T or C City Commission passes $44.7 million budget
The city is still very bad at reporting and communicating with the public, but it is steadily improving its management practices.
Kathleen Sloan
Kathleen Sloan has been a local-government reporter for 17 years, covering counties and cities in three states—New Mexico, Iowa and Florida. She has also covered the arts for various publications in Virginia, New Mexico and Iowa. Sloan worked for the Truth or Consequences Herald newspaper from 2006 to 2013; it closed December 2019. She returned to T or C in 2019 and founded the online newspaper, the Sierra County Sun, with Diana Tittle taking the helm as editor during the last year and a half of operation. The Sun closed December 2021, concurrent with Sloan retiring. SierraCountySun.org is still an open website, with hundreds of past articles still available. Sloan is now a board member of the not-for-profit organization, the Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project, which supported the Sun and is currently sponsoring the Sierra County Citizen, another free and open website. Sloan is volunteering as a citizen journalist, covering the T or C beat. She can be reached at kathleen.sloan@gmail.com or 575-297-4146.
Water projects report is full of holes, but better than nothing
$41.4 million in water projects given about 10 minutes and no discussion during the May 8 city commission meeting.
City Manager Gonzales given raise and another year
It has been a year since City Manager Angela Gonzales took the reins and just as it was a mystery why she was hired over other applicants it is a mystery what the city commission thinks of her performance.
Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan—planning ain’t in it
Rubber-stamping is expensive. The Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan is soon to be adopted by the city commission using its same low-information process. Is it any wonder we have infrastructure that is 60 and more years old and emergency repairs that cost twice as much as planned projects?
Second tranche of $3M in general obligation bonds goes the way of the first tranche
We don't know how the first $790,000 tranche was used and now the second tranche is to be issued. There was talk that the G. O. bond money would only be used to "leverage" or match grant/loan requirements. No reports, no follow-up.
T or C first budget workshop—baby steps
In 447 BC, when the Parthenon was built, they knew the value of fiduciary transparency in government. Athena's dress was made of gold, in sections, so they could be regularly weighed and recorded, since it was part of the city's treasury that was kept in the public's eye.
King Hechler alludes to his plan for water and sewer problems
The great artist Diego Velazquez painted royalty as they were, often blank-eyed and taken up with amusing themselves with court jesters instead of serious matters of state. There are Velazquez-like parallels with the supposedly democratic T or C city commission.
T or C City Commission hands out more blank checks to city department heads
Another four years of 'on-call' contracts that short-circuit city commission and public oversight of capital projects. Department heads have carte blanche to hire architects and engineers behind closed doors.
Referendum means nothing to city commission
The city commission adheres to its practice of not considering criticism or learning from it, even when a referendum checks their power. More toxic positivity will be imposed and naysayers and truth-sayers will continue to be scapegoated and castigated.
Bond issue to fund the acquisition of a public safety building is voted down
For the second time the people of Truth or Consequences have voted down this financial scheme.
Big pieces of Truth or Consequences’ operations budget goes to outside contractors
The city's budget for the next fiscal year is being drafted. The people may want to push back on how it's been handled in the past. Hiring outside contractors indicates a lack of in-house competence and is expensive. Is the public paying more than it should for its local government?
“Vacuum” sewer breakdown, stop-gap fix, wasted money—rinse and repeat
A leadership vacuum at the top trickles down to the people having to pay repeatedly for emergency and then long-term repairs.