A crowd turns out for the League of Women Voters Los Alamos forum Thursday at Fuller Lodge. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
From left, House Dist. 43 Rep. candidate Chris Luchini, Libertarian; incumbent Christine Chandler, Democrat and League President Felicia Orth at Thursday’s forum. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Candidates for House District 43, District Attorney for the First Judicial District and Los Alamos County Council made their case about why they deserve Los Alamos’ votes during the League of Women Voters’ forum Thursday at Fuller Lodge.
The forum was moderated by President Felicia Orth.
Candidates for each of the offices:
House Dist. 43 Representative:
- incumbent Christine Chandler, Democrat
- Chris Luchini, Libertarian
- Philip Mach, Libertarian (absent)
District Attorney for the First Judicial District
- incumbent Mary Carmack-Altwies, Democrat
- Marco Serna, Democrat
Los Alamos County Council:
- incumbent Denise Derkacs, Democrat
- incumbent David Reagor, Republican
- Beverly Neal-Clinton, Democrat
- Ryn Herrmann, Democrat
- James Wernicke, Libertarian (absent)
Before engaging in the question-and-answer period of the forum, each candidate presented introductory remarks.
House District 43 Representative:
Christine Chandler mentioned she brings five years of experience serving as House District 43 Representative. She is chair of the House Judiciary Committee and previously served as chair to the House Taxation and Revenue.
She is part of the House leadership team, “which places me in a position to shape and advance important policy initiatives.”
Regarding legislation, Chandler said she was successful in passing a tax package that lowered taxes for working people.
Furthermore, “I was lead on enacting the state child income tax credit; I was the lead sponsor of the healthy workplaces act that gives every worker in the state earned sick leave. I have also successfully carried a number of pieces of legislation that protect our environment and improve access to healthcare. And let’s not forget the trapping bill, which I cosponsored with my friend Mathew McQueen.”
Moving forward, Chandler said she hopes to focus on gun safety legislation and improve the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order (ERPO) law and bring the Paid Family Medical Leave Act bill over the finish line.
There’s a lot of challenges at the state level, Luchini said.
“We have a lot of issues in our state,” he said. “We consistently rank very low in economics and education at the same time we have a persistent, massive budget surplus. We also have massive, unfunded liabilities.”
There are things that the state can do to fix all of these, he added.
First Judicial District Attorney:
Carmack-Altwies said when she began her term as District Attorney the office was “in shambles.”
“The office was neglected and there had been a complete lack of leadership for about three years,” she said. “Los Alamos had been completely ignored as a priority.”
Carmack-Altwies said she improved things dramatically, highlighting the fact she instituted regular meetings with local police leadership and hired a Los Alamos prosecutor to prosecute in Los Alamos.
“We’re also holding violent offenders accountable and gun crimes by moving to detain every person accused of fleeing law enforcement or discharging a firearm,” she said.
As a native New Mexican, Serna said, “I have seen the changes that have happened throughout this community, specifically with the issues on DUI, the issues with opioid addiction and the issues with domestic violence.”
Serna mentioned he does bring prior experience to the table; he served as a previous District Attorney.
If elected again, Serna said, “I will immediately do away with the current DUI (policy), which I believe is a public risk and created issues with how numbers are recognized and the genuine truth to the public. Second, I will be fiscally responsible with the budget … lastly, I vow to you that I will have a transparent office. That I will not only hold individuals accountable who are committing crimes but also hold myself and my attorneys and my office accountable for anything that may happen.”
County Council
Neal-Clinton said there are three issues that are near and dear to her: affordable housing, inclusivity and mental health.
“Los Alamos’ tag line is where discoveries are made,” she said. “For me the choice to run is obvious given today’s climate … I believe I can make a difference. As a Marine, I am fearless, as a small business owner I am not afraid of bigger players and regarding inclusivity I am in the number of individuals who are changing the landscape here in Los Alamos. I say all of that to say, I am Los Alamos. I discovered you can find clarity in who you are, what you are capable of, how you can contribute and finally what to do when you finally stand up.”
Herrman said she is retiring from her position as Chamber of Commerce Director but would like to continue serving the public as a County Councilor.
“My experience working with our small business community and our entrepreneurs make me uniquely qualified to understand the challenges our small businesses face,” she said. “My 27 years as a Los Alamos resident make me want to improve our community and make it a better place for all of our residents to live.”
