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Candidates speak at Chamber of Commerce
By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau
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County appraiser candidate Pauline Chavez takes the podium duirng
a candidates forum and Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday in
Grants. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]
State Representative W. Kenny Martinez stands at the podium and
talks about running unopposed for the upcoming Democratic Primary
election in June while he and other candidates attended a forum
at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday at the Best Wetern
Inn & Suites in Grants. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]
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GRANTS — Four candidates for state office spoke at
Wednesday's Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce monthly lunch. They
were W. Ken Martinez, George Hanosh, Ed Smith and Derrith Watchman-Moore.
Martinez is unopposed for his 5th term in the New Mexico House of Representatives.
Democrat Hanosh and Republican Smith will face off in November, as neither
has June 6 primary election opponents. Watchman-Moore is seeking to succeed
Lynda Lovejoy of Crownpoint as the 4th District Public Regulatory Commission
member, with Lovejoy trying to break the Arizona male hold on the Navajo
Nation presidency.
Hanosh said he wants to complete work on many projects and therefore is
seeking his 5th term of four years.
He mentioned the death penalty, medical marijuana, completing the 4th
phase of the new Grants High School, building a community library on the
campus of New Mexico State University-Grants, dredging the Rio San Jose,
a sewer system for San Rafael, helping police and fire departments, and
the new Cibola Senior Citizens Center.
Smith said he came to the White Sands Missile Range in 1954. In 22 years
in the U.S. military, he rose from private to retire as a colonel. He
also has an extensive teaching career, including the Peace Corps in Nigeria.
To illustrate Cibola County's cultural diversity, he said he stopped at
a home in Haystack. A 12-year-old girl said only her grandmother was there
with her and grandma didn't speak English and she didn't speak Navajo.
Smith said he speaks five foreign languages and that he can do a good
job working with all cultures and races.
He said he wants to make changes to support the community. He came to
the county when he retired from the Pentagon as a computer software engineer.
Watchman-Moore said her campaign is about the quality of life for residents'
utilities, pipeline, fire safety and transportation issues. She resigned
two months ago as the governor's deputy secretary of the environment department
to run her campaign.
She said she and Martinez were "capital brats," from their childhood
days in Santa Fe when their fathers were in the New Mexico Legislature.
She has 20 years experience in environmental protection and served as
chief of staff to former Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye.
To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone
285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).
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Thursday
April 20, 2006
Selected Stories:
Police seek getaway car; Investigators
visit local businesses to warn employees of recent robberies
Students leave en masse; Questions surface
about Navajo Prep's response to suicide attempts
County candidates tout histories
Candidate in need of sign watchman
Deaths
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