering Read More

Op-Ed: To Revitalize Our Town, Update The Code

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By STEPHANIE NAKLEH
Planning & Zoning Commissioner
Los Alamos County

This week the Los Alamos County Council and the Los Alamos County Planning & Zoning Commission have had the amazing opportunity to give our input into the long-anticipated update of the Los Alamos County Chapter 16 Development Code. Does it sound boring? It’s not. These decisions have a direct impact on questions like “What the heck is going on with the old Smith’s” and “What the heck will go up where the Hilltop House is coming down” and “Why the heck don’t we have anyone to staff anything around here” and “Where the heck Read More

Gessing: New Mexico Should Strengthen, Not Weaken Anti-Donation Clause

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By PAUL J. GESSING
President
New Mexico Rio Grande Foundation

There are numerous important issues on New Mexicans’ ballots as early voting kicks off.

Amendment 2 has not received the same attention as Amendment 1, which relates to pre-K and early childhood spending, but voters will be asked to vote on this important issue also. 

Amendment 2 would, if adopted, further weaken New Mexico’s “anti-donation clause” by allowing the Legislature to “appropriate state funds for infrastructure that provides services primarily for residential use—such as internet, electric, natural gas, water, Read More

Op-Ed: School Choice … So Many Options

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By DEE CRUZ-MURPHY
Los Alamos

In 2002 when I divorced my husband I moved back to Los Alamos with my son in tow. Even though we moved around between Los Alamos and White Rock, we never left the county because I knew my son needed every educational opportunity that Los Alamos could provide.

Since I was a single parent, there was no option for homeschooling, and no option for private/charter/religious school. However, things have changed in 20 years, public/private/religious school is not the same, and neither is the homeschool forum. 

Did you know that in the wake of the COVID shutdowns a significant Read More

Hand: What Do We Really Want For Los Alamos County?

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By MELANEE HAND
Democratic County Councilor (appointed)
Seeking election

I hear a significant amount of discussion among County Council candidates about the need for more housing and growth. The County has already been working on many new housing projects, which are in different stages of development and construction.

Projects can take years to plan, design, and construct partially because County participation processes put a high priority on citizen input.

Additional housing has already been approved by Council and I can see several projects being built across the County. Many higher Read More

Op-Ed: New Mexico Policymakers Should Take The Food Tax Off the Table

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By KRISTINA FISHER
Associate Director
Think New Mexico

Over the past year, New Mexicans have been hit hard by rising food costs. Grocery prices have risen by more than 13 percent, the largest annual increase since 1979 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, state tax revenues are reaching record levels due to high oil and gas prices and production. The latest projections anticipate that state government will have a surplus of $2.45 billion next year.

With families struggling and state coffers overflowing, it is unbelievable that legislators would even consider bringing Read More

Letter To The Editor: Calling On Taxpayer Funded Library To Respect Innocence Of All Children

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By VALERIE FOX
Avid library patron and Mom
Los Alamos

Childhood should be sacred and spared from adult themes. Yet here, in Los Alamos, there is a complete disregard and outright assault against the preservation of childhood innocence. Our Mesa Public Library is outright putting adult sexual themes on intentional display for minors.

I took pictures of a book on display in the children’s section called, “If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It” as well as pride bookmarks. There is ZERO reason to openly accost all children in this manner. It is indefensible. It is not an appropriate display for minors. Read More

Ryti: Protecting The Environment 

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By RANDALL RYTI
Democratic Candidate
Los Alamos County Council

Protecting the environment has always been a priority for me – not just preserving and protecting the environment by implementing the recommendations of our resiliency, energy, and sustainability task force and environmental sustainability board.

I also keep a close eye on LANL legacy waste cleanup progress by participating in the Department of Energy Environmental Management (DOE EM) Technical Work Group and attending community meetings with the New Mexico Environment Department. Successful cleanup protects human Read More