Fighting Poverty by Yanking Rural Services?
Guest Commentary by Flo Maze
Editor’s Note: Ms. Maze asks that anyone wishing to assist with this issue, including but not limited to signing petitions and providing other support, contact her at fmaze21@comcast.net. As stated in the article, a meeting on this issue is scheduled for June 12, 2008 at the Moriarty Civic Center. Members of MRCOG’s Workforce Connection Executive Committee are listed here. The July 2007 roster of the Workforce Connection Board can be found here. We have been advised that Pat Lincoln is no longer on the Board, reportedly having resigned in April. We note that only two of the remaining 35 members are listed with an address in the East Mountains and Estancia Valley, although Moriarty City Councilor Steve Anaya is listed with an Albuquerque business address. We do not currently have any confirmed information on the makeup of a local Board for the Workforce Connection.
On June 30, 2008, the Workforce Connection of Central New Mexico will be closing its doors to the citizens and businesses of Torrance and Southern Santa Fe County and Eastern Bernalillo County permanently. The Executive Board for the Workforce Connection under MRCOG (Mid Region Council of Governments) has made the final decision for this closure.
What does this mean to you? If you become unemployed; you will now need to go to the office located in Albuquerque at 501 Mountain Road NE for services. Now, don’t go if you need to file for Unemployment Insurance. This you can only do by calling the Unemployment number at 841-4000 and responding to the questions. You can also file via the internet by going to: www.uiclaims.state.nm.us and following the online instructions. If you arrive in person to talk to someone on filing for unemployment, they will send you over to the bank of phones to apply.
For the majority of citizens in our counties, this closure will have an impact on many families and businesses in our area. For the unemployed and underemployed, this means that the services that are now offered to you immediately will be gone forever. Presently the office can assist you with resumes, local job postings (the majority which come directly from local employers), questions you may have regarding educational opportunities that the Workforce Connection can assist in paying for, including your transportation costs, immediate referrals to other local agencies for assistance in housing, social service programs, transportation referrals, and so on. We have over 700 individuals receiving Food Stamps and over 170 individuals/families receiving TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). What does this closure mean for them and their children?
For the many businesses that have utilized our local office, OJT (On the Job Training) Contracts will no longer have the convenience available locally. You will now have to contact the Albuquerque office. You will no longer have a local point of contact to post your job openings nor the immediate assistance of the local staff. If you read the Workforce Connection of Central New Mexico’s brochure you can go online to reach New Mexico’s available workforce and input job orders 24 hours a day. You will also note in their brochure that the Workforce Connection One-Stop Centers (local) can help with interviewing facilities to expedite the hiring process. Not after June 30th.
Local and state statistics show that Torrance County has one of the highest poverty rates in our state. In fact, Governor Richardson recently has put together “another” Task Force to look at poverty in our state to see what can be done to change these statistics. I don’t think he was thinking of cutting services. Do you? I don’t think our local representatives that we voted into office think cutting services is the answer to alleviating poverty. Do you? I don’t think our local elected officials feel cutting services to citizens is the answer to halting poverty. Do you?
We need and MUST continue to offer any and all services that will benefit the citizens of our communities. We need and MUST continue to offer local services to all businesses in our area. We need to STOP putting the decisions that are best for our communities into the hands of organizations that don’t understand or are unwilling to accept that rural communities rely on local services to help communities grow. We are not an urban area where services abound. We have to rely on what is available locally.
Our East Mountain communities are on the brink of economic growth with new businesses looking to move here. They expect and demand a locally trained workforce. Our citizens want and deserve the same services that citizens in an urban area receive. I don’t see many Albuquerqueans coming to our area for job training. Do you? We need local workforce training and services.
The MRCOG’s recommendation to the Board to pull these services is an injustice to our citizens and our communities. Our local leaders need to stand up now for their citizens and demand from the MRCOG that no services be pulled from our areas. Our elected officials in Santa Fe need to demand that these services remain. And as citizens, make your voices heard. The next Full Board Meeting of the MRCOG is scheduled for Monday, June 16, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. The address to the MRCOG offices is: 809 Copper Avenue NW in Albuquerque. Wanna go for a ride?
There will be a local Community Meeting regarding the closure of the Workforce Connection in Moriarty on June 12th at 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Moriarty Civic Center. The MRCOG and the local board, along with local governing officials, will also be invited to attend. We appreciate hearing from all local citizens in our areas; from Tjeras, Cedar Crest, Edgewood, Stanley, Moriarty, McIntosh, Estancia, Willard, Mountainair, Torreeon, Tajique, Manzano and Encino. If you are a business owner, your voices can do much to stress the importance of having an available and trained local workforce when YOU need them.
One Response “Fighting Poverty by Yanking Rural Services?”
Contact the US Department of Labor that controls the Workforce Investment Act funds. The Mid Region Council of Governments is obligated to have a one stop center in each county it serves under the Workforce Investment Act. It can not make access to the one stop centers difficult for those most in need. Most of the money MRCOG is receiving goes to administration, not services. Read their minutes on their website to see their concern about spending more on administration over services. The organization has already been investigated by the US Department of Labor for mishandling of funds.