A graduate of Corrales Elementary and Cibola High is leading discussions in Europe and elsewhere about avenues for legal action to assign responsibility for human rights abuses and environmental violations.

Jeff Handmaker, Cibola class of 1988 and University of London graduate in law (1994) who also holds a doctorate in the sociology of law from Utrecht University, Netherlands (2009), now works in The Hague, at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University. He also teaches at Leiden University. He is now leading a team researching legal strategies to hold governments, individuals and corporations accountable for human rights, environmental and other legal violations.

Handmaker and four others were awarded a five-month fellowship through the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the  Humanities and Social Sciences in Amsterdam. Their focus is “the strategic potential and challenges of legal mobilization” to ensure consequences for illegal or inappropriate corporate behavior.

In an interview Handmaker give last year, he explained that the concept of legal mobilization “as a practice is aimed at advancing social justice.” As an example, he referred to advocacy for Greenpeace to mitigate climate change and other environmental harm.

“Legal mobilization is intended to function as a legitimate means to resolve conflicts, redress rule of law and justice deficits and address other governance problems. Legal mobilization is not the same as lawfare, whereby companies and governments instrumentalize law n a manner of questionable legitimacy.

“While lawfare serves to victimize, attempt to bankrupt or in other ways harm social justice advocates, organizations and even government agencies, of social justice cases, legal mobilization can serve as a form of resistance or counter-power. Handmaker added: “An important function of legal mobilization is to protect human rights defenders, environmental justice advocates, indigenous leaders and others against lawfare.

“An example of lawfare is “strategic litigation against public participation,” or SLAPP suits, including lawsuits directed against the environmental group Greenpeace regarding their advocacy on the Dakota Pipeline in the United States of America.”

Another example, he said, is “legal mobilization to protect academics, student and social justice activists who speak out for the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people.” Handmaker, a son of retired Corrales geneticist Stan Handmaker, began working in this field in the early 1990s as a human rights lawyer in the Republic of South Africa.

In the interview, he said “Human rights is just one of the topics I’m researching. It’s about more than just the language of human rights conventions. It’s also about how, and if, these conventions can function in complex societies. In particular, I examine the influence that politics has when it comes to complying with these conventions both in local and global contexts.

“For example, I look at how international crimes are tackled. You can approach different institutions to tackle crime” one of them is the International Criminal Court. But who approaches the court? It may also bee possible for the offender to be brought t justice within his country of origin, the country where the victims come from, or the country the offender goes to as well.

“What we’re actually doing is looking at how social justice can enhance the idea of justice. In this regard, non-governmental organizations often play a key role in this process — international organizations such as Amnesty Internation and local organizations such as the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq.”

In 2019, Handmaker co-authored the book Mobilizing International Law for Global Justice. “One of the objectives was to provide information to international lawyers and international organizations who are also active in this area, to give them a better understanding of how politics relates to, and influences, law and human rights. The book addresses different topics, such as how efforts to challenge corruption through bribes paid in other countries is being waged where the companies are based, and the battle against child abduction.

“It also gives a few examples f how some citizens enforce human rights in cases where enforcement isn’t successful at the national level. “The big question is: what are the law-based options out there for addressing issues like this: It is difficult to hold a state or a multinational company liable for human rights violations, but it has happened in the past through, for example, boycotts, divestment and sanctions or other campaign and petitions.

“Another good example is the work of the Dutch organization Urgenda., The 2015 Urgenda climate case against the Dutch government wa the first in the world in which citizens established their government has a legal duty to prevent the harms caused by climate change. The options are there, and law often plays a pivotal role. That’s what we focus on.

“Lawyers have a tendency to cite the law repeatedly in the hopes that it will be respected in the end. But sometimes, putting pressure on a state, multinational company or institution is what’s needed to get justice.”

As if we needed more pandemic-related issues to consider in 2021, it appears that even the minimal recycling efforts we may be making are likely doomed to failure. Lee Dante, president of Roadrunner Waste Service Inc., which has served Corrales since 2004, says what he calls “commingling” of multiple so-called recyclables in one bin is a major issue. Plastic grocery bags, pizza boxes, unwashed fast food/takeout containers, no. Unrinsed tin cans, no. And the Earth Institute at Columbia University reports that “Single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are placed into the same bin, has made recycling easier for consumers, but results in about one-quarter of the material being contaminated.”

At least, though, as Dante puts it, “the public finally has learned to recycle, with New Mexico at least 20 years behind many parts of the country…” And now ironically, “it costs more to recycle than to bury items in landfill.” And Sandoval County is charging more for the use of landfill.

Even communities and companies committed to recycling are grappling with a range of complications. Before 2018, the U.S. sent mega amounts of ”trash” to China for recycling. According to a March 2020 report by the Earth Institute, “in 2016, the U.S. exported 16 million tons of plastic, paper and metals to China.” Of that, 30 percent was never actually recycled. Once China halted being the world’s trash can, the US tried sending largely plastic waste to Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand but that did not work out. Finally, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal were in the mix.

“The way the system is configured right now, recycling is a service that competes — and unsurprisingly often loses — for local funding that is also needed for schools, policing, et cetera,” said Stephanie Kersten-Johnston, an adjunct professor in Columbia University’s Sustainability Management Master’s Program and director of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership. “Without dedicated investment, recycling infrastructure won’t be sufficient. In addition, we need to resolve the simple math equation that currently exists — when it’s cheap to landfill, recycling will not be ‘worthwhile’ so we need to start to recognize what landfill really is: a waste of waste!”

