New Mexico Independent: Stories by Marjorie Childress

Widening income gap partly due to NM's high illiteracy rate

Marjorie Childress — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:00:00 GMT

The income gap has increased in New Mexico, according to a report released last week. According to some, one reason for the growing inequality may be found in the state’s shift to a knowledge-based economy at the same time that a sizable portion of adult New Mexicans are functionally illiterate.

Land Office explains why it enters into no-bid deals that benefit developers

Marjorie Childress — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:14:15 GMT

The New Mexico Land Office has approved land leases over the years that are now generating controversy and publicity. The New Mexico Attorney General recently issued an opinion saying they are legally questionable. Land Office General Counsel Robert Stranahan tells NMI's Marjorie Childress that his agency disputes the AG's opinion, explains the Land Office's rationale behind the deals and says developers involved in the deals are selected based on reputation. He, and others in the Land Office, however, declined to turn over documents related to the deals. NMI was directed to file a written records request with the lease number and the name of the lessee. When asked how to get that information to make the request, the Land Office said there was no way to isolate them from the almost 900 current Land Office leases.

TIDDs on the table

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Albuquerque City Councilors will take up a controversial form of financing development at City Hall tonight. Councilors tried last year to limit the creation of Tax Increment Development Districts (TIDDs) but Mayor Martin Chávez vetoed the legislation. TIDDs allow for the collection of part of the future tax revenue of a particular geographic area in order to pay off bonds issued to help private developers pay for infrastructure.

State lawmakers ask for audit in land deals

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:49:38 GMT

Democratic state lawmakers want an extra set of eyes on the New Mexico Land Office's controversial land deals and have asked New Mexico State Auditor Hector Balderas to step in. Public Lands Commissioner Pat Lyons, a Republican, has defended the arrangements as legal even though the Attorney General's Office has said the arrangements are legally questionable.

Economic Justice or giving a developer a break?

Marjorie Childress — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:33:31 GMT

Residents of the Southwest Mesa have sent a strong message to Albuquerque city officials this week: They want more retail space, even if it means that the city use a designation that will waive impact fees for developers. The case of Unser’s Crossing, a shopping center being developed by Armstrong Development Co. on the southwest corner of West Central and Unser, straddles competing sides of an ongoing battle over development in Albuquerque: when to waive impact fees -- a major tool in the city's kit to curb sprawl -- to help lure retail business to an under-served population.

Anti-poverty group rates Congress

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The Shriver National Center on Poverty Law rated members of Congress on how they voted on what it considered the most significant anti-poverty legislation in 2007. Democrats U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and U.S. Rep. Tom Udall topped the list by taking the most anti-poverty votes. Republican U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson came in third, taking anti-poverty votes in nine of 15 pieces of legislation, the center said.

Landmark or growth? The city decides

Marjorie Childress — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:30:00 GMT

How does Albuquerque strike a balance between the demands of urban growth and the protection of important cultural and environmental landscape? It's a question at the center of a debate over whether to allow a developer to build taller homes within the Petroglyph National Monument boundary.

ABQ takes up water conservation

Marjorie Childress — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:59:35 GMT

The Albuquerque City Council will take up a water conservation measure Monday. Among other things it would change how the city penalizes those who overuse water. It also would require restaurants to serve water only when customers request it.

Fuzzy battle lines over where to drill

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Last week's back and forth in Washington over what is causing high gas prices appeared to be a partisan tit for tat. Republicans blamed Democrats for opposing drilling in Alaska. Democrats blamed Republicans for protecting areas from off-shore drilling. NMI's Marjorie Childress asks representatives of Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman what it all means.

Energy efficiency: DIY or let PNM?

Marjorie Childress — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Want to save on energy costs? PNM is offering customers a chance to enroll in a power saver program this summer. It would mean the shut off of central air conditioning units for participating customers during the summer's peak energy spikes. If you don't like that idea, you could always do it yourself rather than let the company.

Today's Top Stories

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:05:45 GMT

Here's a round up of top stories around New Mexico today.

The Las Cruces Sun-News looks into whether or not Southern New Mexico’s workforce is prepared to reap the benefits of increasing high-tech jobs and notes a shortage of nurses available to fill health care jobs. While a record low-unemployment rate is good news, a bigger question is whether or not workers are prepared to work at “the level” they would like to be at.

The Farmington Daily Times reported over the weekend that a Farmington soldier, Staff Sgt. Kevin Casey Roberts, was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan. Serving his third tour overseas, Roberts was killed when he encountered an “improvised explosive device.” Roberts is the fifth San Juan County resident to be killed in action since 2003.

Affordable housing in NM hard to find

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:45:00 GMT

The average wage of New Mexico’s renters is increasingly lagging behind the “housing wage,” according to a new report. At the same time, other reports give the state poor marks on housing affordability.

Citing two recent reports, the New Mexico Business Weekly reported last Friday that:

According to “Out of Reach 2007-2008,” a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the “housing wage” for New Mexico is $12.66—the hourly rate a family must earn, working 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year, to afford a two-bedroom home. That is a 23 percent increase since 2000. The average renter in the state earns $10.86 an hour, a gap of $1.80.

The other report, the “2008 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card,” gave a grade of “D” to two-thirds of New Mexico counties for the affordability of their housing. Housing that demands more than 30 percent of a family’s income is considered unaffordable.

The article also cites a 2007 state housing report that “identified a deficit of 30,000 affordable units in New Mexico” and noted that about a third of Albuquerque’s residents are renters.

Congress passes stopgap oil plan

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Congress made a rare display of bi-partisan muscle Tuesday when it overwhelmingly voted to suspend shipments of roughly 70,000 barrels of oil a day into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The decision by federal lawmakers set aside for a moment the partisan bickering in Washington over how best to respond to rising oil prices. One federal lawmaker, however, doesn't hold out too much hope for a substantive solution to emerge from that ongoing debate. He said what many think: that the ongoing debate is nothing more than a lot of election year speechifying.

APS growth due primarily to "shifting" population

Marjorie Childress — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:34:42 GMT

Albuquerque Public Schools announced in a press release yesterday, with the headline “Flat Enrollment, Crowded Schools, Tough Economic Times Challenges for District,” that the district is facing a $20 million shortfall in the coming school year. The press release also noted that:

“Though district enrollment has seen little growth over the past several years, crowded schools have required APS to build additional schools. One of the district’s challenges this coming school year is to figure out how to fund operational costs for nine new schools without an increase in student enrollment.”

How we're losing $100 million

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Data collected by the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research suggests that the state is headed for yet another decennial census undercount. Meanwhile, funding decisions for many federal programs, like Medicaid, are determined by Census Bureau population estimates.