Gallup’s better angels provide nourishment in troubled times

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Food Drive hosted by St Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church, 1121 Lincoln Ave., in conjunction with the City of Gallup, was a substitution event for the MLK Jr. Day walk this year, because of COVID-19.

Spearheaded by Mona Frazier, who has been a clerk at the church for 32 years, the event was put together in about two weeks. Frazier was surprised and pleased by the response.

“We’ve done something for the last 20 plus years,” she said. But this year she said the donation response was better than it has been in the past. Frazier thanked the community for the support and is considering conducting another food drive in 2022.

The Community Pantry was the recipient of this year’s food drive donations.

Community Pantry Executive Director Alice Perez said after weighing and measuring, the food drive brought in 1,202 pounds of food and $685 in donations.

The 1,202 pounds of food provided 1,062 meals. The $685 provided $1,560 in food buying power. Together they provided 1,502 meals.

to clean up homeless campsCity Council approves funds

Gallup wants to clean up its transient camps, which will require the city to spend more than it usually would, given that contractors must wear personal protective equipment to shield themselves from coronavirus.

With that in mind, members of the city council unanimously approved $75,000 on Jan. 12 for the planning and development department’s clean and lien program to help it get through the next budget cycle, which ends mid-year.

“It’s very costly, but it is necessary. It is a life, health and safety issue that we need to stay on top of as best we can,” C.B. Strain, planning and development director for the City of Gallup, said. “If we don’t, it will get a lot worse.”

The new funding for the clean and lien program came just months after the council had approved the same amount back in August. Between then and now, the planning and development department spent $48,000 just to clean up transient camps — 24 in all — and another $13,000 to clean up other properties. Strain told council members that what was left was not even enough to clean one transient camp, so his department needed more money.

He told the Sun the new money could go to clean and lien and at least 24 more transient camps.

“Because they’re not slowing down,” Strain said. “We kind of chase them around; we dismantle one and then they pop up in another spot. It’s kind of like a cat chasing a mouse. At the same time, we need to stay on top of it, because it will get a lot worse.”

He said the clean and lien program doesn’t always recoup the money it’s budgeted for.

“It’s a balancing act between public safety and health and the budget — public safety takes priority, of course,” Strain said.

He reminded the council at the Jan. 12 meeting that the department must still tend to typical properties, not just homeless camps.

“Council, I know you get complaints on these all the time, so we got to go in there and clean these up as well,” Strain said.

TRANSIENT CAMP PROBLEM

Strain explained the program’s purpose, saying it was developed to deal with residents’ problems with property upkeep — from weeds to dilapidation or inoperable vehicles. Code enforcement officers can visit the property to give owners notice of their violations up to three times. If nothing is resolved, the city comes to clean up and pays for it with a lien on the property.

“We’ll go and foreclose on the lien after a certain amount of time and then get our money back if they [the owners] don’t voluntarily pay,” Strain said. “Now, the majority of them are really good about getting on a payment plan. Some of them aren’t and we have to go to court.”

The clean and lien program has been “really good at cleaning up a lot of problem areas,” he said.

Within the last few years, the program has cracked down on transient camps — both on public and private properties, Strain said.

“These things aren’t slowing down; there’s a bunch of them in town and they just keep growing,” he told council members.

Strain said some of the transients are suspected of criminal behavior, so it’s not uncommon for law enforcement to join the code enforcers — who are not armed — when they visit a camp.

“A lot of them are aggressive, so we need back up by the police to help clear them out,” Strain explained. “And then the same process kicks in. We’ll get a contractor to go in there and give us an estimate. Then, they’ll clean it up and get rid of debris and everything else and it’s done.”

But just because one transient camp is dismantled doesn’t mean the city has heard the last of the people who lived there.

“They typically just go on their way and they generally just wind up setting up camp somewhere else,” Strain said. “If there are people with warrants, they will be arrested and dealt with on the [police department] end.”

CITY COUNCIL REACTION

Transient camps were front and center at the meeting when it came to discussing the clean and lien program.

Dist. 4 Councilor Fran Palochak, said she knows there has been an increase in such camps, in part because of  COVID-19.

“People are setting up camps and they are very unhealthy,” she said. “I have people that go on walks in the country and come upon these camps and people are using the bathroom without facilit[ies].”

In an interview with the Gallup Sun, Jan. 13, she mentioned two instances in which citizens in her district notified her of transient camps.

“As soon as I am notified of transient camps, I go check it out myself [to see] if it is a valid complaint,” Palochak wrote in an email.