And here comes another topic for the Biden administration to tackle, maybe. This country does not have a federal recycling program. “Recycling decision-making is currently in the hands of 20,000 communities in the U.S., all of which make their own choices about whether and what to recycle,” said Kersten-Johnston. “Many stakeholders with many different interests converge around this topic and we need to find common ground and goals to avoid working against one another. That means companies coming together with communities, recyclers, haulers, manufacturers and consumers to try to make progress together.”

Roadrunner Waste’s Dante claims the City of Albuquerque dictates recycling practices for Corrales. In 2013 the City began a $2 million contract with Friedman Recycling, based in Phoenix, which had opened a 90,000 square-foot “materials recovery facility” in the North Valley. Friedman was outfitted by BHS, founded in 1976 and headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. The company “designs, manufactures and installs processing systems tailored to extract recyclables from the waste stream.”

Since then, whatever Roadrunner considers “recyclable” goes to Friedman, which is the only game in town. On September 30, 2020 an Albuquerque tv station KOAT reporter broadcast with a fire raging behind her at the recycling facility. Owner Morris Friedman said “We’re dealing with combustible products.” And seemingly fire comes with the territory. The journalist said on air that a year prior, another major fire had broken out there. She added that over the past seven years Friedman Recycling had racked up more than $50,000 in fines.

The City of Albuquerque is considering raising fees for trash collection more than 10 percent in 2021, given assorted difficulties encountered in handling recycling issues. Lee Dante says he sees local restaurant waste volume is down between 10 and 15 percent, while Roadrunner’s household waste business is up between 10 and 12 percent. Which all makes sense given the pandemic.

Who pays whom for what, in recycling? According to Earth Institute,“Germany recycles 56 percent of its trash by providing different colored bins for different colored glass and other items. The country uses the Green Dot recycling system: When a green dot is placed on packaging material, it indicates that the manufacturer contributes to the cost of collection and recycling. These manufacturers pay a license fee to a waste collection company that is calculated on weight in order to get their packaging picked up, sorted and recycled.”

Some American cities encourage glass recycling by putting a deposit on beverage bottles. Glass, mind you, can be totally recycled and reused. Albuquerque has set up glass bottle recycling bins around town, as companies such as Waste Management will not recycle bottles tossed in their trash cans.

An almost perfect recyclable is the cardboard box, mountains of which are now turning up as the pandemic-driven shift from in-person shopping to online, has resulted in more. A December 2020 article in the Washington Post stated that “More paper by weight is recovered for recycling from municipal solid waste streams than glass, plastic, steel and aluminum combined,” Heidi Brock, president and chief executive of the American Forest and Paper Association, said in an emailed statement. “As more people stay at home, it’s a good reminder that the box at your doorstep is designed to be recycled.”

Clean boxes, mind you. As for plastic….. “New plastic,” as in pristine products made from oil, is far less expensive to obtain than items made from recycled plastics. Plus it is surging as plastic shields, masks, containers, and medical gear are so crucial in the fight to contain COVID-19. A lengthy October report by Joe Brock for Reuters stated that “Since COVID-19, even drinks bottles made of recycled plastic – the most commonly recycled plastic item – have become less viable. The recycled plastic to make them is 83 percent to 93 percent more expensive than new bottle-grade plastic, according to market analysts at the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS).”

With demand for oil down worldwide, due to stay-at-home restrictions, as well as increased interest in electric vehicles and cars with greatly improved gas mileage, the oil and gas industry is casting about for new ways to increase revenue. Brock’s report goes on to say that the industry is committing”…$400 billion over the next five years on plants to make raw materials for virgin plastic.”

Meanwhile, Roadrunner continues to recycle horse manure for residents, and loses money on it, even though the City of Albuquerque has need of it. Dante jokes that “it’s cheaper to feed a car than a horse…”

Just how transparent —and legal— are Village Council deliberations during pandemic limitations and online meetings? More precisely, have members of the council engaged in the illegal practice of a “rolling quorum” in discussing matters that may come up for a vote at a future meeting? Ostensibly as orientation for the newest member of the council, Tyson Parker, explanations of what constitutes a “rolling quorum” were given by Village Attorney Randy Autio and Village Clerk Aaron Gjullin at the council’s February 9 Zoom session.

Gjullin warned that infractions of the State’s Open Meetings Act probably have been occurring over the past year as councillors try to deal with difficulties arising from COVID-19 restrictions. But really, Corrales officials have run afoul of “rolling quorum” regulations for decades. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXIX No.13 August 21, 2010 “Do Officials’ E-mails Violate ‘Open Meetings’ Act?”)

The problem typically arises when councillors make phone calls or send emails to one another about things that will be on a future meeting agenda, he said. “It’s really easy to slip up,” he cautioned. “We all have made mistakes.” Sometimes it happens when, as Village Clerk, he sends out an email to all councillors about something that will be discussed at a coming council meeting. “It’s only when you respond [to such a shared email] that a ‘rolling quorum’ becomes suspect. “At the end of the day, it’s a really simple, easy mistake to make. And we have all made it at one point or another.

“It would be very sad if, for example, we were looking at an ordinance, and I sent a draft in a packet to everyone, and then you start discussing how you’re going to vote or any concerns you have with it, that should be done in a public setting, in an open setting.

“That has never happened at least in my tenure here, but that’s an extreme example of how a ‘rolling quorum’ can happen.” He summed up the ongoing problem this way. “For sure, if there are four or more councillors on an e-mail chain and you start talking among yourselves, that could easily results in a complaint if somebody did a request for inspection of public records.”

Mayor Jo Anne Roake explained how the problem arose when she served on Planning and Zoning. “It was very inadvertent. One Planning and Zoning commissioner would say something in a email, and somebody else would chime in and then maybe it would scroll down to somebody else. We just kept adding people. That also was a problem, although back then people hadn’t really thought about it.

“It wasn’t just that we were all there at the same time. It was like ‘Hey, so and so had a great idea’” and a discussion by email evolved.
Autio further explained, “That’s right. It doesn’t have to happen all at once. People might keep responding at different times to the email, and unless it’s only about scheduling, is not a good idea.”

Gjullin said “Even if it’s just you and one other councillor, you shouldn’t be doing business about what’s on the agenda outside of a meeting.” The Village Attorney added, “Kind of the key is, when you find yourself doing more than when council meetings are going to occur, and you get into the substance of what is on the agenda, and you’re doing it between councillors, that’s when it’s a problem. “If you’re doing it between you and staff, that’s not a problem.”

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government has explained the ‘rolling quorum’ problem as follows. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s called a work session, retreat, training seminar or phone tree, under the Open Meetings Act, a meeting occurs whenever a quorum of a public body: a) formulates public policy, b) discusses public business, or c) takes action.

“A quorum is generally half the members plus one, unless otherwise specified in the board’s law or regulation. The quorum doesn’t need to be in the same room to hold a meeting; they might discuss public business in a series of e-mails or phone calls, over several days. This is called a rolling quorum, and it’s illegal unless the participants follow all the requirements of the Open Meetings Act.

At a work-study session with the mayor and councillors back on July 20, 2010 N.M. Municipal League Attorney Van Vleck listened to councillors’ complaints about what they felt were unreasonable constraints on what they could discuss among themselves online between regular council meetings.

Councillors engaging in phone calls, e-mails or sequential one-on-one discussions in person about pending public issues constitutes an illegal “rolling quorum” in which decisions are arrived at away from public scrutiny. Such practices have been a continuing source of controversy in Corrales for decades.

Then-Councillor Gerard Gagliano especially had argued current interpretations of the Open Meetings Act were unnecessarily impeding council members’ ability to learn about issues that were, or might be coming, before the council for decisions. At the 2010 work-study session Gagliano suggested that “We all get that creating a ‘rolling quorum’ is a bad thing,” and that councillors’ discussions about public issues should not be held in private. But he argued, as he had in the past, that contemporary internet techniques allow anyone from the public who wishes to do so to monitor, or perhaps even participate in, such online conversations.

Funds for Corrales from the N.M. Legislature last year that had been withheld have now been released. Money is now available for Casa San Ysidro Museum, Animal Control, Police Department offices, Fire Department water tanker and to extend water lines for fighting fire.

At the February 9 Village Council meeting, Village Clerk Aaron Gjullin reported “We have finally gotten, official, in-writing, bona fide grant agreements for capital outlay money that we weren’t sure we were going to get.” Gjullin said he had received word earlier that day that appropriations are approved for the following:
• Casa San Ysidro waste water and fire suppression lines - $25,000;
• Animal Control vehicles and equipment - $40,000;
• Fire Department water tender, a small, quick-response water hauler for wildlands fires- $225,000;
• Fire Department water line installation - $325,000; and
• Police station remodeling - $95,000.

“We’re really excited that we got this money and that we will be able to use these funds during the next couple of fiscal years,” Gjullin said. In a later interview, Village Administrator Ron Curry said the project for the police station is basically to make it “cleaner, neater and better. It’s not in very good shape, especially the bathroom.” He brushed off a facetious question whether funds would be used to enhance the police station’s holding cell.

In the Village’s Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan (ICIP) submitted to the legislature, the request for “police station remodel” is to plan, design, renovate, repair, furnish and equip the police station.

The request for Casa San Ysidro Museum was for $50,000 to “plan, design and construct water and wastewater system improvement for Casa San Ysidro and the historic Old Church to Corrales Road for a visitor center.”

Corrales has turned back $167,417 to the N.M. Department of Transportation that now won’t be used to build trails for cyclists and horse riders along upper Meadowlark Lane. “This kind of sets us free,” Village Administrator Ron Curry said February 11, explaining that declining to use the grant means the Village will not have to comply with state-federal regulations.

Village officials had been stymied since 2018 in trying to move ahead with the long-planned paths after funders in Santa Fe denied Corrales’ request for a waiver from Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements due to steep slopes along the upper stretch of West Meadowlark. The multi-use trail along the north side of the road has been delayed after the Department of Transportation rejected a design for it that was deemed inconsistent with the federal regulations. The trail design for the west end of upper Meadowlark had unacceptable slopes both east-west and north-south. Apparently a slope in either direction would have been permissible unless it was too steep, but a slope in both directions was not.

Back then, the proposed solution was to obtain permission from property owners there to level out their driveway before it intersected with the future paved trail. But that never happened, so the over all project was stalled after the roadway was rebuilt with medians that incorporated stormwater drainage features.

Phase 2, the trails portion, will be accomplished with Village funds which, presumably, would not need to meet state-federal regulations, Village Administrator Curry said. Returning the money is “the first step in restarting the whole process,” he added. That will involve starting over with consultations among residents along upper Meadowlark, and the community in general, as to what is desired along the road connecting Loma Larga to bike lanes in Rio Rancho.

Curry said he expects to launch a new public involvement effort in April, starting with consultations with the current Village Council member representing the upper Meadowlark neighborhood Tyson Parker, joined by its previous representative, Dave Dornburg, who has indicated a desire to participate.

