Stuff you need to know, 2.23.24
Today's intelligence from state and/or national reporting: Measures to clarify and strengthen New Mexico's anti-corruption statute were among the legislation that died in the recently concluded Roundhouse session.
Category Analyses
T or C’s legislative request for $20 million in emergency waterline repairs—the engineering plan
I submitted an IPRA for the engineering document that relates to the city's legislative request last year and this year. Finally, I received a relevant document this year; only three pages long, but enlightening.
City commissioners claim they don’t have the electric-sale studies
“You can fool all of the people some of time; you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.” Attributed to Abraham Lincoln in The New York Times, August 27, 1887.
Read ballot language carefully before you vote “for” or “against” the $4.5-million bond issue
What the city commission and chief of police say and what the ballot language says differs. And whether the people can afford to pay for emergency and long-term repairs to the water infrastructure, as well as pay for a "public safety building" has never been asked or answered.
Stuff you need to know, 2.19.24
Today's intelligence from state and/or national reporting: a roundup of the bills that passed or died during the recently concluded session of the New Mexico Legislature. Plus: a searchable list of the 360 local projects that made it through the legislature and into the 2024 state budget sent to the governor
T or C City Commission approves $4.8 M three-year bond debt for water project
The city received a $7.5-million grant/loan from USDA for a water project, but it comes with interim-financing requirements that are complicated and expensive. The USDA waits until after construction is completed before it gives the grant or loan. The grant is for $2.7 million and the loan for $4.8 million.
Stuff you need to know, 2.12.24
Today's intelligence from state and/or national reporting: for those who want "in the weeds" details about bills and issues under consideration by the New Mexico Legislature. Part 8 of this series lays out the ongoing debate among legislators about the kind of alcohol taxes needed to reduce consumption in a state with worst-in-the-nation rates of alcohol-related deaths.
Stuff you need to know, 2.9.24
Today's intelligence from state and/or national reporting: for those who want "in the weeds" details about bills and issues under consideration by the New Mexico Legislature. Part 7 of this series provides an update on whether the governor's stalled anti-crime and gun violence package can be salvaged before the legislative session ends next week.
Weighing the likelihood of getting $20M and $16M from legislature for water system failures
We, the poor rate payers whose water rates have gone up about 80 percent in the last five years, hope the city gets both of these legislative requests, otherwise rates are going to go up even more, according to T or C Mayor Rolf Hechler.
New Mexico Dept. of Homeland Security and Emergency Management deems city “ineligible” for disaster funds for waterlines
No disaster relief will be forthcoming from the state, which also precludes any federal disaster relief.
Sale of T or C electric facility ends in a whimper
Three years and the city commission can't figure out whether it's a good idea to sell the electric facility. What they said about the three-year evaluation process is fatuous beyond belief.
Stuff you need to know, 1.30.24
Today's intelligence from state and/or national reporting: for those who want "in the weeds" details about bills and issues under consideration by the New Mexico Legislature. Part 4 of this series deals with the pro's and con's of using Constitutional amendments as a legislative workaround.