In one instance, a camp consisted of “mattresses, blankets, trash, and the smell of feces and urine,” she wrote. The area was later fenced off. On the Northside of the city, camps and people living in vans were observed.

Palochak said during the meeting that the new spending for the clean and lien program was appropriate, especially given the personal protective equipment that is needed for contractors to clean the camps.

“We’re not just blowing money,” she said. “This is something that is absolutely critically needed.”

“I do approve the $75,000 increase,” Dist. 1 Councilor Linda Garcia said. “We need to have more money put in.”

Garcia thanked Strain for keeping everyone up to date on the transient camp issue. She noted that she has heard of growth among the camps, as well as a change in their level of sophistication.

Strain also commented on the changes he’s seen at at least one of the transient camps. He said that one located by a concrete culvert had generators and had become “a pretty sophisticated little community.”

By Kevin Opsahl
Sun Correspondent

60-DAY SESSION AIMED AT ROARING BACK TO LIFE

Staff Reports

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s agenda for the first session of the 55th New Mexico Legislature announced on Jan. 13, includes the Executive Budget Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2022,  and positioning for a swift and robust recovery from the pandemic to provide for sustainable progress and continued forward momentum in public education, economic development and public health and safety beyond the COVID-19 crisis.

“New Mexico will recover from this challenging year,” Lujan Grisham said. “The question is what kind of future we want to make for ourselves after we put these crises behind us. We still have the power to decide what we will become. And the time to decide is this session, this year.

“We can choose to return to the same-old, or we can set ourselves up to roar back to life after the pandemic, ready to break new ground and thrive. I look forward to working closely with the Legislature in the coming weeks to achieve our shared vision of a prosperous, healthy and happy New Mexico,” she concluded.

The governor’s priorities for the session include helping New Mexico small businesses, supporting New Mexico consumers and boosting the state’s economy.

PANDEMIC RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES:

Modifying the Small Business Recovery Act of 2020 to ensure state funding is accessible to more New Mexico small businesses. The act, approved by the Legislature in the summer 2020 special session, originally allocated $400 million in funds from the New Mexico State Severance Tax Fund to provide loans to New Mexico businesses and nonprofits that experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though not all of those funds were expended. This would supplement the $100 million in small business grants allocated in the second 2020 special session.

Providing flexibility and opportunity to restaurants and eateries by allowing alcohol delivery and reforming the state’s liquor licensure program.

EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR MORE NEW MEXICO BUSINESS-OWNERS AND KEEPING LOCAL DOLLARS LOCAL:

Reforming the state procurement code to include preference for Native-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and promoting spending within New Mexico through set-asides for the required percentage of business contracts.

ESTABLISHING AN ESSENTIAL NEW REVENUE SOURCE FOR THE STATE AND EMPLOYMENT SOURCE FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NEW MEXICANS:

Legalizing adult-use recreational cannabis through legislation that protects the state’s medical cannabis program, providing for workplace safety and roadway protections and enforcement and clear labeling of products.

ENSURING EVERY NEW MEXICAN HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A FULFILLING CAREER WITH THE REQUIRED EDUCATION AND SKILLS AND WITHOUT BURDENSOME DEBT:

Funding the Opportunity Scholarship at $22 million would benefit up to 30,000 students.

Budgeting $4 million for a pilot project to target four-year degree-seeking students who previously received the Lottery Scholarship and lost eligibility, but have one or two semesters left to complete their degree.

PROTECTING NEW MEXICO CONSUMERS:

Reforming predatory lending practices by limiting annual interest rates and increasing maximum loan size.

Supporting the education, health and opportunity of New Mexico children and families.

The governor will also support a proposal endorsed by the state agriculture and livestock community to create a state meat inspection program

INVESTING IN GENERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN EDUCATION AND WELL-BEING FOR NEW MEXICO CHILDREN:

Providing for a one percent distribution of the state’s multi-billion dollar Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood education, which requires voter approval.

REDUCING THE COST OF HEALTH INSURANCE AND MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR WORKING FAMILIES:

Creating a Health Care Affordability Fund that will replace a recently phased-out federal fee, expanding coverage to up to 23,000 uninsured New Mexicans in its first year and driving down premiums for tens of thousands of residents who receive coverage through the state exchange.

BOOSTING ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITIES:

Establishing a Family Support Index that improves the economically disadvantaged metric in the at-risk index and calculates an at-risk index for each school to provide more precise information for local funding decisions and budget oversight.

Setting an annual disparity calculation that ensures final State Equalization Guarantee payments are equalized with a per-pupil floor.

Consolidating funding, support and accountability for programs associated with addressing Yazzie-Martinez.

Ensuring reversions for public school support revert to the state support reserve fund rather than the general fund, which will keep funds intended for public education available for educational programs.

Addressing disparities within the Impact Aid funding mechanism.

ADDRESSING NEEDS OF DIFFERENTLY-ABLED NEW MEXICO STUDENTS:

Creating an ombudsman’s office dedicated to special education, which will investigate and advocate for reforms on behalf of families in the state special education system.

PROTECTING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS:

Eliminating a provision within state law that criminalizes health care providers who perform abortion services.

Rooting out racial injustice in New Mexico.

ACKNOWLEDGING AND REDUCING INSTITUTIONAL RACISM WITHIN GOVERNMENT:

With the support of the Governor’s Council for Racial Justice, enacting Sen. Linda Lopez’s previous legislation that addressed equity and antiracism in hiring, retention, pay equity, accountability in government and more.

The Council for Racial Justice, which has met regularly since August, has also endorsed the proposal to pull a percentage of funding from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, among other proposals, including the establishment of a race equity director in the Governor’s Office.

Promoting and maintaining the clean environment New Mexicans deserve.

CREATING A CLEAN FUEL STANDARD:

Reducing emissions from the transportation sector: In 2018, 15 percent of New Mexico’s greenhouse emissions were attributed to transportation, second only to the emissions from the oil and gas industry. This reduction is achievable by focusing on the fuels. A Clean Fuel Standard reduces the carbon intensity of the fuels used in transportation. Carbon intensity is a measurement of a fuels emission profile that includes its production, shipping, and use.

A Clean Fuel Standard would apply to those who refine, blend, make or import fuel – not fuel retailers (i.e., gas stations). With a Clean Fuel Standard, transportation emissions will be reduced by 230,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents annually, as the clean fuel standard requires a reduction of 10 percent by 2030, and 20 percent by 2040.

State lawmakers respond  to siege on Capitol Hill

Statement by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer:

“First and foremost, the violent events unfolding at the Capitol in Washington D.C., are shameful, uncalled for, and need to stop immediately.

We are praying for the safety and well-being of our leaders and staff in Congress, law enforcement officers, the Navajo Nation Washington Office staff members, and all citizens of the Navajo Nation and our country.

Today was a special day for the Navajo Nation as we held a peaceful inauguration for chapter and other local officials to carry out duties and service for our Navajo people.

Unfortunately, this special day for many of our new and returning leaders and their families is being overshadowed by the violence occurring in Washington D.C.

We pray that law and order will be restored for the federal government, and we pray that our nation heals from the divisive politics that has driven so much of the discord in our country. We must remember that the peaceful transition of power has always been a cornerstone of our country’s democracy and for the Navajo people.

The division and the violence that has escalated today [Jan. 6] is unacceptable and must not be condoned or perpetuated by anyone, including our own Navajo people and leaders. We must be united as Navajo people, and not let the divisiveness we are seeing in Washington D.C. unfold in our homelands.

Remember the teachings of our elders and the examples set by our past leaders and ancestors. Despite differences in views of society, politics, and values, we must always maintain respect and dignity for all people and each other.

Our country and the Navajo Nation are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainties, but we are strong, and we are resilient — our grandparents, parents, and many others have proven this time and time again throughout our history.

In the midst of this pandemic, unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 infections, and the overwhelming of our health care system, it is important for all Americans to come together and to protect the institutions of democracy, the spirit and hope of democracy, and most importantly to protect the health and safety of all Americans.

We ask you to join us in prayer for our Navajo people and our country at this time.

Ahe’hee”

Statement by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham:

“There is no place in our country or state for this,” Lujan Grisham said. “This is beneath the United States of America. It is not who we are. I am sickened beyond words by the scenes from Washington, D.C., this afternoon [Jan. 6].

It is nothing less than domestic terrorism, enacted in an effort to overturn a free and fair election. I am praying for the law enforcement and military personnel working to protect American lives from this anti-democratic riot and attempted insurrection. Law enforcement personnel here in New Mexico will continue to monitor any analogous protests that are occurring or may occur in our state.

“The president of the United States has stoked this anti-democracy sentiment. He has fanned flames of hatred and violence. His reprehensible attacks on the rule of law and American democracy have directly inspired this unconscionable display of disorder and mob mentality. He is responsible.

He has always been responsible. His conspiracies and threats endanger the very fabric of our nation. He – and every one of his enablers – must be held accountable. The president must immediately join leaders across the political spectrum in calling for an end to the chaos he has caused.”