First proposed well more than a decade ago, the project secured funding through the Mid-Region Council of Governments for a bicycle connection between the two municipalities. But the Village declined the money after the Village Council was caught up in property owners’ disputes mainly about drainage. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXX, No.10, July 9, 2011 “Corrales Gives Back $160,000 for Upper Meadowlark Trail.” ) But proponents kept the project alive, building support community wide.  Village officials conceded that more preliminary, conceptual work should have been done, especially regarding drainage. In July 2013, villagers convened for a planning charrette to develop realistic proposals for better using the exceptionally wide right-of-way.

The sessions led by Architectural Research Consultants under contract to the Village attempted to resolve ongoing conflicts over the future of upper Meadowlark.  Neighbor-against-neighbor conflict had erupted over anticipated disruptions from the earlier funded project to construct bike trails along one or both sides of upper Meadowlark. Residents claimed the proposed changes might dump stormwater run-off onto their adjacent property, would increase traffic unbearably, make it difficult to safely exit their driveways onto Meadowlark and obliterate their frontage landscaping.

Proponents noted that upper Meadowlark is one of the few Village roads where plenty of right-of-way exists to accommodate multi-modal transportation, that bike lanes there would significantly improve opportunities for bicycle commuting, and that, as an inter-municipal project, funding had been allocated for it. From the beginning, opponents argued that funding provided through the Mid-region Council of Governments was nowhere near adequate to do the project right. No funds, for example, were provided for anticipated costs of managing drainage from the modified roadway.

After heated debate at council meetings over what should, or could, be done along upper Meadowlark, the mayor and council appointed a citizens’ task force to develop recommendations. It was headed by Pam Cox, an upper Meadowlark resident. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXX No.13 August 20, 2011 “Task Force Created For Upper Meadowlark Issues.”)

Then-Councillor Mick Harper, a strong advocate of the original plan, called for a new project along upper Meadowlark and subsequently won fellow councillors’ approval to seek other grants through the Council of Governments to solve long-running problems along Meadowlark. The preamble “whereas” statements in the resolution passed August 16 summed up the political impasse.

“Whereas, West Meadowlark Lane between Loma Larga and the Village boundary with the City of Rio Rancho is a residential road with a right-of-way 60 feet wide; and… West Meadowlark, because of its volume of traffic, is considered an urban collector by the [Council of Governments’] Metropolitan Planning Organization; and…

“… on its southern side, seven calles and driveways provide access to the lane for approximately 26 residences, with, in some instances, obstructed line-of-sight problems for residents and passing motorists; and

“…on its northern side, approximately 16 residences access the public road with driveways;

“…because of its grade and existing obstructions, West Meadowlark Lane could present drainage problems for the public right-of-way and adjoining properties; and;

“…by vote of the Village Council October 26, 2004, sixteen speed tables or humps were installed to calm traffic flow on West Meadowlark Lane; …in the event of a civic emergency evacuation situation, West Meadowlark Lane is one of three improved roads for exiting the Village;…”

According to the resolution adopted August 16, 2011, the new four-member task force was to be composed of at least two residents from the Meadowlark neighborhood, at least one person trained as an engineer and at least one person trained in the legal profession.

During its 50-year history as a municipality, Corrales has worked its way through difficult and contentious conflicts by calling upon citizen advisory groups. A previous task force, the Westside Road Committee, came up with compromises that allowed the controversial “north-south road” to go ahead as Loma Larga.  Another worked through competing interests to produce a plan for allocating activity space in the brand-new Corrales Recreation Center after the pasture land was purchased from the late Annette Jones.

Both of those previous efforts were led by Roy Soto, who went on to serve on the Corrales Planning and Zoning Commission. The unusually wide right-of-way along upper Meadowlark has attracted trails advocates’ interest for some time. That route was recommended for trail development in the 2009 Corrales Trails Master Plan.

Although the council endorsed the Meadowlark trail proposal in fall 2010, councillors rejected it the following April because residents along the road opposed the plan. Seeking a compromise, a representative of the Corrales Bicycle, Pedestrian Advisory Commission asked the mayor and council May 24, 2011 to use the funds ($160,500 from federal transportation enhancement funds and $53,000 from the State Legislature) to design a traffic plan to improve conditions along West Meadowlark. The plan, according to Commissioner Susan Zimmerman, would incorporate “traffic calming” methods that residents there have called for over the years faced with increased traffic to and from Rio Rancho.

“We recommend that the Mid-Region Council of Governments funds allocated for the West Meadowlark bike trails project be retained and applied as follows,” Zimmerman said. “We recommend using the combined funds for a comprehensive planning and design of an improved West Meadowlark Lane that addresses safety concerns as well as traffic-calming solutions. We note that MRCOG planner Julie Luna has indicated the appropriation for this original project could be used for preliminary, first-stage costs such as planning and design.

“There have been several meetings around town,” she continued, “including some by West Meadowlark residents who support pedestrian-bicycle and/or equestrian access on the road, particularly if it is designed and constructed in a safe and attractive way.

“Many of the residents have brought out legitimate concerns about West Meadowlark and the way it is used, including, but not limited to, drainage, visibility, safety and slope stability,” Zimmerman said.

“Our commission recommends using the funds available to contract with traffic planners and other professionals including engineers to produce a plan which incorporates a thorough public involvement process to address the concerns raised, as well as the potential for various alternative methods of transportation.”

Zimmerman pointed out back in 2011 that substantial public input had already been received, and would be useful in designing improvements to conditions along West Meadowlark. She urged the funds be used “to design a plan that is beautiful, functional and greatly enhances safety while honoring the rural character of our village.

The Bicycle, Pedestrian Advisory Commission’s recommendations came during the “Communications” part of the council’s May 24 meeting, so there was no opportunity for councillors to react to Zimmerman’s statement. But later in the meeting, Councillor Mick Harper urged that the council’s June 14 agenda include a discussion of those recommendations.

