We received word on Tuesday that the Governor has signed HB 212, which will remake New Mexico State University’s Carlsbad Branch Campus into an independent Community College. This bill was sponsored by Rep. Brown and Rep. Townsend, with Sen. Gay Kernan sponsoring a similar bill on the Senate side. The bill received an incredible amount of support from both the House and Senate. Thank you to Rep. Brown, Rep. Townsend and Sen. Kernan for responding to a high level of community interest and sponsoring this bill. Thank you as well to Governor Lujan Grisham for her consideration and signature.
This decision will allow our college to do more for our students and our community, to develop more training partnerships with local businesses and ensure that our local faculty and staff have the resources they need.
The many individuals who have worked tirelessly to make this happen over the past few months deserve our thanks, especially Craig Stephens and John Heaton, who were the chair and co-chairs of our Higher Education Task Force, which has been meeting weekly since the summer. We had member of our community, ranging in age from 17 to 80, who waited for hours in order to speak in support of this bill at committee meetings. We had local members of NMSU-C’s faculty and staff who courageously spoke in favor of independence as well. We had local businesses and organizations who submitted letters of support. It was a team effort. Thank you as well to New Mexico State University for its professionalism throughout the past few months and, most of all, for providing an excellent education in Carlsbad for the past 70 years. We look forward to building a strong relationship with NMSU and other New Mexico universities.
There’s a lot of work left to do at this point in terms of handling this transition, but, as others have observed throughout the process, Carlsbad is a community that really comes together and gets things done.
The Carlsbad Cavegirl varsity soccer team beat Volcano Vista, 1-0, in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday. Alexa Dugan scored the game’s only goal in the second half of a very windy game. The top seeded Cavegirls will host #4 seed Rio Rancho on Thursday at 5 p.m. Congratulations on another victory.
Local band Stranded is also receiving some highly deserved recognition. Stranded’s recent song, “Angel’s Bridge” is a finalist in the 2021 New Mexico Music Awards under the Modern Rock category. The organization plans to announce the winners on May 23. As Carlsbad continues to re-open, we look forward to seeing Stranded and other local bands back in concert.
Congratulations to band members Mike Ybarra, Raul Ortega, Jason Vigil and Dario Velasquez. The song is about losing a loved one, but being hopeful about seeing them again. For a list of all nominations, please visit http://www.newmexicomusicawards.com/2021-nm-music-awards-finalists/
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway