The two sheriff's candidates were asked 11 questions and given five days to respond. Sierra County Sheriff's Deputy Lieutenant Joshua Baker responded to all questions. He is running as a Republican. Michael Lanford did not respond, indicating a disinclination to be transparent. He is running as a Democrat.
Truth or Consequences attracted one of the greats, Tom Hamil. He had an enormous talent for painting music, his auditory and visual synesthesia giving us visual jazz.
Tony Soprano took over businesses, sucking the life out of them like a lamprey eel until it was "busted out." Truth or Consequences has similarly ridden its rate payers and exhausted its utilities. The trash utility is the new cash cow.
Owner of the Sentinel, Frances Luna, made it clear she and others decide things around here. Democratic public hearings to sound the citizens' will and to inform the public are a waste of time.
Early voting starts Oct. 11 and two general-obligation bond questions are on the ballot totaling $3 million, which, if passed, will double Truth or Consequences' property taxes. The city is not prepared or transparent enough for the people to grant it the bond issues.
Good news for those who waited--no longer a limit on solar panels. Bad news for those who already took the plunge--you won't be getting 13 cents per kilowatt hour for excess production, only 6 or 7 cents.
Michael Lanford, because he is running for sheriff and an article last week could effect his election chances, was given a second opportunity to respond. The same silence was the result.
There is nothing to the rumor that the New Mexico State Veterans Home administrator was escorted off the property in handcuffs this week. But the churn in the administrator's position was revealed while slaying the rumor.
Once Truth or Consequences deputy chief of police and even acting-chief, Erica Baker's 15-year law-enforcement career, 10 years with the city, looked bright. She had just been accepted into the prestigious FBI Academy. Then City Manager Bruce Swingle fired her, ruining her reputation.
Going against U.S. tradition, the Truth or Consequences City Commission passed a local law that limits property rights that will be enforced retroactively. Since the ordinance doesn't state the law is retroactive, this begs the question whether other city land-use laws or ordinances may be enforced retroactively by city staff.
The measure on the November ballot is a test of citizen oversight. Vote "no" in the absence of government accountability for how the city will address the infrastructure crisis and how it will spend $3 million in general obligation bonds.
The city commission's "public" representatives on a committee that will weigh whether to dissolve the court are the city manager and an ex-city commissioner.