At the contentious April 12, 2011 meeting, the original inter-municipal project was rejected on a 4-2 vote. Councillors Harper and Sayre Gerhart wanted the project continued, citing unsafe conditions along upper Meadowlark, unusually ample public right-of-way and availability of grant money. Community discussion about a trail project along West Meadowlark from Loma Larga to the Rio Rancho boundary continued at Village Administrator John Avila’s trails master plan coordinating meeting a week later. Several Meadowlark residents attended, about half of whom expressed willingness to discuss a trail project there.

At the trails master plan coordinating meeting, MRCOG trails planner Julie Luna answered questions regarding the agency’s promised funding of the Meadowlark bike paths. Luna recommended the federal funding for the multi-modal project here not be turned back. She said her agency would likely be open to revisions to what had been proposed at that point for the Meadowlark trail project, including possible phasing.

For example, she explained, that might mean using the available funding for planning and design, and then seeking implementation and construction funds later. More than a half-dozen West Meadowlark residents attended the trails coordinating meeting April 19, 2011 and while some remained adamantly opposed to any trail project along their road, others expressed willingness to discuss alternatives that might be suitable and acceptable.

The council chambers were packed for the April 12 council meeting at which the Meadowlark trail project was voted down. Several of those residents spoke at the council meeting, citing safety issues, especially given the sight distances when they try to pull out from their driveways onto Meadowlark, and drainage concerns. They were apparently struck by Village Engineer Steve Grollman’s admission that the funding available to design the bike trail and compacted earth path did not specifically include money for drainage issues.

Opponents referred to the Village’s own trails master plan to contend that the Meadowlark trail would be unsuitable. The steep grade there was said to be counter to recommendations. They noted that the master plan’s priority list for implementation did not rank Meadowlark high for that and other reasons. But lots of villagers, especially trails advocates and bike riders, urged the council to approve the project.

Holly Roberts, then a member of the Village’s Bicycle, Pedestrian Advisory Commission, said the Meadowlark trail would start the community’s trails network. “The West Meadowlark trail will be the first real manifestation of our trails master plan,” Roberts said. “ It’s important for many reasons. It will provide us with a safe way to access Rio Rancho. It is the only way to get to Rio Rancho from the center of the village.”

Roberts said it would also allow villagers to get to the Thompson fence trail along the escarpment. She continued: “It will make it safer for school kids to wait for the bus, and it will be an important artery for the far northwest quadrant of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area linking it with the rest of the city, allowing people to commute by bicycle if they so desire.

“Currently West Meadowlark is kind of safe… as long as you’re in a car. If you’re walking, riding a bike or on a horse, forget it. Landscaping has been installed to the edge of the road in many places, forcing anyone not in a car out into the busy road. Bikes must ride in the lane of traffic, slowing down all the cars behind them if there is no paved shoulder. The unpaved shoulder is sandy and full of obstacles, many placed there by homeowners.”

Villagers will have to decide soon whether they want to keep municipal elections on the first Tuesday of March every other year or switch to the date of general elections in November. The question, which involves complications related to timing as well as funding, was debated at the February 9 Village Council meeting, with no clear answer. The over all purpose was to eliminate conflicts and standardize schedules and procedures.

In 2018 , the N.M. Legislature passed the Local Election Act which allowed municipalities to retain their schedules for elections on the first Tuesdays in March in even-numbered years or to opt-in for consolidated elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of odd-numbered years— that is, the traditional date for November general election.

As explained by Village Attorney Randy Autio at the council meeting, if the Village Council takes no action, municipal elections here would continue to come in early March of even numbered years, with the Village budget paying for all costs. But if the council opts in for consolidated elections, Village elections would be in November of odd-numbered years, with the Sandoval County Clerk conducting the polling and covering all costs.

Village Clerk Aaron Gjullin said conducting a municipal election here typically costs the Village $65-75,000. A further wrinkle is that if Corrales opts in, some terms for council members, the mayor and municipal judge would be lengthened or shortened to jibe with the new November schedule.

“It’s time for us to be making a decision,” Mayor Jo Anne Roake advised. In order to opt in and be included in November 2022 elections, Corrales would have to pass an ordinance to that effect by June 30. But the Village Attorney cautioned that the rules and implications of switching to consolidation under the Local Election Act constitute a “complicated, messy problem.”

Among other changes, the timetable for processes such as declaration of candidacy, would also change. The attorney said it is expected that voter turnout would increase if elections were consolidated in November. According to a list distributed to the council in its meeting packet, municipalities that will now participate in consolidated elections include: Edgewood, Los Ranchos, Cloudcroft, Tucumcari, Santa Fe, Española, Socorro, Las Cruces, Belen and Albuquerque, among many others.

Music in Corrales’s next virtual concert, “Boyd Meets Girl,” features Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf, a classical and contemporary guitar and cello husband and wife duo. They performs an eclectic and engaging repertoire, from Debussy and Schubert to the Beatles and Beyoncé. Their on-demand concert, created exclusively for Music in Corrales, will be available for ticket buyers to view anytime from Saturday, February 20 through Sunday, February 28.

In addition to the concert, ticket purchasers will receive a Virtual Backstage Pass for a live conversation and a question and answer session with the musicians via Zoom at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 20.  Ticket buyers will receive their concert ticket link along with a link for their Virtual Backstage Pass 12 to 24 hours prior to Saturday, February 20.  Tickets are $15/person for links to the concert video and the Virtual Backstage Pass.  Tickets can be obtained at https://www.musicincorrales.org/concert/boyd-meets-girl-concert.

