Response to mentoring article

Dear Ms. Snyder:

am hoping fate has landed at my door by the way of your excellent article in Santa Fe Sun Monthly about mentoring [Sept. 2008: “Mentoring from the Heart: Assisting a Child in Need,” by Gail Snyder]. Not more than 10 days ago, I had a meeting with my son’s school counselor at which time we spoke of the internship/mentoring program which is a requirement at his school. Since that meeting I have been searching the internet, bike shops, craigslist.org, anywhere I can think of to find a “dirt bike” mentor for [my son] . . . [who] has a fierce need to be genuinely himself, and do things his way (a typical 14-year-old). Of course I am petrified to imagine him hurtling over the desert with only a helmet and a prayer to protect him, but I love him desperately and wish him success in his life. I can’t help but wonder how my own life might have been different if someone had taken an interest in me and what I loved and helped transform it into a passionate livelihood, or, at least, taken me seriously.

— Name withheld by request

You Can’t Blame Either Party for High Gas Prices

hat you can look at is why was there so much inaction by our federal government in preparing our people and auto manufacturers for the real future. Was it Congress’s fault? Who pulled the plug? What money became the voice of our public affairs? What interests superseded real progress? What kind of progress and who benefited the most?

I plead for us to look beyond the petty exposures of the political spin machines and emotionally driven issues, to the movements that really matter. This election needs to go beyond the more radical agendas. We as a nation really need to come back together building our federal and state governments with real accountable progress. Money-driven political interests need to be checked and balanced for the greater good.

Who is to blame for higher gas prices? I think most of us really know the answers. Who can put the check back into the system and is more willing to govern? I think we also know that answer.

I’m supporting a realist and that is Obama. Now is the time for a basic philosophical change in our government to do the things they can do right and we, frankly as individuals, can’t do. That’s not to surrender and roll over like a dog, but to accept the facts and to contribute where we can, for this world is reducing in size every moment of every day.

— John Cole

PRC commissioner race will affect pocketbooks

hanks for printing the articles by Fred Nathan and Leslie Lakind [Guest Editorials, August and September 2008, respectively] about the issues facing the PRC.

Many — perhaps most — New Mexicans don’t understand what the PRC does or how important its decisions are to our lives. Dr. Lakind gave an excellent précis of how the PRC came to be. The troubling legal and financial questions surrounding Democrat Jerome Block, Jr., are well documented almost everywhere, it seems. I’d like to supplement Mr. Nathan’s and Dr. Lakind’s observations with my own simple observations about why we should be paying close attention to this race.

There are over 100 legislators at the Roundhouse who write regulations. But there are only five PRC commissioners charged with enforcing those regulations.

What would happen if the PRC didn’t do its job?

• Buses, taxis, and shuttles would not be safely maintained.

• Utilities would raise their rates as high as they wanted, whenever they wanted.

• Those who conserve energy would not see their utility bills decrease as a result.

• Energy policy would be business as usual: same old answers to the same old questions.

• Insurance companies would withhold needed coverage and delay payment of benefits.

• New Mexicans would be mandated by law to buy title insurance they don’t need.

• Consumers would have no protection from crooked or incompetent companies.

The kicker is obvious: many of these are problems that we face now. Remember the Shuttlejack bus tragedy? Remember PNM’s $100 million rate increase this year — and their pending hearings on yet another rate increase? Remember Nathan’s assertion that New Mexicans could save $40 million per year in title insurance alone? Revenue decoupling may result in PNM charging you rates that do not go down even when you use less energy. The cost of a PRC that acts as a rubber stamp is way too high.

I’m a longtime active Democrat. I ran Meetups for the Dean campaign and drove the entire state in 2004 to raise awareness of early voting. I’m working for Lass because he has a history of doing the grunt work that helps people and local businesses. His qualifications, positions and long-range goals are available on his web site, http://ricklass.net. Given the grave responsibilities of a PRC commissioner, I hope Sun Monthly’s readers will take the time to compare and contrast Lass’ qualifications and positions with those of his opponent (at http://www.jeromeblockforprc.com, to be fair) and make an informed decision before they cast their ballots. No vote will have a more immediate impact on our lives and pocketbooks than that one.

— John McAndrew