CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. – Clemente Sanchez, running for Mayor of the City of Grants, is seeking the public’s assistance in putting her in the city’s highest seat. But just who is Clemente Sanchez, and what are his plans for the City of Grants?
“Clemente Sanchez is who you see and who you know. I am just me, and I’m not trying to be anyone else. I don’t promise anything to anyone, what you see is what you get – that’s who I am. What you see is what you get, I don’t try to be anybody or anything, I was raised humbly and I think I am a humble person,” Sanchez said. “This is home,” Sanchez said, he has travelled to many other nations and other states, “they’re great to visit to learn more about culture and other people, but this is home.”
Born in his family home in Cubero, Sanchez is the youngest of 13 children. After his mother passed away, his father never remarried, and he credited his father and siblings for teaching him to do the right thing, “And for teaching me to be myself.” One of the most important parts of his upbringings were a few simple words, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Sanchez is no stranger to the political arena, he served for eight years as a New Mexico State Senator, serving Cibola County. Unlike with the issues that have plagued the Grants City Council recently, Sanchez has found his way around serious issues to see major accomplishments for The City of Grants, Cibola County, and the State of New Mexico. Sanchez said that in the state legislature he had to play a numbers game, understanding how many votes would be available for certain priorities, he had to compromise with both Republicans and Democrats to see success. In the city council, Sanchez doesn’t foresee many issues in accomplishing his priorities, he said that if he could work with both polticial parties, he can work with the councilors.
Sanchez’ top priority is water.
“The economy of Grants is hard, its struggling,” Sanchez said, he said that he would support seeing extractive industries returning to the county, saying that he worked in the mine and it helped him get through schooling. “You need to be able to support small businesses… For example, we need to support, not only just fund, but support the organizations that deal with economic development and our businesses,” Sanchez specifically spoke on the Grants MainStreet Project Inc. and the Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce, he then mentioned the New Mexico State University Grants Branch because it has a Small Business Development Center; by supporting the agencies already in Grants, Sanchez plans on leveraging the workforce available to grow Grants’ economy. “I do have that type of a plan,” Sanchez said.
As a mayor, Sanchez wants to be an accessible mayor, “I want to listen [and] take advice.” As state senator, Sanchez had allocated millions of dollars to the City of Grants, helping to fund road projects like the Second Street Project and First Street Project. Injecting state funds to help the city with its critical infrastructure issues is an accomplishment he has achieved as senator, and as mayor he said he would have an understanding of the legislative process to find more money and put it to beneficial use. “The city needs economic stability,” Sanchez said, “We need a stable government” to ensure the financial stability, he declared. To get this stability, Sanchez wants to put an end to what he calls “An embarrassment” that has taken root in the city hall. Sanchez aims to restore the respect and image of Grants. To do this, Sanchez said he would enforce the rules of decorum in a meeting and stop the crosstalk between councilors, stop the hurling of insults at one another, and change the attitude of out-of-staters who watch the meetings because “they’re funny” and make the chamber respectable again.
Focusing on infrastructure, Sanchez said he will work to ensure that pipes and roads in need of repair get the attention they deserve, this is part of caring for the people, he said. As one of his top priorities, Sanchez said that he will work to fix the water situation in Grants. “Last summer we were asked by the governing body to conserve [water]. Conservation is always good, but conservation is difficult to do when you have the city selling water to a construction project in Laguna, or a construction project in San Fidel. Why are you telling your citizens to conserve when you’re selling this water outside the municipal boundaries?” Sanchez posed.
Bringing respect back to Grants, listening to the citizens and focusing on fixing the infrastructure issues that are hurting them, and bringing water security back to Grants are some of the primary issues Sanchez seeks to address.