I was surprised to read that a local state representative had voted to take away (known as sweeping in Santa Fe) the money that was to be used to supply a segment of Grant County residents with a source of water. The passage of Senate Bill 113 has a provision that specifies sweeping $2 million from a fund designated to support ground water restoration projects in Grant County. Those $2 million come from a fund specifically designated to meet the requirements of a federal consent decree that settled a lawsuit between the State of New Mexico and Freeport-McMoRan Corporation. If reports are true and a certain local state representative voted for this bill, it will be interesting to hear why he voted against people in Grant County. Maybe he was simply unaware that this sweep was part of the larger bill or maybe he has a plan to get funding from another source. I know if I lived in the area that needed this water project, I would be expecting an explanation from my representative. Maybe the Governor will use a line item veto to restore funding for this water project.

As I have stated before, business closures are bad. It doesn't matter the size of the business that closes, it is still a black eye for our community. This past weekend, Taco Bell shut down. This means we will have another empty storefront with brown paper taped over the windows. This means employees are no longer employed. This shortens the list of dining opportunities by one more business. As I was talking to a long-time resident of Silver City, she disclosed she had never dined there since it wasn't a locally owned business. The corporation that owned the franchise may not have been from the Grant County area... but the employees and managers that worked there are from our area. So please don't use a corporation's headquarters location as a reason not to support a local business and local employees.

Having grown up in Louisiana, we seldom got snow. If we got winter storms, usually ice. I can remember lying in bed late at night and listening to the fireworks go off as the winds grew stronger. We lived in an area with lots of loblolly pine trees. I promise... ice and soft-wood pine trees are a disastrous mix. As a kid, the snapping of limbs weighted-down by ice sounded like fireworks going off all around the house. My brothers and I thought it was cool. Then as we grew up we learned the danger of ice storms. So when we get snow here, I think it is fantastic. I will sit on the carport and watch the snow fall. That first look outside the window as dawn breaks is incredible to me. Though the moisture from a couple of inches of snow doesn't equal the moisture of a couple of inches of rain... the land can always use a little more moisture.

However the winter weather plays havoc on our streets and roads. It seems that potholes grow larger during winter weather. Shoulders along our streets deteriorate quicker. Cracks in the asphalt or concrete grow longer and wider. Though snow is pretty, it can be costly to the government entities that try to keep our roads clear of ice and have to patch the decaying asphalt and concrete. Winter beauty can be costly.

So what do all these things mentioned in this article have to do with the Chamber of Commerce? Well, we advocate for stronger communities with proper infrastructure such as water projects. We want our businesses to be strong and prosperous. We use the success of current business as an example to recruit new business and new jobs. We market the success of our community, the assets within our area, to entice other people to move to the Silver City - Grant County area. And we sell the weather. There is not a day that goes by when we don't discuss the great weather in Grant County that can be enjoyed by residents and guests.

As a Chamber of Commerce, we do much more than ribbon cutting and groundbreaking events. Our mission is pretty simple: to serve our members by promoting business, commerce and tourism in Grant County. If our members are doing well, it makes sense that our community will be doing well. We strive for community success!