By GRANT HARDING
Los Alamos

For a second time in a few months I have the pleasure of endorsing Aaron Walker for appointment to fill a vacant seat on Council.

My previous endorsement was as follows:

“Aaron Walker has demonstrated the willingness to dive deeply into complex and contentious issues, while listening to all the stakeholders to understand their needs and concerns. In his positions as member, Chair, then Vice Chair on CDAB, he’s shown the ability to think outside the box to offer up solutions people with widely differing political ideologies can agree with. He’s consistently advocated for those least fortunate among us, for transparency at all levels of government, and has shown the ability to evolve in his thinking when presented with new information. With upcoming decisions that will require robust debate and public input, Aaron’s experience on CDAB would make him an upstanding addition to Council.”

Subsequently, the county received the results of the survey meant to assess public support of Chapter 18 Nuisance Code enforcement. While there were a number of disturbing issues with the way the survey was performed, Aaron’s intuition and tireless efforts to understand the will of the constituents was proven out in the results of the survey.

We also learned something about his integrity from his confirmed commitment to accurately represent the consensus of the governed, and his advocacy, all along, for the most ethical and decent approach to government action.

Council, again, has an opportunity to appoint someone to an open seat that our community already accepts and appreciates, and one who has the appropriate experience for the issues at hand. That person is unambiguously Aaron Walker.

Tensions have high in this county, and rightly so, because Council has ignored or eliminated progressive and pragmatic voices. The natural consequence of appointing Aaron would include at least some of those tensions being alleviated.

The People elected Sean Williams, Council should maintain representation of those constituents. Sean has endorsed Aaron.

Some councilors said they relied on how many emails of support they received for each candidate to justify their last appointment. Please make your voice heard by emailing countycouncil@lacnm.us to support Aaron Walker to complete Sean Williams’s term through Dec 31, 2024. You can also join the Zoom at 6 p.m. today, April 5, to make public comment: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83950608884

It’s the first item on the agenda, so don’t miss this opportunity to speak up for your values.