Los Alamos County Council Chair Randall Ryti is running for re-election. He recently stopped by the Los Alamos Daily Post to answer questions about the local election. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Staff Report
Los Alamos County Council Chair Randall Ryti is running for re-election. He recently stopped by the Los Alamos Daily Post to answer questions about the local election.
This is the first in a series of Q&As with political candidates that the Post will publish ahead of the Nov. 8 General Election.
POST: How long have you lived in Los Alamos?
RYTI: I will celebrate 30 years at the end of this month. I lived in Bozeman, Mont., before moving to Los Alamos. I came here because Dean Neptune and I started an environmental consulting company, Neptune and Co. Two other scientists arrived shortly after to help found the company. Neptune and Co. had a contract with the University of California, which at the time was managing the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
POST: Where do you work?
RYTI: I was one of the managing owners of Neptune and Co. then I became president once Dean (Neptune) retired. I have been a consultant with the company since 2018.
POST: Why are you running for County Council?
RYTI: It’s an opportunity to serve the community and I appreciate the opportunity to continue serving. It also is an opportunity to respond to issues and concerns in the community.
POST: County Council requires a significant time commitment, usually 4 council meetings a month, committee meetings and other events as well as reading preparation prior to those meetings. How will this fit in with your other commitments?
RYTI: I haven’t had any problems fulfilling the responsibilities of Council Chair during the last two years. It’s been a pleasure to serve the community and to fill that role.
POST: What do you believe is the role of the Council in our community?
RYTI: The County Charter defines the council’s role as making policies and approving budgets. We are here to listen to the community and if they have concerns … those need to be addressed, and identify policy and budget options that adhere to the community’s needs. The council directs the County Manager to make sure we get policy and budget options to address concerns.
POST: Do you think you have any personal or professional relationships that could become a conflict of interest while serving as a Council member?
RYTI: No. Councilors need to file disclosure statements. I don’t have any consultant contracts that conflict with the council. As a councilor, you may work with external groups but you disclose all the things and recuse yourself if there is a conflict of interest. My sole priority is to work on behalf of the County and its people.
POST: What is your approach to handling controversial and complicated issues?
RYTI: Ideally, we should present the community with options. When there are controversies, it is usually because the community hasn’t been given a broad suite of options. We need to provide opportunities for community input that starts with values that often are widely shared. The council needs to know what we value as a community and how it can support those values multiple workable solutions.
POST: What skills and experience do you have that you believe beneficial to the position?
RYTI: I have served four years on County Council – two of which were as Council Chair. I was involved in community activities and was a small business owner. My community activities included being on the board for the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and working as a volunteer for the school science fair. We got to understand what values the community has through those interactions. It’s been a great experience to be on council and to understand the breadth of what council is involved in. While on council, I have served on external groups that are useful resources for council. They provide insight into what other communities are doing. These external groups include New Mexico Counties, which provided training on things like meeting processes and risk management, the Energy Community Alliance, which I served as an alternate, the Mayor’s Caucus for COVID Response and the Coalition for Sustainable Communities for New Mexico.
POST: Based on what you know about County government, what do you see as the top priorities and why?
RYTI: Two things are at the top of my mind. One is housing, more specifically, addressing the missing middle or workforce housing. We need to protect open space, so I am in favor of redeveloping vacant or underutilized land. We also need to support the local business community. Supporting more workforce housing is one way to support local businesses. I am looking forward to the County to helping local businesses with ARPA funds. I want to make sure those funds get out and that there are metrics for success in place for ARPA and similar programs like LEDA and MRA district in White Rock. Metrics could include things like the number of businesses assisted and increased gross receipt taxes generated. Another priority is social services. I think we need to work on improving social services access and focus on creating a social service hub for things like behavioral and mental health care providers. Another priority is working to maintain facilities we have, which includes trails. We need to recruit and retain staff in order to meet this goal. Availability of housing plays into that as well as proper compensation for employees. Related to housing is redevelopment. Council will consider approving updates to the Chapter 16, the development code. This should help us make progress on the kinds of development needed in the County. Transportation is another important issue. For instance, the corridor from NM4 and the truck route. The council needs to coordinate with the state and San Ildefonso Pueblo to get some options for improving the right-of-way. Another thing I want to do is make sure we are partners in the region and that we are proposing projects that are considered widely beneficial and help us to build strong relationships in the region.