WHAT I BELIEVE IN...
And What we've done
DURING MY FIRST TERM
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Our economic health, family stability, and work opportunities rest on establishing more below-market housing. We have a plan to build workforce housing on County land, and joined with the Town of Taos to help start the Taos Housing Partnership. The Housing Partnership we helped start is now working to advise the County with policy changes that will support housing as well as homebuyer education and support.
ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The County disbursed over $½ million of federal Covid relief funds into community work focused on food, land, homelessness & more. I also pushed to bring back the position of Economic Development Director, and we now have someone in place who is convening regional conversations about workforce development, supporting youth internships in arts and cultural organizations, and bringing in a variety of grant funds.
HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY
As part of the Commission, I voted to put on the ballot GRT (gross receipt tax) funding increases for the County Fire & EMS (which we agreed to share with the municipalities in the County) as we as a GRT for the stability of Holy Cross Hospital and the UNM-Taos Nursing program.
FAIR WAGES
We put in place a new wage plan to pay County staff fairly, reducing the vacancy rate by double digits - so we can get more work done for the community.
GOVERNMENT COOPERATION
Some of the policy changes we’d like - and some of the funding we need - require collaboration with others. Fortunately, your current County team has strong relationships at the local, state, and federal level. We know and like these folks, we brainstorm and compromise with them, and we partner with them.
TRANSPARENCY
Transparency to me means more than seeing the decisions and actions officials are taking. It means communicating the reasons behind those actions, and inviting and involving community input along the way.
ENVIRONMENT & WILDFIRE PROTECTION
We implemented a unique agreement - called the Good Neighbor Agreement - that lets us more efficiently move federal funds into the County for protecting our forests and watersheds. And we’ve supported the health of the Rio Hondo by directing funds toward a water quality study. There’s much more work to do – especially when it comes to protecting our precious lands, water, homes, and health in the face of the climate crisis.
SOCIAL SERVICES
We prioritized providing social services that weren’t available before, supporting the Taos NEST emergency shelter program and working to get the location, funding, and partners to re-start a detox center.