VOTE411 Voter Guide

County Government focuses on a variety of things I, through my career as a water and natural resources attorney, have gained significant experience with, including infrastructure and economic development, water and wastewater systems, and land use and development. With the federal administration prioritizing local governance more than ever, combined with an emphasis on energy and public lands development, including the focus on Project Jupiter in southern Dona Ana County - my experience and training provide a unique opportunity to both protect our community from harmful outside interests while also positioning us to succeed in newer local governance setting through more appropriately competing for federal infrastructure dollars.

Water supply and economic development that does not fit the culture of our community. Access to healthcare is also something we're experiencing. Each of these three issues can be alleviated by infrastructure improvements in our local area - if we were doing more to help ourselves on this front, we wouldn't need outside companies like Project Jupiter dangling carrots in front of us. We often jump at opportunities before we fully vet their consequences because we need the money and other 'things' they promise to provide. Like with the recent City of Las Cruces lesson learned with 828Productions, a movie company that offered the world and provided nothing, we know we need to prioritize local business and not be so keen to jump at bad deals.

My experience and expertise in water and natural resources gives me a unique skillset to address challenges such as land grabs by the federal government, economic development, and projects like Project Jupiter. I also have a special needs daughter and am the Chair of the NM Beneficiary Advisory Council, a federally mandated council that advises state government on Medicaid policy in NM. I know how to follow the state's sunshine laws, so our community does not feel outside of the conversation on projects such as Project Jupiter. I also know water - water is the center of our universe in southern NM and something we need to fight to protect and improve for farmers, for cities, and for our natural beauty before it dries up altogether.

In every way possible and practicable. I understand that, as an elected official hired by the people of our community, I would be there to represent the will of the people - not my own will. That cannot be done in secret or behind closed doors. Our community deserves MORE than transparency - it deserves openness and active communication. It is not enough to publish an agenda with an item on it, we must do more to push information on things that are of importance our community before decisions are made. Facebook, press releases, town hall events, and the like would all be used to ensure I stay connected to my community while I serve.

Infrastructure and planning. This is the sphere I work in on the national level - I am intimately familiar with all of the federal law mechanisms and programs that fund water initiatives, am well versed in their use, and even leveraged those mechanisms while I was counsel for the Elephant Butte Irrigation District to bring in over $100M in non-reimbursable, non-cost share grants to improve more of the local farmers' irrigation infrastructure. The same is needed at all levels of water systems in our county, and through partnerships and leadership, the County can play a more active and effective role in bringing our infrastructure into a condition that will allow us to survive another 100 years in our area. Real action is needed now.

I bring economic expertise, direct government experience, and a decade of on-the-ground organizing alongside community and working families in Doña Ana County that is rare in a local candidate. My training allowed me to identify exactly why using Industrial Revenue Bond financing for private corporations is problematic and how it does not serve the best interest of our community. As the director of small non-profit project with one staff member I grew the program to to twelve employees and a budget of nearly a million dollars, securing public and private funding. In 2021 I was appointed to the Sustainable Economy Advisory Council where I advised the state's strategic plan to transition New Mexico away from dependence on extractive industry.

Doña Ana County faces four urgent challenges: water scarcity and contamination threatening families and farms, inadequate roads and infrastructure in rural and colonia communities, a lack of good-paying local jobs that force young people to leave, and a county government that has made major decisions, including approving $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds for Project Jupiter, without transparent community participation. These challenges are connected. Addressing any one of them requires the same thing: leadership that is honest, accountable, and genuinely rooted in the communities most impacted and county participation in critical decisions.

On water I would require independent impact assessments before any large development is approved and prioritize infrastructure investment in underserved communities. On infrastructure I would direct county resources based on safety and need, starting with communities that have waited longest. On jobs I would use county contracting power to require local hire and living wage standards, and partner with DACC and NMSU on workforce training. On transparency I would mandate community participation before votes, not after, and ensure all processes are accessible in English and Spanish to every resident.

I would reach residents before votes are taken, not after. That means bilingual newsletters and social media updates on upcoming commission items, community meetings in accessible locations across the district including colonias communities, and direct outreach through trusted community organizations that already have relationships with residents. I would hold weekly office hours in different parts of the district and monthly community forums so constituents have a consistent, accessible way to weigh in and participate in decisions that will directly impact them. Government information should travel to people, not wait for people to come find it.

Water is not a commodity. It is a birthright. Families in the southern most part of our county received drinking water with arsenic above federal limits for over a year because treatment plants were offline and nobody told them. That cannot happen again. I would require county lead oversight of water systems, independent water impact assessments for all large developments, invest in conservation programs and water reuse systems, and support small rural water systems most at risk. On the Rio Grande Compact dispute I would ensure Doña Ana County has a seat at the table with state officials and our congressional delegation, fighting for our farmers and families in whatever resolution comes next.