In a few weeks, the intersection of Coal Avenue and Second Street may look a bit like a bomb went off. The explanation is more mundane, and the end result should be a big downtown improvement.

The big ditch is part of the Coal Avenue Commons project, and will make Coal Avenue between First and Second streets look like it does between Second and Third streets, with ADA-compliant sidewalks, new benches, landscaping and lighting and a new signal at the intersection of Coal Avenue and Second street.

The first phase of the project was finished last July. The new phase will give the area a unified, more inviting look.

“We’re trying to make it like an attraction for downtown that benefits the businesses,” said Planning and Development Director C.B. Strain. ”The more time people spend downtown, the more money they will spend downtown. The businesses will benefit and the city will benefit. It’s a project that we hope takes off and will allow people to do a lot more and better things downtown.”

But it’s going to get worse before it gets better, and the full construction project will last through the fall, Strain said, as crews work to replace water, sewer and drainage lines under the street, then rebuild the street and sidewalks. Some of the old pipes date back to the 1920s.

The intersection portion will take two to three months. When that’s completed, crews will work down Coal Avenue to First Street for another six or seven months – less if everything goes well and there are no surprises.

During construction that block of Coal Avenue will only be accessible to pedestrians, and the city is working to provide parking on Aztec Avenue for affected businesses, City Manager Maryann Ustick said.

The construction may also push the Arts Crawl over a block for a month or two, and will re-route the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial parade in August.

The new signal at Second and Coal will have what public works types call “scrambling,” which accommodates pedestrians who want to cross the intersection diagonally instead of corner to corner across one street at a time.

“It allows for pedestrian travel in all directions,” Strain said. “It’s supposed to make it safer plus more pedestrian friendly.”

The City Council awarded the $3.5 million contract for the project to Murphy Builders at its March 22 meeting.

Funding will come 95 percent from NMDOT, with the city putting up $175,000 in matching funds. A precise construction schedule will be available in a few weeks, Strain said.

By Holly J. Wagner
Sun Correspondent

Public safety, competency bill a primary focus

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stuck to an assertion she made April 17 — to call for a special legislative session to mull over public safety shortcomings and possibly pass bills that cover a range of issues from the competency of courtroom defendants to updates to the Racketeering act.

The special session kicked off July 18, with no clear ending in sight as of press time.

A sticking point for Lujan Grisham was the failure of Senate Bill 16 to make it to her desk during the 2024 regular session.

SB 16 went to the Senate Committees Committee, where they made some revisions. It was then sent to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee. That committee marked the bill as “Do Not Pass,” and it died that day.

The bill stated that when a defendant, aka the person who is charged with a crime, has their competency questioned by a judge, a competency test must be ordered. Or, if both parties agree, the defendant can be ordered to a treatment program. SB 16 also stated that competency restoration programs would require the state to pay for mental health examinations of defendants.

Lujan Grisham posted a statement on her website about the bill, explaining why she finds it appropriate.

“Under current laws, individuals found not competent largely have charges against them dismissed and are simply given information about services,” she stated. “This approach is not effective, especially for those in crisis who need additional assistance in accepting treatment.”

THE ISSUES WITH ‘COMPETENCY’

In a legal setting, competency is defined as a person’s ability to understand the nature of the charges and proceedings brought against them when they are charged/arrested for a crime.

One of the main talking points slated for the session is how the state defines competency. This is where the term “competency” can take on broad interpretations, such as correlating it directly with mental health issues .

And New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender Social Worker Unit Director K.C. Quirk wants the public to know how complex the issue of a defendant’s competency can be in the courtroom setting.

“The general public doesn’t spend their lives in mental health work. They hear the term competence, and they think mental health, when really the distinction for us is that competence is really about your ability to participate in court,” Quirk said. “Whether or not you can do that is not so much a matter of mental health as it is capacity, and your ability to function may or may not have anything to do with a mental health issue.”

Meanwhile, in Rep. Patty Lundstrom eyes, the wheels of justice move fast and don’t allow for a defendant’s competency to be measured. She worries about the funding and whether Gallup can support such a measure.

“There are definitions in state law now that dictate competency, and apparently what has happened is that if a judge decides that a person is not able to stand trial due to incompetence, they just go ahead and push the case out and it’s done,” Lundstrom said. “The problem with that of course is that there’s a big revolving door then with the same person coming through the system, and each time they come in front of a judge they’re deemed incompetent.”

McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III shared how a judge labeling a defendant incompetent can affect his line of work.

