{"id":4052,"date":"2008-12-09T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/12\/mccamley-evans-say-farewell-to-county-commission\/"},"modified":"2008-12-09T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-09T22:00:00","slug":"mccamley-evans-say-farewell-to-county-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/12\/mccamley-evans-say-farewell-to-county-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"McCamley, Evans say farewell to county commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Outgoing Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioners Kent Evans<\/a> and Bill McCamley<\/a> touted improvements in the government during their tenures in speeches given during their last official meeting today, and McCamley had some words of advice for those who will replace them on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

The outgoing District 5 commissioner told his replacement, Leticia Benavidez<\/a>, and Evan\u2019s replacement, Scott Krahling<\/a>, that they\u2019re going to be invited to important events, called by newspaper reporters and given the opportunity to \u201cget up here and speak for hours on end, like I\u2019m doing right now, about pretty much whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of this however — the food, the quotes, or the talk — makes you a leader,\u201d McCamley said. \u201cWhat does? When you are done with your term, ask yourself these simple questions: Did I achieve results? Did I actively make my community a better place to live in? What policies did I create that had a direct impact on the people I represent?\u201d<\/p>\n

McCamley is leaving the commission on Dec. 31, after four years, because he chose to run for Congress instead of seeking re-election this year. He narrowly lost in the Democratic primary to Harry Teague<\/a>, who went on to win the seat. Term limits prevented District 4\u2019s Evans, who has served eight years, from running again, so the Republican ran against Democratic state Rep. Jeff Steinborn<\/a> this year, but was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

A more ethical and efficient government<\/span><\/p>\n

Evans recalled the fact that, when he took office, Do\u00f1a Ana County was plagued by constant scandal and turmoil.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my first three years in office, the board went through four county managers, and the instability caused by the churn at the top effectively paralyzed the organization and fed the press with stories of ineptitude and cronyism,\u201d Evans said. \u201cThrough it all, I worked hard to be a peacemaker and a deal broker who could stop the fighting and steer the ship toward effective local government. It was a long struggle, and I didn\u2019t always win the battles, but I never gave up on the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight years later, he and McCamley both said county government is running more ethically and efficiently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the way this commission has evolved, and of the way that the partisanship has been cast aside in favor of actual progress on meaningful issues,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n

Among the accomplishments McCamley cited were the deal that resolved decades of legal battles with Sunland Park and cleared the way for development of the Santa Teresa area, a rewrite of the county ethics policy, dramatic improvements in the county\u2019s health-care system and elections process and the funding of Spaceport America<\/a>. Evans said he\u2019s also proud of the county\u2019s new government center, which resulted in a consolidation of all county offices into one building and a more efficient operation.<\/p>\n

McCamley and Evans have both been champions of the spaceport project, and Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> has recognized them for their work on behalf of it and a tax increase to help fund it. At the meeting, McCamley acknowledged that the project has been controversial, \u201cbut it looks like it\u2019s actually going to work and bring a lot of jobs and educational opportunities to Do\u00f1a Ana County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kind words<\/span><\/p>\n

Both commissioners had kind words for the county\u2019s staff and for their fellow commissioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I can\u2019t shoulder all the credit for the positive change. Since the 2002 elections, the voters have chosen commissioners who — by and large — share my vision for a stable and effective governmental organization,\u201d Evans said. \u201cWhile we still debate issues — sometimes fervently — gone are the days of personal attacks and foregone votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCamley called for the commission to continue to focus on growth and the completion of the region\u2019s Vision 2040<\/a> plan, economic development including the spaceport, fiscal responsibility and communication and cooperation with other governments.<\/p>\n

And he had a message for all county residents:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a democracy, the policy, the conversation, shouldn\u2019t be about (the elected officials). It should be about you, the people in this room today, or watching on TV, or reading about these meetings in a newspaper or on the Internet. You are the ones who decide what you like and what you don\u2019t like about your community, and you are the ones with the power to change it. I ask you, if you are involved, stay that way. If you aren\u2019t, get active, because that is the way a community stays alive,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s all about taking responsibility for your city, your county, your state and your nation. We need everybody to make this country work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve disclosed in the past, I\u2019m friends with McCamley. Click here<\/a> to read more about that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outgoing Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioners Kent Evans and Bill McCamley touted improvements in the government during their tenures in speeches given during their last official meeting today, and McCamley had some words of advice for those who will replace them on Jan. 1. The outgoing District 5 commissioner told his replacement, Leticia Benavidez, and Evan\u2019s […]<\/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-4052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4052","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=4052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}