MAY GOD BLESS THE HEROES
MAY GOD BLESS  THE FAMILIES
MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA
Photo by Bill Johnson

Drugs, alcohol, society cause high murder rate

 By Carol Main of the Desert Journal

  ''Drugs," said Ron Brown, when asked why the homicide rate in Sierra County for the first six months of 2001 is 20 times the national murder per capita average.

''Sierra County," Brown said, ''is one of the major drug transfer stations in the nation.

''The traffic in hard drugs here is rampant and well protected.

''And when arrests are made the conviction rate is abominable," he said.

Brown's entire career, as former policeman, T or C municipal judge, Sierra County sheriff and Williamsburg municipal judge gives him broad knowledge of the Sierra County justice system.

“Most of the homicides in this county," Brown said, ''have drugs in there someplace if you just look."

Magistrate Court Judge Tom Pestak agrees with that but lays most of the blame on our changing society.

''A lot of people," Pestak said, ''come here to party and then go home.

"Our DWI rate increased by 40% last year and the domestic violence cases rose by 93%.

"Alcohol and drugs are a factor, but many of our residents are people who have permanent homes elsewhere and with our community the way it is I don't see any end to this high increase."

Truth or Consequences Police Chief David Bryant disagrees.

"I don't think," Bryant said, "this is a homicide trend that is going to continue.

"Our community is changing but 99% of the new people here are good folk. It is just that bad one percent that we have to deal with.

"And we are dealing with it. We now have a full time domestic violence officer and a deputy district attorney who makes sure we have everything straight before court and we are getting our cases through there," Bryant said.

Five of the seven recent murders (Jeanine Uecker, Ruth Ann Snyder and her three daughters) were accelerated domestic violence crimes involving alcohol and drugs.

"Sierra County has a low economy," Bryant said, "and studies show the lower the economy, the higher the crime rate, but I think this is a safe county to live in."

T or C Municipal Court Judge Tom Hawkins said, "People get pissed off."

"But," Hawkins said, "crimes also run in cycles. I can see a rash of domestic violence crimes one week, and then not see another one for six or seven months.

"It is like that this year, it is all of a sudden, BANG. We may not see another murder in this county for three or four more years now."

Tom Hawkins spent 26 years with the New Mexico State Police, retiring in 1986, before accepting the post of municipal judge in 1988 from T or C.

Municipal Court Administrator and alternate judge Beatrice [Bobbi] Sanders said,"Young people today have to deal with so many pressures that were never here before that I feel for them.

"Their family structures are fractured, so they find no support at home, and the economy is low with so many drugs out there their peer pressure is very heavy, they are growing up with their own value system and it is not right,” said Sanders, who also is the coordinator for the Sierra County Teen Court.

Domestic Aduse Intervention Center Director [and retired deputy sheriff] Bobby Parks said, "People's values and attitudes have changed.

"The last several young people I have seen involved in homicides do not care.

"They have no fear, not even of being shot, and that is a bad attitude."

Parks said, "The schools are no longer teaching values like they used to. And have you listened to the words of the young peoples' music lately? It is all sex, violence and drugs.

"Add this to economic and psychological pressures and there is no one place to put the blame."

T.or C. Police Detective Tom Schalkofski said, "This is an economically depressed area with a high rate of alcohol abuse.

"We have a large influx of people from other places moving in and out of here and the young ones have not lived here very long. Our jail sure does not scare them, because they are living with a different value system.

"Also, a lot of older people prepared for the end of the world at millennium time and they were disappointed. We may be seeing something from that," Schalkofski said.

<<<   >>>

A burning structure of railroad ties fills the sky over Williamsburg with a column of black smoke. Williamsburg and T or C firemen doused the flames Monday morning in an area just northwest of the Sierra County Fairgrounds.
Photos by Bill Johnson

City trying to make up $609,000 shortfall

By Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal

  Truth or Consequences city commissioners Wednesday said they’ll consider reducing funding to the Sierra County Economic Development Organization (SCEDO) and other service organizations in order to get closer to a balanced budget.

Ongoing budget meetings were held Monday and Wednesday as commissioners grapple for ways to either increase revenues such as through utility rate hikes or by cutting expenses such as through layoffs.

At the beginning of Monday’s special budget meeting, city commissioners needed to find $609,000 in cuts to produce a viable budget to which the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration will grant final approval.

