Dead Horses- More to the Story

An article in the South Valley Ink, a free newspaper, had a large article on this very issue.
You can access a pdf version of this newspaper here:
http://southvalleyink.com/

Basically what it says is this:
You can have your dead horse removed in several ways.

• Contract with someone who has a front end loader and a flat bed trailer to haul the horse to Cerro Colorado Landfill. The only thing you have to do is a. pay for it and b. have a vet certify that the horse did not die of anything infectious.
  
• Albuquerque Pet Memorial will offer cremation services for your hourse. It will cost about $225 plus the fee the landfill will charge for disposal of the remains.
  
• Larry Hicks, a south valley resident will offer landfill services at a cost of $200 for South Valley area residents.
  
• Pet Memorial Services will cremate your hourse for about $285 including the cost to remove your hourse. This would be a group cremation. A private cremation is about $780.
  

SO- Councilor Wallace didn't have to travel to Santa Fe and waste her time and the time of everyone she talked to trying to 'solve the problem of dead horses'. The problem is solved.

But let me again point out- Councilor Wallace did not go to Santa Fe to take care of Bosque Farms. She did not go to Santa Fe to ask for funding for a project that would benefit everyone. She was only concerned about the horse owners and how much they might have to pay to take care of their own animal.

What was she thinking? Are you sure she represents you?

Conflicted Councilor Dolly Wallace

Poor lady- she doesn't know what she wants or what she believes.

________________

She wants the men who drive the garbage trucks to have background checks because there are children in our community.

BUT

She wants and voted to hire a cop that had admitted to drunk driving on tv. (uh, that would be the head cop no less.)

______________________

She insists that she is credited for taking on the job of researching additional signs for the walk path because she thinks Councilor Linthicum didn't do enough.

YET

She can't finish a task to edit an ordinance with a committee within sixty days. This is particularly rotten when you look at a similar committee tasked with a similar job and a similar ordinance finished long before the deadline.

_____________________

She wants to give lengthy Councilor reports about anything and everything. She doesn't want anything left out she might have done in the past month.

BUT

She forget to provide a copy of minutes for her Horse Path Committee that have been requested by Councilor Eldridge, and a copy of minutes from her ordinance committee to residents who have asked for them.

________________

She wants to act as if she stands for safety and concern for the children of Bosque Farms.

YET

She votes to hire a cop that had lawsuits settled on him for rough arrests against a minor even.

(I mean really!) Do you doubt me? Do what I did, look it up.

_______________

She travels to Sante Fe to talk to the state people about dead horses. She thinks she is doing everyone a big favor by this.

BUT

Not once did she talk to the state people about some of the things the Village needs- like a new sewer plant or shade in the park for the kids.

_____________________

Poor Councilor Dolly Wallace has no clue!

She doen't know what she wants or what she stands for or what she believes in.

What is she thinking? Or is she thinking?

She claims she representing you, the Villager, but is she?

The Village of Bosque Farms and the budget

Let's just say that you sat down with your partner in business and set up a budget for the year.

Would you:
a. overestimate the amount of revenue you expect?
b. budget to spend every penny you are expecting?
c. not save anything for emergencies
d. None of the above.

If you answered D. you are doing better than most of the Councilors currently on the Village Council. And may I note- elections are coming up and residents will not longer have the two Councilors who believe in saving money and being fiscally responsible to watch what is happening to your tax dollars.

So what is happening to the budget?
Well, when the budget was developed and approved in July of 2005 - all of the above in the quiz would be the answer. That is correct! The expected revenues were over estimated. And every penny incoming was budgeted to be going out.

That means, when all the money was recieved from property taxes, gross reciept taxes, water bills, sewer bills, and so forth- and when all the money the Village planned to spend was spent- there was nothing left.

Now, that is an oversimplification, but not by much. The Village does have some savings but, I believe, it is mostly earmarked for something.

And speaking of money earmarked for something- there was, this year, a request to put $10,000 in the budget towards buying a new fire truck. That is just a small drop in the bucket but a step in the right direction. And here is the trivia questions for you-

• Who gave the police chief of one year a raise of $8,000 but fussed at saving money towards a new fire truck?
  
• Who said that this would be the first thing cut if the budget ran over?
  
• Who does not place value on buying a new fire truck even though the current one are old?
  
• Who does not place value on buying a new fire truck even though it would help bring down insurance rates for every Village resident?
  

One name will answer all of those questions: Councilor Dolly Wallace.

