News and Articles

June 29, 2010 BCC Meeting Summary
Santa Fe – July 1, 2010 – All five commissioners were present and below is a summary of the actions taken by the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners:

Presentations:
Donna Dean was named Employee of the Quarter, Housing Director Dodi Salazar lauded her professionalism, dedication and courtesy. Through her efforts, along with those of Diana Gonzales and Valerie Huerta-Giron, the Department of Housing and Urban Development bestowed an Outstanding Performance Award to the County’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Ms. Huerta-Giron, who is the Self-Sufficiency Specialist, also received the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials Member of the Year Award.

Retiring from the County and recognized for service was John Salazar, Assessor’s Office, 19 year of service and Arthur Trujillo, Road Maintenance, 25 years of service.

Diolinda Roybal, Frank Magourilos and Christina Gomez from the DWI Program were honored for completing a Youth Leadership Training. A special mention was made of the Change Your Reality Program.

Theo Raven, lifelong Santa Fe resident and owner of Doodlets, was honored as one of Santa Fe’s Living Treasures. Two other honorees, Jane Petchesky and Shirley Minett were unable to attend.

Carol Johnson made a presentation and a resolution was unanimously passed endorsing the inventoried adjacent roadless area for official inclusion in the Pecos Wilderness. This would expand the wilderness by 130,000 acres.

Gurulal Singh Khalsa and Mukhtiar Khalsa offered the services of AmCorp for auditing the County’s utility expenses and recovering any overpayments.

Paul Gutierrez, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Counties proposed submitting a bid for the County to host the 2012 Western Interstate Regional Conference. He suggested that any expense the County might be expected to incur could be offset by sponsorships or a Lodger’s Tax.

Deputy Treasurer Brian Baca gave an account of the County’s investment portfolio and plans for future investing to the Commission sitting as the Board of Finance.

The following actions were taken unanimously by the Commission:

• The resignation of charter Health Policy and Planning Commission member Valery Henderson was accepted
• The final order in the Helen Romero Variance Request was approved
• An emergency ordinance declaring hazardous fire conditions and imposing restrictions on open fires, smoking and other ignition sources was approved
• An ordinance reforming the County’s procurement code with respect to road and building construction projects to ensure that public trust Is maintained, projects are properly designed, constructed, and completed within budget was passed

Acting County Manager Steve Ross gave an update on the Santa Fe Studios project. In the face of potentially prolonged litigation the proponents of the project have sought and secured a loan from Los Alamos National Bank in the amount of $10 million. The County will be responsible for guaranteeing loan payments and for making improvements required in the original project participation agreement. An ordinance will be presented at the end of July amending the project participation agreement, land transfer agreement, amended grant agreement, and other associated documents.

All BCC meetings are broadcast live at www.santafecountynm.gov. To view recorded video of this BCC meeting, go to http://santafecounty.org/video_on_demand/ or check GOV TV Channel 28 listings. Transcripts of the meeting will be available within 10 working days at www.santafecountynm.gov.