Susan Morée:
Tell us about how your background has prepared you to serve in this office.
Amy Barela:
First, I'm born and raised in Otero County and I've also been involved with my community for about 30 years, so I know all of the issues. I know what the people want, I represent their culture, and I represent what they ask me to do. And so, I'm also, I frequently attend many, many community meetings. So, it's not just the scope of being a county commissioner, it's about being an extension of a part of the community where people normally do not attend so that I learn the issues. And I am very comfortable with representing the Otero County constituents as I move forward in knowing what they want me to do.
Susan Morée:
Why are you running for this office.
Amy Barela:
I am running for reelection because in my first four years I have accomplished so many things, but there are a couple of other projects that I need to finish, such as the recovery center that I just received the $2 million grant for. I was the only county commissioner in the entire state of New Mexico that went to the SB3 funding hearing to advocate for that $2 million grant, which we were awarded on April 23rd. I need to see that through to make sure that we receive the next grant to be able to build the facility so that we can help with substance abuse and alcohol abuse to help with our crime issues. In addition, everybody knows that I'm passionate about animals and what that means is that I've been working for the last four years to build a new animal control facility with an in-house veterinarian. Not only will this cut the budget for us and save money, but we'll be able to save more animals rather than put down any animals that have any simple illness that we cannot afford to fix right now.
Susan Morée:
And next question, what are the top issues in your district for this office?
Amy Barela:
Well, like I mentioned, my top issues are helping with the crime situation by addressing the actual problems. Also the budget. We know that spending is out of control. So, you know, in layman's terms, when you hear the budget and you're one of the department workers, they think that means buying less equipment or less programs. In my terms, it's less spending and wastefulness. So, we can put a stop to this and we can do better with it. And I actually have a challenge this budget season that I'm going to be presenting when we have our May 28th meeting to discuss this specifically. But so, cutting the budget doesn't mean just cutting the toys request. It means that we're going to lower our expenses and waste.
Susan Morée:
How would you successfully address those issues?
Amy Barela:
Well, it's funny. This is my third budget season and every single budget season is a learning experience. But this time what I did is I actually went through the expenses by department and looked at which departments could cut at least 10% off of their spending. And I mean spending like papers, pens, folders, all of this, what seems to be excessive purchasing. And there are several departments where we could cut by 10%. In some cases, that's $10,000 per department. So that is my goal to make sure that we address wasteful spending.
Susan Morée:
And last question is, what else do you think is important for voters to know about your campaign?
Amy Barela:
Luckily, the voters know me because I've been present. I've been present in everything. And they know that I represent them and that I am strong enough and resilient enough to fight on behalf of them. Where our constituents are afraid to speak up, I am not afraid to speak up and have spoken up on many occasions. I have brought new road repairs to areas that have not seen new repairs for over three decades and I'm very proud of that. And that's my strategic funding and that's requests for grants and that's also because I don't give up. I will not take no for an answer where I see a need and I will do whatever it takes to get it done. And people know that about me. And they also know that I represent every single citizen, not with a party line vote or anything like that. I work across to make sure Otero County gets what it needs and I would just ask that everybody go vote.
