Video of Jay Block Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners meeting

Here is Jay Block's response on the record regarding Johanna Rouke ousting
On the P&Z commission

Jay Block @ Sandoval Co Commission 1-12-17 in the ousting of P&Z commissioner  Johanna Rouke meeting minutes of October BoCC shows the her term for 2 years.  The planning and zoning dept Head Mike Springfield, who appears to be pockets of oil and gas,  made the corrupt recommendation to the  Commissioner to replace people on the P&Z who will be favorable to the industry and who are not representative of the area of Corrales. Falsely comissioner  Block take responsibility for Mike Springfields attempt to plant and co-opt the policies and regulations of the open meeting act.

This is a legal forum and you don't get to yell do over without accountability.

If the County is going to rely on an Attorney who has also guided them incorrectly on the IPRA case that is front of them, I believe the County is opening themselves up to lawsuits that will cost the taxpayers in the long run. The Attorney is only giving an interpretation I agree with Jay Block on that point.

 I can tell from firsthand experience that  the Office of the Attorney General determined that the county violated the IPRA law and still will not give us the unredacted public safety emergency response plan document. These actions further disrupts and obstructs the oil and gas ordinance and our ability to comment and ensure the  public safety in an emergency. We are now lawyering up on IPRA.  Thanks Sandoval County you are only making our case stronger in The long run.

Our solution is:
1.) to fire Mike Springfield for purposefully violating the law  and for misleading the Commissioners, staff and public to seat oil friendly candidates.

2.) The county commissioners should revisit a moratorium on the oil and gas ordinance for one year so they are not obstructing further the voice of the people who have been trying to work with a corrupt county official and could avoid further embarrassment from him.

Commissioner Block had no way of knowing that Springfield was misleading him. Mr. Block  taking responsibility was a deflection of the county planning  director efforts to usurp  the law.

Voting Is The Minimum Requirement

Voting Is The Minimum Requirement 

Periodically some of us find ourselves wondering how to make ourselves heard on a specific issue. More often than not this is with regard to political issues and decisions that can affect our daily lives and the health, safety and general welfare of the public. This reference to “the health, safety and general welfare” of the public is often included within the written content of various statutes and ordinances and is included in our US Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution. 

In order to be heard we might need to research certain documents that led to decisions that we want to reference, or make comment on, or question interpretations. This research in itself might cause many of us to throw our hands up and change our minds about speaking out. But research can be very rewarding especially in its educational value. Instead of taking someone else’s opinion as gospel, our own research can lead us to know that others among us have interpreted incorrectly, or are possibly just ignorant of the real facts. 

Sometimes we might encounter interpretations of the rules we live by that are arbitrary, or capricious, another term that is important in researching an issue. This happens occasionally with bureaucratic decisions as in planning and zoning decisions. Also sometimes when volunteers are interpreting things like residential restrictive covenants on architectural committees, personal agendas can cloud decisions. A liberal interpretation as opposed to a literal interpretation can often times lead to confusion which might require one to read and reread the document or documents involved in a question.

It is up to us all to protect our rights and even the rights of others when we feel strongly. We are the “somebody” in; Why doesn’t somebody do something about this? We can’t always leave it up to others to get it done for us. They may need us, or they may be busy elsewhere at the time. And the time is now. We can’t continually procrastinatewhen there is work to be done. But where do we start? Who do we talk to? 

The following list and links are just a beginning resource that can help us get started in participating in our systemand making a good government work for us all.

The New Mexico Legislature begins a sixty day session on January 17, 2017. The NM legislature website https://www.nmlegis.gov/ is loaded with very important information and a visit to the Roundhouse and committee hearings is well worth the free price of admission. And in between hearings see our art collection which is possibly the best collection of taxpayer owned art in New Mexico.

The website can also link you to •  Bill Finder •  Find Your Legislator •  Districts •  Senate's Webcast •  Interim Committees,  And the very important NMSA statutes already in existence which we are expected to live by. 

http://public.nmcompcomm.us/nmnxtadmin/NMPublic.aspx.

Check out these links and learn more about the legal world that we live with. The next time we will discuss the federal Freedom of Information Act and “FOIA” requests, the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act and “IPRA” requests, and the New Mexico Open Meetings Act.

Mike Neas 

Placitas

In order to stop fracking we need to vote and contact your legislators.  

we do this by supporting a fossil free tax structure, a state owned bank, and a fee and dividend system to cut greenhouse gas emissions to stop the exceleration of climate change. 

