Daily Archives: December 28, 2009

Albuquerque: 39th Most Literate Among Cities 250,000 And Over

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New Mexico State Seal

By Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009).

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone

New Mexico Business Weekly (NMBW) reports that Albuquerque is now 39th in literacy for U.S. cities of 250,000 population or more. This standing is compared to last year’s (2008) ranking of 35th.  The article explains that the rankings are arrived at through consideration of several factors:

The annual report by Central Connecticut State University scored cities of 250,000 people or more against several indicators, including education level, Internet use, newspaper circulation, number of booksellers, library services and local magazines and journals.

According to corrected census data from 2002, there were 126 United States cities over 250,000 population in 2002. There may be more for 2009, but the number will not have risen or declined by any significant amount so that Albuquerque’s standing would be affected. So, can we say that 39th out of 126 isn’t bad?  Probably not, when other information pertaining to amount spent per pupil, and other “indicators” are taken into account. Click on the link in the first sentence of this article for the NMBW report and click on this link for the Connecticut data for more clarity.

What can the overall decline in Albuquerque’s ranking be laid to?  And should we expect more considering money spent on educational materials, class size, educational facilities and whatever other pertinent areas can legitimately be said to impact favorably on literacy. There are simple theories, but those theories may be what has blinded us to the real answers.  Whatever the answers, it looks as though we have not discovered them; or we have not applied them sufficiently.

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Can You Do It Better?

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A small sidewalk clearing plow in Ottawa, Onta...
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By Bob Steiner

In our community of Edgewood I am always running into citizens who are quite vocal on a variety of issues. Perhaps the question most often raised: Why can’t the town pave my road?  A close second question in winter is:  When is the town going to send a snow plow down my lane?  In summer this question changes to:  When will they put “dust retardant” on the road?  Another frequent topic is “property appearance.”   People want to know why the town doesn’t force some residents to remove old junk cars and control weeds on their land.  It seems a lot of people take sides on issues but only a few really take action. There is a definite tendency  to blame the town’s government for all the things  that seem to  bother them.

With this thought in mind, I often ask those who are commenting how many town council meetings have they attended to voice their feelings or if they have ever considered running for office. When these two points are raised, normally the person who initiated the comments will generally change the subject.

Well today I have some good news for those who may be discontented. To paraphrase a popular military recruiting slogan, the town is looking for a “few good men (or women).”  On March 2nd, 2010 the Town will hold an election. While there may other issues on the ballot, two council seats are open to Edgewood town residents.  If you’re a “genuine” Edgewood resident (Sorry,  those of you who fought the recent annexation attempt don’t qualify!) and would like to put your name on the ballot to run for the council, drop by the town administrative office and register as a candidate.  To qualify for the March 2nd election, you must register your intent from 8:00 AM to 5:00 P.M. on January 5th.

Additionally, anyone wishing to file as a candidate, must go to the Santa Fe County Clerk’s Office and request a certified copy of their current affidavit of voter registration. This document must be filed with the declaration of candidacy.

This election gives you the opportunity to take part in change in Edgewood.  Do take part!

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