Acclaimed soloists in their own right, Boyd and Metcalf have played to sold-out houses around the world, but the first professional concert together was in Albuquerque in 2013. Since then, they have returned to New Mexico several times, performing as soloists and as a duo in Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, including repeat engagements at Albuquerque’s Chatter chamber music series. In 2018 Metcalf performed as the cellist with the group Sybarites in the Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales.

Perhaps this is yet another scene in Corrales’ medical marijuana card holders’ Waiting for Godot moment…calls to Southwest Organic Producers, SWOP, in Albuquerque asking when the Corrales retail outlet would open revealed “I have no idea…they keep saying ‘in two weeks,’ every time we ask. ‘In two weeks.’” The end of last year there was a brief burst of increased activity at the eastern end of the former Kim Jew property at 4604 Corrales Road, as it appeared that the retail cannabis dispensary was almost ready to open. A SWOP source said in December that “furniture, including display cases” were being bought for the Corrales site.

Spencer Komadina, one of the project’s partners, said then that the New Mexico Department of Health was expected to do its inspection the week of December 13, and that the shop would then hold its soft open, with a grand opening following not far behind. And yet. In an email February 11, Komadina said “Corrales is making us connect to the sewer before we can open...That will be done soon.”

According to Planning and Zoning administrator Laurie Stout, on November 20, 2019, the site development plan for SWOP was approved by the P&Z commission. A week later on November 27, Stout sent a letter to SWOP outlining the required next moves. It said, in part, “your next step is to have your chosen contractor pull a building permit” and “an item discussed during the meeting was the tie-in needed to the Village wastewater system. Michael Chavez oversees this.” Stout provided his email. “Both are common next steps after a site plan approval.”

But, as Stout put it, “No building permit application was received until recently —all work was done without a permit and so the permit had to be issued retroactively, which comes with a double fee— and the wastewater tie-in is now underway.” She added, “This could have been accomplished in November of 2019.”

The Corrales outlet, whenever it opens at the corner of Corrales Road and Rincon Road, just north of Perea’s restaurant, at least now does have new SWOP signage. And the dispensary should benefit from what another SWOP partner, Aaron Brogdon, has described as “better quality product,” grown right in Corrales. The Komadina property at 379 Camino de Corrales del Norte has three greenhouses, as well as a “head house,” or nursery, for new plants.

“For the first three weeks, the rec center location will be a site for initial vaccinations, and on the fourth week, it will operate morning and afternoon for second doses and first doses as long as vaccine is allocated.

“This is currently the only Corrales NMDOH location, and as it takes a large number of staff to operate, I do not see any other locations being set up in Corrales,” Lattin explained. She said she is aware that Corrales Pharmacy has been trying to gain authorization from NMDOH to vaccinate there as well. As of February 13, 262 cases of the deadly coronavirus were recorded in Corrales. There were 179.724 cases statewide, and 3,502 had died.

By age group, most Sandoval County COVID-19 cases were among people between the ages of 20 and 30, followed by those in the 30-40 age group. But the rates of infection were in steep decline in New Mexico, in line with trends nationwide.

“It’s so nice to report some good news on the COVID front,” Mayor Jo Anne Roake said. “Sandoval County, along with 14 others in New Mexico, has moved to ‘Yellow.’ In keeping with the public health order, Village outdoor recreational facilities are open at 25 percent capacity.

“Indoor dining is allowed at 25 percent, outdoor dining at 75 percent. Businesses can operate at 25 percent. Mass gatherings are now at 10.” The mayor urged Corraleños to continue wearing masks, try to remain at home and get vaccinated. “Along with COVID safe practices, to overcome the virus, we must get vaccinated. New Mexico already has 16 percent fewer cases because of vaccinations. Please register for your vaccine.

“Finally, please get tested. If the test is positive, you’ll get the help you need fast; if it’s negative, you’ll help reduce the positivity rate.” That positivity rate is the basis for loosening (or tightening) restrictions, such as those for restaurants, bars, sporting events and other sites where patrons might be exposed to the virus. The recent decreases meant the Health Department could show Sandoval County as having moved from the “Red” designation to “Yellow.” No counties had progressed to “Green” as of February 13.

New Mexico was among the highest ranked states for actually distributing vaccine available. As of February 12, the state had vaccinated people with 394,720 doses out of the 429,950 received, a delivery rate of almost 92 percent. But only around 13 percent of all New Mexicans had gotten their first shot. New Mexico ranked third in the nation, behind only Utah and West Virginia, for using the vaccine made available. The state was third, behind Alaska and West Virginia, for percentage of total population to have received at least the first dose.

The latest Corraleño to be named a local hero is John Perea. Mayor Jo Anne Roake made that announcement at the January 26 Village Council meeting. She noted he has served on several municipal committees and commissions, including Parks and Recreation and Farmland Preservation, and has served the broader community for years in various ways.

The family business, Perea’s Restaurant and Tijuana Bar, has hosted countless community gatherings over decades. The mayor pointed out that Perea, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, has been a consultant for several Pueblo governments, representing them in Washington DC.

Roake began an effort to recognize villagers as local heroes last year, starting with Red Cross volunteer Linda Crowden, and then Corrales Historical Society historian Mary Davis and Corrales Comment publisher Jeff Radford. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXXIX No.16 November 7, 2020 “Local Heroes Honored.”)

State Representative Jim Townsend, an Artesia Republican, Representative Rod Montoya,  a Farmington Republican, and Hobbs Republican Larry Scott  filed a lawsuit  January 30 with the New Mexico Supreme Court challenging House rules changes they considered unconstitutional one-week into the 60-day legislative session.

