{"id":2646,"date":"2007-12-17T13:43:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-17T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/12\/mesquite-leads-the-way-in-empowering-south-valley\/"},"modified":"2007-12-17T13:43:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-17T19:43:00","slug":"mesquite-leads-the-way-in-empowering-south-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/12\/mesquite-leads-the-way-in-empowering-south-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesquite leads the way in empowering south valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

The powers-that-be in New Mexico<\/st1:state> should take note: The people of Mesquite<\/a> are becoming a force that can\u2019t be ignored.<\/p>\n

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

Were there any doubt, their growing level of activity and organization was apparent on Thursday evening, when more than 65 people showed up to a community meeting to discuss the possibility of suing Helena Chemical Company<\/a> in an apparent attempt to chase it out of town.<\/p>\n

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

That\u2019s 65 people in a community that, as of the 2000 census, had a population of 948 \u2013 95 percent of them Hispanic and speaking primarily Spanish in their homes, and 43 percent of them living below the poverty level.<\/p>\n

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

Mesquite<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> is a community that has historically allowed itself to be ignored by government. That began to change a few years ago when a handful of educated individuals in the area decided to stand up to perceived problems with Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

Fair or not (there\u2019s a strong possibility that a lawsuit will eventually determine that), many residents believe the company\u2019s pollution has led to all sorts of health problems, including high instances of cancer, asthma and babies being born with extra fingers and toes. The movement to do something about it began several years ago when a teacher at Mesquite Elementary heard from students that their eyes burned when they passed, on the school bus, by the Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> plant.<\/p>\n

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

He talked to another man. They got a third on board. Over time, they formed the Mesquite Community Action Committee. They also uncovered the fact that Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> was operating without an air-quality permit, leading to a $238,000 fine from the state in 2004.<\/p>\n

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

Community leaders wanted more action. Local legislators told residents of Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> they had to show up at the polls if they wanted to be heard.<\/p>\n

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

So real organization began, and it spread beyond Mesquite<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. The community\u2019s leaders partnered with people in other rural communities south of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, and voter turnout in those areas was up in 2006. At the same time, community organizers cried foul when Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> failed to report a chemical fertilizer spill in a resident\u2019s front yard in the time required, and the state fined the company another $36,000.<\/p>\n

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

Then, in April, leaders in Mesquite<\/st1:city> and surrounding areas led the opposition to the proposed gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> voters approved the tax, but only narrowly despite a massive and well-funded campaign for its OK.<\/p>\n

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

That really got people\u2019s attention. The south county nearly took down the plan to construct the world\u2019s first purpose-built spaceport in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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

South valley community leaders were further motivated by the strong opposition to the spaceport tax. They recently helped push two public officials \u2013 Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar V\u00e1squez Butler and Mesilla Mayor Pro Tem Jesus Caro \u2013 to run in Democratic primaries against veteran legislators next year.<\/p>\n

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

State officials are listening<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Now the state and its elected officials are listening. In November, the Environment Department cited Helena<\/st1:city> for 15 air-quality violations at the Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> facility. The company could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHelena Chemical has a history of noncompliance with the department and a bad record with many residents in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>,\u201d Environment Department Deputy Secretary Cindy Padilla said in a news release<\/a> at the time. \u201cHelena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> potentially put residents at risk by failing to monitor pollutants from the plant. We consider this to be a serious disregard for residents and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Mesquite<\/st1:city> residents met on Thursday with high-powered Houston<\/st1:city> attorneys who have sued Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in the past to determine whether a lawsuit is an appropriate step. One of the attorneys told them at Thursday\u2019s meeting that Helena<\/st1:city>\u2019s actions in Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> appeared to be \u201cpretty egregious.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Helena<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> officials were at the meeting but didn\u2019t respond. I\u2019m not going to speak to the truthfulness of the claims of residents \u2013 that\u2019s for a court to decide \u2013 but I will say that I felt like I was watching Erin Brockivich<\/a> as I sat in the Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> parish hall and listened to an endless stream of serious health complaints.<\/p>\n

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

This is an encouraging example of a community becoming empowered. Though it started with concerns about a chemical plant, residents of Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and other south-valley communities are learning what can happen when they stand up and make themselves heard. Expect their voices to grow louder in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The powers-that-be in New Mexico should take note: The people of Mesquite are becoming a force that can\u2019t be ignored. Were there any doubt, their growing level of activity and organization was apparent on Thursday evening, when more than 65 people showed up to a community meeting to discuss the possibility of suing Helena Chemical […]<\/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-2646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646","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=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}