
Winners
Santa Fe County District 1
The northern half of the county, represented on the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners by Harry Montoya, raked in $1.6 million worth of appropriations from the Legislature this year—$685,000 more than Santa Fe County's other four districts put together. According to the latest Special Double Issue of the county's newsletter, the spending Montoya arranged—with the area's legislators, of course—includes $185,000 for the county's acequias and $600,000 for the purchase of a Head Start Park in Nambe.
Santa Fe Grassroots for Obama
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign is keeping the Santa Fe County Clerk's election workers busy with the bulk of approximately 2,000 new voter registrations filed since May. According to one volunteer coordinator with Santa Fe Grassroots for Obama, the campaign has about 150 regular volunteers phone-banking and block-walking. Yet, according to the clerk's elections deputy, Denise Lamb, most "declined to say" which party they'd like to belong to, thus increasing the Independent factor that defines New Mexico's battleground status.
County Commissioner Mike Anaya
The New Mexico Association of Counties picked Commissioner Mike Anaya, the Stetson-sporting representative for the southern half of Santa Fe County, to be its new president. Of course, he'll have to resign the position within a few years if, as blogger Joe Monahan reports, Anaya runs for State Land Commissioner in 2010. Here's to Anaya having better luck in his campaign than his co-commissioners Paul Campos and Harry Montoya did in their 2008 races (for Public Regulations Commission and Congress respectively). Both lost by enormous margins.
Loser s
Santa Fe County Corrections Director Annabelle Romero
At the July 9 meeting of the Santa Fe County Corrections Advisory Committee, County Corrections Director Annabelle Romero was applauded for 19 months of improvements, but took heat for not communicating with the public via the press. The committee of local citizens also concluded that the proposed plan to lock down public access to the county's inmate inquiry database [Outtakes, July 2: "Lock Down"] was a terrible idea and that if Romero pursues it she will have the American Civil Liberities Union to go through first.
Sheriff Greg Solano
The blogging sheriff began playing defense as the press reported his 22-year-old son Aaron Solano's second arrest for DWI this year. On his blog, Solano pre-emptively strikes against critics who would cry out favoritism or hypocrisy. Describing his inner turmoil over the arrest and the anxiety he felt trying to find out his son's status at the hospital (Aaron received a head injury in an accident), Solano writes: "I guess all parents think their kids are good kids and deep down I know my son is one of the most caring, loving persons I know…I am prepared for criticism and press articles about whether or not my son received special treatment. The truth is I know he did not and you know what…I'm a dad first."
Flood victims
As the monsoon season drenches Santa Fe County, particularly the northern half, the county government is giving out free sandbags (limit 10 per person) at its Pojoaque office. As altruistic as that might be, the bags don't come filled; residents will have to add sand-stuffing to their list of pre-storm preparations. The county is not lending out shovels, either.