Susan Morée:
Tell us about how your background has prepared you to serve in this office.
Rex W. Gardner:
I'm a lifetime member of Luna County. I've farmed my entire life. And anyway, I have quite a bit of experience with agriculture. I know about water and I know about farming and some of the problems you might have, you know, even the markets, everything. And anyway, I think I'm probably the most, the best man for the job. I've been, you know, I've worked hard all my life. I don't have any felonies. I don't have any. There's some of these people got felonies, but anyway, I just, I know, you know, I know the area. I've lived here my whole life. I know the people. I love the people. I love the county, you know, so they wouldn't find a better fit because there's a lot of things they need to do to improve on the roads.
Susan Morée:
Okay, next question. Why are you running for this office?
Rex W. Gardner:
To make Luna County better. But there's, you know, there's lots of problems in the county. We drove through part of town and, you know, people, they had like a, I don't know, subdivision and I don't know the kids or who burned the houses down. It was with drugs or what, but there, you know, you could count a dozen houses that's burnt down anywhere out there. They burned down the old Ford house, Key Ford, and there's a lot of problems. I don't know if that's coming down now, but they, you know, they need to do something about drugs and, you know, crime. But agriculture is a major issue. It's declined in Luna County. It's only been farmed about 10% of the farming we used to. And the water, you know, it's a big concern.
Susan Morée:
Okay, next question. What are the top issues in your district for this office?
Rex W. Gardner:
Well, there's a lot of political issues. They have, like an issue with the sheriff. They have an issue with the county manager. There's lawsuits and it's a major problem. I know, you know, I know right from wrong. And I know that there needs to be some adjustments made, like the road department [unintelligible]our roads out at Red Mountain. I don't know when. And it's kind of strange that they pick and choose who they feel grade for, they need to go on aschedule where they grade everybody's road. They picked up a lot of business, like they kind of become real estate investors and they've kind of laid off the roads. That's what they used to do. A major, major thing they've done is the roads, you know, grading roads, pavingroads, potholes. It's a mess.
Susan Morée:
Next question. How would you successfully address those issues?
Rex W. Gardner:
Well, you know, it's not all just me. You know, I can make an effort, but I definitely would. I wouldn't be a yes man for everything they want to do. We have a power company that they voted in. I guess they don't pay taxes. You know, I don't know everything about it, but that would help, you know, on people's property taxes, that power company paid their fair share. Also, the power company has no electricity going to this area. It goes out of state to Arizona, California, somewhere, but it doesn't, it isn't for here. And they're pumping water out of an area that, you know, that's the water basin is kind of going down and they're going to have some kind of a power deal. They need to go where a river is or somewhere, wind or something away from pumping their water out. It's for their cooling towers.
Susan Morée:
What else do you think is important for voters to know about your campaign?
Rex W. Gardner:
Okay, I'm, most of the people know me. Anyway, there's a lot of people that they need to have like this crime deal, like I was telling you about the lawsuits and the problems they're having at the sheriff's department. The current sheriff is really a good guy. It's the county manager that stepped in and done a lot of stuff that's not good. And I think that would help a lot, the corruption in the county. There's one commissioner, she got four no bid, $100,000 contracts, and it wasn't presented to anybody else. It was just between her and the county manager. But that's probably just a tip of the iceberg. But I know some things I can't reveal that's going on that needs to be addressed with the county. And that's a major reason that I want to go in because I have a backbone and I want to stand up to them. And they need someone.
KRWG Public Media has reached out to Luna County officials regarding the allegations of corruption and a commissioner receiving a four, no-bid $100,000 contract from the county and we look forward to the county’s response.
