Count off
Grappling
Education help
Torrance County
plays its part in
election recount
Young wrestlers head
to Moriarty for large
tournament
Pinto Pride Foundation raising
money through brick sales
NEWS ■ 3
SPORTS
NEWS ■ 6
■
Mountain View
www.mvtelegraph.com
An edition of the
ALBUQUERQUE
JOURNAL
7
TELEGRAPH
Volume 12, Number 18
Serving the East Mountain and Estancia Valley areas
50 ¢
Copyright © 2014,
Number Nine Media, Inc.
December 18, 2014
Moriarty OKs waste authority deal
EVSWA wants to add two new
members; city adds requirement
to the authority’s board of directors are chosen. Moriarty’s council approved an agreement with amendments that would require
authority board members to be selected
By Rory McClannahan
from member governing boards and from
Mountain View Telegraph
residents within the entity. In addition,
seats on the board would be apportioned
The Moriarty City Council approved an
based on the amount of environment gross
amended joint powers agreement at its receipts taxes the entity pays into authorregular meeting on Dec. 10 that would pave ity coffers.
the way for the Estancia Valley Solid Waste
“I think this is fair across the board,”
Authority to add two new members.
said Moriarty Mayor Ted Hart. “We came
That agreement, though, comes with a up with this so that members of the board
price of changing the way representatives would not only be close to the member
■■
HART: “I
think this is
fair across
the board”
entity, but to the voters within that entity
as well.”
The current 13-member authority board
could see major changes under Moriarty’s
plan. At least four of the board members are
neither governing board members nor residents of the municipalities they represent.
On top of that list is the authority board
Chairman Bill Williams, who was appointed to the board by the town of Mountainair
but does not live in the town.
Williams was vocal in his opposition to
Moriarty’s amendment and that the council’s action could jeopardize adding Santa
Rosa and Guadalupe County. In addition,
a loan the authority sought from the state
Department of Finance could be in danger
because of the delay Moriarty is causing.
Williams pointedly told Hart that the
mayor would find it difficult for other
authority members to go along with a
restructuring of the board.
“I’m sure you’ll find that they don’t want
ya’ll telling them what to do,” Williams
said.
Hart quickly pointed out that neither
See MORIARTY on PAGE 2
CYFD
board
funding
discussed
SHINING A LIGHT ON TALENT
Panel’s match from Torrance,
schools, Boy Scouts detailed
By Nicole Maxwell
Mountain View Telegraph
NICOLE MAXWELL/TELEGRAPH
Students in the East Mountain High School Music Program’s Fundamentals class perform an original composition at Friday’s Light the Night
Concert at Vista Grande Community Center in Sandia Park. Light the Night is the annual festival of luminarias, music and crafts at EMHS.
E
ast Mountain High
School’s Light the Night
event is about more
than thousands of luminarias. It’s also a chance for the
talent at the school to be put on
display.
The talented students at the
school, under the direction of
Michael Wood, put on a show.
Fortunately, they were in the
warmth of the Vista Grande
Community Center.
The annual event is a major
fundraiser for the charter
school.
RIGHT: East Mountain High School
Music Program Director Michael
Wood adjusts a student’s guitar
prior to the Light the Night Concert
last Friday night.
MESD budget woes
to bleed into 2015-16
School closings alone
can’t bridge deficit
the 80th day of school earlier this
month, the district had 2,530 students. The district received funding for the current school year
based on a count of 2,709 students
By Rory McClannahan
from last school year.
