The Belen High School Class of 2012 is giving you the chance to sink some of your elected officials and others into a tank full of water.

During the Valencia County Fair this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the fairgrounds in Belen, citizens will get a chance to toss balls at a target to dunk locals, like Belen City Councilor Jerah Cordova, into a tank full of water.

Below you will find a list of “SPLASH TARGETS” that have verbally committed to be in the dunk tank at the Valencia County Fairgrounds this weekend:

Friday, August 27
2:00pm Jamie Goldberg
3:00pm Jamie Goldberg
4:00pm Alonzo Baldonado
5:00pm Sheriff Rene Rivera
6:00pm Deputy Chris Trujillo
7:00pm Jerah R. Cordova
8:00pm Pauline Gallegos

Saturday, August 28
12:00pm Ron Lopez, Esq.
1:00pm Ron Lopez, Esq.
2:00pm Jim Danner
3:00pm Lawrence Romero
4:00pm Louis Burkhard
5:00pm Robert Chavez
6:00pm Becky Rivera
7:00pm James Lawrence Sanchez
8:00pm James Lawrence Sanchez

Sunday, August 29
12:00pm Angela Gabaldon
1:00pm Judge Danny Hawkes
2:00pm Rudy Gallegos
3:00pm Phillip “Shorty” Romero
4:00pm Phillip “Shorty” Romero
5:00pm Belinda Martinez
6:00pm Deputy Paul Gonzales

Below is a list of local businesses that have already made generous donations to the fundraising event:

Better Belen
Valencia County News-Bulletin
Mike Griego, Esq. & Larry Guggino, Esq.
Daylight Electric & Appliance Inc.
Bent Computers
Honorable Ronnie Torres
Belen Goju Ryu Karate
NM Travertine
Ned’s Pipe and Steel
Rita’s New Mexican Restaurant
Po’ Boy’s Smoke Shack
Pete’s Café
Chucky’s Wings
Pedro G. Rael, Trial Lawyer, P.C.
Norman McDonald, Esq.
Toby’s Doors
Long John Silvers
Loyal Order of Moose Belen Lodge #1680
David C. Chávez, Esq.
Charlie’s Paint and Body
Sisneros Bros. MFG
Amavalise Jaramillo, Esq.
Mark Jarner, Esq.
Dr. Roland K. Sánchez
www.youravon.com/mjsanchez
Steven M. Chávez, Esq.

For more information or to donate, call 966-0116.

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New Mexico’s state auditor Hector Balderas sent a letter earlier this month offering to help the City of Belen take a closer look at its books during its annual audit.

Despite an effort by Councilor Jerah R. Cordova to get a more comprehensive look at the city’s finances to assess the legality of specific transactions and to help the city figure out what went wrong in previous years that led to a more than $3.5 million deficit, there’s been little positive reception to looking into some transactions.

“I appreciate the Council’s interest in the City’s financial audit process and my office stands ready to assist you should you need additional guidance,” Balderas writes in response to Cordova’s effort to engage the state auditor in this year’s annual audit process.

Cordova has requested this year’s audit include an assessment of specific transactions, such as leases of city property, among other things.

The audit will take place next month and primarily assess the 2009-2010 fiscal year, which closed on June 30.

Filed under Budget, Reform | Email Me

New Mexico Development Partners has restored its corporate license with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission back to “in good standing” after the license had been revoked in April 2009.

The license had been revoked for “failure to report.”

It was back in good standing not long after the revocation came to light in the spring.

Filed under Rancho Cielo | Email Me

Coast Range Investments, the company wanting to build the 20,000-home Rancho Cielo development west of Los Chavez, told the Belen City Council on Monday night that he agrees the city council should repeal two ordinances that are tying up nearly $3 million in economic development money.

Discussion about repealing the two ordinances and terminating two other agreements related to the development came up during a city council meeting in late July. During that meeting, Councilor Jerah R. Cordova recommended repealing the two ordinances and terminating one of the two agreements.

