OP/ED

Op-Ed: New Mexico Policymakers Should Take The Food Tax Off the Table

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By KRISTINA FISHER
Associate Director
Think New Mexico

Over the past year, New Mexicans have been hit hard by rising food costs. Grocery prices have risen by more than 13 percent, the largest annual increase since 1979 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, state tax revenues are reaching record levels due to high oil and gas prices and production. The latest projections anticipate that state government will have a surplus of $2.45 billion next year.

With families struggling and state coffers overflowing, it is unbelievable that legislators would even consider bringing Read More

DeVolder: Did Constituents Get What They Wanted?

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By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Reference: McCollough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Shuster.  2001. p.136.

Given the choices made by Los Alamos County voters, did they get what they wanted?  

On the negative side, voters received wildfires, traffic congestion, rampant construction, loss of open space, shuttered businesses, crumbling infrastructure, and overreach by municipal government in the form of inept/regressive building construction practices as well as the Nuisance Code. 

Added to this are some incompetent, distracted, and substance abuse-affected drivers in Los Read More

DeVolder: The Way Things Are

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By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Reference 1: Los Alamos National Laboratory Director’s Colloquium – “Out of the Ashes,” circa 2000.

Reference 2: Los Alamos County – Building Safety Division – Code Compliance Section – Policy,  Procedure and Process Manual, August 28, 2018.

Local elections are not too far off in the future. It is worth reviewing what has and has not been accomplished in Los Alamos County (wildfires, infrastructure, Nuisance Code, traffic congestion):

Wildfires

There have been wildfire issues in the Los Alamos area for more than 100 years. Historically, large-scale sheep grazing Read More