Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Editor’s note: The following candidates are running for the four-year term of city commissioner for District 2. Candidates for the seat include incumbent Jimmy R. Sandoval, Agnes T. Arellano and Amy J. Gutierrez.
Candidates were asked the same questions and asked to keep their responses to 100 words or less.
The municipal election is March 6. Tuesday is the first day for absentee voting. Feb. 15 is the first day for early voting.
Age: 46
Occupation: Self Employed
Please list previous or current elected offices or other organizations you feel prepare you for a commission seat: I have lived in Tucumcari for 31 years. Nine of which I have been a business owner and live in District 2. I started Howards’ Mobile Tire Service out of my driveway with $1,100 and a service truck. I opened a shop on Main Street in 2005; it was a vacant building before I moved in with my service truck. With the hard work, dedication determination and my team of employees has made Howards’ Mobile Tire Service what it is today. I will bring the same hard work, dedication, determination and team work to help bring change for a better and brighter Tucumcari.
Q: What are your goals if you are elected and how do you plan to implement them?
A: To protect the jobs that are already here and work hard to bring more jobs to Tucumcari, like the Racino that would be a start. The Ute Lake water allocation is a precious commodity in the desert and it should benefit all of Tucumcari. It would help attract future business . Youth recreation programs need help and perhaps for eligible students a summer work program with local business to help prepare them for real life. Most of all work with all of the commissioners to find common goals that benefit all of Tucumcari. Prioritize these goals and see those goals completed.
Q: What is something the city commission has done well over the last four years?
A: The water treatment plant is a great asset to Tucumcari. The reclaimed water should benefit our parks, baseball fields and cemetery, along with outlining areas in the county. The new landfill is another asset for growth
Q: What is something the city commission has not done well? How do you intend to correct that if elected?
A: They have wasted time and effort on solutions to non existent problems, such as (trying to purchase the) Wells Fargo building. We should work within our means and use the assets we have and protects those assets our streets, water system and our citizens the most important asset of all.
Q: What do you feel the city needs to focus on as a whole?
A: Economic growth. We cannot afford to lose an opportunity no mater how small because 10 people that employ two individuals each create 20 jobs. They all add up.
Q: What do you feel the city needs to focus on in your district?
A: Streets are an issue not just in District 2, but everywhere. We need to listen to our residents they have good ideas and ways to implement them.
Q: Last question: 150 words, whatever else you want to say.
A: I have lived in Tucumcari 31 years. I have seen a lot of changes — some good, some bad — for the past nine years. I have been a business owner in District 2 have employed people for seven years. Some of them have used the skills they learned while working for me to gain employment in other towns when they moved to better themselves. I know what it takes to scratch a living in Tucumcari.