A last-minute dash to Santa Fe by Torrance County Commissioner Kevin McCall and Janice Barela, county manager, turned into $360,000 for the sheriff’s department and local roads.
McCall and Barela were able to secure $200,000 for the county road department, the commissioner reported at its meeting Jan. 29, with another $160,000 earmarked for the sheriff’s department.
The funds come through the “junior” appropriations of local state legislators, Barela said in a later interview.
State senators were given $200,000 for each of four allocations within their districts and state representatives were give $160,000 for each for each of three allocations, she said, adding this is separate from capital outlay projects money.
But word of the opportunity fell late, Barela said, forcing the county to scramble and it had to work through the Mid-Region Council of Governments to produce the proposals.
“It was so frustrating to me that we had to be jumping through hoops to get this done at the last moment,” she said.
But Sen. Gregg Schmedes (R-Tijeras) was able to come up with the road department money, which the county is hoping to put toward new equipment, Barela said.
And Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) delivered the sheriff’s department allocation, which the county would like to use for new squad cars, she said.
“Janice and I did some very quick work. When we left that morning to go to Santa Fe, at that point we had zero junior appropriations money, it happened that fast and we didn’t have a proper notification prior to traveling there,” McCall said, later adding, “Janice and I were able to get $360,000 of money we didn’t think we had a chance to get that morning. We appreciate the mid-region council of governments for working with us very quickly and we got those submitted.”
If it turns out that the language in the bill prohibits the money’s use for capital expenditures, then the county will find other uses for it within those departments, Barela said, which could free up money from the county’s general fund for the equipment and patrol vehicles.
“There’s still a chance they could be stricken or vetoed but at least those look good now,” McCall said.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2022 let a similar ask go through a pocket veto.
McCall also reported that in a local meeting of the state highway transportation commission, Ricky Serna, transportation department secretary, has agreed to a ride along on some of the state roads within the county.
“It’s pretty neat if we would have the secretary of transportation come down to Torrance County and have a ride along,” McCall said. “I thought that was a very good meeting with him. He verbally committed to that and I will work to get that done.”
Commission Chairman Ryan Schwebach had a few suggestions for when that occurs.
“Firstly, I want you to take him in a one-ton truck. I want you to take him down (NM) 41 going all the way down to Willard,” he said. “That is going to be a death trap.”
One of the commissioners actually used NM 41 to get to the meeting that was in Moriarty and remarked on the condition of the road, McCall said.
“It’s on his radar,” he said. “With all the construction we have going on with the windmills these days, those roads are going to see a lot more traffic.”
Schwebach reiterated the point.
“Make sure you get him on 41. If you get on that road in the afternoon, that would be even better,” he said. ‘Make sure he understands the amount of traffic on that road. What it puts on the fire chief, on our paramedics, on our recovery services can make sure he realizes how many people are realizing that they either need to come down (NM) 285 or 41 or (NM) 60 just to avoid that highway (I-40). We all know it’s a major, major problem.”
Commissioner Samuel Schropp also asked McCall to point out the shoulders on the state roads are, at best, inadequate if not non-existent.
“I would ask that they begin building shoulders on these roads, especially 41 from Willard on through,” he said. “There’s a lot of heavy equipment and the way they’re paving, there’s a drop off and it’s going to get worse. We need someplace for our emergency responders to pull safely off the roads.”