The McKinley County Board of Commissioners will have a special meeting to discuss a response to the Environmental Review Act as well as the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The first item on the meeting agenda is a discussion and potential approval of a resolution in opposition to House Bill 206, The Environmental Review Act.

The second item is a discussion and approval of a resolution preserving the Second Amendment, and declaring McKinley County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.

The meeting will take place Wednesday 9 am at the County Courthouse, 207 W. Hill St.

February 2019 Person of the Month

Becoming a Hall of Fame sports player requires tremendous sacrifice. Professional and personal moments pass by as a player trains and plays the game. But they press on in hopes of achieving the goal of every player – the championship title.

Joey Barreras, 49, admitted to missing some family time while training and playing softball and called it “lost time.” But he also said the hard work paid off when he was nominated, unanimously voted for, and inducted into the United States Speciality Sports Association Hall of Fame for men’s competitive softball Feb. 9.

Barreras spoke with the Sun Feb. 12 about his accomplishment, and what it meant to him, and to the rest of Gallup.

“Everyone in town knows me, so it’s a big deal to me,” he said. “This is a Gallup award. This is for everyone I know.”

BACKGROUND

Barreras hails from Albuquerque, and his softball career began when he was 15. He said that he started playing the sport with his father when they moved to Gallup.

“My dad was one of the most well-known players in the area,” Barreras said. “One of the best power hitters.”

His father, George Barreras, made a name for himself in softball despite having, according to Joey Barreras, only two and a half fingers on one hand.

In all, Barreras said he spent eight years training and playing with his father. Five years ago, he introduced his son to the sport.

Despite never playing baseball before moving to Gallup, Barreras said his interest in the sport peaked when he attended Gallup High School. He picked the sport for one of his classes because it was the only option available to him.

This led to Barreras joining the Captain Ds Outlaws in 1985, staying onboard until 1998. In that timespan, the Outlaws were Class D State Champions, placed in state six times; two-time Triple Crown State Champions; and were an All World Team in 1992.

Overall, Barreras’s accomplishments in high school included pulling in the most wins in one year as a pitcher. He was also the varsity starter all four years of high school, named 1st Team All State at two positions, and was a New Mexico State Champ in both home runs and RBIs.

After graduating from Gallup High School, Barreras enrolled in New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. His softball career continued in Hobbs, where he was made the full-time pitcher.

However, attending New Mexico Junior College may not have been his original plan. Barreras was offered a scholarship to Mississippi State in 1991, which he turned down in order to stay close to home and his family.

Despite the successful career he has had, Barreras admits that this decision is one he still thinks about.

“That turned out to be one of my biggest regrets because that year Mississippi State went to the College World Series,” Barreras said.

REFLECTING AND LOOKING AHEAD

Barreras has been teaching across the state for 21 years now, and has been an English teacher in Gallup for the past 14.

“I’m a Bengal, and this is where I wanted to be,” Barreras said of his decision to return to Gallup.

In addition, he has coached his children on his own time, including his daughter. To build on this, Barreras said he will be coaching an age 11 and under league this summer.

Becoming a coach in softball feels like a good way to build on 34 years of playing the sport, Barreras said. He added that coaching his daughter is the natural next step after he retires from playing.

“My daughter has said she wants to play softball at UCLA,” he said.

When asked where decades of playing the sport has taken him, Barreras said that he has traveled from coast to coast and border to border across the United States. Standouts for him include California, Texas, and Arizona.

Overall, Barreras’s achievements from those decades of playing include being a 14-time state champion, four national titles, being named an All-American seven times, two national championships in men’s fastpitch, and five state titles in men’s fastpitch with the Gallup Storm and Las Cruces Wolfpack teams.

“We’re still very close,” he said when asked about the teammates he has played with.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

The USSSA Hall of Fame was established in 1995, and two people are inducted each year. Players must be nominated by members of the Hall of Fame, and then they are voted on by 12 state directors.

Seven of the 12 directors have to vote yes for a player to be inducted. When he was nominated the first time, Barreras said he received only six of the 12 votes, so he was passed over.

But this year, Barreras made history by being the first player to be voted into the Hall of Fame with a unanimous 12 votes.

Barreras spoke about how other players who are inducted into the Hall of Fame pepper their speeches with jokes to loosen themselves up. But when he was given his moment to speak on Feb. 9, the emotion of the moment was overwhelming.

“I’d timed my speech before at seven minutes,” Barreras said. “But when I got up to the podium and started, within about 30 seconds I was bawling.”

As he let the tears flow during his speech, Barreras said he noticed the crowd also seemed emotional, as if he touched their hearts in some way. And when he finished, he said one of the directors gave him a powerful remark.

“He told me, ‘That was the best speech we’ve ever had. You told it like it is,’” Barreras said.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

Project to correct water lines, fix surface

During its regular meeting Feb. 12, the Gallup City Council discussed a proposed reconstruction design for the alleyway south of Coal Avenue between Second and Third streets. Several water line breaks have plagued that location in what city Public Works Director Stanley Henderson views as a string of bad luck.

When asked by District Four Councilor Fran Palochak if this project would complete the work on the Coal Avenue alley, Henderson said this is the second phase of the project. The first phase was done on the alley stretching from First to Second streets, and the second phase will run between Second and Third streets.

“It is imperative this work is done because of the business owners [near the water line breaks],” Palochak said.

The council received two proposals from DePauli Engineering & Surveying, one for utility reconstruction and one for surface reconstruction. Both proposals include the design, bidding assistance, and construction administration for their respective areas.

According to Henderson, the electric design for the project will be addressed by the city’s electric department at a later date. He added that this project is listed on the 2018-2019 Community Improvement Plan.

