KRWG Public Media's Election 2025 coverage continues with the City of Anthony trustee race. Abigail Salas talks with candidate Sylvia Hidalgo. Here's their conversation.
Abigail Salas:
Sylvia, thank you for joining us. I want to start off by asking what in your background has prepared you for this office?
Sylvia Hidalgo:
I'm originally, I'm living in Anthony. I'm originally from Sunland Park, New Mexico. And when I was living in Sunland Park, I worked for the city of Sunland Park. I participated and I saw how government moves, okay? I participated in cleanup campaigns for the city of Sunland Park and also for covering graffiti. And I was around people that would, they were making grants, and I know how all that runs. So, I am going to use all that experience to serve the City of Anthony, New Mexico.
Abigail Salas:
What do you see as the top issue facing the City of Anthony?
Sylvia Hidalgo:
The streets. The citizens are very concerned about the streets and so am I. We need to take care of our streets because we've had floods. God forbid we would have a rain like Vado did. A lot of the houses here in Anthony would be washed away. Some of the houses have been here for a very long time, going into 90 years, okay? And those, you got to keep in mind, those are people's homes. They don't know any other home, but here in Anthony. And those are the people that I want to protect from their property getting flooded. So, my first thing that I would push for would be infrastructure for the streets to get fixed and to have good drainage in the whole city. And there was a debate, and they started saying phase one, phase two, no. All citizens of Anthony, New Mexico deserve to have better streets and sidewalks.
Abigail Salas:
How do you propose to best address those issues?
Sylvia Hidalgo:
Okay, first of all, I want to look into the budget. Two years ago, the government of the city, the mayor and the trustees of Anthony agreed to increase taxes, okay? Keep in mind, we are a low-income community. 40% of the citizens here are below poverty level, okay? So, they increased the taxes. And they were supposed to fix the streets, okay, and the drainage, and it hasn't been fixed. So, my question is, where is that money? I would, when elected, I would look into the budget and see where that money is. If there's no money, you go for grants. There's three levels of grants, federal, state, and county. One has got to give, and you apply for grants.
Abigail Salas:
What else do you think is important for voters to know?
Sylvia Hidalgo:
That the government, that the mayor and the trustees are working for them, okay? The people here in Anthony have an attitude of, nah, pa’ que, what for, they don’t care, they don’t do nothing, okay? That's very important for the people to believe in their government, okay? Otherwise, you're going to have a community that's not going to vote; that's going to be separated, which is which it is right now, okay? So, it's very important for the mayor and the governing body to unite the City of Anthony. Okay. And give back, give them hope, something that we are for the City of Anthony, just like the rest of the candidates. I haven't put that out there. They're for the people. We're for the people. Okay, well show that you're for the people. Show the people that you care for them by taking care of their needs and concerns.