 Those rule changes are significantly different than those of the Senate chamber, in which the Senate will operate in a manner where their chamber will ensure it legislates from “the seat of government” as is set forth in the New Mexico Constitution. During floor debate on these rule changes, House Republican lawmakers highlighted significant constitutional concerns as to the validity of any action the House may take, as well the significant reduction of public access to the legislative process. 

While there were two instances of bipartisan agreement on rule changes, the House Democrat majority defeated numerous other attempts to reverse rule changes that were contrary to years of bipartisan support to encourage public access and create greater transparency in the legislature’s actions, they said.

Before the current session, there were bipartisan concerns expressed about holding the legislative session during the pandemic and legislators from both sides of aisle and from both chambers voiced a desire to hold the session later in the spring when the number of COVID-19 cases might be diminished and vaccines would be widely available. Delaying the session could have also avoided making these rule changes, they contended, and could have allowed greater public participation in the legislative process.

A bill in the N.M. Legislature would allow any registered voter to vote in the primary election for either major party. House Bill 79, or previous versions, has been considered in the legislature over the past five years as advocated by Corrales’ former State Representative Bob Perls, who heads what is now known as New Mexico Open Elections.

This year, the proposal is co-sponsored by Corrales Representative Daymon Ely who testified that the state’s current party-member-only voting for the primaries excludes nearly 300,000 citizens. In the early days of the 2021 legislative session, HB79 was favorably voted out of the State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee with a 6-3 margin.

Under terms of the bill, New Mexicans who are registered as independents, or as members of minor parties, can vote in party primary elections of the Democratic, Republican or Libertarian Parties simply by requesting a ballot; there would be no need to register as a member of one of those parties to participate in the primary. This year, the current N.M. Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, testified in favor of the bill, which advanced to the House Judiciary Committee.

“If we can get it to the House floor, we are fairly certain it will move through to the Senate,” Perls said February 1. In recent years, New Mexicans have increasingly joined the ranks of independent voters. Around 22 percent of voters decline to register as Democrat, Republican or Libertarian. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXXIV No.9 June 20, 2015 “Corrales-Based Campaign Aims for Open Primary Elections.”) A Corrales businessman and former U.S. Foreign Service officer, Perls last year ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Sandoval County Clerk. Elected to the N.M. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1992, Perls served in until 1996.

In 2016, he explained why has advocated for open primaries. “New Mexico has more uncontested political races than any state, fewer independent or minor party candidates that any state, the highest and most discriminatory ballot access requirements of any state… and we wonder why democracy does not work well here. The answer is that we need competitive elections with engaged voters for it to work for everyone,” Perls said. “New Mexico Open Primaries believes that we must reduce the discriminatory ballot access requirements of independent and third party candidates to offer more choices for New Mexican voters.”

The non-profit organization is now known as New Mexico Open Elections. “The fundamental belief is that you shouldn’t have to join a political party to vote. In New Mexico, we have a closed primary system; that means you have to register Democrat or register Republican to vote in a primary,” Perls explained. “New Mexico has been a heavily Democratic state, and therefore probably 90 percent of the important decisions are made in the Democratic primary. Most elections are decided in the Democratic Party primary. That’s because there’s either no competition from the other party in the general election or there’s token competition in the general election. Ninety percent of the time, the candidate who comes out the winner in the Democratic party gets elected.

“Here is why it’s important for a primary to be open. These ‘electoral process issues’ are complex, not very sexy and yet are the root-cause of the political dysfunction we see in America and in New Mexico.

“The idea of New Mexico Open Primaries is to open up the primaries so that independents can vote and so that people don’t have to register as a Democrat or Republican to vote in the first-round election. “Most people think of the party primary as a first-round election; what our organization wants to do is educate people about the fact that elections are a fundamental responsibility of state government, and that it is going about it backward to have a private club, or private association [parties], running our elections.

“I believe strongly that parties serve a function, and I believe strongly that this movement is not anti-party,” Perls insisted. “But we need to look at why we have the gridlock and hyper-partisanship and dysfunction that we have in this country. The root cause of that is, in fact, partisanship.”

He thinks it’s wrong —even illegal— to allow private organizations, such as parties, to decide who they will allow to vote in an election for a public office. “Our tax dollars pay for primary elections, and it is illegal (or should be, once the courts catch up based on the N.M. anti-donation clause) for public dollars to go to private associations. We don’t tolerate it in any situation except the most important activity we do in our country —when we vote.”

As a Democrat, Perls won election to the N.M. House of Representatives in 1992 and was re-elected in 1994 before running unsuccessfully for Congress and then for a seat on the N.M. Public Regulations Commission. He applied for admission to the Foreign Service Corps after selling his medical equipment sales business, Monitech, in 2008. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in January 2010.

During his four years in the N.M. House, he was regarded as something of a maverick for not strictly toeing the Democratic party line. That independent thinking cost him support from party leaders. The movement toward open primaries in state level elections began in the 1990s.

At the February 9 Village Council meeting to be zoomed starting at 6:30 p.m., an update will be given on the farmland preservation program. The briefing was requested at the January 26 session by Councillor Zach Burkett, who responded to a request forsuggestions for the next meeting’s agenda. “Can we get an update on conservation easements —just if there are any other properties that have been identified as interested? I have heard rumors there are some that are potentially in the works, so if we could get at least a broad update, that would be fantastic. Mayor Jo Anne Roake replied. “Absolutely. I hope it will be more than a broad update. Everybody, keep your fingers crossed!”

