New Mexico's population growth has fallen. Net migration into the state has ceased and people are leaving because of the state bucking the national trend of adding jobs and opportunity. We have always had a problem with our young people leaving for greener pastures, but this trend is downright alarming. And Governor Susanna Martinez and Mayor Berry just hide in their cubby holes so they won't take any criticism.
Instead they have the GOP Chairman John Billingsley send a letter to the respected Crime Stoppers Board criticising them for allowing a liberal to be Chairman of the Board. That would be Pat Davis, a former police officer and now activist on progressive issues. The Crime Stoppers Board immediately told him to stick it and unanimously reaffirmed Davis to head the board.
So, if I were a young entrepreneur who stopped in Albuquerque to scout it out for a new business and read these two stories in the Journal today, here is what I might think. "What a bunch of ineffectual rubes the leadership and GOP in this state must be. If they ignore the real problems in the economy in favor of this drivel, why would I locate here?"
Instead they have the GOP Chairman John Billingsley send a letter to the respected Crime Stoppers Board criticising them for allowing a liberal to be Chairman of the Board. That would be Pat Davis, a former police officer and now activist on progressive issues. The Crime Stoppers Board immediately told him to stick it and unanimously reaffirmed Davis to head the board.
So, if I were a young entrepreneur who stopped in Albuquerque to scout it out for a new business and read these two stories in the Journal today, here is what I might think. "What a bunch of ineffectual rubes the leadership and GOP in this state must be. If they ignore the real problems in the economy in favor of this drivel, why would I locate here?"
7 comments:
The state's refusal to invest in it's infrastructure and education is why so many young people and some of us seniors are leaving for more people-friendly cities.
I agree wholeheartedly.
New Mexico's economy may slump even further if the labs and/or defense funding gets cut under the current fiscal crisis. With this threat looming over NM, one would think the guv and the mayor, as staunch republicans, would have economic development highest on their agendas. Surely, they should know NM's economy can't depend solely on federal spending as it has historically been.
Sometimes you really infuriate me Mr. Baca (like yesterday's post) but you redeem yourself with your comment today. These people running the city and the state really are just traitors of the highest order. Perhaps the state should have it's statehood held in abeyance since Martinez/Berry have all but destroyed it in favor of special out of state interests.
Going by the comments, a good share of people are aware of the problem. I wonder why it isn't more a part of public discussions, campaigns, etc., why something doesn't come out of this awareness
Or maybe it is talked about, but it's the way it's talked about. The Journal keeps running these stories about the UNM development project. That's going to be tightly controlled by the powers that be.
The other day Mayor Barry was showing a few people around that old building down in the railroad yards. It was just a few people. Nearby was a whole community of people who were entirely left out of that whole process, from its inception to whatever will become of it. They probably aren't even allowed to walk over there and check it out.
And our pudgy governor just madevTime Magazine's 100 most influential people list. I guess I don't even know what to say any more.
Good for the Crime Stoppers Board. Pat Davis is smart and capable. i had no idea he was involved with Crime Stoppers, but my esteem for the group just skyrocketed.
TIME magazine had the woman breastfeeding a 4 year old and I thought that was a new low in the history of the magazine. I was wrong.
I just noticed the Albuquerque Journal dropped its paywall. You can now google or bing search articles and they pop up including their Upfront columns. Economic trouble perhaps?
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