Daily Archives: October 20, 2009

Part Two, Red Tags In The Sunset In Edgewood, New Mexico

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New Mexico state welcome sign
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by Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009)

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudoynm Alone

This article will be a short update to Red Tags In The Sunset In Edgewood, New Mexico posted on October 16th.

Since publication of the article referenced above, I was told  by Mr. Jason Davis, the inspector who posted the red tags and the other document on the library building, that he could not find a record of the electrical work having been permitted; nor, is he aware of any other work for the remodel of the library space being permitted.  Mr. Davis further advised that since the work was not permitted and inspected, the library could be dangerous to library staff and patrons.

I was informed by area citizens, who are to remain anonymous at this time, that town authorities were told on more than one occasion,  that the work on the library required that permits be obtained due to such permits being required by New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID) and the safety factors presented if the work was not performed in a professional or workmanlike manner. If the advise was ignored, one has to wonder why.  Did the Town of Edgewood, acting through it staff or elected Mayor decide that permitting the work was not required or did the Town just forget about the permits?

I believe the Town of Edgewood should act to rectify this situation with the library and if evidence warrants, that the entire building should be subjected to through inspections for compliance with CID regulations for earlier work on the building. To do less could place the safety of building occupants and patrons at risk and also place the Town and building owner in financial peril.

I had argued in the past, that the library should be owned by the Town and that it should be on Section 16 and the amount for the lease could pay the debt service on a new building. In addition, I was not in favor of utilizing this space for the library without full knowledge of the building condition, which was one of the requirements (along with proper permitting) that the council required of the Mayor during an open meeting before they voted to go forward with the remodel.

I have said in the past that the Mayor was to be commended on working to open the library and it has been clear the library is enjoyed by many in the community. It seems a shame the library and patrons may suffer due to what are or were major mistakes in the decision making progress.

Here’s hoping that the discrepancies with the library and library building are resolvable and the  library can continue to serve the community.

The governing body for the Town of Edgewood should insist on definite proof of full compliance of safety and fire issues that pertain to the library.

If further details become available they will become public on this blog.

Edgewood’s Website

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Justice Department Rules Against Non-Partisan Ballots

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President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civ...
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by Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009).

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone

A story in The Washington Times reports on a United States Justice Department (USJD) ruling knocking down a local jurisdiction’s attempt to have ballots for municipal elections be non-partisan. The Town of Kinston, NC passed an ordinance doing  away with a partisan election process for the town’.s governing body, however due to a previous civil rights settlement, Kinston must gain approval from the  USJD before allowing a change in their election process (incidentally, almost , if not all, municipal elections in New Mexico are non-partisan). The USJD has now disallowed Kinston’s request to scuttle the partisan ballot:

Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party.

The USJD’s thinking on the matter can  partly be gleaned from this excerpt from the Washington Times Article:

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters’ right to elect the candidates they want.

The article fails to mention any sort of process the USJD’s employees used to come up with their “findings,” therefore, it would seem that the USJD magically worked their way into the brains or psyche of  both black and white Kinston voters. Perhaps, the USJD assumed that conditions in Kinston, NC are the same now as they were in 1965:

Kinston is one of the areas subject to provisions of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires the city to receive Justice Department approval before making any changes to voting procedures. Kinston is one of 12,000 voting districts in areas of 16 states, almost exclusively in the South, that the Voting Rights Act declared to have had a history of racial discrimination.

The USJD’s decision has managed to garner criticism from Kinston’s citizens and from elected officials … but, it also has raised the ire of  some on the United States Commission on Civil Rights:

Critics on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights are not so sure. “The Voting Rights Act is supposed to protect against situations when black voters are locked out because of racism,” said Abigail Thernstrom, a Republican appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “There is no entitlement to elect a candidate they prefer on the assumption that all black voters prefer Democratic candidates.”

All sides are quoted in the four page article and the report is interesting in what it says and what it does not say. One thing, it seems to say is that there are no viable Republican candidates, black or white, for which black voters will cast their vote. Here’s is the article link



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