Jim Wood of Coast Range Investments said because the two ordinances link the money directly to Signet Solar, which no longer has an interest in building in Belen, he would be fine with the two ordinances being repealed. Repealing the ordinances frees up $3 million in a legislative appropriate that can be used for “a solar project” in Belen.

Wood, however, urged the city council and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) to leave the other agreement in place. That agreement lays out the responsibilities of the city, NMDOT and New Mexico Development Partners (also known as Coast Range Investments) for the North Belen Interchange improvements.

Construction on the North Belen interchange halted earlier this summer because the project ran out of funding after New Mexico Development Partners failed to place its portion of the project’s funding in escrow.

Tamara Haas, an NMDOT district engineer, said regardless of what the city does with the North Belen interchange agreement, NMDOT considers the agreement to have concluded. She said NMDOT will seek a new agreement with New Mexico Development Partners should the developer come up with the money to complete the interchange.

Wood reiterated to the city council on Monday night that New Mexico Development Partners is committed to completing the interchange project.

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Valencia County Commissioner David Medina took a stand last night against flood map changes that mean more homeowners throughout the county will be required to buy flood insurance.

The issue has been contentious over the past couple of months, as the Valencia County Commission demanded answers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about why the agency is including more Valencia County homes in the designated floodplain this year.

The county commission went so far as to arrange to have FEMA officials out of Texas fly to New Mexico to answer questions about the flood map at a county commission meeting. The issue even caught the attention of United States Rep. Harry Teague, who held a special forum to discuss it with his constituents.

Inclusion of a home in the floodplain means the homeowner will have to buy flood insurance. In many instances, however, mortgage lenders require flood insurance anyway, and sometimes at three times the cost of what the homeowner will pay if included on the flood maps.

High-risk areas in the floodplain pay more than low-risk areas.

Medina said he couldn’t vote to force residents not paying for flood insurance to start paying for flood insurance.

Commissioner Ron Gentry, who was one of four votes to approve the new flood maps, said the county commission was forced to vote to approve it.

Had the commission not approved the flood maps, it would mean many homeowners would have to continue buying flood insurance anyway, just at a higher rate. That would penalize homeowners already in the floodplain, Gentry said.

Disapproval also could have increased property development costs because new mortgages would have the added amount tacked on, which some commissioners feared would harm growth.

Filed under Economy, Reform | Email Me

The City of Belen will receive more than $468,000 in gross receipts tax revenue in August, up $33,000 over projections.

The city needs to receive at least $435,000 each month to afford the bills. The new budget is based an expectation of $435,000 in gross receipts tax revenue each month.

The city has also been notified that the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) has given final approval to the city’s current fiscal year budget.

In its approval letter, DFA cautioned the city that the budget is tight.

“Your projected cash balance of $3,142 above our 1/12th reserve requirement is extremely low. Despite your diligent efforts in coming within budget, careful monitoring and aggressive revenue collections is recommended to avoid financial problems in the future,” the letter reads.

Filed under Budget, Economy | Email Me

All telephone calls made to Belen City Hall and several other city buildings are recorded and stored for 90 days, a fact disclosed only to those who call into the city’s general telephone line.

On Monday night, the city council voted to approve a more than 80-page information technology policy to better manage the city’s technological infrastructure.

An admission of the recording, the first time several of the councilors had heard of it, was included in one sentence on page 65 of the policy:

In-coming and out-going calls for City Hall, Police, Fire, and Municipal Court are recorded.

Councilor Jerah R. Cordova, who noticed the sentence while reading the policy prior to Monday’s council meeting, expressed concern about the violation of citizens’ privacy.

According to the city’s information technology director, Lawrence Kaneshiro, the city has been recording all telephone calls in city hall and three departments since the city set up its new telephone system approximately a year ago.

The recording was included with the new system as a protective measure after an employee in one department had received threatening telephone calls.

Kaneshiro said the city records all telephone calls, whether they originate in city hall among staff or outside from the public. The recorded calls are stored for 90 days before they’re purged.

