In a campaign season filled with distortions, half truths and outright lies, the least I can do is correct my own mistake. I made a factual error in my last column by writing that state House District 31 had three Republican candidates and no Democrat. I missed Vicky Estrada-Bustillo, Democratic candidate for that seat. The […]
Commentary
Opinion
Keeping Affordable Housing Affordable
I’m haunted by an online post I saw recently. A young woman said she’d been homeless for months and living in her car. She had lost her apartment because she couldn’t afford it. “Yes, I’m working,” she informed readers. A Good Samaritan had given her a camper shell, and she found a place to park […]
Opinion
Letter to the Editor: City Charter Amendments Need Review by Blue Ribbon Task Force
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the authors. You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org Foundational changes got minimum hearings, little public input. The recent changes proposed to the City Charter by several City Councilors require more public input and education than allowed by the current council president. These changes would reduce the votes needed […]
Posted inCommentary, Letters to the Editor, Placitas
Letter to the Editor: USFS Placitas, Sandia Burn Plans Need 2nd Look
This letter is submitted as reader commentary by the author. Have an opinion? Of course you do! Send it to editor@sandovalsignpost.com Dear Editor: I am contacting you in regards to the proposed “Controlled Burn” that the US Forest Service is proposing in the canyon directly south of Placitas and the San Antonio de las Huertas […]
Opinion
Tax Foundation Calls New Mexico Tax Ranking Respectable
Let’s start with the good news: New Mexico is number one on an important ranking. We have the nation’s lowest property taxes, and they’ve been the lowest for a long time. The reason goes back in history to the 1800s when New Mexicans lost land to tax sales because they didn’t understand American taxation imposed […]
Opinion
The Most Inconsequential of Felony Convictions
Fifty years ago, President Richard Nixon, facing three articles of impeachment over the Watergate break-in and wiretapping scandal, resigned from office. Pardoned just a month later, Nixon would spend the rest of his years in quiet retirement, always tainted by Watergate. Thirty years ago, a special counsel was appointed to review President Bill Clinton’s involvement […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Commentary
Letter to the Editor: Charter changes could allow a minority party to “game the election system”
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the author. You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org Prior to 2013, Albuquerque had an election system that allowed a minority of voters to elect a candidate even if a strong majority of voters wanted someone else. In most elections, like for state legislature or governor or county commission, there […]
Opinion
Letter to the Editor: R-45 Undermines Public Safety and Erodes Community Trust
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the author. You can submit your own: editor@citydesk.org As soon as Monday, the Albuquerque City Council will consider amending our city’s long-established immigration protection policies under the auspices of public safety. But this misguided amendment will have the exact opposite effect, weakening police work while opening the door […]
Opinion
Farm Bill Advocates to Congress: Get a Move On
The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture recently delivered a draft farm bill. It was eight months after the old farm bill, about to expire, had to be extended. This $1.5 trillion, 942-page tome has a lot to like, but it’s missing some key provisions important to New Mexico. And it’s hung up in partisan scrapping. […]
Opinion
Do Your Research Before You Vote
“We need bold solutions, drastic overhauls and serious reforms,” writes a candidate for the Legislature in an op-ed article. Bold, huh? Boy, that’s new and exciting. Oh, wait. It isn’t. It’s a standard cliché for everybody who runs for office. This particular candidate wrote an entire op-ed filled with platitudes and generalizations. Not a single […]