New Mexico Central

Is Forward Looking The Same As Looking Forward?

 by John Weckerle

In a Mountain View Telegraph Guest View this week, as well as in The Independent, Edgewood Mayor Bob Stearley outlines some of the accomplishments of the first year of his tenure as Mayor and of the current Town Council’s term.  While there has certainly been progress in some areas, some of these statements bear a little closer examination.

Among the accomplishments listed are passage of a new sign ordinance, relocation of the library, some unspecified progress on the sewer, and a projection that funds will be sought for other uses in the future.

On the subject of the sewer – Mr. Stearley writes: “The sewer system, which is designed to serve the Highway 66 business corridor, is due to be constructed this year. The project was delayed by the inability of the first contractor to do the work to the specifications contained in the bid package. In the next few weeks our engineer will provide the council with proposed sewer rates. I will be working on your behalf to set rates which are comparable to the rates set by other towns within commuting distance of Albuquerque.”  We point out that Mayor Stearley stated in a June 19, 2008 Mountain View Telegraph Guest View that “We are currently working on setting the costs which users of the sewer will pay for sewer hook-ups and monthly sewer rates. The sewer should be in operation in January.”  We have also seen no information regarding exactly what specifications the contractor was unable to satisfy. Further, rumors have surfaced that the western branch of the sewer will have to be redesigned because the New Mexico Department of Transportation will not grant an easement in the I-40 right-of-way – a potential pitfall that should have been exposed by the work of the design engineering firm.  It seems a little unrealistic to suggest that the engineer has been working on setting rates since last June without having them ready.

Comparing the statements in the June 19, 2008 guest view and this week’s letter to the editor, it would appear that there has been little or no progress toward completing the sewer. In our June 20, 2008 article, we  expressed a healthy but reserved skepticism on the subject of certain forward-looking statements made by Mr. Stearley regarding Town initiatives. Forward-looking is as forward-looking does, but a little backward-looking seems to show the same scenery as forward-looking in this case.  This time, we’re upping the level of skepticism; we’d be extremely surprised to see the sewer completed this year.

On the sign ordinance – It is good to see some semblance of a final resolution to this issue.  According to some who have perhaps followed the sign ordinance development process more closely than we have, nobody got everything they were after, but in the end there appeared to be a reasonable compromise.  Kiosk signs are now allowed, and strip centers are now permitted to have two signs listing the businesses therein instead of just one.  However, as we reported last July 4, some sign ordinance committee members were dissatisfied with what they thought was interference with their efforts by Town staff, and according to one witness, all but one of the sign ordinance committee members present at the Town Council meeting at which the ordinance was passed walked out of that meeting in protest.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future.

On the library – We agree that moving the library for the interim may have been a good step along the way to constructing a new building on Section 16.  However, it is important to note that, to date, every Town project involving Section 16 seems to have been derailed.  Despite gaining funding for athletic fields, the Town does not seem to have made any headway in actually putting them in.  Other projects slated for the area, including the new Town center, library, animal shelter, road maintenance building, and fire station seem to have fallen victim to a mystifying miasma of problems and delays, and to date not one spoonful of dirt has been turned in support of any of these projects.

On the police department – It is good to hear that things appear to be running more smoothly, but let us remember that this comes on the heels of an alleged disaster regarding the administration of the department before the  new interim chief was appointed.  While it appears that there may have been problems with the former chief, it also seems that there may have been inadequate oversight on the part of the Town administration.

We also note that, to date, we have heard nothing about the Town advertising the position of Town Administrator.  Rumors have surfaced to the effect that there is an intent to hire from within.  While it appears possible that a candidate currently appointed by the Town may turn out to be the right choice, we consider it important that the Town conduct a thorough recruitment process to ensure that the successful candidate is selected from the best possible pool of potential administrators.

In closing, we hope that Mr. Stearley’s optimism regarding progress on the subject activities is justified – and if our skepticism proves wrong, we will be glad to eat crow and laud the Town’s successes.  If we’re right, however, we’ll be pointing that out, as well.  In the meantime, we wish Mr. Stearley success in making progress toward these very important and admittedly difficult goals.

Friday, March 27th, 2009, by John Weckerle and is filed under "Edgewood ". You can leave a response here. Pinging is currently not allowed.