Mayor candidates face off
4 hopefuls see things differently

Candidate for Mayor of Grants Shirley V. Turner casts a test ballot for herself while Grants City Clerk Radawn Narramore, left, and Cibola County Elections Coordinator George Trujillo watch to make sure the machine is working properly Wednesday afternoon at the Cibola County Road Department building in Milan. The Grants municipal election is March 7. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

Editor's note: This is the first of a 3-part series on a candidates forum Wednesday night sponsored by New Mexico State University-Grants and Seven Cities Productions in the university theater. The Grants mayoral candidates will be in the first two parts, followed by the Milan mayoral candidates in the third part.

By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau

Candidate for Mayor of Grants Robert M. Ulibarri, left, talks with District 2 council candidate Eugene Green Wednesday before a forum for Grants and Milan candidates in the New Mexico State University theater. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

GRANTS — Some sharp differences about how Grants should be run emerged at Wednesday night's candidates forum.

Professor Emerita Cecelia Perrow asked five questions, with a different mayoral or council candidate beginning the replies so the same person didn't end up being the first responder each time. There was a 3-minute time limit for each answer during the 70-minute program.

The first question was how to convince voters of the importance of infrastructure and was there a role for grants in financing the improvements.

Robert M. Ulibarri, who is in the middle of his second 4-year term on the council, said the main problem is getting enough money. Bonds hadn't worked in the past; so he will pursue federal funds as well as welcoming suggestions of possible sources of money.

Shirley V. Taylor said the city first needs to hire its own engineer and have a formal plan. She maintained it wasn't so much a lack of money but lack of following through on projects. For instance, she said the Mountain Road CDBG project had to come back to the council for another $58,000 for sewer manhole covers something that should have been in the plan to begin with. Workshops to discuss and learn about sources and procedures would be a big improvement, she said.

Joseph Murrietta said the first thing needed is an inventory of the infrastructure. The money is available and obtainable with a good plan executed and with a good approach to the money sources. He said his years of government experience with Cibola County, Milan and the Regional Solid Waste Authority are one of the assets he could bring to the position.

Michael Lewis, a former mechanical contractor in Gallup, said he understands from experience what's involved in infrastructure projects. In contrast to the first speaker, he said he believes bonding can be sold to the voters and it is the mayor's job to do so.

Second question
The second question was about how a new library should be obtained.

Taylor began the round by saying she favors a joint city-university library because it would allow citizens and students to utilize the best of both.

Murrietta said he supports the combination approach and that past efforts to obtain a new city library did not draw the support needed from the citizens.

Lewis said a new library is needed, but that it should jump ahead of needs by using technology instead of simply catching up with past shortages. Many different grants, including private foundation funds, are available. Such grants should be easy for Grants to obtain because the city is the kind of community with its poor, its ethnic diversity and its prisons which attract foundations. He favors the former Alco building between First and Second Streets at Roosevelt. He opposed combining the libraries, calling it a mistake because of the different focus of each.

Ulibarri said that by the end of the current legislative session in Santa Fe (less than two weeks), Grants will know whether it has state money for the combination approach. He supported the lower cost of the consolidated operation, adding that both sets of users would receive better service. He indicated the existing university library would have an addition to house the city's collection. He agreed that the community needs to keep up with the technology changes.

— To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone 285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).