No tortillas?
Honorable Mayor of the City of Española and Councilors:
I listened to the city council meeting held February 11, 2025, and understand that council members are in favor of streaming city meetings live to the public. This was common practice just a few years ago and required no special expertise or financial commitment. Livestreaming increases viewership and codifies important details for the record.
If I understood correctly, the city is financially unable to provide full meals for its seniors. Further, I understand that the city must decide between either allocating money to the IT department to make livestreaming possible or to buy tortillas at the Senior Center.
In case you missed it, here is what Mayor John Ramon Vigil said about it:
“We have aging infrastructure from 20 years ago. I constantly am told why don’t we do this. Why don’t we do that. Our budget doesn’t allow us to do this because we are trying to decide if we can upgrade the IT infrastructure here or decide if we’re going to pay for tortillas for them at the senior center. And so at the end of the day we need to make our priorities. This is how we’re doing it. In the best interest of the city. And if you don’t like it, quite frankly I don’t really care anymore.”
In Española, no one, especially our seniors, should go without our most precious staple. Please accept this as a formal request to provide fresh, homemade (from our restaurant) tortillas to the senior center for the next year. I was saddened to hear the city must choose between funding technology or feeding its citizens. I’d be happy to help in whatever capacity I can.
Please let me know what I can do. I remain at your service and dutifully await your response.
Javier Sanchez
La Cocina Restaurant
An open letter to the homeless
of Española
We care about you. We don’t presume to understand what you’re going through. We don’t know your past and we don’t judge you for your struggles. Our default is love.
This is why we do what we do. We spend our money, we gather donations, we order hygiene items on Amazon, we cut your hair, we make hot food, we provide sack lunches and fresh fruit, we offer coffee and sodas and other drinks, we feed your dogs, we offer you clothing, shoes, and blankets, we invite our partner agencies who offer you free help in getting clean and off the streets. We continually ask the community to help us help you.
Our hope is that each of you makes the decision to seek a better life. We know you are not happy and we want to see you happy, living a life of meaning and purpose. We all are willing to help you every step of the way if you choose a better path.
Yet, our compassion does not come without limits. Every time you choose to steal from a store, break into a car or a house, start fires, fight amongst yourselves, prey on the weak, mistreat your dogs, you become a menace to society. You make it increasingly difficult for us to justify making the sacrifices in our lives to help you.
And if you think that most people just wish that you were gone, you’re right. Some elected officials try to find an answer to the “homeless problem” mostly to silence the criticism from residents. Others express disgust because they remember a time when there were no homeless people in Española. People view you as a scourge on society.
Yet, there are still many others in our community who have hope for you. Whether they are your family, friends, classmates, neighbors, they feel sorry for you and they want a better life for you. They want to show you their love for you, not out of sympathy, but out of a genuine connection they once had with you.
And then there are us. The people who are not connected to you personally, but still care very much for you. You have no idea how much we are willing to help you succeed!
Here is an example of what could happen for you:
You decide to get off the streets and enter a program to get clean. They have the resources to help find you housing. Once you complete the program and move forward, we will be there to make sure you are comfortable in your new home. The community will help you with furniture, kitchen items, bedding, toiletries, food, etc.. We will help you find a job. And, yes, if you reach this point successfully, we will help you find reliable transportation.
This is how much we care about you, in seeing you succeed in life! The only one stopping you is you. Are you ready to take that step?
Sincerely,
Compassion Through Action
Say no to SB 258
As a parent and advocate for family rights, I urge New Mexicans to reject Senate Bill 258, mandating comprehensive sexual education in public schools. This bill, passed by the Senate Education Committee, oversteps into the sacred domain of parental authority. While it offers an opt-out, the burden shouldn’t fall on families to resist state-imposed curricula that may clash with our values. Children’s education on sensitive topics like sex belongs first to parents, not bureaucrats. The bill’s one-size-fits-all approach ignores diverse cultural and moral perspectives, risking the erosion of family autonomy. Our schools should focus on core academics—math, reading, science—not divisive social agendas. Lawmakers must trust parents, not dictate to them. I call on the Senate to halt SB 258 and prioritize policies that respect, not replace, the family’s role in raising children.
Anne Doherty
Santa Fe
SB5 must be stopped
I am a lifelong hunter and rancher. I own and operate an outfitting company. I am a Catron County commissioner.
I oppose Senate Bill 5. SB5 does not fix the Game Commission. Instead, it expands bureaucracy, weakens rural representation, increases costs to New Mexicans, and hands too much power to an unelected body. It must be stopped.
SB5 Unfairly Burdens Resident Hunters: SB5’s fee increases are not fair. Why do resident fees increase more than non-resident fees? Why doesn’t SB5 set non-resident fees at a competitive level with other Western states so New Mexico captures more revenue from out-of-state hunters? New Mexicans depend on hunting to feed their families. Why make it more expensive for us while letting non-residents pay lower-than-market-rate fees?
SB5 Expands the Commission’s Power to Regulate ALL Wildlife Species: The Commission is responsible for managing game mammals, birds, and fish. These are species that hunters and anglers fund through license fees. SB5 would dramatically expand that authority to any species, including worms and insects. This would shift the department’s focus away from game species and toward a broad environmental role that goes far beyond what hunters and anglers expect their dollars to support.
SB5 Puts Habitat Management at Risk: Some SB5 supporters claim the bill won’t affect habitat management. That’s false. SB5 allows the Commission to influence habitat policies on federal, state, and private lands. This could result in new grazing restrictions on public lands and new land-use rules that impact hunters, ranchers, and landowners. This is an overreach of government control that threatens rural New Mexico.
The New Mexico House of Representatives is set to vote on SB5 soon. It must be stopped. Call your representative and ask them to vote no on Senate Bill 5.
Audrey McQueen
Luna, N.M.