The more correct answer would be Councilor Wallace. The others said nothing, in seeming agreement with her when she made her comments.

Why should you attend a meeting?

This is a short list of reasons why going to the Bosque Farms Government meetings is important.

• The Councilors and Mayors are spending your tax dollars.
  
• The Mayor and Councilors are hiring and firing employees.
  
• These are the employees that protect you, serve you in the office and keep your water and sewer plants running smoothly- you hope.
  
• The Mayor appointed and Councilor Knowlton and Councilor Wallace supported the appointment of a police chief who admitted to driving drunk.
  
• Councilor Knowlton has talked in public meetings about how he thinks your water rates are too low.
  
• The Councilors and Mayors are who control the cost of these utilities- water and sewer.
  
• It is the resident that attends the meetings and speaks up that helps make a difference in how Councilors vote.
  
• Local laws are passed that impact you on a daily basis.
  

Who attends the meetings?

Did you realize that there is more than one meeting a month held by the Bosque Farms Counci?

Yup. They have special meetings, workshops, committee meetings, board meetings and more.
Many times a councilor will represent the citizens and Bosque Farms government at meetings held with other communities.

So who attends all these meetings?

Not Councilor Bob Knowlton that is for sure.
He has missed several of the Regular Thursday night Council meetings in the last two years. Certainly more than two or three meetings. So he has been absent for decisions made about new local laws, how your tax dollars are spent, who has been hired and why.

He has missed several special meetings. These are meetings he agrees to and then just doesn't attend. If you figure there is roughly one special meeting a month, times that by the 2 years he's been in office and you can figure there has been at least 24 meetings - and out of that, I would venture to say he's missed 10. Just a guess.

But let's give credit where credit is due.
He did attend one special meeting late. This was an important meeting to discuss the local law about zoning issues. He agreed to it and then came late. Why? Well, he did come in wearing his little league uniform. Yup! You got it folks- it was more important to play, literally, than it was to sit in a boring meeting discussing how to protect your property value.

He is on ONE committee. The ONE he wanted to lead. The economic development committee. Sounds good. Councilor Eldridge thought it should be considered a permanent committee- but Councilor Knowlton quickly squashed that idea. A temporary committee he will volunteer for, anything more, it appears it's too much.

He might also mention he serves on the library board. But ask him this- how often does that meet? How long do those meetings last? What? Once a month for an hour? - ha. Not even that. It meets once every four months and lasts all of thirty minutes.

I'm sure Councilor Knowlton wants what is best for the Village of Bosque Farms. I have to hope for that. But his actions don't mesh with what he says - He says he represents the citizens of Bosque Farms. I think it is up to those citizens to ask how?

Councilor Wallace and dead horses.

Councilor Dolly Wallace has been a councilor for two years. And last night she demonstrated her complete and utter disregard for the citizens of the Village of Bosque Farms.

If last night is any indication Councilor Wallace thinks she was elected ONLY by the people who happen to own horses, not by residents of Bosque Farms.

So what did she do that demonstrated her complete and utter lack of caring about anyone who doesn't own a horse?

Councilor Wallace went to Sante Fe while the legislation is in session.
-- Did she ask for money for a new sewer clarifier? NO.
-- Did she ask for money for shade at the park? NO.
-- Did she ask for money for anything to do with the Village of Bosque Farms? NO and NO.

Instead she met with our representatives to discuss the dead horse issue. And what is the dead horse issue? Well it's simple. People who own horses don't want to pay $500 dollars or so to dispose of their horse when it dies. The company who hauls horses away and disposes of them charges $500 and there is only one company who does this. Councilor Wallace went and discussed how the state could help.

The end result? Well, there is a large grant available and Bosque Farms will be given first shot at it- and the grant money can be used to set up a new dump that will take large dead animals.

Yup! You got it folks! Bosque Farms, if Councilor Dolly Wallace has her say, will be entering the dead horse disposal business.

The new question you have to think about is where will this be set up?
Care to see your property value drop?

Introduction

This is the first post in an on going report about the local government in Bosque Farms, New Mexico.

Now more than ever it is important that you know who is representing you and what they are doing on a daily basis. There are some large issues that will be impacting the local residents in the near future.

With an election underway and the two remaining councilors and Mayor currently on the Governing Body it is very important that you understand who is representing you and how they vote.

This is an on going effort to keep you informed and updated on some of these important issues and the actions of your Governing Body.

Enjoy.