Dear friends, The results are final. So many people thanked me for running, for standing up, for making a unified voice heard and I want to take a moment to say thank you, too, for supporting my campaign for New Mexico Senate.

In my perspective, a title, a win, or a loss do not define leadership but rather actions. Throughout this campaign, and even though I did not win the primary, I have remained true to my goals of improvement, as a leader. In hindsight, I cannot focus on one loss when I gained so much in this six-month campaign. With a positive focus I successfully:

·    Broke social barriers

·    Brought people together

·    Changed negative perspectives on...

Part one was printed in the Gallup Sun on Friday May 27, 2016.  Part one talked about being trapped in a “weird time warp” with periodic round table discussions of Key officials, promises being made, the continuing lack of concrete data on the problem and how to solve the problem.  Here is the continuation of that Opinion letter

Personally like a lot of citizens, I am disgusted with the whole issue. I believe these people need to be held accountable for their actions.  Ask any counselor who will give an honest opinion on the matter and they will tell you no counseling program will help a person unless that person “really” wants help.  If they truly want help there are a...

Part 1 of 2

Ever feel like you are trapped in a weird “time warp”? After reading several recent articles in the local media regarding the “alcohol” problem in Gallup, I feel like I am re-living April through July 2013.

Back then, Genevieve Jackson, Commission Chairperson, had arranged for a round-table discussion at the County with my help [as County Manager] and several local elected officials. Pretty much the same principals in position and title as those that came to Ben Ray Lujan’s March 4, 2016 pow-wow. And, all the same things were said, more or less, in both roundtables.

Back then [2013] there was a lot of tension between the city and the county over the use of the...

The Warden of the Gallup Jail is paid $1,346.15 per week. What is the total output in the salaries per week of all employees involved in running the jail? What is the person that heads the [Na’ Nihzoonzhi Center] paid per week? What is the total output in salaries per week of all employees involved in running the NCI? What is the cost per month for food, utilities, and clothing for the inmates in both places? What is the cost of beds, blankets, metal trays, pots, pans, silverware, refrigerators, stoves, and garbage cans for both places?

The overwhelming majority of the people that land in the Gallup Jail and the NCI are there for alcohol- or drug-related offenses, and many prefer jail...