I write this to express my support for Monica Salazar as the next Rio Arriba County Sheriff. Monica will bring a “new vision” to the department. She has the training needed, which she will lead with, having developed an arsenal of special skills over her career. Monica has much field experience and has served in leadership positions in her career. She knows her first order of business will be to keep 100% of Rio Arriba residents safe.
The packed chambers in Tierra Amarilla said everything. People in Rio Arriba County are paying attention — and they care deeply about protecting what matters most: our water, our land, and our future.
In a 30 day budget session, it’s easy for lawmakers to focus narrowly on fiscal matters and defer broader policy priorities until next year’s 60-day session.
We’re all afraid to rock the boat. We have been taught since children not to make waves. No one wants to deal with the motion sickness. So we play it safe and aim for steady as she goes. That may prevent children from making too much noise in front of the adults, but it doesn’t make for great stewardship. Choosing not to rock the boat exposes a failure in leadership due to inaction. Looking at my own inaction and indecisiveness, I find a record of lowered standards and depressed morale among the very people I am supposed to inspire. I know I am not perfect and sometimes I beat myself up over my lack of consistency and follow-through. Yet we shouldn’t translate our inadequacies into a blanket state of hopelessness to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I have authored this letter in support of Monica Salazar for the position of Rio Arriba County Sheriff for which she is more than imminently qualified.
I really liked state Sen. David Gallegos’ opinion piece in last week’s paper, titled: If Someone Wanted to Hold New Mexico Back. It went straight to the point on why we are at the bottom of most lists, from education to economic opportunity. There is one category where we lead – welfare dependency. Sen. Gallegos rightly placed the blame on progressive Democrats, who are all about power and not the people. They promote government dependency for those who struggle economically and over-regulate those who achieve.
Despite the success of the anti-predatory lending law in keeping credit accessible to low-income New Mexicans at dramatically lower interest rates, threats to the law are looming.
When I was a kid I used to spend time with my dad and my abuelo in Plaza Blanca, N.M., a change of pace from the dryland farming that occurred in my hometown of Cebolla, N.M. My dad would take me down to the acquaintance at dawn.
There’s a knock at the door. Your heart races and beads of sweat start to run down your temple. The phone rings and you feel a sense of dread because you know who is calling.