NAgheezi (2016) frack site with fracking fluids spilled and contaminating the aquifer 

Commissioner Jay Block Statement concerning the P&Z commission

I received a statement from Commissioner Jay Block today in response to the flier that went out this weekend. I told Commissioner Block that I would post his side so that the neighborhood could decide on his intentions:

1-Block was told my Mike Springfield he could appoint his own commissioner as other newly elected officials have done.
2-JoAnne was upset about being removed from the commission.
3- Block reached out to discuss with her. She refused to answer phone calls
4-County attorney talked to Joanne this aft
ernoon and explained the law and how a clerical mistake does not enter into a legal binding. I was told Joanne accepted this and understands she will fill out the remainder of Sam's term which ends in Mar 2017. Sam's 2 year term started in March 2015.
5-Block will be sending out a request through his Facebook page for P&Z applicants. He is looking for technical background who has served in government and industry.
6-There was never any illegal attempt by Block
###

Commissioner Block was not aware of the meeting official record that recorded the vote as unanimous regarding filling the two year

Illegal attempt to remove P&Z Commissioner by county Admin and planning

Urgent:  Illegal Attempt to Remove Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commissioner, Jo Anne Roake (Corrales).

Appointment of Joanne Roake to P and Z.  One of Sandoval County Commissioner Nora Scherzinger’slast acts was to appoint Jo Anne Roake to the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission.   On October 6, 2016, Jo Anne was unanimously accepted by the commission to replace Corrales resident Sam Thompson, who had to resign for personal reasons.  Jo Anne is extremely well-qualified.  A retired land use attorney, she had served as chair for the Corrales Planning and Zoning Commission.  Her two-year term will end October, 20, 2018.  (This is confirmed in the video of the October 6, 2016 meeting.)

Nora, as you know, lost her seat to Jay Block from Rio Rancho. (The district, of course, includes Corrales.)  Commissioner Block now joins two other Republicans to form a majority on the Sandoval County Commission. (There are a total of five commissioners.)

What happened.  Several days ago, Jo Anne received a call from Mike Springfield, Director of Planning and Zoning, informing her that she no longer would be serving as commissioner on Sandoval’s Planning and Zoning Commission.  Commissioner Block wanted to appoint his own candidate to fill that seat.   Mike told her that the Commission was empowered to remove a planning and zoning commissioner should they so desire.

Illegal action.  This attempt to push Jo Anne off of the Planning and Zoning Commission is in violation of Sandoval County’s Ordinance” Describing the Powers, Duties and Organization of the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission. “ The ordinance makes it very clear why this is an illegal action.  

Section 2B of the Ordinance Describing the Powers, Duties and Organization of the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission (The Ordinance was passed and approved January 21,2010.)

“An incumbent member shall serve the full term unless he/she resigns or is removed for cause under the terms of this Ordinance.”

“Members may be removed for cause stated in writing, including but not limited to, frequent unexcused absences.  Members shall be removed by a majority vote of the Board of County Commissioners followed by a public hearing. ”

The consequences:  Why would newly-elected Commissioner Block and presumably the soon to be chair, Commissioner Chapman, want to have Jo Anne removed?   

Oil and gas drilling in Sandoval County.  The Planning and Zoning Commission has been asked by the Commission to develop county oil and gas ordinances, which were grossly inadequate. Is the push to remove Roake an attempt to make sure that Planning and Zoning commissioners are more sympathetic to the oil and gas industry?   Clearly the planning and zoning commission played a key role in the decision to deny SandRidge Energy the right to drill for oil near Rio Rancho. (Public outrage also was a critical factor.)

No representation from Corrales. By removing Jo Anne, Corrales no longer would have representation on the Planning and Zoning Commission.  And, of course, Corrales does not have a presence on the newly elected county commission.    Rio Rancho, on the other hand, is currently well represented on both bodies.  Three out of the five commissioners come from Rio Rancho and the zoning ordinance automatically provides Rio Rancho with two planning and zoning commissioners out of the seven slots.  

Corrales has had a representative on the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission for years.  Its concerns, like those of Placitas, Algodones, Cuba, and other areas of our diverse county need to be taken into consideration.  But Commissioner Block,clearly wanted to ensure that his person, from Rio Rancho, would replace the legitimately appointed Roake.  Rio Rancho would then have three commissioners on planning and zoning.

The quasi-judicial responsibilities of planning and zoning commissions.  Removal of a P and Z Commissioner as if they were an "at will" employee is a very, very dangerous move.  Planning and Zoning Commissions have quasi-judicial responsibilities.  They must perform as if they were judges.    If commissioners could be removed "at will," this could mean that the county commission would be able to force the resignation of a P and Z commissioner whose decisions they do not like.  That execution of power is contrary to our system of government that requires an independent judiciary.

We certainly deserve to know why Jo Anne was misinformed that she was no longer required to serve on the P and Z Commission.

Just as we need to be extremely diligent about what is what is going on nationally and at the state legislative level, we also need to pay very careful attention to what our locally elected bodies are up to.

