Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association

By Mike Neas- On August 4th the Sandoval County Commissioners will decide if the Hospital Tax Question will again be asked of the voters in the upcoming November election. This is a very important Ballot Question and Public Comment from now to the election should be encouraged. 480 votes swung the other way on the 2008, 4.25 Hospital mil levy and Sandoval County property tax payers would not have committed to paying over 104 million dollars over an eight year period to one public teaching hospital and one private hospital.

The wording in the tax question itself is arguably responsible for the difference in the 2008 vote count. That question confusingly misrepresented the mil levy duration as not less than 4 and not more than 8 years. The difference being a whopping 52 million dollar additional tax burden and the County Management never even considered the four year possibility when it signed the eight year Sandoval County Health Facilities Agreements.

How long should we supplement the operations of both of these hospitals with more than one million dollars a month of the property tax potential? The hospitals are not available to “…all Sandoval County residents.” as recited in each of their Sandoval County Health Facilities Agreements. Presbyterian Hospital accepts only certain insurances, of which my own Blue Cross Blue Shield is not one. And Presbyterian Health Care has no contract with Sandoval County Regional Medical Center. Can we afford to commit another 104 million dollars over the next 8 years while important Bond Issues fail to pass and County infrastructure and our education system are underfunded?

We now have two modern, well-staffed, medical institutions which are major assets in the future of our County. The hospitals are now established and are important aspects of our Sandoval County health and economic future. The taxpayers have made an important and considerable contribution to a much needed cause. But, we cannot afford another eight years and 104 million dollars to two “most favored” tax money recipients. The money must be spread around. Vote “NO” on the Hospital tax question and vote yes on something else that we need.

These hospitals should not be joined at the hip in a single all or nothing Ballot Question. We might also consider supporting only our public teaching hospital with a 2.125 mil tax levy.

The Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association held its annual meeting on Saturday, June 25, 2016, at the Anasazi Winery.  Board members attending included, Ed Majka, Bob Gorrell, Susan Fullas, Chris Daul, John McNerney and Lynn Koch.  Elected officials attending were State Representative Jim Smith and Sandoval County Commissioner James Dominguez.  There were approximately 60 residents in attendance.

The first speaker was Danita Burns, who is the Albuquerque District Manager for the Bureau of Land Management.  John Brenner, the BLM Field Manager for the Rio Puerco Office, was also in attendance.  Ms. Burns explained how large the BLM land area is in this District and the difficulties in managing the land wherein one half of New Mexico’s population resides.  She stated that technical issues have kept the Resource Management Plan from being issued yet but that she expects it to be issued within the next two months.

We will have 30 days in which to submit comments after the RMP is released.  ES-CA and the Las Placitas Association are coordinating notification of residents as soon as the document is released.  It is expected that the RMP will recommend sand and gravel mining in part of the Buffalo Tract and it is important that all residents submit their comments in a timely manner and that we make our position known to all of our elected officials.

BLM has stepped up its requirements on reclamation of mining sites by requiring that the companies secure sufficient bonds to cover the costs, should they default.   BLM does receive remuneration from any private company that utilizes BLM land for business operations and they do strive to balance land protection with other uses. 

The next speaker was Valerie Espinoza, who is the chairwoman of the NM Public Regulation Commission and the representative for our area of the State.  She provided an overview of what entities the PRC regulates, which includes utility companies, telecommunications and public transportation companies.  She noted that the PRC does not regulate private trucking companies.

Ms. Espinoza also discussed pipeline safety and had an inspector from the Pipeline Safety Bureau of the PRC discuss in detail about the pipelines that run through Placitas.  Information on the pipelines is posted in the Forum.

Dick Ulmer, chair of the Land Protection Trust discussed sand and gravel mining and how it has a negative effect on homeowners in the area.  He noted that as soon as the LPT was added to the lawsuit against Vulcan, they began settlement talks.  Dick also commented on the new air monitoring station that NMED has installed in Placitas and that NMED has issued violation notices to Vulcan for air violations.

ES-CA vice president Bob Gorrell spoke about Sandoval County ordinances and how ES-CA is trying to work with the County to adopt an ordinance that would regulate oil and gas drilling.

John McNerney, ES-CA’s director of political and legal affairs spoke about the pipelines in Placitas and his information sheet is posted on the Forum.

Chris Daul, ES-CA’s communications director spoke about the hospital tax and what the hospitals and the County are looking for as the tax expires at the end of this year.  Sandoval Regional Medical Center has met with ES-CA and provided information as to their operations and cost.  They have not made a formal request to continue the tax but it is expected that they will ask for a continuation at the present rate of 4.25.  ES-CA will be meeting with RUST Medical Center to discuss this issue as well at the next ES-CA board meeting on July 11.

ES-CA has not taken a position on the tax question at this time.  ES-CA has asked SRMC and will ask RUST if they would both make a joint presentation to the Placitas Community early this fall. 

ES-CA president Ed Majka closed the meeting by reminding everyone of the important role that residents play in getting our voices heard by the County, the State and the Federal government.