Grant County Commission hears reports and updates at work session 111621 and regular session 111821, part 9

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 05 December 2021 05 December 2021

[Editor's Note: This is the ninth of several articles on the Grant County Commission work session on Nov. 16 and the regular meeting Nov. 18, 2021. This article addresses the regular meeting public input and county elected official reports. Please see the links to the previous articles in the series at the end of this article.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

At the Grant County Commission regular meeting on Nov. 18, 2021, commissioners heard public input on the Bataan Memorial and a bid to be addressed at the meeting. No one gave public comment through Zoom.

First to speak was Donnie Turner, who has been passionately involved int the restoration and improvement of the memorial, so that it will be ready by the 80th anniversary ceremony, which will commemorate the Bataan Death March in the Philippines during World War II. "I've been trying to get our heroes memorialized," Turner said. "I know you're going to be happy to get rid of me when it's done. The county just spent over $1 million for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), so I can't figure out why you need a ramp for the memorial. The boxcar portion of the proposed memorial is supposed to be made of concrete, but you can't pour concrete in the winter. I suggest you replace it with a cargo container. It would be wrapped with rough sawn lumber. The design proposed silhouette figures. You can cut down the number of figures, and why are they so expensive? We have a lot of metal workers around this town, who could do them."

David Morrison, a veteran, who has done a great deal of research on the Bataan Death March, said: "I've been involved with assisting with Bataan Memorial as a member of the committee for the 80th anniversary. I suggest you step back away from the money issue. The march is emotional for many in Grant County, which has the richest heritage of Bataan veterans of anywhere in the U.S. My heart goes out to those who died and those who survived. Twenty died on hellships, more than 50 of those taken as prisoners of war did not come back, along with 50 who did return. We need to honor and remember all of them. I thank you for taking on this project but ask that you not get so overwhelmed with the architect rendition and the graphics. We can do everything we need to do with the $240,000 you have allocated to it. We should cherish the story, which can be told by family remembrances. We must do something that won't cost as much, and we can do it locally. I want to honor them well. The anniversary will be a big event that will honor and remember. It is my plea that the families should have a say. They should be asked what they want. God bless you for what you are doing."

Kathy Howell, also a member of the anniversary committee, said when she married into her husband's family, "I learned my husband's uncle Jack Daniel joined the National Guard when he was 16 years old. He served in the Philippines in 1941, and by 1942, he was a POW. He was 21 years old when he died on a hellship. Our family would like the anniversary to be commemorated, and we want the memorial to be something to be proud of."

New Mexico Rep. Luis Terrazas commented on the materials needed for the memorial. "I want to make you aware of the environment of a supply change in chaos and a labor shortage. There is not a single individual who does not want the memorial to be beautiful, but in my business, my supply chain of granite, marble and bronze are often imported. I know there might be a challenge to finish the memorial on time. My business is waiting on granite for about 5 months and bronze for 3-4 months I appreciate the veterans being invited to be part of the process."

He also invited the commissioners to present their capital outlay requests to Prospectors and to the legislators soon. "We anticipate having junior funding this year, but prices are also going up. You have my full support for this memorial."

Assessor Raul Turrieta said the tax rolls transition to the treasurer's office went smoothly. He turned the report over to Treasurer Patrick Cohn, who noted that the collection rate for 2020 was 93.68 percent. To date $11 million had been collected, with $748,000 uncollected. The 10-year average collection rate has been 95.7 percent, with a total collection of $114 million. "Over the 10-year period, about $5 million is uncollected. In 2021, we have accepted $26,000 for delinquent accounts."

He expressed his gratitude to this staff and appreciation to the taxpayers. "Our property tax bills will go out Dec. 1, and they are due by Dec. 10, with the last deadline Jan. 10, 2022, after which they will be delinquent."

Sheriff Frank Gomez said all non-mandated training has been temporarily suspected because of Covid among his staff. He noted increases in domestic violence and violence in general. "We have seen multiple suicides and drug overdoses. We had a homicide in Cliff, and a suicide in Mimbres. We are addressing calls on the mentally ill. The homicide was a mentally ill person from Tennessee."

He said his office received one applicant for the court security position, but the person, after finding out how much it would pay, declined the position.

"We had a Covid outbreak which came from staff family members, but we're back" Gomez said. "We are closing out the 2019 Stonegarden grant, and the 2020 Stonegarden grant is in operation. The 2021 subgrant under FEMA will activate in January 2022"

Gomez said his deputies are continuously providing services to the Mining District as unfunded services. "There seems to be no solution to the situation. We answer 34 percent of the total calls in Bayard, 67 percent of the calls in Hurley and 24 percent in Santa Clara. They have staff shortages, just as we do, due to a lack of applicants. The loss of qualified immunity through legislative action from a hostile government in Santa Fe, and the law not allowing retired law enforcement personnel to return to service are problems for us."

