Let’s get right to the serious items before I discuss the not-so-serious.

As you place your votes this fall, the ballot will have several General Obligation Bonds on it. The first two bonds are for Grant County. The money from these bonds will be used to repair county roads and repair/renovate county assets such as the County Courthouse, Administration Building, and the County Detention Center. As you are probably aware, there are many county roads that need work done to them. We have invested dollars in county buildings, and many of these buildings now need maintenance before the deterioration becomes too great. The Chamber of Commerce recommends that you vote for these General Obligation Bonds for Grant County.

The Chamber of Commerce also endorses a “yes” vote for the New Mexico Bond Question D. A "yes" vote for GO Bond D supports authorizing the sale and issuance of $136.230 million in bonds for institutions of higher education, special schools, and tribal schools. During this year, a vote of “Yes” will not increase your taxes. And the studies I have seen show that if GO Bond D is not passed, it probably will not save you any property taxes. This money is divided to include universities, special schools and tribal schools throughout the State of New Mexico.

The Chamber of Commerce does not officially endorse or oppose candidates. However, we will make endorsements of taxes, bonds, and constitutional amendments. Once again, we encourage you to vote for both General Obligations Bonds designated for Grant County and we encourage you to vote for the GO Bond D for higher education.

Now, there are times I just ask myself “what the heck?”

Last week I was enjoying breakfast at Kountry Kitchen in Silver City. Or maybe I should say I was trying to enjoy my breakfast at Kountry Kitchen when a guy on the other side of the restaurant decided to take a cell phone call with his speakerphone turned on. Come on dude, everyone in the restaurant heard your personal phone call. We could hear you better than the person across the table from us. What the heck? If you can afford the smart phone, buy an ear piece for it.

Did you see the cowboy and his horse protesting in front of Walmart a week ago? The first day I saw him, I was unable read the poster he was holding. I figured he was probably protesting the fact that people can take a herd of dogs in Walmart… but they wouldn’t let him take in his horse. Nope that wasn’t it. Well, maybe he was protesting the fact that people are allowed to wear their pajamas to Walmart or guys can wear their pants down below their butt cheeks (sagging) and being a “real” man, he doesn’t like it. No, that wasn’t it either. He disagreed with Walmart’s policy that doesn’t allow customers to wear their guns into the store. What the heck?

At the last Silver City Town Council meeting, those who stayed long enough for the “honeybee” Notice of Intent discussion, heard Mayor Ken Ladner give lots of reasons why the proposed ordinance seemed to be bad. Of course, there was a 2 to 2 tie, and the Mayor voted “yes” to move the Notice of Intent forward in hope that there would be more conversation and the ordinance would be changed. What the heck? At the public meeting a month ago, the public was pretty emphatic that they were against the ordinance… and again at the Town Council Meeting, the majority of people were still against the ordinance. Mayor, bad legislation is bad legislation. You could have killed the Notice of Intent and the councilor could have started over again getting more input from citizens.

So, to recap… please vote “yes” for the Grant County General Bond questions and vote “yes” for the New Mexico Higher Education GO Bond D. If you don’t vote for these, well… “what the heck?”