Previously, the city designated $35,000 for the design, and DES’s proposal costs a little over $78,000 for surface reconstruction, while the water and wastewater reconstruction would cost just more than $80,000.

Mayor Jackie McKinney said this leaves the council short about $123,000 and asked where that money could be obtained.

Henderson said that most of the funds could be taken from other budgets $43,000. could be taken from the general fund for surface reconstruction, and an additional $45,000 could be taken for utility reconstruction from the Water Department Fund. Also, about $17,000 could be taken from both the city’s 506 water fund and 508 wastewater fund and added to the project to make up the balance.

Additionally, Dist. 3 Councilor Yogash Kumar asked whether the funds could be taken from the city’s 206 environmental fund, and was told that was another possibility.

City Manager Maryann Ustick said that a proposal for this project could be drafted and presented at the next regular meeting.

When Dist. 1 Councilor Linda Garcia asked when the project could get started, Henderson said it can begin as soon as the resolution passes.

In all, the city council appeared enthusiastic about getting the project underway.

“I’m glad we put this on the strategic improvement plan,” McKinney said.

In addition to the construction of the alley between Second and Third streets, the council also discussed a $35,000 change order to the alleyway project between First and Second streets, or phase one of the alley project. The change order was justified by the length of the project, construction, and CAD drawings.

Both items were approved with a 4-0-0 vote.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

Gallup Middle College weighs in on proposed legislation

The fate of future enrollment in charter schools across New Mexico looks bleak if Senate Bill 1 passes and becomes law.

But for now, the bill is in its infancy and can die before it even reaches the governor’s desk.

SB 1 was introduced during the first session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature Jan. 16 by Senators Mimi Stewart, Gay G. Kernan, and William P. Soules.

The Education Committee recommended that the bill pass Jan. 28, albeit with some amendments. As of Feb. 7, the revised bill is pending approval from the Senate Finance Committee.

The bill’s intention is to make changes to the public school funding formula; change the definition of school-age persons; and require performance-based budgeting, among other aspects.

However, the most prominent feature of SB 1 is that it would limit adjustments to school sizes and the funding that goes with it, and place a statewide limit or cap on enrollment in charter schools if the bill passes as it stands.

Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, who is on the Senate Finance Committee, said that he will wait for the final version of SB 1 before deciding whether he will vote on it.

Dr. Robert Hunter, CEO of Middle College High School, spoke with the Sun Feb. 5 about the updates to SB 1.

Hunter said SB 1 was amended after Jan. 25 to take out the language that would have put a cap on charter school enrollment. At the time of the discussion, there were around 26,500 students enrolled in charter schools across New Mexico. The bill would have limited total statewide enrollment to 27,000 students.

“[The charter cap] got removed because of very strong opposition across the board,” Hunter said in a phone call. “Families felt they should have a choice where their students go to school.”

According to Hunter, there were people at the legislative session who spoke out passionately against SB 1 saying that charter schools are providing a better service than traditional schools, and they have a better track record of success with at-risk students.

“Given the results that charter schools give, they should not be limited,” he said.

Hunter said Feb. 7 that the Public Education Commission voted unanimously to put the Middle College under the state charter next school year, after years of affiliation with Gallup-McKinley County Schools.

Meanwhile, the second aspect of SB 1 that generated intense discussion involves funding. Hunter said that this language is still present in the bill, but constituents are vocal about wanting it removed.

To understand the impact that this language could have, Hunter said that it is important to know how state schools receive their funding.

Each student generates a certain dollar amount value. School districts such as GMCS can increase student enrollment to receive more money because they do not have an enrollment cap.

Charter schools have their own enrollment caps in place, however. And they do not have access to the same funding streams that larger districts have, such as federal grants. This is what defines a charter school, according to Hunter.

School districts can hire employees for services such as food and transportation, whereas charter schools are required to contract for these services.

To offset this difference, charter schools receive more state funding than school districts do. But there is still a sizable difference in school funding, Hunter said.

“Charter schools were receiving half of all money going into education,” he said. “What really mattered to us in charter schools was to do a comparison [of statewide funding].”

The question that Hunter said he and others wanted to know was, on average, how much money does a charter school student receive in comparison to a non-charter school student.

According to Hunter, charter school students get an average of $2,600 less per student than a traditional school student receives across the state.

According to previous interview with the Sun, GMCS Superintendent Mike Hyatt, said that MCHS receives around $12,500 per student while other GMCS schools receive $7,500 per student.

Because of this difference, charter schools are designed to have smaller enrollment numbers.

And it’s something that Munoz doesn’t necessarily support.

“The [enrollment] cap will come off the schools this year and the small school subsidies are going to be dropped,” Munoz said in a Feb. 6 phone call. “They need to be dropped because I don’t think any kid is worth more than another.”

But it would not just be individual schools affected by SB 1 in its original state, Hunter said. School districts with enrollment fewer than 400 students would have been affected, as well, which GMCS falls under.

“It cuts their budgets, and some schools wouldn’t be able to operate,” Hunter said. “You can’t take a hit that big and continue functioning.”

Hyatt said Jan. 31 that he hopes the bill would control some of the issues that charter schools have experienced over the past several years. He added that the district will wait and see what happens with the legislation before taking any action.

While charter schools do receive more state funding per student, there have been a variety of problems that cause them to stumble, Hyatt said, referring to Uplift Community School that shuttered in 2017, due to having no student wellness program, not complying with legal provisions where the school was not exempt, and no required teacher evaluations were done.

“Many [charter schools] fail due to lack of experience to leadership and oversight,” he said in a written statement. “We have seen many charter schools locally and across the state in the news for years because of mismanagement of funds, breaking of state and public education rules and regulations, and some for taking advantage of the NM education system.”

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent