Three new members on the Truth or Consequences City Commission asking for more financial information have succeeded in getting City Manager Morris Madrid to promise he will reveal more in the upcoming year. Mayor Pro-tem Brendan Tolley and City Commissioners Amanda Forrister and Randall Aragon have all asked for more financial information since they took […]
Truth or Consequences City Manager Morris Madrid estimated “over half a million” in damages to City facilities had been done by the flooding from the torrential rain on July 26. He called an emergency meeting July 29, requesting the City Commission pass a resolution declaring a state of emergency so the City can apply for
City of Truth or Consequences declares state of emergency after flash flood Read More »
Randy Ashbaugh will open a Fast Stop at 195 Rock Canyon Rd. in Elephant Butte, having purchased the Valero gas station and its full liquor license. The Elephant Butte City Council held a public hearing on transferring the liquor license to Chisolm Properties, doing business as Fast Stop, at the July 27 special meeting. During
Fast Stop at what was Valero will have outdoor “cabana bar” Read More »
What’s not to like? Amerigreen Organics, a hemp-growing, extraction-bottling and retail-sales company will bring about 90 inside jobs to Truth or Consequences’ 54,000 square-feet of long-empty space at Lakeway Shopping Center at 1900 N. Date St. and up to 300 agricultural jobs in the county, according to Loveless Johnson III, the owner of the company.
Amerigreen Organics is coming, despite flaw in city support Read More »
The City of Truth or Consequences has joined the City of Elephant Butte and the Village of Williamsburg in switching from running their own local elections to letting the Sierra County Clerk run them. Elephant Butte and Williamsburg “opted in” about a year and a half ago. The Truth or Consequences City Commission voted unanimously
City of Truth or Consequences “opts in” to local elections act Read More »
In a special meeting next Wednesday, the Truth or Consequences City Commission will approve the close-out of last year’s budget and then approve the final budget for the upcoming year. The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. and no public comment will be allowed. The City planned to spend a little over $26 million this
Truth or Consequences plans to spend nearly $10 million more this year than last year Read More »
It took about three weeks, but Democrat Neomi Martinez-Parra, who is running against Crystal Diamond for the state Senate, District 35, which includes Sierra County, answered the Sierra County Sun’s questions. Diamond has yet to respond. She explained the delay. “Hidalgo County has been hit very hard with COVID-19,” Martinez-Parra said. “Some of my family
Truth or Consequences police officers will use their own judgement whether to issue citations enforcing Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s order that people wear masks in public, the City choosing not to take a firm policy line or strong leadership role on the mask issue. City Manager Morris Madrid suppressed public comment on mask wearing at
Truth or Consequences goes vague on mask policy Read More »
Tanya and Zane Kiehne own 345,000 acres of land across seven counties in New Mexico and seven counties in Texas, being 31st out of the top 50 landowners in the United States. They rent a hangar at the Truth or Consequences airport and the lease may not be renewed unless the City and Kiehnes can
The Sierra County budget for 2020-2021 was approved and drafted by the County Commission as if it were a private company, not a public entity, blocking any public participation in or knowledge of how public funds will be spent in the upcoming year. About a month ago the County Commission held a preliminary-budget meeting that
Sierra County Commission passed final budget, leaving public out of the process Read More »
BUDGET The Truth or Consequences City Commission will have a workshop on the final 2020-2021 budget at the end of the regular meeting that starts at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. No final budget is in the packet, giving the City Commission and the public no time to study the budget before the last-minute July 22
It’s been more than two weeks since the Sierra County Sun sent questions to Neomi Martinez-Parra with no response. Martinez-Parra’s Republican opponent, Crystal Diamond from Sierra County, also did not answer questions from the Sun. Martinez-Parra successfully beat 34-year Democratic incumbent John Arthur Smith in the June primary. He is said by many to be
Neomi Martinez-Parra, running for state Senate District 35, doesn’t respond to questions Read More »
The Elephant Butte City Council passed a budget that will spend about $2.6 million for the fiscal year that began July 1 and ends June 30, 2021. The final budget was approved at the July 15 meeting, which is due to the state by the end of the month. The General Fund, which pays for
Elephant Butte passes conservative budget amid COVID-19 crisis Read More »
The City of Truth or Consequences City Commission has received many requests to defund the police. The City Commission received five emails, revealed in an Inspection-of-Public-Records-Act request, and an unknown number of calls from constituents, reported by two City Commissioners. The issue was brought up by two City Commissioners at the July 8 meeting,
Truth or Consequences City Manager Morris Madrid dismissed residents’ and two City Commissioner’s concerns that the renovation plans for Ralph Edwards Park include a parking lot next to the river. At the July 8 meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Brendan Tolley and City Commissioner Amanda Forrister said they had received many calls concerning the parking lot
City Manager claims parking lot by river was never in Ralph Edwards Park plan Read More »
Consistent with their campaign promises to make the City more transparent, new Truth or Consequences City Commissioners Amanda Forrister and Randall Aragon said the community should decide whether they hold one evening meeting a month. Both said they heard from many constituents during their campaigns that one of the two meetings a month should be
The brand new Planning and Zoning Commission and three-members-new City Commission carved out major exceptions to zoning law by approving two variances and a special-use permit, neither body going through the findings-of-fact process required by city code. The P&Z heard three land-use applications a few weeks ago and the City Commission, without holding additional public
Truth or Consequences Chief of Police Michael Apodaca thinks the City needs to pass a local law or ordinance before his officers have the authority to enforce the Governor’s public health order requiring people wear masks in public places. On the other hand, City Attorney Jay Rubin thinks officers have the authority to enforce the
Do Truth or Consequences Police have authority to enforce Governor’s mask-wearing order? Read More »
If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you’re going, an adage that applies to budgeting. In an effort to correct the scant public information made available about last year’s budget and the upcoming-year’s final budget due to the state on July 30, the Truth or Consequences City Commission agreed to hold
Truth or Consequences budget questions Read More »
Republican Crystal Diamond and Democrat Neomi Martinez-Parra are running for New Mexico Senate Seat District 35. Diamond claims Martinez-Parra’s campaign is being funded by progressive organizations outside the state. On her website she states, “I’m running to be your next State Senator from New Mexico District 35 because I have become increasingly concerned by the