Before eliminating 13 city jobs, commissioners rescinded their motion of last week to eliminate their own salaries for the rest of the fiscal year and saving the city about $15,000 until June 30, 2002.

City Attorney Jay Rubin informed commissioners that the state constitution prohibits public officials from raising or lowering their own salaries during their terms.

Commissioner Lois Reaver-Black announced Wednesday evening that she has returned her most recent paycheck to the city.

As proposed by Acting City Manager Mark Huntzinger, commissioners agreed to eliminate 12 occupied city positions as of Jan. 5: assistant city manager, one police officer, two street laborers, Parks and Recreation facilities manager, two part-time park laborers, one weed control position, one part-time library clerk, electrical utilities office manager, one Water Department employee, one recreation maintenance worker and the city’s code enforcement officer.

Commissioners agreed also to Huntzinger’s recommendation of not filling four vacant positions: part-time library clerk, journeyman lineman (downgrade position to lineman Class II), waste water treatment lab assistant and service center (fleet maintenance) intern.

Commissioners did not agree to eliminate the positions of grant writer, assistant utilities director, human resources tech and, most contentiously, construction projects coordinator.

The construction projects coordinator position was one of 25 positions created under former City Manager Sam Isom and is compensated by $54,000 in annual salary and benefits.

Commissioner Reaver-Black argued that the coordinator’s function could be performed by two other city employees who hold contractor’s licenses and perhaps by the city’s building inspector.

Mayor Everett Banister, Commissioners Nadyne Gardner and Jimmy Rainey outvoted Commissioners Reaver-Black and Cookie Johnson to retain the position held by Jack Baker, reportedly a friend of Commissioner Gardner’s.

Reaver-Black and Johnson were defeated in their second attempt to eliminate the construction projects coordinator and grant writer positions in a two-two vote during Wednesday’s continuation of the budget meeting from which Gardner was absent.

Commissioners agreed to freezing wages for the remainder of the fiscal year except when employees receive additional training or certification for their jobs. Commissioners are considering also wage cuts of two or five percent which would save the city $55,552 or  $138,881, respectively.

Commissioners agreed to transfer $150,000 from a sewer repair and replacement account to the joint utilities fund.

Huntzinger said the transfer helps the city find the money it needs to balance the budget but that it is a use of city savings.

Commissioners will keep $45,000 in the general fund by amending a city ordinance that mandates transfers to electrical construction and repair and replacement accounts.

Commissioners will reduce the city manager’s budget by $17,000 this year. Commissioners had allocated $20,000 for the hiring of a city planner (off the table indefinitely); $3,000 of that amount has been allocated to the hiring of a developer who can tell the Joint Powers Commission what they can do with their old Sierra Vista Hospital building if a new hospital building is constructed.

Commissioner Reaver-Black’s suggestion to eliminate the position of library administrative assistant at $28,553 per year went nowhere but commissioners will consider cuts to various “sub-recipients” that Reaver-Black proposed.

“They’ll be mad but they’ll get over it,” Reaver-Black said. She said the sub-recipients counted on the funds the city had promised this year but that city employees likewise had counted on their jobs. Reaver-Black said the sub-recipients could hold bake sales.

Commissioners determined they could save $25,000 this year by cutting grants and subsidies to SCEDO, the Retired Volunteer Service Program, the Foster Grandparents Program, the Senior Companion Program and the Domestic Abuse Intervention Center. The city could save another $8,525 by voiding its contract with SCEDO to run the Civic Center and letting city staff do it.

Representatives from the sub-recipients will be invited this Tuesday to discuss with commissioners how they can work with the city to cut their grants and subsidies.

Mark Huntzinger proposed closing the city’s golf course or reducing its $87,000 a year subsidy but Mayor Banister said he didn’t want to discuss it Wednesday evening. Banister asked that commissioners wait a couple days as “something is going on” that could help cut golf course expenses.

T or C resident Mildred Hooper asked if the city could save money by not buying property for $75,000 for the eventual expansion of the golf course from nine to 18 holes. Hooper said golfers could instead play the course twice and pay twice the fee.

Commissioner Reaver-Black said it would be a good idea to get out of its deal with property seller Randy Ashbaugh but Mayor Banister said it would cost the city more to break its agreement.

