UNM Graduates Celebrate at Bataan Hall

Mary Lutz

Education

The Taos Branch and the Bachelor and Graduate division of UNM graduated more than 200 students in ceremonies at Bataan Hall on Friday, May 13 to cheers from the SRO crowd. Seventy-three (73) students received Associates degrees and 13 were awarded certificates. Twenty-two students received bachelors’ degrees. Thanks to the combined efforts of UNM, YouthBuild, the San Cristobal Ranch Academy, HEP program, DreamTree Project, Siete del Norte, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, and the Literacy Center, 114 students received GEDs (General Education Diplomas).

Catherine O'Neill

The stability at UNM, thanks to Dr. Kate O’Oneil at the branch and coordinator Mary Lutz at the bachelors-upper division means students received degrees and certificates in everything from nursing to elementary education, computers to dental assistantships, healing arts to paralegal studies and Bachelors of Universities Studies. As the culture of local education changes, the local university and its faculty are working hard to accommodate a paradigm shift in demand. By opening the door to alternative but accredited models of education, UNM provides students of high school age, college age, as well as lifetime learners both practical and edifying opportunities.

The more the community supports local programs at the university, the more both traditional and non-traditional students will prosper. During the depression era, three generations of Taosenos were reported as attending elementary schools in an effort to become literate. On Friday night at Bataan Hall it wasn’t uncommon for a parent and child to be receiving both GEDs and advanced degrees. The greater Taos area, including Taos Pueblo, the villages and the town, were all well-represented in the multicultural celebration.

KCE Coop Secrets

In response to a membership petition to remove 9 trustees for allegations of what amounts to “mismanagement,” the board of trustees of KCEC has filed a motion in district court seeking an injunction against the petitioners—partially due to vague charges.

According to the “By-Laws of Kit Carson Eelctric Co-operative, Inc.,” in “Section 9. Removal of Trustees and Officers,” it says, “Any member may bring one or more charges (‘charge”) against a trustee and may request the removal of such trustee by reason thereof by filing with the Secretary such charge in writing together with a petition signed by not less than three percent (3%) of the then-total members of the Co-operative…”(etc.)

Apparently, the board’s own by-laws fail to specify what the charges should say. Hence the board is asking the court to clarify the vague charges. It appears to this observer that the board and the membership are the final arbiter of the meaning of the by-laws. All the petitioners have to to do, according to the by-laws is “present evidence in support of the charge” …“during the meeting through oral settlements, documents or otherwise.”

Petitioners timed the “charges” and request for removal of trustees to be heard by members at the annual KCEc membership meeting in June but after the PRC hearings in late May on the KCEC rate request. Rate protesters have asked the Coop for information on “cross-subsidization” of Propane, Internet, Broadband, executive and trustee expenses. But they say the Coop has refused to comply. Due to the lack of compliance with protestors’ requests, the PRC has delayed the hearing 45 days.

To the lay person, the trustees appear to be whining to the court about an internal matter—a dispute about their own by-laws, which are being used as intended, by the members, who disagree with the management of the Coop—due to losses of millions of dollars, according to the Coop’s own audits.

Call it a cover-up.

Announcements

In anticipation of next year’s municipal election, Councilor Gene Sanchez, the voice of reform at the town, has announced that he will not be a candidate for re-election. This year’s constant gardener has said he will spend time cultivating a crop of domestic fish and vegetables in an attempt to provide food security for his family.

Plus he has other duties: “Now that Juma’s left a chonky in charge of the Chicano Chamber, I need to recruit new members,” said Sanchez. The Disappeared Barber has retreated from “Raoul’s Brotherhood of Love in El Prado.”

Aspiring Judges Meet at New Courthouse

Some twenty attorneys will meet with a commission of honorable appointees and political hangers-on in their quest for jobs as judges. Bookmakers say favorites include democrats Sarah Montoya, Barbara Martinez, Alan Maestas, and Jeff McElroy. An appointment can turn an also-ran into a viable candidate, according to Flavio. Appointees to the two vacant positions must run as candidates in the June primary and November general elections of 2012.

(See Judge John? He can’t wait to pass the Taos Gavel!)

Eagle-eyed attorney Helen Lopez, according to her press release, is already running for the job of District Judge, according to a press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact David Gomez (505) 690-6980 lopezforjudge@gmail.com

Taos County lawyer Helen Laura López has announced that she will run for district court judge in the Eighth Judicial District, which covers Taos, Union and Colfax Counties. López is bypassing the judicial selection process in which a nominating committee interviews candidates and forwards names to Governor Susana Martinez, who will appoint two judges. The appointed judges will have to run for election in 2012. “I want the voters to decide who will be our judges,” said López.

López is a native New Mexican who was born in Albuquerque raised in Los Griegos neighborhood and graduated from Valley High School. She has lived in the Peñasco Valley in Taos County since 1994. She earned her law degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

López has the experience needed for the serious business of the district court in the Eighth Judicial District.

She has tried many cases in the state and federal district courts. She has briefed and argued cases in the New Mexico Court of Appeals, the New Mexico Supreme Court, and the United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a successful private attorney, López represents disabled people who have been denied social security disability benefits. She also acts as personal representative and conservator in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases in district court, where plaintiffs have recovered millions of dollars. She has responsibility for the final settlement decisions and the disbursement of the funds and establishment of trusts. Lopez also has experience in family law and criminal law.

“It will be an exciting campaign in 2012,” López said. “I look forward to meeting the voters of Taos, Union and Colfax counties.”

López is married to James Burke, a United States Administrative Law Judge. Her daughter Stephanie López, M.D., is a forensic psychiatrist in Oregon. She has two grandchildren.

She is a founding member of the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association. She was appointed by the state Chief Justice to serve two terms on the Supreme Court Committee for Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts. She is a member of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association and the National Organization for Social Security Claimants’ Representatives. She has been a speaker at national and state bar legal seminars.

Campaign Mailing Address: Committee to Elect Helen Lopez District Judge
P O Box 502, Peñasco, NM 87553-0502
Campaign Treasurer: Edwin Fernandez of Peñasco
Campaign Email Address: lopezforjudge@gmail.com