He reported that the vehicle fleet is aging, and the Road Department has only two mechanics taking care of all the county's vehicles. "We do have a new vehicle coming soon and we can apply for two more in January. We had 550 calls this month including through Dispatch and those self-initiated. We had 88 calls in the Tri-City area during the month."

Gomez said Sgt. Manny Maldonado would be overseeing the civil division of the office.

"We took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as well as the state constitution," Gomez said. "We will do our best for our people and our community."

District 2 Commission Javier "Harvey" Salas asked how many vehicles are purchased through the federal Stonegarden funding. Gomez replied that other than the two received through state capital outlay, the rest are paid for through Stonegarden funding.

Salas asked the average life of a vehicle. Gomez said some of the vehicles have more than 200,000 miles, but the Road Department keeps them going. "We put on an average of 150,000-170,000 miles per vehicle. Our vehicles are from 2007 on. We are using the units up to 10 years."

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings asked about the biggest problems the department has and possible solutions.

"One of the biggest is pay," Gomez said. "We have a step plan, which is awesome for those with five years of experience and up, but the beginning deputies start at $17.50 an hour, plus benefits. And our benefits are definitely competitive. Overtime is also great, not just in Grant County, but all over the state because of the lack of police. Every law enforcement agency should not suffer from what others elsewhere have done. For the most part, we do have public confidence in our officers here. The loss of qualified immunity is scary, but we are blessed with good training money. We are down 10 deputies and one court security officer."

Billings asked again about a solution.

County Manager Tim Zamora said he didn't think there was only one solution. "Unless we can come up with more money for salary, we would have to pull it from elsewhere in the budget. We will do a step plan for all county employees in the spring, and it will include the sheriff's department. The plan will require big decisions and we will have to have a plan for the funding of it."

Billings asked Gomez about the Sheriff's Department service in the Tri-City area. "Are the mayors and entities working with you?"

"The mayors are not contacting me," Gomez said. "Santa Clara has one officer; Bayard, two; and Hurley 1, with another coming soon. One of my bigger concerns is the unincorporated areas of the county. Those residents of the county are suffering the most."

Zamora said he thinks discussion has to be had with the municipalities. "If they have money for law enforcement, they should be paying us for the services."

Billings said he hoped the county would be having that discussion.

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce said he has had the discussions with the mayors. "I will speak with Sheriff Gomez. On another issue, in Arenas Valley there are speeding issues. I have let people know that due to the shorthandedness of the Sheriff's Department and the outbreak of Covid, the deputies don't have time to patrol other areas. And on the step plan created for the Sheriff's Department we made mistakes We have to dig down into them. We don't want to have to go through the step plan every year. I hope we can make it go further. I understand we sit and wait for the budget. I would love for commissioners to look at it in March and April and not put it off until June, when we are rushing. We need to start the process earlier."

"I agree 100 percent," Zamora said. "My intent is the bring the step plan and then the vehicle replacement plan by March."

Ponce thanked Zamora for working on the vehicle replacement plan. "That bothers me every year that we have to ask the state for money to replace our vehicles."

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said it was too bad that Rep. Terrazas couldn't stay. "There are other things happening at the state level putting pressure on counties. For instance, state police for their first year, receive $26.40 an hour, while ours get $17.50. The state priorities are completely screwed up. We spend 30 percent of our budget on the Detention Center and another 30 percent on unfunded mandates. I would like to see the New Mexico Counties priorities. Do they address reimbursement at all? I would like to invite our legislative delegation to hear us that state priorities are impacting us. We need to charge per call to the Tri-City. While they are short, they are not paying officers, so they are assembling money."

Salas noted that the commissioners need to pressure Santa Fe to help counties pay for their officers. "And we have to get pay on par. For instance, Bayard is paying $20 an hour. What impact would it be to raise pay? Just give us an estimate and on the impact going forward."

Gomez said Sgt. Maldonado oversees the step plan. "It is very preliminary, but I believe there will be increases throughout the county. The nice thing is seeing that we're moving forward."

Edwards said: "I'm going to bring up the evil word, taxes. But we have to have a discussion about raising taxes."

Ponce said: "My biggest concern is that I would want to see a tax raise got to better services for county constituents."

Billings said he would like the first solution to get municipalities in the Mining District pay per call before considering an additional tax.

Edwards said the county needs conversations with the state and with others.

Salas said the budget is static. "When prices are going up, are we getting more?"

Cohn said his office has identified $5 million of uncollected property taxes. "We are putting together a strategy to collect them. There are tons of mobile homes that don't pay. We are looking at a sale of mobile homes that are delinquent. We are working with the county manager on the ongoing project. It's working to get them to the door. If you're delinquent, come talk to me and see what we can do before your property goes to the state."

Ponce said in December the commissioner would look at New Mexico Counties priorities and vote on them.

The next article will get into the review of the agenda at the work session and the decisions made.

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Grant County Commission hears reports and updates at work session 111621 and regular session 111821, part 9

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