City commission’s “goals” and interim budget show preoccupation with circuses over bread
Serious governance and fiscal oversight is still taking a back seat to chasing "quality of life" projects.
Read MoreCity commission’s “goals” and interim budget show preoccupation with circuses over bread
Is T or C’s budget going back to milking the utilities?
Is the over $5 million to be transferred out of the utilities, as proposed in the interim budget, to pay for "bread and circuses?" Yes. But in what proportion? In ancient Roman senators' flagrancy, as Juvenal satirized?
Supreme Court decides Texas v. NM
A couple of days ago, the Supreme Court approved the Special Master’s Fourth Interim Report on the case known as “No. 141 Original Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado.”
Early monsoon season?
Kingston had a nice rain. Maybe the monsoons are beginning: a hopeful weather report from the National Weather Service.
Mr. Smith goes to Washington, or in this case, Mr. Whitehead goes to Santa Fe
What the city's future and functionality will be rests largely in the ICIP process. The city needs to up its game in this area to include harnessing the community's support and power. City Manager Gary Whitehead already has game, thank goodness.
Negative gearing, mining, and New Mexico
In go(l)d we trust: a look at negative gearing, what it is, and how it can finance mining projects in Sierra County.
What you need to know, May 22, 2026: Overconsumption of water
We are depleting the Rio Grande Basin faster and faster every year, the groundwater 15 times faster than the river waters, reports the first comprehensive study of consumption in the whole Rio Grande/Bravo Basin system.
Village of Williamsburg’s FY2025 audit gets good grade
The Village only had one audit finding according to its at-arms-length auditor, Southwest Accounting Solutions of Albuquerque, but I preferred to use Truth in Accounting's evaluation method. The Village earned a good grade from them too.
ContraAlito: Afterword
In this Afterword I lay out the racial, ethnic, religious and gender groups with which Justice Alito and his fellow Justices identify, and I show how they enact those identities with their decision in "Louisiana v. Callais." I apologize for the length.
New auditor gives tough love to T or C, not phoney stars
Would you rather hear the brutal truth about city finances from a Dutch uncle or get the usual easy-A report from a lax teacher? The former makes the city think about its future and the latter makes it easy to rack up debt.
ContraAlito IV
This is the last part of my essay on the Supreme Court's decision to forbid states to remap voting districts on the basis of race but allows states to gerrymander for political reasons. The result will be the return of hidden racism.
Village of Williamsburg’s ICIP: Streets = stormwater control = nonpoint source pollution to Rio Grande
I don't blame Villagers for not participating in the Infrastructure Capital Improvements Project. The meeting time was changed, you couldn't write in suggestions to the Village clerk, there was only one public hearing and it was only 30 minutes long. Getting the "why" out of trustees' ICIP choices was hard.