Taos County commission candidates discuss wildfire, jail management and recycling
Five candidates for Taos County Commissioner debated in a forum hosted by the Taos News Thursday night (May 12).
Two commissioners vying for the 1st district, F.R. Bob Romero and Susan Herrera, and two commissioners competing for the 5th district, Ronald Mascareñas and Cristobal Duran, answered a wide range of questions from Taos News Editor John Miller, who asked candidates about topics ranging from recent wildfire concerns to affordable housing.
While the District 2 commission position is also up for grabs, only one candidate, Miguel Romero Jr. (who did not appear for the debate), is running unopposed after Juan Cisneros, a Republican, dropped out of the race. For that reason, all races will be decided during the primary on June 7.
Romero, chairman for El Valle de los Ranchos Water and Sanitation District and a former history and government teacher at UNM–Taos, is competing against Herrera for the District 1 position. “El Valle [Water and Sanitation District] has been a model local government,” he said. “We have consistently completed infrastructure projects on schedule and under budget.”
He also added that he has been helping at least a dozen evacuees from the wildfire and said Taos County needs to be better prepared in the event of a disaster. He said now is the “opportune time to build some more infrastructure, and I have the experience that can help.”
Herrera referred to her background as grant writer for Taos County, indigent fund coordinator and legal financial administrator, and county treasurer. She said she hopes to represent District 1 by bringing her previous experience to the commission. “I understand the complexities of county government,” she said in her opening statement.
Herrera also divulged some personal details from her past — how she has been a widow since the age of 43 and helped to raise her granddaughter after her daughter’s recent death. She has a degree in science and accounting from Northern New Mexico College. She said her personal and professional experience would make her a valuable addition to the commission.
Mascareñas, who is running for District 5 against Cristobal Duran, said he had been approached by various members of his community and encouraged to run for office. “I’m one of the rare [few] that has come back home. Normally, everybody leaves [Taos County] and they don’t come back home,” he said in his opening statement. “I want to share my experiences with people [and] my experiences with different organizations.”
He emphasized the need to increase wages for Taos County workers as a way to keep families in the area. Mascareñas also said he hopes to see additional infrastructure plans — like the proposed veterans cemetery and the agricultural center — come to fruition in the county. He also said he would help to develop more affordable housing in the county.
Duran, who is also competing for the District 5 seat, said it was time for Taos County to “rebrand itself.” He currently sits as the vice-chair on the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Board and said the organization has recently done “a lot of good,” referencing KCEC’s 100 percent daytime solar initiative. “I’d like to expand that to the county, to the town; to unite instead of divide.”
He said the expansion of services for youth was vital to the future of the county, and said he would work with the town and
county to accelerate affordable housing initiatives and the ongoing efforts to reopen a recycling center.
All candidates said they support efforts to renew the recycling program, expand affordable housing options, and find new ways to work with Holy Cross Medical Center, which has worked more closely with the county since it successfully advocated for a mill levy increase and new GRT tax allocation in recent years.
Specific to the hospital, Trujillo noted her experience as the facility’s former finance director, and said there were issues that needed to be addressed regarding “how the Holy Cross hospital is structured.” She said it was important to have a commission board member sit on the hospital’s board, “or have monthly reporting from the hospital to the county.”
Romero said it was unfair to have a hospital board that is unelected when taxpayer dollars help finance the facility. He agreed with Trujillo that the board should have at least one member who is not elected.
Duran said the hospital needs to “develop a plan to be accountable,” as well as a plan that holds all other entities involved accountable. He said he felt raising taxes alone was not going to solve the problem.
Mascareñas said Taos should be looking beyond the current Critical Access status that the hospital currently maintains — meaning the most severely injured patients are usually flown out to other hospitals in the state. Noting the impending steppingdown of current Holy Cross CEO Bill Patten, Mascareñas said he “would like the commission to be part of the hiring of a new CEO.”
Asked about the current conditions of the Taos County jail, candidates agreed there were issues that needed to be addressed. “It’s not one-size-fits-all,” said Duran. “It comes down to having a good administration and recognizing there’s mental health issues, detox issues and criminal issues.”
“Our jail has issues,” admitted Mascareñas. “They are understaffed, overworked and underpaid.” He also said there was very little training for the new jail employees. He said the solution comes down to proper staffing and training.
Trujillo agreed that proper administration was crucial, and said the funding was another issue. “The jail should be a holding center, and not a permanent solution to our community,” she said.
“It is hard to run that operation,” added Romero. “It’s about leadership, and that leadership starts from the top.”
Mascaeñas touched on the importance of first-time home ownership. “We’re all focusing on ‘rent, rent rent,’ which is good, but we’re not doing anything for long-term housing — forever homes for people,” he said, noting that more permanent housing would be a way to keep locals in the area.
Duran said he would want to “look at the tax base, the permitting process, and work with developers.” He also mentioned bringing resources from Los Alamos
National Laboratories to the area to help with sustainability and energy efficiency.
Romero admitted the topic was a “difficult” one, but said the government should be looking at various affordable housing plans, work on updating their housing regulations and work in tandem with homebuilders, who may also have solutions.
“If we have a good home environment for our families, we’re going to succeed as a government,” said Trujillo of affordable housing. She said there needs to be certain “life-skills” taught to residents and the county should develop a plan to “educate those people that are going to be applying for these homes.”
When asked about cannabis legalization, all candidates except Trujillo said they would work with the current legislation to provide for an appropriate amount of retail and grow operations. Trujillo said she had not been a fan of the legalization of cannabis from the start. “I’m at a loss. I don’t know how [legalization] could happen in New Mexico, but it did… Its going to affect the working situation, the jobs, the traffic,” she said.
All candidates agreed that the ongoing Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire is an issue that needs attention, and all said they would direct the appropriate resources toward future fire mitigation if elected.
Primary elections for the candidates will be held on June 7.