There has been plenty of criticism of the ABQ City Council for supporting a ban on single use plastic bags as well as straws and styrofoam as the city continues to grapple with a multi-year crime wave. What about concentrating more on that, the council critics cry. But a number of readers, including Eric Olivas, defend the council proposal:

I own a landscaping company and I can tell you that the accumulation of plastic in our local environment is a real problem that our team sees everyday. Look nationwide and worldwide, and this is a full blown crisis. The council is showing some real leadership here by trying to tackle this issue. Moreover, the idea that the council hasn’t done anything about the crime crisis is absurd. 

As Councilor Ike Benton wrote on your blog recently, the council and administration have done more in one year than happened in the last 8. Should the council not consider any matters that are not crime related? It took 10 years to get in this mess, it is going to take more than a year to fix. I don't agree with everything this council has done but by and large this council seems to have woken up from an 8 year slumber and gotten to work.

It’s time to start being proactive and that is what this ordinance does. Limiting single use plastics is a worldwide trend. I’m sure the restaurants and retailers will complain about the “costs,” but what is the cost of continuing to spew plastic into the oceans and natural environment? I know it’s hard to worry about oceans here in the high desert, but maybe for once we can be on the right side of history here. . . 

More about the proposal from the city's website.

STILL THE CRIME

But the crime watchers are never far behind. And one of them came with this hit:

24 hours after the Mayor's "State of the City" address, which included slick, self-promotional videos from all nine City Councilors, this happens:

"Two men, best friends, were shot and killed while family members say they were visiting an assistant manager at a Northeast Albuquerque gas station early Monday morning, Jan. 14."

All is well. Remain calm. We've turned the corner on crime and are going to get those nasty plastic cups and straws!

As the crime wave continues attorney and former ABQ City Councilor Greg Payne has been a vocal critic of the City Council and Mayor. He gets some support from reader Keith Miller:

Greg Payne is saying the truth. Neither D nor R has, as their first area of interest, the commitment for doing the nut-crunching that is required. What seems to be missing however is the justifiable use of punishment when lawlessness is defined.  There is no wonder that those determined to use violence and break the law will continue to do so while they laugh at New Mexico’s rhetoric. Have a nice day…

Reader Art Tannenbaum, on the same subject, writes:

Joe, your writing on Albuquerque matters lately has been really good. Think about the extraordinarily increased levels of resources put into APD for years and years. You've got to ask: What has been bought here? Ever increasing chaos and mayhem? Recently you quoted a longtime City Councilor patting himself on the back regarding the tax increase the Council imposed on this poor city last year, the lion's share of which was allegedly dedicated to public safety. All this time many figured 2019 was supposed to be the year when the city political establishment finally fulfills its promises with respect to an acceptable level of fundamental pubic safety no matter what--not only is it a essential quality of life concern but it's also a matter of the taxpayer getting what's been paid for.

RETIRE HERE

On the subject of attracting more retirees to the state and a proposal to spend $1 million to advertise to them, reader Jim McClure writes:

I’m in favor of attracting more retirees to New Mexico but agree that we don’t need to earmark a million bucks to do so. Retirees are a good deal for the state because we spend money, use few services and won’t demand good schools. The downside is that retirees tend to be well-informed voters, and that could be a problem for some of our politicians. One group that merits more attention is military retirees. New Mexico is one of the few states that levy state income tax on military pensions. Eliminating this tax would make us a prime retirement destination. Many military retirees have experience as instructors, and fast-track certification could help reduce the teacher shortage.

Reader Wanda writes to say there's a dark side to retiring in NM:

I knew NM was considered to be a state suffering from deep dark poverty but I still chose Albuquerque as the place to move to after retiring. I now question the wisdom of that choice. I find so many things such as fees for plumbers, etc. to be much higher than I'm accustomed to. While in the parking lot at Smiths, an over the road truck driver walked by and said "can you believe the prices here? I drive all over the country and this state is the worst. Shopping here is like shopping at a convenience store the prices are so high!"  I love NM and that's the reason I returned here but when I look at my bank account I question that choice. . . 

COUNTING POVERTY

NM Voices for Children writes in a news release of the 2018 Kids Count Data Book:

The rate and number of children living in poverty markedly decreased from 2016 to 2017, which is good news for our state. However, with 27 percent of our children living at or below the federal poverty level, New Mexico still ranks poorly at 48th in the nation in child poverty. Rates are particularly high among young children (29 percent), Hispanic children (30 percent), and Native American children (42 percent). New Mexico’s child poverty rate has improved this year, but over the long-term nearly 12,000 more kids live in poverty now than did in 2008 – a 10 percent increase. While most other states have recovered from the recession, New Mexico’s economy (lags).

YES TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE

We blogged recently that eliminating the Electoral College and electing the president solely by the popular vote could freeze New Mexico out of the national political scene. That brought they response from Mitchell Freedman in Rio Rancho:

Joe, I think you make the wrong assumptions about keeping the Electoral College as is. First, do presidential candidates really spend time in NM? I have not seen evidence of that. Second, how does having Bush II and Trump, who gained office because of the way the Electoral College currently works, help NM? Presidents Gore and Hillary Clinton would have been far more sympathetic to the people and land of New Mexico. Third, we too often overemphasize the rural/urban divide and coastal/midwest divide. There are plenty of “red” state voters in California who do not get heard in a presidential race. There are plenty of “blue” state voters in Kansas and elsewhere who do not get heard in a presidential race. Third, presidential strategists and their candidates center on "battleground states.” They don’t go to Wyoming  and they won’t come to NM anymore. NM is part of the majority which voted for Hillary Clinton and will support the Democratic Party candidate in 2020.

From 2000 through 2008 New Mexico attracted a large number of visits by the presidential candidates, exposing them to the state's needs and causing them to spend considerably on advertising here. That is no longer the case since we lost our swing state status, but could that change in the decades ahead? It could. A good reason, we believe, to keep the Electoral College.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019