Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
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| Headed to state meet.... The 400 Meter Relay team from Van Horn High School is headed to the State Track Meet this weekend. They earned the berth on the strength of their 2nd Place finish at the Regional Meet last week. They are (l to r) Alex Baca, JJ Baca, Ricky Ramirez, and Leo Hapeman. Going as an alternate is Roman Corrales. (Photo by Mandy Nunez) |
- Voters went to the polls last Saturday to make their choices in four city and county elections. When the polls closed Saturday evening, the voices of the voters were heard plainly!
Voters in the City Officer election turned incumbent mayor Ben Flanagan out of office following his two-year stint.
Flanagan lost to former mayor Okey D. Lucas by a vote talley of 295 votes to 185 votes.
The other challenger in that race, Dennis McBride, received 148 votes.
In the City Officer race for aldermen, incumbents Domingo ‘Mingo’ G. Corralez and Gilda Morales each won re-election. Morales received 339 votes and Corralez received 241 votes.
Challengers in that race fared as follows: Esteban ‘Steven’ Urias received 180 votes; Ruben Mendez received 166 votes; and Dusty Etheridge received 85 votes.
The City Council canvassed the vote talley last night and the new council will be seated at next Tuesday’s meeting.
In the ballot for CCAISD board trustees, voters replaced two of the three incumbents running for re-election. Only incumbent Angie Gonzales was returned to the board.
New trustees on the board, after the election, are Paul Uranga, who garnered some 428 votes, and Romelia ‘Romy’ Ramirez, who received 247 votes. Angie Gonzales is the third member elected and she received 172 votes.
Other challengers received votes as follows: Andrea Ramirez received 154 votes; Jason Owen received 152 votes; Omar Ortega and Emilio Yglecias each received 130 votes; Gracie Mendoza received 89 votes; and Lourdes Conley received 56 votes.
Trustees are expected to canvass the results at next Monday’s meeting and they will then seat the new trustees.
In the directors race for Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District, two incumbents were re-elected and one was not.
Incumbents Vance Cottrell, he had 333 votes, and Don Collins, he had 273 votes, were re-elected to the board.
Challenger Refugio ‘Cuco’ Corrales, with 214 votes, unseated incumbent Howard Shelley, who had 189 votes.
And, in the last race for Hospital District directors, voters said “We’re happy with the way things are going” and re-elected all three of the incumbents.
The incumbents received vote talleys as follows: Edwin Easley had 298 votes; Lloyd Taylor received 249 votes; and Carole Fitzgerald received 230 votes.
Their challengers were Jesus Olivas with 194 votes and Armando Ortega with 167 votes.
Unauthorized bill okay'd by commish
By Holly Wise & Larry Simpson
Culberson County commissioners unanimously voted to approve the payment of unauthorized charges incurred by the Culberson County Sheriff’s Department at the Hernandez Food Store over the past two months during their meeting Monday morning.
Culberson County Auditor Mark Cabezuela presented commissioners with receipts for purchases totaling $784.89. Contrary to county procedure, the receipts were not itemized and had no written supervisor approval. Cabezuela noted he had no knowledge of who was buying the items because the purchaser’s name was not written on the receipts.
Cabezuela encouraged commissioners to take action against county purchases made without a purchase order and requisition of funds.
Commissioners unanimously approved banning open purchase orders. Included in the motion were the insistence of itemized receipts and the purchase of food items only.
Sheriff Oscar Carrillo was unavailable for comment.
Commissioners learned that Nutrition Center director Hortencha Sanchez has put in for retirement to be effective on June 1st. She is currently taking her accrued vacation tiime and was not present to present a monthly report of Center operations.
County Judge Manuel Molinar noted that the county has received the quarterly Rio Grande Area Agency on Aging report on Nutrition Center operations. While not discussed, he indicated that the report found some problems and urged the county to clean them up.
Commissioners did agree to immediately begin the process of looking for a new Nutrition Center director to take Sanchez’ place.
In other business, the commissioners:
* Heard the monthly report submitted by County AgriLife Extension Agent Lainie Koch.
* Commissioner, Precinct 2, Duane Corrales suggested that the county begin charging a deposit for use of the City/County Park noting that it would then force folks to take better care of the facility and the restrooms. No action, however, was taken.
* Commissioners ordered a local option election to be held with the November General Election. The local option petition had been submitted by the Hotel El Capitan and commissioners had previously declared that everyting was in order to call the election.
* County Clerk Linda McDonald reported that it has been reported to her that people have been selling ntheir cemetery plots to others for a profit. The County does not sell the lots for a profit and no one else should either. Attorney Steve Mitchell suggested adding a deed restriction which says that the plots cannot be sold to another individual This will stop spectulators.
* And, commissioners took care of various grant matters as called for by grants administrator Becky Brewster.
· expressed dissatisfaction in the quality of paving work performed on Ninth, Third and Fourth Streets. County Attorney Steve Mitchell advised commissioners to notify all parties involved and give them a deadline to fix the problems. Mitchell also suggested the county keep track of all costs and manpower the county is exerting to patch the work done by the contracting company.
· donated a scrap metal roof located at the airport to the American Legion.
· unanimously approved the allocation of $12,000 from the Capitol Projects fund for new jury chairs in the courtroom, a six-inch extension to the platform and an examination of the electrical work. The work had been recommended by the District Judges.
· unanimously approved to pay $1,200 a year to lease the Precinct Three building for use by Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Jo Kincaid. The payment will be made in a lump sum on July 1 and will come out of the Contingency fund.
· discussed the state law prohibiting county equipment to be used for private use.
Attorney Mitchell informed the commissioners that their previously voted on motion was too specific and needed to be broadened to include any type of work and not just dirt hauling. According to Mitchell, the only exception to the law was made in 1980 and allows counties of 5,000 or fewer to work on private roads for a reasonable charge. “In rural counties the exception tends to swallow up the rule,” said Mitchell. He added it’s important to educate employees about the law and the exception.
* Commissioners went into executive session to discuss personnel matters and reported that no action would be taken as a result.
· unanimously approved the monthly payroll of $151,457.69 and monthly bills of $82,276.77.