As proposed by Mark Huntzinger, the city will save $7,200 by delaying the opening of the city’s swimming pool four weeks next summer and $30,000 by purchasing less electricity from outside sources.

The acting city manager proposed raising revenues by increasing residential solid waste removal rates from $9.71 to $10.68 but commissioners said they do not want to consider more utilities rate increases until the Utilities Advisory Board conducts a rate study. Commissioners, for now at least, passed on Huntzinger’s suggestion to raise property taxes.

Commissioners will consider eliminating reimbursements for their travel expenses and their per diems and may pay for their trips themselves.

Asked how much time the city has before the Department of Finance and Administration takes over the city’s management and suspends the commissioners, Huntzinger said DFA will allow the city to continue to do what it’s been doing as long as it appears to be making progress. Huntzinger said DFA budget analyst Gloria Gonzales is pleased with the actions the city has taken so far.

In wrapping up Wednesday’s meeting, Huntzinger said he has run out of rabbits to pull out of his hat and can propose more cost-saving measures only with line-by-line deletions of city budget items.

After taking the actions they did this week, the acting city manager and the city commissioners will still have to find $162,300 in cuts to produce a viable budget for this fiscal year.

<<<   >>>

A group of local celebrities and kids attending the Kids Day America event last Saturday group together for this shot. The event was a great success.
Photo by Bill Johnson

President proclaims National Farm Week

  President George Bush on Sept. 17, 2001, proclaimed the week of Sept. 16-22 as National Farm and Ranch Safety and Health Week.

“I call upon agricultural-related agencies, organizations and businesses to strengthen their commitment to provide quality safety and health training to farmers, ranchers and their families. I also call upon citizens to recognize the sacrifice and dedication of those individuals and communities whose work in agriculture provides the quality food that we enjoy,” the President’s proclamation states.

Bush vowed that his administration will support tax-deferred savings accounts to help farming and ranching families guard against downturns.

“To keep farms and ranches in a family from generation to generation, we are eliminating the death tax. Finally farmers and ranchers need foreign markets to sell their products, and I will work hard to ensure that agriculture is a top priority in future trade negotiations,” Bush said.

Bush said he recently signed a $5.5 billion agriculture supplemental bill that affirms his commitment to maintaining a strong and healthy agricultural economy.

The proclamation comes in the wake of the agricultural emergency declared last week by the Sierra County Commissioners who allege a number of factors, such as unfair trade and environmental laws, are eroding the economy of local farmers and ranchers.

<<<   >>>

Youngsters got snow cones during Kids Day America sponsored by Sierra Chiropractic and the DWI Prevention Program on Foch Street in downtown T or C last Saturday.
Photo by Bill Johnson

County commission proclaims
October community theater month

  Sierra County Commissioners on Sept. 20 proclaimed October as National Community Theater Month to recognize locally the Truth or Consequences Community Theater Inc. (TCCT).

According to the proclamation, the TCCT enriches the local community with live theater, provides an outlet for creative expression for people in all walks of life, and provides constructive programs for youth and families.

The community theater is a collaborative project that builds teamwork, friendships and community pride. It also contributes to economic development and quality of life, the proclamation states.

The county commissioners applaud and commend the volunteers and supporters of community theater in the county, the proclamation says.

<<<   >>>

Bernice Nobes, coordinator of the local DWI Prevention Program, is jolted with surprise at the flash of a candid camera during the Kids Day America event.  
Photo by Bill Johnson

Local artisan and businesswoman Erma Woodis paints hearts, stars or whatever the kids want at the Kids Day America event last Saturday inside Sierra Chiropractic on Foch Street.
Photo by Bill Johnson

A candlelight vigil honoring the thousands of victims and their families from the Sept. 11^th attack on America at the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington, DC, featured speakers with messages of hope, compassion and love, as well as musical entertainment by Daragh Vaughan of Darbi Keyes, last Friday night at Ralph Edwards Park in Truth or Consequences, NM.
Photo by Bill Johnson

Candlelight blowing in the soft breeze carries heartwarming messages of hope, understanding and love during America’s new crisis with terrorism that just can’t seem to measure up to America’s newly awakened, leaping spirit.
Photo by Bill Johnson

C

	Web www.desertjournalonline.com