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HOME	CLASSIFIEDS	OBITUARIES	SPORTS	OPINION

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Four in Race for District 3 County Commission Seat

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
      A two-term sheriff, a former commissioner and a community development coordinator are all vying to unseat the incumbent in the race for Torrance County Commission District 3.
       Democrats Venessa Inelse Chavez and Chester Riley, Jr., and Republicans Pete Golden and LeRoy Candelaria, will face off during the primary on June 3. The winners of each party's primary will face each other in the general election in November.
       District 3 basically encompasses the southern part of Torrance County.
       Chavez, the only woman in the race, says she has a proven track record of accomplishments.
       “I have written over $1 million in grants when I was the community development coordinator for Estancia,” said Chavez, who coordinates the Teen Outreach Program for the Torrance County Project Office.
       Chavez said she will focus on several issues, including preventing the county from becoming a “dumping ground” for drugs and illegal activities.
       “I am very active with youth so will make sure that our county is doing everything it can to prevent sexual predators from coming into the community,” Chavez said.
       Other focus areas will be economic development, attracting more business, making sure water stays in the valley and changing the time of the bimonthly commission meetings.
       “We need to make meetings at a time when more working people can attend,” Chavez said.
       Golden, a former two-term sheriff, said he knows how to stimulate economic development for the county.
       “At this point the county does not have a good tax base to provide things we need to have. This county needs a (full-time paid) fire department,” he said.
       According to Golden, his experience serving on different boards and commissions, including under Gov. Gary Johnson and with private industry, has given him ideas on how the county can raise money.
       Golden emphasized growth as essential to the tax base, lower mill rates, health and safety issues, and bringing more jobs into the county.
       Another challenge he will focus on is maintaining county roads.
       “We have issues back in the mountain area that roads are not wide enough. Several roads need improving, and along with that is access for the fire department,” Golden said.
       Riley, a commissioner for two terms, did not return phone calls seeking an interview.
       Incumbent and Commission Chairman Candelaria believes he is already doing a good job for the county.
       “We have our county in financial order. We have new equipment for the road department. We have all kinds of programs and projects going,” including a fire department in Torreon, Candelaria said.
       Candelaria said he has gotten to know a lot of legislators over the three years he has served as commissioner and made “great contacts” that benefit the county.
       If he is re-elected, Candelaria said, he will focus on bringing in more projects like “wind generators, the racino, the biomass plant, whatever we need to bring alternative energies into the county.”
       “I support 4-H to keep our kids occupied. I'd rather pay money for 4-H kids than pay for incarceration. That's one of the best programs going in the county,” Candelaria said.
      

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