Light from a LAMP

By Liz Pritchard

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As the Election Day approaches, voters are heading to the polls and casting their ballots. For New Mexicans, they will be able to vote on a $40.5 Million GO Bond Package.

General Obligation (GO) bonds are a source of revenue for projects in the area. The bonds are sold by investors, then presented to voters during election season. This year, Bernalillo County has six questions on the ballot to approve a new GO bond package. If approved, this package would divide funds into 6 separate categories. $2.5M would go to libraries, $8.8M to public safety facilities, $11.7M to parks and recreation, $10.6 to transportation, $5.1M to storm drainage and utilities, and $1.7M to public housing.

A bond package of this size would affect many Bernalillo residents, but some say they haven’t heard about it before heading to the voting center. 

“No, I didn’t know about the bonds,” says Vicky Kirkham, “but money for the city is always good.” 

Kirkham, who has lived in New Mexico for the last 15 years, says more funding for public housing would go to good use. 

“I’ve been homeless before, I’ve seen the state of the shelters around here and it-it’s awful how many people are on the streets here,” Kirkham says there needs to be more attention focused on the housing crisis. She says that more funding for public housing would help the people like her that have been struggling to make ends meet. ”It can happen to anyone, it happened to me. I lived on the streets and I got lucky to find someone willing to help me out…it’s impossible to survive on a minimum wage salary today.”

This package would be a part of the county’s six-year plan for capital improvements, intended to bring new facilities to the county along with major reconstructions by 2030. However not everyone is in support of the bonds. 

“We never actually see that money being spent or it takes forever for the state to do something,” Juan Martinez says. After living in New Mexico for 45 years, Martinez says he’s done voting on bonds. 

“I voted against it. I don’t think it actually goes anywhere, I’ve never seen any improvements that we actually need,” and he believes it all comes from the top down. 

“You know New Mexico always gets the scraps, we always come last and it starts at the top, you know. Whoever makes decisions in the White House affects the whole country but it never comes to us, it never benefits us so the money never gets here until someone remembers that we’re here and then we just get a little bit.” Says Martinez. 

GO bonds are on the ballot every election cycle. In 2020, the bond package was set to $40.35 million, with funding split between the same 6 categories. The package was approved and the funding was required to be spent within three years. The bonds in 2020 brought in nearly $12 million in economic activity and created over 600 new construction jobs for the area. It is estimated that the county is expecting the same numbers this year if the votes go through. Approval of the bond package would create more jobs in the area and bring new facilities to locals including an early learning Pre-K facility, new community centers, and affordable housing complexes for senior citizens.

One voter is very optimistic about the funding. 

“New Mexico needs more jobs, we need more resources,” says Mariah Gutierrez, “Why wouldn’t we want that?” 

Gutierrez is a sophomore at the University of New Mexico and voting for the first time. 

“I don’t know anything about the bond package, but if there’s money going back to the community and helping the community, then I’m going to vote yes for it.” Gutierrez says. She has lived in New Mexico her whole life and says she’s seen the changes. 

“I feel like over the years there’s been a lot done here, like fixing stuff and bringing opportunities to the state, like we have Netflix here now and I don’t know if that was because of this, but it’s a step. Having money like that come in and then the state can give back and make things better is awesome.”

Although the bond package receives mixed reviews, all had the same answer when asked why they hadn’t heard much about it; politics.

“It’s just the politics of everything. There’s just too much going on,” Kirkham says. She continues on to say that the people are more focused on the national election. “The media doesn’t really talk about local issues, there’s…a lot to factor in.”

Martinez says politics will determine the information that is spread. “The politics behind it is something that a lot of people don’t know about and people don’t see it.”

Gutierrez says that “people don’t pay attention to local politics” but she still believes it to be important. “This is the stuff that affects us and the big election is important too, but the stuff on the ballot that affects us is what we need to know too so we can vote and make the right choice.”

Bernalillo County lists the details of the bond package on their website and early voting ends on November 2. Voters will still be able to vote on the bond during Election Day on November 5.

Liz Pritchard is a student at the University of New Mexico. Follow her journalism at lightfromalamp.com.