Make Your voices heard.

Your presence at these meetings really counts.

Sandoval County Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 12, 2017 at 6:30 PM.  Unfortunately public comment is toward the end of the meeting and you need to put your name on a sign-up sheet before the meeting begins.  The commission meets in the county complex offices located near 528 on Idalia.  There will likely be a 3-minute limit for each public comment.

Residents of Corrales should attend the Corrales Village Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 10, 2016, at 6 PM. 

Some ideas /questions to state at the county commission meeting.  Below are some ideas but make it personal – what concerns you about the attempt to remove Jo Anne from Planning and Zoning.

•Who is responsible for this effort to remove a legitimately appointed planning and zoning commission?  

•Was Mike Springfield, who has served as Director of Planning and Zoning for years, aware that what he told Jo Anne Roake was in violation of the ordinance that governs the powers and duties of the planning and zoning commission?  

•Was the Director of Planning and Zoning totally ignorant of the ordinance requirements?  This does not give the public a sense of trust in this department.

•This is not only an action in violation of the law but aterrible way to treat a volunteer, willing to engage in the hard work required of a planning and zoning commissioner.  Should there not be an official apology to JoAnne?

•Since commissioners are like judges, isn’t this like putting pressure on a judge?

•Imagine telling a judge that whoever appointed him or her can dismiss him at will.

•Why shouldn’t Corrales continue to have representation on the planning and zoning commission? Rio Rancho has two representatives.  Why doesn’t Commissioner Block want to have Corrales on the P and Z?

•Our county is very geographically diverse.  The Planning and Zoning Commission is designed to reflect that diversity and not be over-represented by one area.

Comments before the Corrales Village Council

The background information and the ideas above should guide you as to what is important for our village council to know.

Draft resolution to establish a State of New Mexico owned public bank

Here is a copy of a draft resolution that I will be submitting to the Bernalilo County administrations for consideration in upcoming agenda.

Draft Resolution in Support of Public Banking in NM by Bernalillo County

Whereas, public bank in many Countries have proved to provide economic benefits to their citizens, and

Whereas, the Bank of North Dakota, the only State in the United States of American, has demonstrated its ability to create those benefits since its Founding in 1919, and

Whereas, those benefits include the creation of New Jobs and heightened economic growth, generation of new revenues for the state, Reduction of Debt costs for local governments, strengthening of local banks, evening out of credit cycles, and support for small businesses, and

Whereas, the State of the New Mexico is experiencing slower economic growth than its regional neighbors, and

Whereas, New Mexico Small Business a suffer from a lack of available capital for expansion and daily business activities, and

Whereas, fledgling business often benefit more from debit capital than equity but find both difficult to attain, and

Whereas, community banks in New Mexico also suffer fro lack of access to capital to lend to New Mexico Enterprises, and

Whereas, it is harmful to the citizens of the state of New Mexico to pay out-of-state banks totals 35% and more in interest on capital outlay projects, and

Whereas, the State of New Mexico faces continuing budget crisis that limit its ability to respond to infrastructure needs of its citizens, and

Whereas, community bank in New Mexico are face overwhelming competition from National banks that have been deemed “too Big to Fail” and have been saved from failure only by massive infusions of taxpayer funds, and

Whereas, investments in State enterprises is necessary to counteract the effects of both normal and extraordinary economic cycles but often unavailable when it is needed most, and

Whereas, the ability to respond to local emergencies is best served by having local funding available, and

Whereas, the ability to make loans to strategic industries identified by the State of New Mexico could help direct development of vital sectors of our economy, and
Whereas, the publicly owned bank is cognizant of NM being the number ONE capital emitter of GHGEs emissions recognizes the necessity of drastic carbon emissions cuts, and

Whereas, the public owned bank is to remain divested from fossil fuel extraction industries and the military industrial complex contractors and invest in clean renewable energy in order to meet the safe level of carbon emissions to 10% of its current levels, and

Whereas, the public owned bank supports a state tax structure where reliance on fossil fuel industry lessened and eliminated,

Whereas, a publicly owned bank could provide low interest loans for education our students, and

Whereas, the interest earned from loans made to New Mexico public agencies is currently paid to banking institutions based in other states but could represent significant income to the state treasury , and

Whereas, New Mexico businesses and private citizens would benefit from banking services that base their decisions on the welfare of the state and its residents rather than on the welfare of the shareholders,

Now therefore, the County of Bernalillo calls for the establishment of a publicly owned bank and supports the State of New Mexico establishment of a publicly owned bank. 

