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Candidate Forums Set for Rec Center Feb.3, Old Church Feb.10 |
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Written by Jeff Radford
Corrales Comment
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Monday, 25 January 2010 |
Two candidate forum events have been set for Corrales voters to size up
fellow villagers who want to serve on the Village Council.
On Wednesday, February 3, Corrales Horse and Mule People (CHAMP) will
moderate a forum at the Corrales Recreation Center starting at 7 p.m.
All members of the public are invited; questions from the audience will
be included.
A week later, Wednesday, February 10, Village government itself will
host a forum for candidates running for mayor and council. It will
start at 7 p.m. in the Old Church.
Municipal elections will be held Tuesday, March 2. Mayor Phil Gasteyer is unopposed in his bid for another four-year term.
Representatives will also be chosen for Council Districts 1, 3 and 4.
In District 1, at the far northwestern corner of Corrales, three
candidates seek the seat. They are Ennio Garcia-Miera, Jim Davis and
Joseph Gerard Stefan.
In District 3, candidates are Al Gonzales and Mick Harper.
In District 4, incumbent Councillor John Alsobrook has no challenger.
No write-in candidates signed up, and no candidates who had signed up earlier withdrew.
Last day to register to vote in the March 2 municipal elections is
Tuesday, February 2 by 5 p.m. at the Sandoval County Clerk’s Office.
Voter registration can also be accomplished at the Corrales Library on
Saturday, January 23 and Saturday, January 30 between 10 a.m. and 1
p.m. through volunteers for the League of Women Voters.
Early voting is allowed at the Village Office starting February 10
through February 26. Absentee voting must be accomplished by Friday,
February 26.
A brief description of the candidates was provided in the January 9
issue; more in-depth candidate profiles will be published in the
February 20 issue based on tape recorded interviews.
Below is additional information about candidates in the contested districts.
In District 1, Jim Davis is a founding member of Concerned Citizens for
Corrales. He lives on Richard Road, west of Loma Larga. He is an
administrator at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Albuquerque
currently overseeing construction of additional operating rooms.
Davis moved to Corrales in 2005 after a 32-year career in the Air Force providing medical services.
Joseph Stefan lives on Paseo Mesa Alta Oeste along the northern
boundary with Rio Rancho. He has worked in the in-flight division of
Southwest Airlines for 14 years.
Stefan said he wants to be sure Corrales’ proposed “Access A”
intersection at Highway 528 and Northern Boulevard is minimally
disruptive to quality of life in the Far Northwest Sector. He would
like to explore prospects for Corrales to get its own middle-school,
perhaps as a charter.
The third candidate in District 1, Ennio Garcia-Miera, lives along
Camino de la Tierra where he conducts a marketing business targeting
Latino consumers.
He has been an executive with Bank of America, Fannie Mae and GMAC
Mortgage. In 1992, he was named one of the “100 most influential
Hispanics” in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Magazine.
In District 3, Al Gonzales is trying to replace his wife, Bonnie
Gonzales, on the Village Council. He is best known as site manager for
the Corrales Growers’ Market. He and his wife own and operate the
Gonzales Flower Farm off Old Church Road. They have lived in Corrales
since 1986.
Gonzales has had a career in retailing, primarily with Sears Roebuck
starting in his high school years. He opened a Sears store in Flagstaff
in 1979 after which he was promoted and relocated to Phoenix.
Five years later he was relocated as a Sears manager to Albuquerque. He
left that career in 1996 to operate the Gonzales Flower Farm full time.
Mick Harper lives on Calle Roja, near the top of Camino Arco Iris. He
is owner-director of Blue Sky Woodworks which he started in 1982. His
business is next to Village Pizza at the corner of Corrales Road and
West La Entrada.
Born in Dallas, he has lived in Corrales since 1981. Harper has served
as chairman of the Corrales Planning and Zoning Commission since 2007,
and has served on that crucial board for the past six years. He
resigned when he announced his candidacy for Village Council.
Harper said he has long been interested in land use issues due to his
career in woodworking for residential construction. “Now I want
to be involved in the policy end of issues,” he said. |
