Monday, July 21, 2008

More on New Mexico

Here is a link that profiles Northern New Mexico's "megapolitan' status as seen by the Brookings Institution. It is predicting that this area will grow by another half million people in the next 30 years. It leaves hope that we can make the right choices to protect our quality of life.

It would really be interesting to know how many political leaders will take the time to read this document. How many legislators? How many county commissioners or city councillors? How many Congressmen and Senators? Because Congress will play a role too, and an important one.

Frankly, many will not read it because they are involved in the crisis of the day. There is no unified planning organization on the New Mexico State government level that can run with this in a sustained way. It is remarkable really, that State Government still has no "Planning Department." I have always felt that it doesn't have one because it could be the undoing of the pork barrel spending system so coveted by the lawmakers. A good planning process would certainly jeopardize that system.

No comments: