The push for Carlsbad’s college to become independent had another great day on Wednesday. Rep. Brown’s HB 212 passed through the Education Committee with a DO PASS recommendation by a vote of 9-4. Many local students, faculty and staff members spoke in support of independence, and we sincerely appreciate the incredible show of support. We also received more great comments of support from representatives in the area around San Juan College, who went independent many years ago. Senator Kernan’s mirror bill, SB 236, is on the schedule to be heard late Wednesday.
We do want to clarify that Carlsbad’s college going independent will not incur any additional cost to the state level or to our city’s residents. Money appropriated from the state’s general fund would be the same annual amount as what is already being appropriated. The transition to an independent college will also not cost taxpayers any additional dollars, money will just be spent here.
For more information on this effort, please visit https://www.senmcollege.org/ or the “Journey to Becoming SENM College” Facebook page.
Congratulations to Val Cal, the Chief of Facility Maintenance for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Cal is retiring on Feb. 26 after more than 30 years of service at the park, according to a press release.
Val served as a custodial worker and worked his way up to maintenance mechanic, and then he went on to supervisory roles. He has also worked in the park as a wildland firefighter an emergency medical technician, participated in the Structural Fire Brigade and has even detailed as the park Superintendent.
As mentioned by former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Carlsbad is proud to be the gateway to Guadalupe Mountains State Park and we have happily adopted this national treasure as our own. Congratulations to Val and we wish him the best in his retirement.
Don’t panic if you saw any film crews around town on Tuesday. A crew from New Mexico True is doing a photo shoot at a variety of locations around town, including Carlsbad Caverns, 6 Mile Dam and the Carlsbad Museum & Art Center. These photos will be put together with pictures from other locations around the state to show off New Mexico. You’ll see some familiar faces when these pictures come out – thanks to MainStreet Director Ashly Key and her family, as well as mayor pro tem Eddie Rodriguez and his wife, Therese, for being willing to help with the photo shoot. Deanna Taylor also helped us out with coordinating this shoot, and we appreciate all of her assistance.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway