A beautiful place
Reading the article that came out in last week’s edition pertaining to the shopping carts that were thrown in the City parking lot by Mayor John Ramon Vigil and friend, who I think was Stephen Gomez.
I have seen on several occasions both of these men going around the City of Española picking up debris and other items that make our city gross! Another City official that I see or have seen doing the same throughout the years has been City Councilman Pedro Valdez.
I just want to say that I, for one, appreciate what these officials that were born and raised here to try to make our City beautiful as best that they can.
Let’s take pride in our community, because no matter what, Española is a Beautiful Place.
Alex M. Naranjo
Española
B.S.C. —
Before the
Shopping Cart
As we all recover from the news coverage of Espanola’s Shopping Cart-scandal, we must ask, was it all about Shopping Carts? Of course not. The Shopping Cart was just the cherry on the sundae.
There has been a significant amount of coverage on the Vigil Administration, and most of it isn’t good. While some in our community are tired of the negative light these incidents cast on Espanola, it doesn’t change the reality that our community has been misled, bamboozled, and abused.
Ignoring the problem doesn’t solve the problem, nor does it eliminate the burden the problem causes us all. This isn’t going away until a new governing body is in place. We lack experienced and qualified leadership at Espanola City Hall. Is it all the Mayor’s fault? No. Most of the responsibility falls on the city council. Eight councilors sat back and enabled the behaviors that have plagued us for the duration of Mr. Vigil’s tenure.
March 2022 – John Ramon Vigil wins the Mayoral Race.
Vigil said his administration will be one “that will work for the people of this valley concerning our past while always looking to the future. This administration will not use the police department to harass.”
“We’re moving Española forward beginning tomorrow,” Vigil said.
Vigil said his new administration will be holding people accountable in their positions, keeping the streets clean, and implementing transparent and open government practice for all appointed officials.
“When people call city hall, they’re going to take their call and follow through on issues,” he said. “Also, creating collaborative efforts with our pueblos, here and in Santa Fe County.”
Here’s just a small sampling of what Espanola has been forced to tolerate and it doesn’t align with Mr. Vigil’s speech after winning the race.
June 2023 – First sexual harassment allegations emerged by city employee Danielle Bustos.
July 2023, City Manager Jordan Yutzy was suspended. City Finance Director Rob Corabi files a complaint against the Interim City Manager Sally Baxter and Police Chief Mizel Garcia. Both Vigil appointees.
A complaint was filed by Beverly Duran-Cash against Jemez Coop trustee John Ramon Vigil for his unethical behavior.
August 2023, Jordan Yutzy filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the City of Espanola and named John Ramon Vigil in the suit.
September 2023 the Espanola city council saved the day for John Ramon Vigil and unanimously voted to terminate City Manager Jordan Yutzy and Finance Director Robert Corabi.
October 2024, 2nd allegation of sexual harassment against John Ramon Vigil. Laura Rendon former executive assistant to John Ramon Vigil, files a lawsuit. Jemez Board censures trustee John Ramon Vigil.
February 2025 – Shopping Cart Scandal.
In between all these incidents are allegations of unfair hiring practices, nepotism, delayed city audits, fraud, theft, misappropriation, nepotism, and creating a hostile work environment.
I’m positive that Espanola deserves better.
Cynthia Lentini
Española
New Mexicans deserve better
I am a breast surgical oncologist in Santa Fe, New Mexico and I take care of patients with breast cancer and melanoma. I moved from Texas to New Mexico a year ago after SB8 was passed in Texas restricting women’s rights. When I moved to New Mexico I had visited and knew how special it is, but did not see much positive coverage online. Upon moving here I made it my mission to learn and share the beauty of this state’s geography, history, and culture with other healthcare professionals and have successfully recruited multiple other healthcare professionals not only to my team, but to the other hospitals in the state as well.
We currently have 10 surgeons in New Mexico who are performing mastectomies, or removing the breast, for breast cancer. We have only 3 plastic surgeons able to provide reconstruction services to rebuild the breast due to the high costs associated with medical malpractice. In the last few months multiple plastic surgeons have chosen to retire, restrict their practices to low litigation risk procedures only, or not join healthcare systems which desperately need them due to the threat of extraordinary punitive damages in a malpractice lawsuit. Women in New Mexico with breast cancer already wait 2+ years to undergo breast reconstruction, a service which is entitled to them by law. There are multiple open positions for plastic surgeons at health systems across the state. As existing plastic surgeons choose to leave, the wait time for reconstruction is expected to grow even longer for those patients who cannot afford to leave the state. In contrast, in Texas women are able to get breast reconstruction with zero wait time.
