Public Has Two More Opportunities to Weigh in on Muni Building Name

COUNTY News:

Two public hearings have been set for residents to give their comments to the “Committee to Consider a Request to name the New Municipal Building after State Representative Jeannette Wallace.”

  • 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, Fuller Lodge, Pajarito Room; and 
  • 5:30-7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, White Rock Town Hall

Councilor Fran Berting brought the request to name the building after Wallace to the Council during its meeting Jan. 8. The Los Alamos County Code governs the process the County must use when this kind of request to name a facility after an individual is received. The individual must have been deceased for at least six months. Wallace passed away in April 2011.

Residents unable to attend either public hearing can submit comments to the Committee in four other ways:

1) visit www.losalamosnm.usand link to the County’s new Open Forum webpage, which gives citizens the opportunity to read what others are saying and then submit their own comment;

2) Send an e-mail to lacadministrator@lacnm.uswhich will be read by Committee members and entered into the record at each public hearing;

3) Mail a letter to the Committee or drop it off at the County Administrator’s office at 133 Central Park Square in Los Alamos; and

4) Call the 311 Customer Care Center (phone 311 from a land line or 662-8333 from a cell phone) and give the customer representative verbal comments and ask that they type them into an e-mail and send them to the Committee.

Residents are encouraged to voice either support or opposition to the proposed naming of the building after Wallace; the Committee has not been asked to solicit recommendations for other names for the building. The public hearings are being held because a request to name any County building after an individual is governed by a process found in the County Code.

At the close of the meeting on Feb. 4, it is expected that the Committee will vote on a recommendation “for” or “against” naming the building after Jeannette Wallace. Or, they could decide they need more information, and call for another Public Hearing to consider that information and then cast their vote.

If additional meetings are to be held, they will be announced in local media. Even if the Committee decides to vote and make its recommendation on Feb. 4, public comment will remain open for one more week. The final deadline for all public comments is 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11.

All comments received by the County by the deadline using any of the above public comment methods will be given to the Council as part of the agenda packet they receive for deliberation at the Feb. 26 council meeting. After the Feb. 11 deadline, citizens can e-mail comments directly to Council at countycouncil@lacnm.us.

A placeholder has been set for the Council to consider the Committee’s recommendation at their Council meeting on Feb. 26 (7 p.m., Council Chambers.) The Council will make the final decision.

The document submitted by Councilor Berting justifying the request, along with the excerpt of the County Code that applies to the naming process, are available on the County “News” webpage at www.losalamosnm.us.

 

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