The impoverished community of Anthony, fresh off two tragedies that have galvanized residents, is talking seriously about incorporation, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.
A month ago, a 13-year-old boy was killed in a car crash that was caused by a missing stop sign. More recently, a teen trying to clean up his life was murdered in a gang-related shooting.
Many residents are bitter at the only government they can blame, Doña Ana County. In some ways, they’re justified: In the late 1990s and early part of this decade, some commissioners worked for political and other reasons to encourage businesses that looked at Anthony to instead locate in Santa Teresa, where the county has worked for years to try to build a new city.
At the same time, situations only really improve when residents become involved. Voter turnout in Anthony has almost always been dismal. It’s one of the poorest communities around, even as its alter ego on the other side of the state line,
In 2000, the Census found that Anthony, N.M., had 7,904 residents, and 38 percent were living below the poverty level.
There is some commercial and industrial development in
There is some groundwork for incorporation in place. The Anthony area has a public water and sanitation district and a non-profit economic development group.
Incorporation may be the next logical step.