Women in New Mexico are entitled to the same standards of breast cancer care as women in Texas.
Senate Bill 176 must be passed not only to recruit plastic surgeons but all other needed specialists to the state. New Mexicans deserve better.
Amani Jambhekar
Santa Fe
Unsustainable
Schools cannot function without classified staff. Bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, educational assistants, secretaries, and countless others keep our schools running.
Every year, discussions about increasing teacher pay take center stage in the Roundhouse, and while teachers absolutely deserve these regular increases which seek to make up for historic and gender-based pay discrimination, a troubling pattern has emerged – our classified educational staff are consistently left behind when it comes time to increase salaries.
The reality is stark. Many classified employees work full-time but earn so little that they qualify for public assistance programs. Some must take second or third jobs to survive. In many school districts, a starting classified employee makes barely above minimum wage. This isn’t just unfair; it’s unsustainable.
The solution is simple: we must raise the minimum salary for classified school staff. Districts and lawmakers must prioritize fairer wages, ensuring every school employee earns enough to support themselves and their families.
Our union represents thousands of classified educational workers across New Mexico, and while the situation remains bleak for so many of our workers, there is a strong cohort of legislators – many of whom have a background in public education themselves – who are championing this issue in the Roundhouse. Legislative appropriators now need to find the political will to do what they know is right and fully fund efforts to better pay hardworking classified educators in our schools. It’s time to recognize their vital contributions and pay them fairly.
Whitney Holland
Albuquerque
Think New Mexico supports bills
Two bipartisan bills have been introduced to make New Mexico’s tax policy friendlier for healthcare workers. Both are supported by Think New Mexico.
Senate Bill 295, which would repeal New Mexico’s gross receipts tax on medical services, is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Albuquerque; Senate Minority Leader William Sharer, R-Farmington and 13 other sponsors.
House Bill 52, sponsored by Representatives Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque; Jenifer Jones, R-Deming), among others, would expand the eligibility of the Rural Health Care Practitioner Tax Credit to additional categories of health care providers, including EMTS, paramedics, and licensed practical nurses.
New Mexico is one of only two states that impose a Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on the medical services. Unlike most businesses, which pass on the GRT to their customers, medical providers cannot pass the tax on to insurance companies, Medicaid, or Medicare. As a result, doctors end up bearing the full burden of the tax, making it more expensive to practice medicine in New Mexico than in other states.
Over the past two decades, the legislature has gradually repealed portions of the tax. Senate Bill 295 would repeal the remaining portions.
The Rural Health Care Practitioner Tax Credit provides an annual $5,000 income tax credit to licensed doctors, dentists, clinical psychologists, podiatrists, and optometrists who practice in rural areas. It also provides a $3,000 credit to licensed dental hygienists, physician assistants, midwives, certified nurse anesthetists, certified nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists, among other health care professions.
Several healthcare professions that are in severe shortage in New Mexico are not yet included in the credit.
House Bill 52 would expand the health care practitioners eligible for the tax credit to include EMTS, paramedics, occupational therapists, audiologists, speech and language pathologists, naturopaths, naprapaths, and licensed practical nurses.
More information is available on Think New Mexico’s website at: www.thinknewmexico.org
Fred Nathan
executive director
Think New Mexico
Motion filed
Protect Tesuque’s lawyer, Tom Hnasko of Santa Fe, has filed a Motion for Pre-Hearing Permit Denial challenging a draft liquid waste discharge permit issued by the New Mexico Environment Department to Bishop’s Lodge Resort. The motion filed on behalf of Protect Tesuque asks Hearing Officer Felicia Orth to rule that the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is allowing the Resort to bypass mandatory wastewater treatment and disposal regulations adopted over 50 years ago to prevent contamination of our surface and ground water. Those mandatory safeguards apply to every other dwelling and establishment in Tesuque that treats and discharges its liquid waste to ground. They protect public health by preventing contamination of our drinking wells. Why is NMED ignoring them?
Legal Challenge: NMED’s Failure to Enforce Its Own Regulations
Under New Mexico’s Liquid Waste Regulations (20.7.3 NMAC), every property owner who seeks to depose of its liquid wastes to ground must do so wholly on its own property following strict engineering and siting requirements to prevent contamination. The Resort’s plan to collect up to 30,000 gallons of sewage per day from 84 separate properties, treat and then discharge the resulting effluent into a single poorly sited, undersized disposal field violates virtually all of the mandatory safeguards the Liquid Waste Disposal Regulations require.
Mark DeCamp
Santa Fe