{"id":608,"date":"2006-09-22T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-22T18:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/commission-district-1-candidates-show-differences\/"},"modified":"2006-09-22T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-22T18:24:00","slug":"commission-district-1-candidates-show-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/commission-district-1-candidates-show-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission District 1 candidates show differences"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The candidates in the Do\u00f1a Ana County Commission District 1 race revealed similar goals but different opinions about how to reach them at Thursday\u2019s candidate forum in Mesquite<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. <\/p>\n

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

The seat is currently held by Democrat Oscar Vasquez Butler, who is also president of the New Mexico Association of Counties. Republican John Zimmerman is seeking to unseat Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>District 1 includes 25 of the county\u2019s 37 colonias and the Picacho Hills area on the east side of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

Community empowerment<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Both candidates were asked how they would help empower communities. Zimmerman said he will listen to the people in those communities.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe political process is by the people. \u2026 People can be a part of the problem or they can be a part of the solution,\u201d he said. \u201cI intend to be open, to be available to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said it\u2019s about more than being available, pointing out that, in his time on the commission, he has held meetings and been involved in what\u2019s happening in communities throughout his district.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cYou have to get down into the communities and work with the people. In order to help the people you have to know what their problems are,\u201d he said. \u201cThat will empower them to know that their vote counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Quality of life<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The candidates were asked how they will help with projects that would improve the quality of life of residents. Zimmerman said the county has an outdated master plan that it\u2019s just beginning to address, and said that plan must be updated frequently. Then, he said, the county can focus on improving infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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

That, Zimmerman said, will lead to economic development, which will bring higher wages and better health insurance.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEconomic development is not going to come here without infrastructure,\u201d Zimmerman said. \u201cDo\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> is growing at a very fast pace, and if we don\u2019t start planning our future, others are going to plan it for us, and we\u2019re going to have what\u2019s called urban sprawl.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> said such plans must specifically address improving quality of life in rural communities, or those areas will be left out.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEconomic development is good, but there\u2019s no assurances the jobs are going to hit the rural communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said the key, and what he has worked to do during his time on the commission, is to help communities create local associations that can lobby the legislature for funding for infrastructure projects. He said it will take about $1 billion to bring the infrastructure in the county\u2019s rural communities up to the standard of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe don\u2019t have bike trails here,\u201d Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201c\u2026You can\u2019t have economic development until you have infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Regulating growth<\/span><\/p>\n

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

In response to a question about the unregulated growth that led to the development of poorly planned colonias in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename>, Butler<\/st1:city> announced that he is proposing a temporary moratorium on all development in and near arroyos and drainage ditches in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. The proposal will be considered by commissioners at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said a moratorium would give the county time to evaluate its policies and procedures in response to this summer\u2019s flooding and enact new rules that would ensure smart growth.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cPeople think I\u2019m anti-development. I\u2019m not. I\u2019m for smart growth,\u201d Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cThe temporary moratorium is to give us a look at what we\u2019re doing. \u2026 We have to put a temporary halt and make these developers comply with our ordinances and smart growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Zimmerman referred again to the need for a better master plan. He said the county already has regulations in place, and has three codes inspectors, but they all work for different departments and the regulations have not been enforced consistently. That, he said, has contributed to unregulated growth.<\/p>\n

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

He said better regulation needs to apply to developers and homeowners and said the master plan must \u201caddress the cumulative effect of all these things happening,\u201d including flooding and unregulated development.<\/p>\n

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

Pollution<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Speaking in Mesquite<\/st1:city>, where there have been problems with pollution created by some companies, Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said the county needs to focus on \u201cclean industry coming in\u201d and, through regulation and other means, encouraging dairies, chemical companies and others \u201cto be good corporate citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to run industry away, but we do want them to be corporately responsible,\u201d Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

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

Zimmerman said he believes companies are doing that. He said the dairy industry has done a lot to deal with the problem of nitrates in ponding areas.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI believe all of them are doing that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe dairy industry has done a lot of things. (New Mexico Environment Department) has done a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Partisan politics<\/span><\/p>\n

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

In response to a question about how he would bridge the gap created by partisan politics, Zimmerman said he has never been a politician, but has been involved in community service most of his life.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI know what it is to serve the people,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to speak the language of the people \u2026 (and) to get down with them, one on one, and listen to their concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said in a Democracy, \u201cregardless of if you\u2019re a Republican or a Democrat, when you get into office you represent the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cYou\u2019re just serving your communities, and if you don\u2019t serve your communities, they\u2019ll have their turn with the next ballot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that they put us in these camps, but when it\u2019s over, you just serve the people.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The candidates in the Do\u00f1a Ana County Commission District 1 race revealed similar goals but different opinions about how to reach them at Thursday\u2019s candidate forum in Mesquite. The seat is currently held by Democrat Oscar Vasquez Butler, who is also president of the New Mexico Association of Counties. Republican John Zimmerman is seeking to […]<\/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-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","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=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}