{"id":1080,"date":"2007-01-09T18:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-10T00:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/butler-removed-from-controversial-etz-board\/"},"modified":"2007-01-09T18:07:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-10T00:07:00","slug":"butler-removed-from-controversial-etz-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/butler-removed-from-controversial-etz-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Butler removed from controversial ETZ board"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler, often the lone opposition to development projects in the unincorporated area around Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, was removed from the board that oversees such growth projects by his peers Tuesday. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> will be replaced by new Commissioner Karen Perez on the Extraterritorial Zoning Authority. That body, composed of three commission members and two Las Cruces<\/st1:city> city councilors, approves or denies growth projects in a five-mile zone around the City of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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For the past two years, Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, a Democrat, has often been at odds with councilors and the other commissioners on the authority, Democrat Bill McCamley and Republican Kent Evans. The other four members usually approve developments, based on recommendations from city and county staff members assigned to work with what is commonly called the ETZ.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Growth policy has been an especially contentious subject between Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, who wants to place more severe restrictions on growth, and McCamley, who favors growth and more dense housing projects.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Perez raised issues with both commissioners. Noting that Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has called for the dissolution of the ETZ, she asked whether he is committed to working with the other members of the authority. She asked McCamley whether he thought the fact that his district is almost entirely in the city tips the balance on the ETZ from the county to the city.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Those have been common complaints against both commissioners. Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has been a thorn in the side of developers and other advocates of growth and economic development. Many residents who live in the ETZ moved there because they like living in a rural area but being close to city services, and have complained that McCamley seems more focused on city-like development than on their interests.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley said he doesn\u2019t tip the balance to the city councilors.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cJust because I represent the city doesn\u2019t mean I represent the city council,\u201d he said. \u201cI represent the county. Growth is one of the most important issues in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said his viewpoint is important to the ETZ.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI bring a balance to the kind of growth that\u2019s going on,\u201d he said. \u201cThe city is already developed, and what\u2019s going on with the city right now is they want to develop even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Butler<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> also complained that McCamley and Evans have sided with city councilors to \u201crubber stamp\u201d development, regardless of whether it\u2019s responsible.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a perception going on out there that we yield to high-growth developers,\u201d Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Both answers seemed to satisfy Perez. She voted to keep Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, Evans and McCamley on the board. Though she stated her interest in being on the board, she didn\u2019t vote for herself.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But the other four members all voted for Perez, giving her four votes. McCamley and Evans also had four votes each, and Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> received three, making him the alternate member.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley and Butler<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> voted to replace each other with Perez.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> agreed to be the alternate but made no comment after the vote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Once the decision was finalized, Perez, the commission\u2019s chairwoman this year, expressed relief. She seemed tense and struggled with questioning McCamley and Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> during the discussion.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cGosh, I hope that\u2019s the last hard one,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The ETZ debate wasn\u2019t the only sign of the frustration McCamley and Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> have with each other. Last year, commissioners sat in a row based on the numbers assigned to their districts at meetings, placing the two next to each other. This year, commissioners will continue to sit in that order, with one exception: Dolores Salda\u00f1a-Caviness will sit between Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and McCamley. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler, often the lone opposition to development projects in the unincorporated area around Las Cruces, was removed from the board that oversees such growth projects by his peers Tuesday. Butler will be replaced by new Commissioner Karen Perez on the Extraterritorial Zoning Authority. That body, composed of three commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}