************.
This is the resolution that will be submitted to Bernalillo County Commission in response to the #DeFundDAPL campaign in support of the Standing Rock Souix Tribe, Oceti Oyate Camp and Sacred Stone Camp and the courageous water protectors who endured human rights violations through totalitarian repressive tactics stood up to protect sacred water, bring awareness to Treaty issues and indigenous rights that have been ignored for too long. The world watched and the people are responding to corporate greed and the oncoming storm ahead. It is time we protect our assets,
Our water and air. Divest from fossil fuel and transition to a a local Economy. A people's bank that is a long term divestment from fossil fuel and establishes a fossil fuel free tax structure for the State.

Fiscal agents do not currently exist in the banking system that have the services available that municipalities need. Therefore, the establishment of a public owned bank is need in order to the transitioning from Fossil Fuel in NM. We can ask these entities to divest but they have to be able to go somewhere else the money. Credit unions and community bank cannot handle these investments because they are not set up for it. This is a draft proposal subject to change
but I thought it important to start a public education on the need for a public bank right from the start. 

I will be introducing this draft for their consideration at the January 10 #DeFundDAPL public comment asking that this issue be set on a future agenda for consideration.

Also, we need to change the tax structure of the state so it does not rely on the Fossil fuel industry or the military industrial complex Contractors for its support. Its time to send the message. Please PM me for suggestions and advice. thanks - Elaine Cimino

OpEd January 10th #NoDAPL Global Coalition Bernallillo County Meeting to Divest form Fossil Fuels

On January 10^th  #NoDAPL Global Coalition and Fracking the Rio Grande Valley will be demanding that Bernalillo County divest from Wells Fargo’s fossil fuel investments strategies. [i] [ii]

We demand that the County of Bernalillo cancel its banking relationship with Wells Fargo.

We furthermore demand that the County Of Bernalillo issue a new Request For Proposals (RFP) for fiscal agent services that includes preference given to financial institutions who do not invest in large-scale new fossil fuel infrastructure damaging our climate and democracy.

We act in solidarity with the global #DefundDAPL campaign that has successfully divested 10s of millions of dollars to date from the banks financing DAPL.

Still better, we demand that the County of Bernalillo accelerate the process for establishing a Public Bank so that the County is not entangled in another four-year commitment to any other banking institution than its own Public Bank.

Our Public Bank will not invest in DAPL, it will invest in projects that benefit our own community.

We are providing a resolution for Bernallio County to start divesting from Fossil fuels and support renewable and clean energy. 

Public pressure can force DAPL’s lenders to confront the reality that they are backing companies who are openly violating human rights, defying the rule of law, undermining the regulatory process, and threatening our planet with climate change. Now is the time to use our power as consumers and customers to demand these banks divest from DAPL.

Bernalillo County and the City of ABQ actions will show us where they stand.  What will it be, Oil or Water?[iii]

Air emissions in the San Juan Basin are the 1^st per capita in GHGE. [iv] The San Juan Basin emits  more than the Porter Ranch leak did in its entirety  in Los Angeles. NM is one of the largest emitters of GHGEs in the lower 48 states. [v] We must stop it. NOW! 

Divest from Wells Fargo and invest locally. The banks responsible for the crash in 2009 should no longer be rewarded with tax dollars for investments. [vi] WELLS FARGO MADE A RISKY INVESTMENTs IN DAPL with New Energy Transfer and SUNOCO Oil they believe they deserve,  no matter what the costs are to communities, to people and to nature they roll over everything in their path. If allowed they will continue to contaminate water and spew toxic air emissions that drives climate change, destroys water sources and endangers health.

We have a way to fix the budget in this State.

We can implement an impact fee and dividend system with a new revenue stream that cuts emissions and supplements the budget concerns around the funding of a dying industry. Jobs would be created to turn off emissions and could be designed to give rebates to resident for economic stimulus. [vii] A stimulus can be creatively designed for cities, counties and states.  

Please transition away from supporting banks that invest in fossil fuel. It comes down to OIL OR WATER? [viii]

We are sending a message to that we must protect our water, stop current emissions! Keep it in the ground! [ix]

Everyone can do the same  and vote with your packet book, divest from banks that support fossil fuel investments.  We should all be water protectors.

MNI WICONI! Water 

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[i] San Diego and Las Vegas Vow to go Carbon Free La times Article

[ii] Seattle moves closer to divestment

[iii] http://standwithstandingrock.net Video on Standing Rock

[iv] SJB First in Per Capita Methane releases

[v] Emission from the San Juan Basin  

Camera Exposes methane leaks in San Juan Basin

Earthworks Petition to Stop Methane Emissions

NM Hot spot on methane emissions link

[vi] Wells Fargo Fails in Community Investment

[vii] NM Fee and Dividend System to Cut Carbon Emissions  Powerpoint available

[viii]

EPA's Study of Hydraulic Fracturing and Its Potential Impact on Drinking Water Resources

[ix] DEFUND DAPL