“Right now, Gallup Police Department has a few more cases than I do, but we’re both dealing with individuals who have 15 or 20 pending cases or cases where they’ve been declared incompetent to stand trial,” Maiorano said. “Then we can’t get restitution for victims, we can’t get prosecution, and the person’s not spending any time in jail. Therefore, that’s leading to repeat offenses for these individuals.”

Maiorano said he sees the possible changes as something that could relieve law enforcement when it comes to those repeat offenders.

A LANGUAGE BARRIER

Another problem that can affect a person’s ability to understand court proceedings comes into play when there’s a language barrier.

Lundstrom said the language in courts can be challenging to understand at times, even for a native English speaker, let alone someone who doesn’t speak the language.

“From my point of view, I don’t want to see people classified as incompetent when in fact they’re really not,” Lundstrom said. “It could be something as simple as a language issue. There’s a lot of time I sit in on hearings when these attorneys are going back and forth and I’m like ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’ And I clearly don’t consider myself to be incompetent.”

In all, Lundstrom said competency should be more about whether someone knows the difference between right and wrong.

“Your John Q. Public Citizen knows the difference between right and wrong, but at what point do they get to stand up in front of a judge and say, ‘You know, I just don’t understand this?’” Lundstrom said.

NECESSARY SUPPORT SYSTEMS

When providing the proper care after someone is found incompetent, Lundstrom also worries that the small community of Gallup won’t be able to fulfill those needs.

“I really do believe that in Gallup we don’t have enough of what I call behavioral health support,” she said.

Lundstrom reflected on another time when incompetency was discussed at the state level, and the idea of putting the responsibility of labeling someone as incompetent or competent on local law enforcement was addressed.

“One time they said it’s going to be up to the police officers to determine if someone’s incompetent or not, and I was just swallowing hard thinking ‘Are you kidding me?’ What police officer is going to say ‘OK, this guy is obviously a schizophrenic, I’m going to take him here and let him be triaged?” Lundstrom said. “That’s not what they’re going to do, they’re going to take him to jail because that’s what they know, and they don’t have any other place to take them. And in a place like Gallup, where would we take them?”

Lundstrom said she hopes that if the bill surrounding competency is approved during the session, some time will be taken before it’s passed into law.

“I hope that these bills don’t go into effect immediately so that they can be looked at again in a 60-day session,” she said. “My fear is that the governor wants them approved now, and then she’ll sign them now, and then they’ll go into effect now, and is our system ready to start implementing them immediately?”

Lundstrom doesn’t think the Gallup area is ready for those changes.

“If we’re going to pass these kinds of laws, we need to make sure we have the support systems locally, and that’s going to mean there needs to be more money put into these support systems,” she said.

Each month, Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe recognizes one local teacher within the Gallup area for his or her determination to help students go above and beyond. Prospective teachers are nominated by students who feel they deserve to be recognized.

This month Lucy Montoya, who works at Indian Hills Elementary as a first-grade teacher, is the recipient of February’s “Teacher of the Month” award.

Montoya grew up going to school in Gallup. In an interview with the Sun, she said she spent her summers playing school with her sister, but that wasn’t what led her to teaching.

After high school, she was a preschool assistant at Gallup Catholic School. That decision ultimately led her to get her degree in education from the Gallup branch of the University of New Mexico.

“I got to see some of the most amazing educators teach children,” Montoya said. “That drove me to say I want to do this.”

Once she got her degree – which she worked on while raising two daughters – she started teaching at the Gallup-McKinley County School District.

Montoya said her favorite part about teaching is watching her students grow to love learning.

“Teachers will tell you [about] that moment when the kids get something, they understand it and their eyes are just big and bright,” Montoya explained. “That is always the coolest thing [I’ve] ever seen. I think [my favorite thing about] teaching is working side by side with the students and just really helping them.”

Like many teachers, the pandemic proved to be a challenge for Montoya.

“There’s been a lot of obstacles, things that we’ve never experienced as educators,” Montoya said.  “Last year having to teach remotely, that was super tough. I wasn’t really good with technology and I really had to step up my game to learn and to be innovating to be able to teach online.”

Marie Diaz teaches first and second grade with Montoya as her co-teacher. Diaz said that Montoya handled online teaching well, noting that she even threw a winter party on Zoom so that the students could perform for their parents.

Montoya credits the parents, saying they really helped her when the students were doing remote learning.

“I was in awe of what the parents did,” Montoya said.  “The parents just stepped up and I was honored to be their child’s teacher because I saw that happen. They stood with me and we created a memorable relationship that will always be etched in my heart.”

Diaz said Montoya always makes sure she has a great relationship with her students’ parents. She calls them and always makes sure they’re involved in their child’s education.