Mountain View Telegraph
New Mexico school district
Budget woes are continuing in receive operational expense
the Moriarty-Edgewood School money from the state through a
District despite the closure of two formula based on the number of
schools.
students. MESD has seen a drop in
The district will take a dual hit the number of students each year
to its operational budget for the for the past 12 years. Because of
2015-2016 school year that initial that drop, and the corresponding
estimates indicate could cost drop in state funding, the district
about $1.7 million.
closed Edgewood and MountainThe MESD Board of Education view elementary schools at the
received reports on budget and beginning of this school year.
enrollment issues at its regular
The second hit the district is
meeting on Tuesday.
taking is on Training and Experi“We are painfully aware of this ence Index. As part of the funding
budget situation and we are facing formula, school districts in New
it head on,” said Superintendent Mexico are given more money
Tom Sullivan.
for more experienced and highly
The first hit the district is taking
See MESD’S on PAGE 6
is in relation to its enrollment. On
Six of 8 school board
positions uncontested
Familiar faces will
return following Feb. 3
elections in three districts
■■
Telegraph Staff Report
There will be a lot of familiar
faces on local school boards after
the Feb. 3 elections.
Candidates were required to file
their intent to run for election on
Tuesday. Out of eight positions
that will be in the ballot in the
Mountainair, Estancia and Moriarty-Edgewood school districts,
only two will be contested.
In Mountainair, incumbents
Darrell Roberts, Frances Gonzales and Gabe Chavez are virtually
guaranteed re-election. No opponents signed up to run against
them.
Estancia will have a contested
race in Position 3. Incumbent
Kendra Otis will face challenger
Robert P. Chavez in the election.
For the Position 5 seat, incumbent Jesus Lucero does not have
an opponent.
Voters in District 3 in the Moriarty-Edgewood School District,
which covers much of Edgewood,
will have to choose between
incumbent Elizabeth Howells and
Filandro Anaya.
Anaya served on the school
board for 12 years until he was
defeated by Howells for the position in 2011.
Incumbents Charles Armijo and
Albert Chavez don’t have opponents in their races on the board.
Even though there is only one
contested race in the Moriarty-Edgewood district, voters
throughout the district will be
asked to consider extending a
2-mill levy for six years. The levy
costs property owners within the
See SCHOOL on PAGE 6
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department Juvenile Justice Board funding was discussed at the regular meeting of the
Torrance County Commission.
The board receives a 40 percent minimum
match from Torrance County which is partially
from payments-in-lieu-of-tax dollars.
According to the Department of the Interior,
PILT funds are federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property
taxes due to non-taxable Federal lands within
their boundaries.
Then a large portion comes from a Memorandum of Understanding from MoriartyEdgewood School District, which provides an
in-kind donation of a two-room portable building at Moriarty high School that was not being
used, Kathy Swope of CYFD Juvenile Justice
Board said.
“Any time you get state or federal monies, you
have to get a match,” Swope said, adding that
the match doesn’t always have to be monetary,
it can be in-kind like the Moriarty High School
building they are currently using or through
Scoutreach from the Boy Scouts of America.
The Boy Scouts of America provides over 50
percent match with Scoutreach. “This program
is for juveniles who have gotten into trouble and
are referred to CYFD,” Swope said. This is a
diversion program that helps them get better,
she said.
The referrals come from the Juvenile Inventory for Functioning “which is a test to see where
problem areas for youth are,” Swope said. These
problems include if the child is being bullied, is
suicidal, has problems at home, is being sexually molested, etc.
The JIFF is also given to truancy cases as a
way of finding out why they are not going to
school.
“It gives us a starting place, a great idea for
where they are. If we can help them, maybe
we can help them be better decision-makers,”
Swope added.
Also discussed at the meeting:
n Always a subject of contention, the Estancia
Valley Solid Waste Authority was discussed, at
length, during both the designated time concerning the New Mexico Finance Authority
Loan Agreement, which was passed, and during public comments.
Discussion over what county pays what and
why Bernalillo County pays less per ton of solid waste than Torrance County, a subject the
EVSWA Manager Joe Ellis clarified during a
phone interview on Thursday.
Bernalillo County pays $30 per ton plus commercial rates which make it closer to $40 per
ton, Ellis said.
See CYFD on PAGE 6
Inside
AROUND THE COMMUNITY 5
CALENDAR
11
CLASSIFIEDS
9-10
CLASSIFIEDS
9-10
POLICE REPORT 11
CROSSWORD
5
EDITORIALS
4
SPORTS
7
WEATHER
Winter officially
starts this
weekend, but
don’t expect
any snow.