10 questions locals need to deal with in 2007

By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek

“Being in politics is like being a football coach; you have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it’s important.” – Eugene McCarthy

Heath Haussamen has offered the opportunity to write a monthly political column for this site, which in this writer’s opinion is the best source for local political news.

To start with, here’s a series of questions that local citizens and policy makers in Doña Ana County need to deal with in 2007. As James Thurber said, “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”

• How will Doña Ana County and Memorial Medical Center care for the medically uninsured (40 percent of the population) when the “Extended Care” funding from the hospital sale runs out this year?

• Will we get a full accounting of the costs, revenues and expenses of the county’s extensive utility system?

• Similarly, will we get an updated accounting of the city’s recent expansions of its utility systems and an independent analysis of the equity of its rate structure?

• Will the regents of New Mexico State University continue to have lengthy closed meetings in which their “business” is kept secret from the public?

• Will the downtown development promoters finally recognize that the key to creating activity in the downtown is to first develop and improve housing in that area?

• Will members of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education finally understand that their role is to make policy and leave the management decisions to the superintendent?

• Will the voters approve the “spaceport” tax that would be applied toward the development of the space industry in our area?

• Will the long-discussed Indian casino project in Anthony be approved by the federal government and by Gov. Bill Richardson?

• Will the Interstate 10 dairies near Mesquite face the reality that their bypass location near growing residential areas is no longer a good place for their use, which causes significant air and water pollution?

• Will the city, county and university take steps to close the huge eyesore gravel mining operation next to the Farm and Ranch Museum and force the owners to perform reclamation?

These questions will be the subjects of future commentaries. And, as 2007 rolls on, there may well be other topics of interest to discuss related to candidacies for political office, the actions and antics of the state Legislature and our local officials. This column will do its best to stir up good old democratic debate.

Kadlecek has lived in Doña Ana County since 1996, served in the Colorado Legislature, and holds a doctorate in public administration. He’s the author of a recently released book, “Capitol Rape,” published by Barbed Wire Publishers of Las Cruces, and is a monthly columnist for Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics.

Think you should be a regular columnist for Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics? E-mail heath@haussamen.com and explain why.