Democratic Santa Fe County Commission District 4
For the June 3 New Mexico primary elections, SFR will call up candidates in the CONTESTED races to test their knowledge. The rules for Pop Quiz are as follows:
No research allowed and if they call back later with the right answer, too bad. To see who answered correctly (or came closest), check out our answer key.
Questions:
1. Where are you expecting growth in your district over the next term and how do you plan to tackle it responsibly?
2. Regarding the Buckman Direct Diversion Project: What Los Alamos National Laboratory contaminants do environmental groups think might be in the water?
3. Who won the Battle of Glorieta Pass in March 1862 and why was the battle important?
4. According to the most recent plans for the Santa Fe County Courthouse, how tall would it be and how many feet taller is that than the maximum allowed under city's zoning?
5. Did you agree with current District 4 County Commissioner Paul Campos' policy of holding closed-door meetings (both to the public and the media) with Tecton Energy and anti-drilling advocates on the proposed drilling ordinance?
6. In spring 2007, Campos was one of the most vocal commissioners arguing to block Sheriff Greg Solano's oversight of the county jail. Campos said: 'The way to make the Santa Fe County Adult Correctional Facility a better and safer place is to employ corrections professionals, not law-enforcement professionals.' A year later, do you agree or disagree with Campos' position?
7. In last week's Santa Fe Reporter, SFR tackled prairie-dog relocation along the Rail Runner route, which runs through your district. Are prairie dogs valuable or are they vermin?
Answers:
Kathy Holian, retired LANL scientist, 55
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1. In my district, specifically? I think in District 4 the one place I could see
growth occurring is in that new proposed development that is just off Old Las Vegas Highway and the way I would say that I would tackle growth in a responsible manner is to encourage…Well one thing I really believe in is clustered communities with plenty of open space or park space. I would also make sure that the water issue was well answered.
2. Actually I just talked to a guy who is in the water quality division at Los Alamos just the other day. I think that, you know, certainly there is some plutonium possible. He really didn't feel that the contaminants were really a big problem yet getting into the Rio Grande. Of course, sometimes it takes them a long time to move downstream or through the earth. We certainly should keep a real close eye on what kinds of things would be showing up in the water there.
3. I believe that it was the Union soldiers who won it. And I believe it stopped the advance of the Confederacy.
4. You know, I actually heard those numbers, but I'm not really good at remembering things like that so I would have to look it up. I think it's about 12 or 15 feet taller than it should be under the city code.
5. No, I did not. I feel like he actually was trying to do something to help, but in a case like this the public should be fully involved. And the media.
6. You know, I really can't answer that question. I can just say that in general, though, I believe that it's the right thing to do for the county to run the jail and not to have it run by a private corporation. I think it's something that we need to take care of ourselves, but I really would have to do more research into that to really give a very intelligent answer.
7. They're absolutely valuable! They're part of our ecosystem and they have a very important role to play in our ecosystem. I think that as a matter of fact that probably even what people really object to about them, tunneling and creating burrows and so on, I think it actually plays a very important part in aerating the soil and that sort of thing. And plus, they're remarkable little creatures. They have quite a vocabulary. They make hundreds of different unique sounds that communicate unique ideas. They are part of our ecosystem and I think we should treasure them rather than kill them.
Elizabeth "Dolly" Lujan, nurse and president of the National Hospital and Health Care Employees Union, AFSCME Local 1199, 61
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1. I'm expecting probably going out towards Cañoncito. We need to change
the archaic laws that are now out there for developers. I'm a conservative, even though I'm a liberal, and I'm also a conservationist and I believe if we change the rules and if you're going to be a builder in this town or a developer in this county you need to develop in a sustainable away. You need to develop a home that is going to have solar heating, it's going to have water catchments, it's going to have a way of sustainability for the generations to come. You can't just go out there and build willy-nilly.
2. You know, what they think is probably, maybe some nuclear waste stuff. We don't know. Personally I would think that would be my biggest concern because it could be plutonium, whatever they're working with at that time. This is just my own feelings. They're saying that it could be in the water but it's stuck in the sediment, and don't worry about it but, well, what happens when the sediment releases some of that into the water? That's my big concern. You know what my other concern is? My biggest concern is pharmaceuticals in the water.