Downtown revitalization and retaining business are important issues, Herrmann said, as well as fostering trust between business owners, citizens and the County government. Sustainability such as protecting open spaces, and quality of life, which includes housing and children’s wellbeing, are also big focuses for her along with public safety and inclusivity, she said.
Derkacs said she decided to run for re-election because “I want to continue to help Los Alamos County plan for growth and embrace the future while preserving the past and amenities that make Los Alamos a great place to live.”
During her tenure on council, which includes two terms as Council Chair, Derkacs said she gained a full understanding of council procedures and authorities as well as knowledge of County operations and challenges.
She added that she sees three over-arching issues facing the County: housing and development, downtown revitalization and community services.
In the last four years as a councilor Reagor said he has pushed back at government overreach. For instance, he said he was the only councilor who voted in favor of the Sirphey appeal; additionally, Reagor voted to preserve the movie theater as a private business and opposed the increase to the gross receipt tax.
“Our biggest problem in this environment is really spending money wisely,” Reagor said.
In another example of what he considered government overreach, Reagor described the Coronavirus mandates as oppressive regulations, arguing that the small businesses have not recovered and that the mandates are some of the worst things to have happened to Los Alamos in its history.
Finally, he dismissed the issue of climate change as “not really true … it really isn’t even that threatening.”
“When we drag all these broken ideas into our County we are just harming our citizens and it is important for the council not to allow that,” Reagor said.
Orth read Wernicke’s introductory remarks.
“I am running because I see so much potential for Los Alamos to do good not only for ourselves but also for our neighbors and for future generations,” Wernicke wrote.
While the County has a strategic plan, Wernicke wrote that “comfort has made us complacent. We must hold ourselves accountable to take action.”
Transparency, housing, business, transportation, energy, health, safety and environmental stewardship are all issues he said he would like to address.
Here are a few highlights from the question-and-answer portion of the forum:
House Dist. 43 Representative:
When asked about an approach to gun violence, Chandler said she supported measures that were filed during the last session to have a waiting period for a gun, and in the past background checks were enacted.
In addition, ERPO or red flag laws, “save lives,” she said. “We are taking guns away from people who are threats to themselves or others …”
Luchini disagreed. “Extreme Risk Protection Orders are unconstitutional because they violate due process … there are ways to do this in existing law,” he said.
What he does support is a bill for a tax credit for gun safes. Luchini pointed out 89 percent of firearms traced to crime are stolen.
“We need to do something to incentize people to lock up their guns,” he added.
Los Alamos County Council:
An individual inquired about how the council would ensure the right price point for housing is being provided to citizens.
Neal-Clinton said student housing and workforce housing need to be addressed along with the $700,000 housing. She pointed out that people working at Smith’s can’t afford a $700,000 house.
“If we want to keep people here, we have to take care of them and that means a roof over your head,” she said.
Herrmann said, “We desperately need housing for our workforce. And this is not an easy fix. We need workforce housing so that there are people here to work for our small businesses, not just the lab, but our teachers, our police, our firefighters.”
There is a definite need to focus on low- and middle-income housing, Derkacs said, adding that most housing in development are multi-family, which is considered lower-income.
She said that the Metropolitan Redevelopment Area in White Rock and Los Alamos will “give the County some new tools such as private partnerships, development incentives, possible tax abatements … other tools not otherwise allowed that will help facilitate more mixed use development and more housing in a price range that is affordable to more people in the County…”
Reagor agreed that more housing of all kinds is desperately needed.
He added that transport south to Albuquerque is needed to address all the commuters arriving and leaving Los Alamos. Whichever option is selected, Reagor said it is the laboratory’s, the biggest employer in the County, responsibility to provide these things.
“The lab either has to give us more housing … or they have to give us better transit,” Reagor said. “If they don’t do one of those two things, they are not being responsible owners of the lab.”
Early voting for the primary election is underway. Voting can be done from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday at the Municipal Building. Starting May 18 through June 1, early voting will be held 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the White Rock Town Hall training rooms and the Municipal Building. Election Day is June 4.
First Judicial District Attorney incumbent Mary Carmack-Altwies, Democrat, speaks to the audience during the forum Thursday. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
First Judicial District Attorney candidate Marco Serna, Democrat, speaks during the League of Women Voters’ forum Thursday. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
From left, Los Alamos County Council candidates Beverly Neal-Clinton, Democrat, Ryn Herrmann, Democrat, and incumbent Denise Derkacs, Democrat, participate in the League of Women Voters forum. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County Council incumbent David Reagor, Republican, takes part in the forum Thursday. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com