Another teacher at Indian Hills also noticed Montoya’s dedication to her students.

“She is just a teacher that goes above and beyond all the time,” Melanie Van Drop, a third-grade teacher, said.  “I think she really stands out because she just does so much for her students and her families.”

Van Drop also noted that Montoya is a great asset to her school.

“She’s really the glue that holds our school together,” Van Drop explained.  “If there’s an emergency, she’s our go-to person.”

Montoya has been the head teacher at Indian Hills for nine years now. As the head teacher she gives direction to the staff when the principal is gone and she provides support for them as well. She also handles emergency and safety procedures.

Jimi De La Riva, a preschool teacher at Indian Hills, also spoke on Montoya’s ability to bring people together.

“I appreciate her because she really works on creating a sense of community and belonging not only in her classroom but in the school and with her coworkers.”

When Montoya received the award, she was overcome with emotion. She said she chose to keep her mask on for the pictures because she knew she would cry.

“I was so honored,” she said about receiving the award.

When asked what the hardest part about teaching is, Montoya said it’s the feeling that you’re not doing enough as a teacher.

“The hardest part about teaching is you want to give them everything,” Montoya said through her tears. “You want them to be able to learn everything they can so the hardest part is a student is struggling and I really want to help them….”

To nominate a local educator for Teacher of the Month, fill out a nomination form at Camille’s Sidewalk Café at 306 S. Second St. in Gallup.

By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent

Rising prices, increased demand raise concerns for GFD

During a medical emergency, getting to the hospital as fast as possible can be key. That’s when ambulance services come in handy. But what happens when that service cost is too much for a patient to cover?

According to GoodRx.com, the nation’s average cost of an ambulance transport with basic services was $940, and almost $1,300 for a ride with advanced life support.

Gallup has two ambulance services: one private service through MedStar and the public service through the Gallup Fire Department.

In an interview with the Sun, Gallup’s Fire Chief Jon Pairett explained the prices his department charges.

A basic life support call, which happens when emergency medical service staff only transport a patient to a local hospital, costs $512 for the first mile, and then it’s $12.75 for each additional mile. On the other side of things, EMS personnel can provide an advanced life support level 2, which occurs when someone needs immediate potentially life-saving medication or attention. That service is priced out at  $878 dollars for the first mile, and $12.75 for any additional miles.

For some people, that cost is covered at least partially by a private insurance company or Medicaid. Medicaid covers about  30% of the cost,  but what happens when someone can’t cover the full amount they owe? Well, cities and EMS staff lose out on some valuable revenue. Revenue that could be spent on supplies for the fire department and EMS personnel.

WHAT GFD PLANS TO DO ABOUT IT

At the June 25 Gallup City Council meeting, Pairett introduced a program that could help bring some money back to the city when it comes to ambulance transportation.

The Medicaid Ambulance Supplement program is a federal program that was introduced in New Mexico about two and a half years ago. The program helps publicly owned or operated ambulance services get extra payments. These payments help cover the gap between what it actually costs to transport patients in emergencies and what they received from Medicaid, mileage, and other reimbursements.

The program is only available to patients with Medicaid insurance.

Pairett told the council that eight other ambulance services currently use the program in New Mexico, and they’ve received a total of $11 million, which equals out to a little over $1 million each.

Right now, Pairett and the GFD  are only in the first steps of joining the program. Pairett explained that the GFD had received a request for proposal from a company that would help them get the program started and recuperate lost revenue.

The company is the Public Consulting Group, and they actually helped build the Medicaid Ambulance Supplement program.

The GFD will only need to hand over their data showing how many Medicaid patients they transport via ambulances, and Public Consulting Group will submit the city’s program application to the federal government.

But there is one slight downside: the city will have to buy into the program. Pairett couldn’t provide an exact amount, but he suggested that the city may have to pay about $400,000 to get into the program.

On the flip side, Pairett estimated that the city could see a revenue increase of almost $1 million. The fee the city would pay will also be refundable.

“This helps us recuperate some additional funds that we didn’t have access to before without it putting more burden on the citizens,” he said.

Overall, Pairett sees the program as a major plus for the city and taxpayers.

“The reason why it’s necessary is because right now the taxpayers are paying for the fire department to be here to respond to fire calls and medical calls and any emergency situations,” he said. “We’re never going to be making a profit; people don’t run a fire department or an ambulance service to make a profit. But the costs of providing these services are going up.”

The council approved GFD’s RFP. Pairett said he would be coming back to council in the next couple months to explain the program and Public Consulting Group’s findings in more detail.

By Molly Ann Howell

Managing Editor