What an Attitude They Have
Reader Contribution
1/11/2008
The meeting at the Rio Rancho City Council chambers held this week regarding SAD 7 was very revealing. It really struck me that the Council had the attitude they did. They just didn't seem to care. In fact, they acted angry, antagonistic, and just plain rude. How can a body elected to serve the citizens of this town be so indifferent to what is good for the residents. I'm not just talking about the SAD. ALL residents have a stake in what's going on right now. If the council is allowed to get away with forcing residents to pave their roads, and they get away with charging as much as they want to, everyone has something to lose. It's possible that some day, if the Council determines that they need money to put lighting in a neighborhood, they'll charge those people for it - and the price tag might be very high.
Our City Council is out of control. The effects of their actions regarding the SAD 7 issue will be long reaching, and possibly very costly and destructive to all citizens. We need to think twice before we let them proceed with SAD 7, and also the Willowcreek building project. Both of these issues are outrageous and scary. We all need to get organized, and realize that the Council is not looking out for our best interest. They're driven by money only, and it's our money they're using.
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Howard Balmer- Where are you?
By Mike Patrick
Howard Balmer has got to be the most talented guy ever elected to the Rio Rancho city council. He does nothing, says very little, and still gets paid. Way to work the system Howard! We've got to hand it to you, you've really got it figured out. You don't even have an information page on the city website. We know, we checked, it's right here: Howard's Page.
Don't get us wrong, we have actually heard you speak. You spoke out during the flooding to say you had ridden on an ATV to get a good look at the damage. You spoke out at several meetings with angry citizens to tell them they needed to suck it up and accept the SAD you were planning on shoving down their throats. And you spoke out more than once to chastise citizens for not spending more money in the city to generate gross receipts tax; did you ever once speak up to say something positive or productive?
How do you get away with it Howard? How have you kept from being run out of town on a rail? We've sat in more than one city council meeting where you have angered the citizens and miffed the council; that seems just enough to get people to remember you actually exist as a council member - that's about it.
Sorry Howard, we're not impressed. We hope the citizens of Rio Rancho will not put you back in office, because frankly Howard, you don't do your job. You're no where to be found. You hide from the public, and we bet we can count on one hand how many of your constituents can actually remember your name. It's a shame. We think you should buy Marilyn's book "How to attract attention no matter how useless your comments are." You'd benefit greatly.
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Is Councilor Naranjo in Tune with Rio Rancho?
By Mike Patrick
8/11/2006
When you get down to it, Rio Rancho is nothing without the people that live here. In fact, the city's number one source for revenue is gross receipts tax, with the second greatest source being property taxes. Most of our city councilors know that each and every citizen should be considered when making decisions that impact lives. Even so, some of them still just don't get it.
In a recent email exchange I had with councilor Larry Naranjo, it became clear to me that the recent floods in certain neighborhoods, and the fact that many citizens are losing their homes and property, didn't make enough of an impact on him to stop his request for the repairing of cracks in already paved roads. In fact, councilor Naranjo was brave enough to suggest the crack patching request during a recent council meeting that was packed with angry citizens that had just had their homes flooded!
As incredible as it sounds, Naranjo feels that assigning millions of dollars to make roads look pretty and avoiding the clicking sound his constituents hear while driving through their neighborhoods is more important than directing millions of gallons of water away from the living rooms of tax paying citizens. I would suggest that a proper flood control infrastructure may constitute a better use of funds. While it's true that we can't let roads fall apart, and there are quite a few roads in need of patching, right now might not be the best time to make those repairs - not just yet.
Rio Rancho has had to spend millions of dollars recently to make repairs on roads that aren't fully developed in areas that have virtually no flood control infrastructure. This is crazy. What needs to be done councilor Naranjo is the "City of Vision" needs to get glasses. What needs to be done is a lot of major infrastructure work to control flooding and protect existing structures. Also, it might help if some of our city leaders sought to help all citizens, and not just those in their districts. While I understand that you need to advocate for your district, it's unseemly to do so for "cracks" when others are in such a bad situation. Road cracks Mr. Naranjo? Come on.