Whitehead to the rescue, along with "water bear." Looks as if the city was disregarding warnings about violations to its sewer-water-discharge permit, until Whitehead came along. He was a tad too late to prevent an administrative order being handed down by the feds, though.
The T or C middle school is 40 years old and has a lot of problems. The school district's facilities master plan lays out the costs of repairs vs. new building, and new looks better, especially considering NMPED's possible match for a new building. Taxes will NOT go up.
Poly-cart customers have carried the costs of the city's solid waste department since it opened its collection center in 2013. The city imposed the suggested rates from the Parkhill study, now 1.5 years old, which didn't straighten out the inequities in the fees, but did quantify them.
Thank goodness the city is receiving about 70 percent grant money of the $60 million needed for capital projects. Local citizens will be paying off another $15 million in debt, which doesn't include interest.
Walmart has essentially set the local minimum wage at $15 an hour--which the city hasn't beat for years. The second compensation study in the last three years once again establishes market rate and competitive pay.
Linked article: Remember that July 2021 flight at Spaceport America that had Sir Richard Branson on board? Virgin Galactic didn't report what went wrong for a few weeks--the flight went off course. Investors sued, and won, claiming the company exaggerated flight safety, jacking stock prices that subsequently fell.
With the July 2020 flood and dam failure creating ongoing liability to the city, with the Office of the State Engineer requiring it be fixed "timely," this project became a priority. It will cost $9.725 million in engineering fees and construction costs, if the bids come in within budget.
If you are going to brag, it shouldn't be about getting a welfare check from the government.
An employee pointed out his boss, the mayor's son, O.J. Hechler, was hired as a felon who was still on probation, in violation of city policy. He was fired shortly afterward.
Can this board set the mission and policies that will stick? They have 10 months as temporary appointees. Or will their work be wiped out, swept away by successors, since each of their five seats will be on the November 2025 ballot?
Whitehead is saving the people a lot of money by critically evaluating capital projects and just in time. Over the past 10 years capital projects have burgeoned from less than $2 million a year to $73 million this year due to long neglect of city infrastructure.
Next year's ICIP process will be better, since new City Manager Gary Whitehead is making city doings a thousand times more transparent. This year's process was the same kabuki theater.