3. I don't know who won. I know there was Yankees out there and there was the Rebels, the South. They were out there and they were fighting. I believe the South won that battle, but I'm not positive about that.
4. I don't know. I can't remember the height.
5. Nnnooo. I don't believe in anything that's closed door. I really think that if you are a public servant and your taxes are going into paying your salary, period, those doors should not be closed. You need to include the public. This is an area where the people of the Galisteo Basin area, Eldorado and all in that area, they don't want this drilling to go on. He should not have done that, because it raises a lot of concerns, a lot of questions and a lot of suspicion of what's going on here. Why is he doing this? This is not right. It is not right. That is something that should've been public or they should've had reporters in there to be able to report what the outcome of that was.
6. I think you need to have both. You need to have somebody that knows how to take care of the prisoner and you need somebody that knows the law about the care of that prisoner. I don't know what the difference would be between a correctional professional and a law enforcement professional. A law enforcement professional in my opinion probably has more education than the correctional profession, so therefore you need both.
7. Let me tell you something. Can I tell you a story? They're valuable. You know why? We had this at the hospital, we had this problem, we had prairie dogs all over. And we found out that they were grading them over and killing them, suffocating them. I'm chairperson for health and safety at our hospital and one of the techs that loves prairie dogs, she's an animal lover, she came to me with this and I was really angry about it. So we had a special meeting about prairie dogs and I had the women that go around feeding the prairie dogs and relocating them come over to our hospital to talk to us about prairie dogs and how they have their own culture. You know they even have their bathrooms, kitchen areas and living areas? They're very clean, very intelligent animals. I do NOT consider them vermin.
Mark Marquez, City of Santa Fe fire inspector, 39
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1. The really only area in this district is going to be the Hondo Cañoncito area.
It would have to be in that direction. There's a lot of landowners on Glorieta, so that's where I see that. And how do I plan to manage it? That's something we need to take a good look at because it's got to be tied to water and whether or not the county can provide the services that are needed to that area and that development or subdivision, or whatever's going in. If we cannot provide services, then we should not be doing it.
2. Tritium? And it's going to be right in the marshy areas, right about the same area where they're going to be pumping from. That could become an issue during rainstorms or summer run-offs.
3. That was won by, I believe, it was Medrano. It was very important because at that time the Confederates actually had a flag over Santa Fe.
4. I'm not sure how tall it is, but it is taller than what is allowed. It is shorter than the original proposal, though.
5. Absolutely not. These are meetings for a process that's going on right now; these should all be held in public. The public deserves to know everything going on, especially with the way people didn't even know their mineral rights were in jeopardy or the mineral rights that they had were going to be drilled.
6. A year later I do agree. I do believe that the jail administrator, that should be their position to take care of what's going on within the jail. The sheriff's position should be that of taking care of the sheriff's department, although they do need to cooperate and work together in certain areas.
7. I think they're both in certain situations. I don't believe the middle of a city is the right place to have a colony, but I also don't believe they don't have a place to live. They were here first, but there were other things here first as well. We haven't reintroduced rattlesnakes or anything like that out here. So, it's both. They have a place, but in the middle of city I don't believe is one.
Answer Key (for non-opinion questions)
2. Contaminants that environmentalists are concerned may be in the water include: Americium-241, Cobalt-60, Cesium-137, Plutonium-238, Plutonium-239, Plutonium-240, Strontium-90 and Tritium.
3. Often called the "Gettysburg of the West," the Battle of Glorieta is where Union forces stopped Confederate soldiers cold in their attempt to conquer the Santa Fe Trail and, with it, the West.
4. The most recent plans for the new county courthouse have it standing 52 feet tall. The lot it sits on is only zoned for a maximum of 21 feet and 9 inches.
6. This is a matter of opinion, but state law says that jails "shall be under the control of the respective sheriffs, independent contractors or jail administrators hired by the board of county commissioners."
7. This is also a matter of opinion. However, it should be noted that the sale of prairie dogs was federally banned in 2003.
