The Truth Part 2
Our wonderful Mayor and his buddies continue to spread false information. I apologizes for yet another letter to the editor, but I can’t stand it when people bully others and do not tell the truth. I would like to clarify some misinformation being put out there. The Mayor has publicly stated that the City paved Councilman Padilla’s personal driveway with city funds and city crews. This is not true.
Over the last 6 years, Councilor Padilla frequently contacted me as the City Manager, even before he became a councilman, regarding issues that needed to be addressed in his neighborhood and district. This is typical for most city councilmen, to advocate for work in their district. He and others in his neighborhood contacted me numerous times about the flooding in the area, primarily the flooding under the 5th street bridge that occurred after every rain and the flooding from the corner of Fifth St. heading east on Valencia. Mr. Padilla brought to my attention that a trench in his neighborhood and maintained by the city needed to be cleaned out and that the culvert midway in the trench had collapsed. The trench runs approximately half of a city block and parallel to the homes and the road on East Valencia. I went to the site and saw standing water, the overgrown trench and the collapsed culvert. The culvert happened to be directly adjacent to the Padilla property and is in the area of his main access to his property. The trench and culvert help divert the extra runoff from heavy rains to the east and then north to the Rio San Jose, alleviating some of the flooding and damage to the road.
The city crews did the needed work which was all on city property. The property lines can be viewed on the County Assessor’s site. In replacing the culvert, the asphalt over it had to be removed (It was already paved). After replacing the culvert, the crew put asphalt back over the culvert to return it to its original condition. All the work was done on city property and not inside the Padilla’s property. Similar culvert work has been done in several other locations to include Ann St, Truman Ave., North Hills Blvd, College Dr., Third St, Fourth St. and Roosevelt Ave. to name a few. The work done on Valencia Avenue was not done for Mr. Padilla but was done to alleviate the flooding in that neighborhood and to help preserve the road. Mr. Padilla received no special favors or treatment from the City of Grants and in no way was this a violation of the anti-donation laws.
Laura Jaramillo
Cibola’s Heroes
Dear editor,
We have many heroes that step up to relieve suffering in our community. Recently, I was made aware that Diamond G gave $250 Carhart gift cards to different individuals that serve the public in different ways. One of them is acting GPD Chief of Police Jeff Marez. Jeff received a beautiful Carhart Jacket and pullover, with a couple of other accessories. He was pretty excited! As I was driving down Santa Fe Avenue, I spotted a homeless man riding his bike. I see this gentleman all the time during the week. Something was different this time. He was wearing a brand new Carhart pullover and jacket, with a Carhart cap. When I saw the Chief a day later, I asked him what happened to his Carhart stuff? He gave me a shy grim and said he gave it to someone that needed it more than he did.
I went to the Walmart and saw our Grants High School Junior ROTC cadets with Gunny George Garcia and Raymond Saavedra helping with the "Toys for Tots" program. Both these gentlemen are veterans of the Marine Corp and have been doing this service for 20 years.
Chris Madrid and his dad are collecting warm coats for children that may not have coats for the winter. They do this year after year! Their work with the Knights of Columbus organization has been a blessing to countless kids.
Our law enforcement personnel from the Sheriff's Department, Grants Police Department and Milan Police Department, take children from every school to shop for Christmas. We don't have to look far to find acts of kindness being performed for others throughout the year. I see these acts and my heart is deeply touched at the love so many in our community have for others. May this Christmas Season of giving inspire all of us to step up and help the lonely, the downtrodden, the poor and the discouraged. May the Lord’s blessings be upon all of us throughout the year!
Robert S. Windhorst
Milan, NM
Please help the homeless
Dear Editor, City and County Officials of Cibola County New Mexico, Would you please make provisions for the homeless in this area in the way of a shelter and community kitchen where people less fortunate can have a place to sleep and a warm meal to eat on a daily basis such as you have. Individuals are losing life and limb sleeping out in the elements in the cold ... God blesses a community that cares for their down and out!
We have people that are freezing in the cold, people that need a warm shower and a hot meal DAILY ... and help getting on their feet by way of a rehabilitation center, and job and housing placement. Not to mention a bit of encouragement that they are still God’s children ... God looks down on us to see what we are doing to help ... There are many of us in this community that would be happy to volunteer our time to help in an effort of this kind. The youth and young adults are also suffering in this community for lack of rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol ... Profit must not be the aim ... but humanitarian support. Many abandon buildings or hotel buildings in this area would serve such a purpose ... Utility companies in this area can afford to donate service to projects of this nature with all their revenues from consumers. If you want this community to thrive ... you must make the addicts, the cold/hungry a priority ... provisions for the needy in a more productive effort.
The Life you save, feed, house, and rehabilitate may be your own, your child, or grandchild one day! Thank you for your serious consideration of this long overdue necessity!
Citizen of Cibola County, Bonnie Jenkins
Editor’s notes: The Cibola Citizen seeks and welcomes letters to the editor on any and all topics. All letters must be no longer than 500 words (one full page, single spaced) and contain the writer’s name and contact phone number for verification. Unsigned letters will not be printed. The Cibola Citizen reserves the right to edit any and all submissions.