Cordova asked if the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) allowed a citizen to request to listen to the recorded telephone calls.

“If a citizen came in with a request to listen to all of the phone calls between the mayor and the city manager during the past 90 days, can they listen to them?” Cordova asked.

The city attorney wasn’t sure if IPRA allowed it because it wasn’t a physical record.

According to IPRA, public records are defined to include tapes, recordings and “other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics.”

The issue is relevant because Councilor Lorenzo Carrillo wants to establish an anonymous tip line for the public to report illegal water lines and water use. The city has other tip lines already.

Filed under Infrastructure, Reform | Email Me

Belen Mayor Rudy Jaramillo announced at the end of Monday’s city council meeting that police officers will continue to take their vehicles home, after at least one city councilor wanted the vehicles to stay in Valencia County.

In late July, Councilor Mary T. Aragon questioned whether or not police officers should continue to take their vehicles to their homes outside of Valencia County because the city continues to experience budget problems.

Aragon requested that the issue be placed on an agenda in August for a vote of the city council. That didn’t happen.

Instead, Jaramillo made his announcement Monday night that he believed the decision could be made at the administrative level.

Aragon and Jaramillo exchanged words, with Aragon accusing Jaramillo of potentially exceeding his authority and not living up to the spirit of democracy by making a unilateral decision.

Jaramillo defended the action, saying the council decided to fund the take-home vehicles in this year’s budget. He also said he gave the former police chief, Mike Chavez, his word that police officers would get to keep their take-home vehicles.

Had the council wished to rein in take-home vehicles it could have done so as a part of budget discussions and the multiple discussions and votes before getting the city’s final budget in place.

In fact, in May during the budget workshop, when the issue came up, no one expressed opposition to a deal between Jaramillo and Chavez that meant Chavez would resign and his salary would be put toward continuing to allow police officers to take their vehicles home, even if they lived in places like Albuquerque, Socorro or Mountain Air.

Under the Torres administration, the take-home policy was intended as an added benefit and recruitment tool for officers. Under the current budget woes, however, some in the public and in city government have advocated taking them away to save money.

Filed under Budget, Police | Email Me

The Belen City Council meeting packet distributed to the city councilors for tonight’s meeting includes the agenda, a proclamation for F&E Plaza, a proclamation for literacy week, Rio Metro transit route proposals, PNM rate increase information, a resolution concerning the city’s information technology policy, a letter concern fire department hazardous material training, two resolutions related to the hardship waiver program, and a note about an auction list.

The meeting is at 6:00pm at Belen City Hall, located at 100 South Main Street in Belen.

Filed under Archive | Email Me

The Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education said on Tuesday night they aren’t ready to announce any budget cuts, even with cuts looming from the state.

The board sought to halt “rumors” around the district about where the cuts might be made.

Board President Jamie Goldberg said no decisions were made on where to cut after last week’s budget workshop, where board members heard more details of the statewide cuts and began considering how to deal with them.

“We need to look multiple years down the road to keep the best quality of education for our students, number one, and, number two, take care of our employees,” he said.

Goldberg said the good news is that the federal government approved a new infusion of cash for school districts across the country, which might supplement some of the money the district was going to have to cut.

According to United States Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s office, the federal government will pump $126 million into Medicaid in New Mexico, freeing up an equal amount within the state’s budget to close the state’s budget deficit. It’ll also provide an additional $65 million for New Mexico’s school districts.

Bingaman said the money will prevent teacher layoffs.

Board Member Julian Luna echoed Goldberg’s sentiment, saying he was “digesting proposals” for possible budget cuts.

“We want to ensure our students get the best education they can,” he said.

In order to manage the budget, Luna said everyone needs to continue to help reduce spending.

“We’re going to be very conservative in how we spend our money over the next few years,” he said.

Board Member Dolores Quintana was a bit more blunt.

“We’re not going to promise a lot of things,” she said. “We’re going to do the best we can.”

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