Robert Baca will offer an open ear to the community
The new face on the McKinley County Commission will be Robert Baca’s.
Baca, who has been in the Department of Public Safety for over 27 years and a magistrate judge appointed twice by Governor Susana Martinez, as well as an associate judge in Zuni for a little over a year, says when it comes to today’s challenges, he wants to spend some time getting up to speed on what the current District Three commissioner is working on.
He plans to meet with Bill Lee to get his point of view and see if he can follow where he’s going or maybe tweak it a little bit.
Baca said he doesn’t have any burning ideas. He wants to collect first hand information to find out where the problems are. “It’s a question of going back in and finding out what are the reasons that these things are happening.”
One of the things he is referring to is the closure of the Tri-State generating plant.
“We’ve lost about 107 jobs, so far. And we may lose the rest of them by the end of the year, is my understanding,” he said.
He also mentioned Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital as an issue that he wants to learn more about.
Gross receipts taxes are high on the list of concerns, too.
Baca, who has spent only a little time in retail, working at meat markets when he was in high school, including the late Senator John Pinto’s, says it’s important to re-establish local shops.
“Buy, Build, Believe,” he said. “We’ve got to start helping the mom and pop stores.”
Is he looking forward to taking on these challenges?
“You know I am. I really am,” he told the Gallup Sun. “I was overwhelmed by the support that I had. I was really, really amazed.” Baca said he especially wanted to thank his family and his wife Ruth for being there with him throughout the election.
By Beth Blakeman
Associate Editor
