Coop, OSE, TMS

New County Policy: Inmates in Charge!

(From Journal North, Nov. 9, 2010) “TAOS — Two inmates escaped from the county jail here Sunday night after one of them gained access to the control center, enabling him to unlock the front door so the two could simply walk out.

“This occurred in the presence of a guard, who apparently did nothing about it, according to Taos County Undersheriff Edwardo Romero.

“He didn’t react or anything,” Romero said. “He just sat there and looked at him and didn’t do nothing.”

Coop Correction

Friction sources say KCEC members have twenty days from the time CEO Luis Reyes applies for a rate increase to object and request a hearing. Reyes has yet to file, according to Coop activists. He is expected to file about Nov. 15, according to a PRC personage. (Yesterday we announced Nov. 12 as the deadline but that is apparently an error. So far, activists estimate about 200 protests, including the Taos County Commission, are on the wire to the PRC.)

Due to the fracas at the Coop, a number of experienced no-nonsense former KCEC employees and elected officials are expected to run for the board of trustees in 2012. The Coop is coming under more scrutiny today than at anytime in the last ten years by members. Questa, Penasco, and Taos politicos are lining up to take the plunge and confront the tax and spend trustees.

This writer estimates the Coop has squandered about $25 million in unnecessary entrepreneurial adventurism during the last decade: $6 million loss of capital credits due to the merger with Tri-State; $5 million loss in Propane; $2 million loss in Internet; $2 million in compensation for trustees and CEO per diem, travel, and salary; $5 million for solar expansion that has quashed private sector investment; $3 million for a command center; and $2 million plus due to the 69 KW expansion to Penasco and subsequent negotiating mishaps with Picuris Pueblo.

Now the Coop expects members to sign off on more potential Internet losses–due to a loan for $19 million to expand Broadband service. This was your Coop! Now it belongs to the 11 trustees and their boss.

Office of State Engineer

In her wisdom, governor-elect Susana Martinez has, according to the Associated Press, named a “Taos County rancher” i.e. Erminio Martinez to the team that recommends nominees for Office of State Engineer. The choice of a State Engineer will tell state residents much about water policy in the Martinez administration. Former environment secretary John Maggiore (under Gov. Gary Johnson) will also serve on the committee.

Taos Municipal Schools Board

Two Chicano Chamber members, Gene Sanchez and Arsenio Cordova, are apparently running for school board. Sanchez has issued a press release confirming that he will file on Dec. 19. Cordova, who has been busy with the Susana Martinez campaign–and buoyed by her election—says he is considering a second run.

“They’re both a little crazy—well-intentioned but misguided,” says Chicano Chamber President Juma Archuleta. “I might apply for Superintendent since I’ve got 3 GEDs.”

Cordova says his concerned about restructuring, due to the TMS failure to meet federal mandates. Sanchez has taken an active role with parents of Special Needs children. The well-known town councilor got his start in politics by becoming familiar with budgets and audits—an area where TMS has been weak for years.

Board members generally complain that they can’t get answers from administrators. Their favorite refrain appears to be, “I don’t know,” when asked questions about social promotion, Special Needs numbers, suggested audit reforms, or even specific matters about curriculum. Administrators, especially in New Mexico, are protected by the Public Education Department. When critics or journalists report on proposed ideas about fixing education, administrators are rarely included in a matrix that names students, teachers, and parents or impotent board members.

But it’s the CRAB Hall bureaucrats that bungle the process here in Taos and I suspect across the state and nation. Regardless of who is on the school board, a new Superintendent and Director of Curriculum will be needed before the public schools in Taos change for the better. With a new Republican administration in New Mexico, expect more charter and private schools as parents seek more control over the education of their children and fewer administrative obstructions.

It’s time for a conversation about education.