Winners
Irritable bowel sufferers
When you're sliding into first and you feel a little burst…pop into the new public toilets in Madrid to drop your euphemized little kids off at the pool. On Aug. 28, Santa Fe County lifted the lid on new, self-contained public toilets in Madrid, between the Mine Shaft Tavern and Madrid Fire Station. The project cost a total of $35,000, excluding the property, which was donated by Madrid residents.
Liz Stefanics
It's always a pleasant surprise when an elected official makes good on her campaign promises, even if takes years and years to be held to account. It's an even greater delight when a candidate fulfills a commitment even before she's been officially elected to office. Such is the case with Santa Fe County Commissioner-elect Liz Stefanics, a Democrat who faces no opposition in District 5 on the November ballot. As promised, Stefanics is on top of the Galisteo Basin drilling controversy like oil on a baby seal with a public meeting at the Eldorado Community Center Railroad Room at 7 pm, Sept. 11.
Country singers
Perhaps it was a bit of a political risk for Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano to issue the oath of office to three country-rock musicians (Tobey Keith, Rodney Carrington and Ted Nugent) to lend more credibility to their roles as sheriff's deputies in the film Beer for My Horses. After all, the quickest way to SFR's "Losers" column is the use of public office to promote ridiculousness. On his blog (sheriffgregsolano.blogspot.com) Solano defends his decision after seeing the local preview screening of the film, which made him LOL several times over.
Losers
County Transparency
Santa Fe County hasn't exactly been walking its talk when it comes to open government. First, as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican, County PIO Stephen Ulibarri e-mailed county employees warning them to be wary of the press. KSFR News Director Bill Dupuy followed up with a letter to the Attorney General's Office asking it to investigate the county for violating its own open-meeting policies. SFR also is on the case; we filed a public-records request for Ulibarri's e-mails from the beginning of the year. However, the county attorney says because of an e-mail server switchover, Ulibarri had the ability to delete e-mails up until May 22, 2008.
Anti-drilling activists
A year ago, when Tecton Energy first announced plans to drill in Santa Fe County, protestors kicked and screamed that neither Tecton nor county government booked large enough venues for the public meetings, which were ultimately attended by more than 700 people. This seems a bit hypocritical in retrospect, considering the community-organized public discussion with County Commissioner-elect Liz Stefanics is limited to 60 people. Contact Deborah Boldt to book your seats:
466-2295.
Future bail bond manager
The Santa Fe County Human Resources department is advertising a job for a new bail bonds case manager. According to the job description, the work includes: "frequent standing, walking, sitting, bending, lifting…fieldwork [in] neighborhoods [that may be] unsafe, especially at night, with possible criminal/gang related activities…evening and weekend hours required." The job's prerequisites: the ability to sniff out marijuana and, oddly, "manual and finger dexterity." The starting salary: a measly $12.60 per hour.