KRWG Public Media is covering the New Mexico Otero County Commission race for district 1. Early voting in the state is underway, and election day is November 3rd. Democratic candidate Alan Gonzalez spoke with Serena Johnson.
Serena Johnson:
How has your background prepared you for this office?
Alan Gonzalez:
I’ve been working over 11 years in a corporate setting. So, I know how to handle organizations from all sides. And managing accounting requires individuals that know how to manage organizations, enterprises and individuals, and manage a budget as well.
Serena Johnson:
And what would you say are the top issues facing your district currently?
Alan Gonzalez:
There's many. One of them is the fear of adding data centers to Otero County. There's brain drain, as in lack of opportunities and not bringing enough forward for our youth to stay here. There's also ecological ones; you know, we are in a food desert community – at least the Otero side. And not bringing enough business development does add up and affects the quality of life of individuals living here.
Serena Johnson:
Could you talk to me more about the water challenges that you all face?
Alan Gonzalez:
Yeah so, of course, Otero County is such a huge monster of a county that each section of the county has their own different challenges. So, for example, Tularosa had this water scarcity so badly lately that they even had to shut down the water. There's also the issue of Bonito Lake and the ownership of the water, and what would happen if the city does end up blocking off a portion, or fully, the lake for recreational activities. And then in Chaparral, they're building a data center – Meta’s building a data center – right next door to us.
Serena Johnson:
And for some of these issues that you brought up, what would you say are your proposed solutions to those issues?
Alan Gonzalez:
Well, there are different solutions for each jurisdiction and situation. Since the Bonito Lake situation is owned by the city of Alamogordo, it's something that, while the county could assist, for example, bringing in grants by both jurisdictions when applying for them, but it's owned by the city. Now, for the Meta development, I would definitely want to ensure that there has been enough regulation going on with the transaction that is going on with Meta, especially since they took water from New Mexico. So, I want to make sure that there wasn't anything unlawful happening there. And, of course, by bringing other business development opportunities that are not data centers or resource abrasive projects that leave communities in hurt like data centers.
Serena Johnson:
And what else is important for voters to know about your campaign?
Alan Gonzalez:
This campaign is not just about me. There's another county commissioner candidate who's running for District 2 of Otero County, and if we both win, we will turn this commission from a three-person commission to a five-person commission. Right now, we're around 60,000 / 70,000 people officially as the population of Otero County, and we're still not on the threshold that the state legally requires us to have five county commissioners, but every other jurisdiction that is our size, it does have a five-person commission. By having just three people in the commission chair, it leaves out representation for a lot of parts of the ownership of part of the county like Chaparral, like Orogrande, like Tularosa. And unfortunately, there's just a lot of issues, that when you have the least amount of people representing your community, with conflicts of interest. And that's another part of my campaign. I want to turn this county from a three-person commission into a five-person commission. Which, it's rare with politicians, because usually they want to keep their power, but I do feel that the commission seat should be for people who are working class, people who are living here and people who have a stake in their communities. So, it's not just for retirees or people who happen to be wealthy.
