D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February
2008
Karen Perez, Engineering Change
Page: 2Several of the area's pet projects have undergone close scrutiny by Commissioner Perez — notably the planned Spaceport America for which the county narrowly voted to raise the gross-receipts tax last spring. (See "Failure to Launch," April 2007 Desert Exposure.) Perez' blunt judgment on the project departs dramatically from the rose-colored-glasses view of Spaceport promoters and most civic leaders:
"It's a boondoggle," she says.
Fellow commissioner Bill McCamley, who helped recruit Perez for the commission, is an ardent support of the Spaceport. Although Perez says she has great respect for McCamley's knowledge and energy, she — naturally — looked at the project from an engineering standpoint.
"How do you get in and how do you get out?" she asks concerning the need for a road to the remote Sierra County site (60 miles from Las Cruces, not the frequently cited but erroneous 45 miles). She also points out that the proposed spaceport terminal building — "it looks like a flying bedpan" — cannot possibly be built for the amount of money that has been earmarked for it.
"I have raised concerns about whether or not it is a good idea, and feel that it is not a viable public project," Perez goes on. "The simple fact is that we are financing private enterprise. This is not money that would exist otherwise."
Perez is also one of the few people involved in the process who has bothered to keep tabs on the Spaceports long-delayed Environmental Impact Statement. Supposedly due in June 2007, that document has now been postponed again, until November. Then there's the delay in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensing, ongoing issues with the BLM, and the little reported fact that El Paso Electric once tried to run a project through the same area, and was unable to do so without disturbing numerous archeological sites.
Because she has calculated the risks in seeing this "boondoggle" come to fruition, Perez has been labeled "non-visionary" and "anti-growth" by detractors , which she acknowledges but doesn't agree with.
Water is another issue that Perez has a great amount of knowledge and interest in, especially since she has been involved in its planning and use for almost 20 years. The question is: How honest is the city being about its water supply?
"The city has plenty of 'wet stuff,'" Perez replies, "and they have plenty of water rights and the paper to prove it, but the question is what's in all of that water? They need to do more hydro studies on it to see if it contains primarily naturally occurring stuff (minerals, etc.) and the salinity of it. Is it drinkable at all? Can it be treated in a cost-effective manner? And what do you do with the byproduct that results from that treatment?"
Perez says that when reverse osmosis is utilized, a third of the water "goes away."
Smaller communities such as Berino and Chaparral might lose what is called their "junior" water rights, she warns, by being usurped by larger communities such as Las Cruces that have "senior" water rights. She points out, "The state engineer, in his second day in office, urged larger communities to 'call in' water rights." Thus those smaller towns and colonias could be left high and dry in the future.
Commissioner Perez has also been involved in other water-related projects, although none of them involves the stuff that comes out of your tap. One recent issue that put a lot of underwear in knots involves the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and an attempt at mapping the area around Las Cruces to project potential flooding problems within the county. The Flood Ad Hoc Committee was a citizen task force put together to determine recommendations, within six weeks, and share information about growth and flood plains.
"They rushed the report," says Perez. "The group had the recommendations in a binder within the six weeks, handed it in, and it has been sitting on the shelf for over a year now." Intuitively, the solution is obvious, she adds: Leave the arroyos alone.
Perez has also been involved in two other-water related issues, both of which involve flooding to some degree.
As you go east from Las Cruces toward the Organ Mountains, toward all of the development taking place behind "A" Mountain, you're pretty much required to travel on University Avenue, which changes its name to Dripping Springs Road, in the vicinity of the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. Essentially, with the exception of a much longer, poorly maintained and mostly gravel road, this is the only thoroughfare that goes to that part of the county. Just west of the museum was a spot that drained rain across the road. With the water — often a "gully washer" — came debris and with that came erosion that began to threaten the road itself.
The county solution was to build a new "three-holer," a bridge with three enormous drainage ducts that is supposed to carry the water under the road and into the nearby flats. Amazingly, this project was funded, contracted and built on the schedule that was advertised, and even included a silly little ribbon-cutting ceremony just before Christmas 2007.
But Perez says, "It was a $1.2 million solution to a $100,000 problem. It will be filled with dirt in a year. Every engineer knows better."
The idea that it was done so quickly and on time could also make one think that the county is catering to the wealthier folks who live beyond the museum, as opposed to those who live with empty pocketbooks in other areas.
People have accused Perez of being responsible for the "bridge," but that is not even remotely true.
Then there's the problem at the Radium Springs Hotel (see "No Room at the Inn," November 2007 Desert Exposure). "What they (the state, et al) want to do there is an exercise in stupidity," Perez says with characteristic bluntness. "They could lay concrete under the railroad trestle (the current route to the hotel) and scrape it to the river. But instead, they want to build a parallel bridge, which will cost millions."
There's that engineer logic again. . . .
After her first year in office, Perez says she has observed and held her peace long enough. "I'm going to step on toes this year," she states firmly. "I didn't do so last year, and I did a lot of sitting tight with my mouth shut and ears open, and now the gloves are coming on."
Two of Perez's other priorities for her district in 2008 are:
- Getting community centers staffed and organized. She states that only on
occasion are volunteers available to staff the centers and she wants to get
a full-blown project going. "We need to get things like boxing and martial-arts programs up and running. These kids have nowhere to go to let off steam, and we need to get them off the street." She
also wants to find more funding for senior programs and meals.
- Taking a long, hard look at city maintenance. "Why are the potholes not filled and roads paved? The county commissioners in the past have politicized road maintenance, and we all get a portion of the road fund. Let's look at our priorities."
Perez adds, "I have a degree in diplomacy, and I like genuine people. We have some good people here, but this is an uphill battle against a negative history of politicians with a self-serving agenda. There are so many people that seem to be afraid of 'something' that is undefined. So it is important to make people accountable without being threatening."