Column by Sen. Richard C. Martinez

I want to thank all of my constituents living in Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties for the warm receptions I received along the campaign trail. 

I have been ill recently, so I will probably not be able to see a lot of you who live in the areas I planned to visit before election day.

As I met with some of you, we talked about topics related to our daily lives and we shared ideas about them.

As we move forward in the next few years, we will need to find solutions for issues like:

• ­       Balancing environmental concerns with resources exploration for jobs creation,
• ­       Education of our children ( making it affordable and attainable),
• ­       Health services,
•        Law enforcement,
• ­       Water rights and availability of clean drinking water, and
• ­       Infrastructure development of rural communities:
• Fire Protection,
• Community/Senior Centers,
• Drinking Water Distribution Systems, and
• Wastewater Facilities.

 I will continue to work diligently in Santa Fe to find ways to solve these issues, but I will need your help. A single man can do many things, but a community can perform wonders. Some of my favorite quotes include:

­“Average people and the average community can change the world. You can do it just based on common sense, determination, persistence and patience.”—Lois Gibbs

­“A man not only needs to know how to fish, he needs to have the freedom to do it and a place to do it. That’s where community comes in. We have to help each other, and we feel government has a very important role therein.”—Bill Ayres

­I believe that working together, we can face the issues and solve them. We can continue to progressively build better communities. I welcome your input and I am always available to listen to your concerns.

My email address is RichardCMartinez@mail.com and my phone number is 505-929-0125.