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Today's Opinions

  • Give state regulation secretary walking papers

    What’s going on with the state Department of Regulation and Licensing? Investigative reporters for the Albuquerque Journal have been all over the department and its secretary, J. Dee Dennis Jr.
    It’s not surprising. From the beginning, he was one of the governor’s most dubious appointees — a businessman and campaign contributor who ponied up $16,000. The governor promised that business people would have “a friend and an ally” in Dennis, a self-made man who founded and grew DKD Electric Co. in Albuquerque and was later CEO of a solar start-up company.
    State regulation could be less heavy handed, certainly, but the department with Dennis at the wheel has overcorrected, and it’s not good for anybody. Even more troubling is that he has reportedly abused his authority.
    Red flags have been there from the beginning.
    One of the first things Dennis did was to fire Bill Verant, the state’s respected chief banking regulator for 16 years.

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  • Ignored water well issues

    The article in the Los Alamos Monitor about the water wells proposed to be on White Rock Canyon did not include some issues, which should be an important part of the discussion.
    Many of us support the Los Alamos County desire to get access to additional water. What we oppose is drilling wells in county open space land adjacent to residential areas. These proposed wells will permanently degrade the quality of life and therefore health of a good many residents of Los Alamos County.
    The impact of these wells will be permanent. The impact during the time of construction is agreed by all to be severe — construction of the access roads, laying the utility lines, drilling the wells and constructing the well site. But there is a permanent impact.
    The small open space areas will be effectively destroyed by the access road and the one acre walled site containing the pump and wellhead. In addition to this visual impact, the noise of the operating pump will impact will affect all the nearby residents 24 hours a day.
    Constructing these wells as planned violates County Comprehensive Plan. A great deal of effort was put in by citizens and county councilors to identify the values of the County, and to write a comprehensive plan that captured these values. Two sections are quoted below that are specifically violated.

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  • Compromise created health exchange

    We now have a New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange board named by both the governor and the Legislature. Key up the band to play a rousing march.
    As usual, New Mexico is toward the end of the parade, but we have the luxury of learning from states that have gone before.
    The board’s job, under the Affordable Care Act, is to set up a marketplace where individuals and businesses can shop for health insurance, compare price and coverage, and purchase plans from private insurers — a kind of Amazon.com for insurance.
    The painstaking balance of this board and the nature of the exchange are the products of a lot of wrangling. State lawmakers worked on a bill for two years only to have it vetoed by the governor, who took the process away from them. After a year of unproductive plodding by the administration, the Legislature this year took it back, cast aside two bills and settled on a third, which was a compromise measure.
    The big issues: Who, exactly, would sit on this board and how would they be chosen? And would the exchange itself be governed by the state or the marketplace?

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  • What motivates County Council

     

    I would like to make the following comments regarding possible actions to be considered by our County Council.

    The retail stores in Los Alamos now provide a significant amount of the basic needs and desires of the community. For whatever else is desired, we go elsewhere. The council seems to be bent on providing more retail space. Is this necessary? What kind of businesses will be willing to take the risk? What have we learned from the fact that the town has lost two shoe stores, two sporting goods stores, two drug stores and several others in the recent past due to lack of demand? Many existing spaces are empty and available right now. Do we want more?

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  • Hope springs anew in Los Alamos

    In case you’re a little slow to emerge from your cave after a long winter’s nap, spring has sprung in Los Alamos. 

    Leaves are back on the trees, flowers are blooming and a young man’s thoughts turn to downtown revitalization and sprucing up the look of the town… Huh?

    Well, there are things going on that give one a sense of renewed hope and optimism for the future of Los Alamos. 

    The current composition of the county council gives the sense that it may be more forward-leaning or a bit more activist in its approach to some of the nagging problems that seem to be holding the town back. 

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  • Horse over-population or slaughter?

     

    Valley Meat Company in Roswell has become the focal point for arguments over horse over-population in the same way ants become the focal points of bored boys with magnifying glasses. There’s more heat than light.

    In the back-and-forth chatter, I’m hearing a lot of arguments that don’t hold water. And, even if the determined Rick De Los Santos manages to open his plant, it doesn’t solve all of our horse problems. 

    The most ironic argument against a slaughterhouse for unwanted horses is that the noble animal is a western icon, a star in the Taming of the West. Somebody needs to read more history. To pioneers, the army and Indian tribes, horses were transportation. When a horse was used up, it was eaten: Meat’s meat.  

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  • Horse over-population or slaughter?

     

    Valley Meat Company in Roswell has become the focal point for arguments over horse over-population in the same way ants become the focal points of bored boys with magnifying glasses. There’s more heat than light.

    In the back-and-forth chatter, I’m hearing a lot of arguments that don’t hold water. And, even if the determined Rick De Los Santos manages to open his plant, it doesn’t solve all of our horse problems. 

    The most ironic argument against a slaughterhouse for unwanted horses is that the noble animal is a western icon, a star in the Taming of the West. Somebody needs to read more history. To pioneers, the army and Indian tribes, horses were transportation. When a horse was used up, it was eaten: Meat’s meat.  

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  • Is New Mexico the most corrupt state?

     

    Has anyone ever told you New Mexico is the most corrupt state in the nation? I’ve heard it for years, including from an FBI agent, who investigated our financial corruption mess. 

    Since I was a kid, I remember hearing that some powerful New Mexican, maybe Dennis Chavez, as saying that if you want to get a degree in political corruption, go to Chicago. If you want to get a Master’s Degree, go to Louisiana. But if you want a doctorate, go to New Mexico. 

    If you ask people from the East Coast, they’ll probably tell you that New York and New Jersey are the most corrupt states. It just depends on where you’re from. 

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