Three of four PRC candidates attend forum

Three of four candidates whose Public Regulation Commission districts include parts of Doña Ana County showed up for Wednesday’s League of Women Voters forum.

District 5 candidates Sandy Jones, a Democrat, and Earl Greer, a Republican, both attended. So did Stephanie DuBois, the Democrat seeking to unseat District 2 Commissioner David King, a Republican.

King was not in attendance.

Jones said New Mexico should lead the way in renewable energy.

“We need to make the commitment now to give something to our kids,” he said.

He also called for better regulation, saying “we need to level the playing field for the consumer against the big phone companies and big electric companies,” and said he wants to make the PRC a “place where the sun shines an all deals we make for New Mexico.”

Greer talked about all areas the PRC regulates, including insurance, phone and Internet lines, and fire safety.

“We touch your lives,” he said. “You need somebody there, in my view, that will bring honesty and integrity, that will bring the district back to you.”

DuBois, the only publicly funded candidate on the ballot on Nov. 7, also called for more open practices at the PRC, which she said “regulates everything from the time you get up to the time you go to bed.”

“Government works best when the sun shines in,” she said.

Asked about the state’s dispute with Qwest, Greer said the state can’t place unreasonable expectations on companies, but companies must also live up to agreements they make.

And he called for improving infrastructure in rural areas to bring better phone and Internet service, whether it be cell phone towers or cables.

DuBois called for better technology in rural areas, saying that will bring competition to Qwest. She called on the company to fulfill its agreement with the state.

Jones said the PRC must enter into better agreements, so there’s no question after the fact about whether they will be enforced.

DuBois said her top two priorities are “bringing some more ethics to the PRC” and better telephone service in rural areas.

Jones said his top two priorities are “good constituent services” and improving infrastructure. He said he’ll try to obtain funding to create a PRC office somewhere in District 5.

Greer also talked about constituent services, and said he’ll push for high-speed Internet access across the state.

“We’re growing. The infrastructure must be in place,” he said.