That seemed to contrast with the report submitted earlier in the same meeting that noted, “No private property owners are currently interested in participating in the easement program, but if opportunities arise the Village will pursue them.” However, when Corrales Comment asked Farmland Preservation Commission’s co-chair Lisa Brown, she said there is no current application to add a property to the Village’s program. “There is nothing pending.”

The Village Council approved purchase of a conservation easement on 12 acres of farmland at its December 8, 2020 session. The vote was three-to-two to pay $960,000 for an easement on the Haslam farm between the Corrales Main Canal and the Corrales Lateral irrigation ditch at the end of Kings Lane. Councillors Stuart Murray and Kevin Lucero voted no, citing prospects that a more desirable tract might become available during the next six months.

That was almost certainly a reference to the long-discussed, and negotiated possibility that the Trosello tract farther north along the east side of Corrales Road might be saved from development as home sites. Murray, Lucero and several villagers had argued that the Village had negotiated an option to purchase the Haslam tract this past summer and still had six months remaining to exercise it. They argued there was no hurry to close on the Haslam land.

With the Haslam easement purchase, that leaves approximately $1.5 million remaining of the $2.5 million raised from municipal general obligation bonds approved by voters in March 2018 for farmland preservation. Former Village Councillor Fred Hashimoto had urged a delay on the Haslam property. “Some very attractive proposals might pop up between now and June 1, and the council should not cave now to prematurely spend potential funds which might be used for a possibly more valuable proposal in the next coming months.”

Those questions drew sharp responses from then-Councillor Dave Dornburg and Mayor Roake. “I think it’s kind of folly to assume that another deal is going to come out of the woodwork at this day and age when property values in the village are only going up,” Dornburg said. “I think there has been enough man-hours and due diligence put into this process that the time has come to put it to a vote.

“There may always be another option down the road, but in my humble opinion, while I’m sure there are other pieces of property that people would rather have, this is the option we have and it meets the intent of conservation easement that we’re trying to protect.” Murray responded. “I’m not going to dispute the process. They have been working on it quite a bit. I have no objection to Mr. Haslam’s property. It’s a beautiful piece of property.” But he doubted that the offered parcel could be successful as a farm. “I’ve seen farmers back in my hometown who had 150 acres and couldn’t make a go of it and had to work two jobs to make a living…”

Mayor Roake cut in to say that was not relevant, and that waiting another six months on the Haslam option is not really an alternative, given the amount of time it has taken to get the Haslam option ready to execute. “Between getting our financing and getting the bonds issued and getting it approved through the N.M. Finance Authority and all the other gates that we have to go through actually does put the time limitations on this process. I want to address the idea that we can actually wait for months, because all of the pieces that you have voted for have gotten us to the point now where we are issuing the bonds, and that has to be done in a certain time frame… all of this was done based on two different appraisals and two different reviews by N.M. Taxation and Revenue, so I think that’s a false analogy.

“All of this work has taken place since July. It has taken a long time. It’s a lengthy and complex process,” the mayor stressed, making the point that the administration does not actually have another six months to exercise the Haslam option. Before the vote was called, Councillor Dornburg made another plea for approval. “I think it’s a good idea today, it was a good idea six months ago and it will be a good idea six months from now. If we don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s a different conversation. But we have the will of the people for a bond to buy conservation easements. We have a great conservation property in front of us. If you like the property and think it meets the will of the people, either today or in June, the answer should probably be the same.”

The motion to purchase the Haslam conservation easement was approved. More than 50 acres of Corrales farmland has been brought under conservation easement since the effort began here in 2000. Villagers overwhelmingly approved a bond proposal for $2.5 million for that purpose in 2004, but the last of those bond proceeds was spent in 2015. Since the bonds now have been paid off, more bonds were issued without increasing property tax. The first conservation easement here was donated by former Corrales resident Jonathan Porter on land west of Corrales Road at the south end of the valley. Similar to the Haslam farm, the Porter tract is not visible from Corrales Road, nor are most others.

Corrales’ interest in preserving farmland dates back at least to its incorporation as a municipality in 1971. The first master plan produced for the new Village government in 1973 recommended techniques be explored to accomplish that. Successive planning documents and ordinances over the years have endorsed that goal. (See Corrales Comment Vol. II, No. 8, August 20, 1983 “Can Corrales Stay Farmland Forever? Yes, Say Planners, & Here’s How.”) Corrales’ first conservation easement of six acres along Mira Sol Road in 2001 was donated by the landowner, not sold. Jonathan Porter believed in keeping fertile land under cultivation and his donation of the easement to the Taos Land Trust provided helpful tax benefits.

Hamman said a sign will be posted along the east side warning people on watercraft not to try to go over the boulders, but instead to “stay river right” and pass through the smoother slope along the Corrales side. “People of the low to moderate skill set will probably have no problems coming through here. A skilled kayaker could probably take that rapid, but there are some sizable boulders in there.

“Now, for people who wish to put in here to go downstream and may be a little nervous about coming through this passage, we’re going to take out some of these older trees that are kind of aged out —and some of them are even being undercut by the river, so about four or five trees are going to come out. That way we can have another ramp going down to the river in a gradual slope. So people who want to avoid the weir as it is now will have two options.”

Another advantage, he said, is the new ramp will make it easier for river rescue teams to launch their watercraft at the north end of the preserve. Once the new ramp is completed, probably before summer, boaters and rafters headed down river could take out at the ramp recently built north of the weir, portage across the parking lot bypassing the weir, and put in again at the new ramp.

Another component of the improvements already completed is expansion of the visitor parking area. “We know this is a very popular area. And we wanted to make sure people can use it safely. We’ve had people who backed into the canal as they were trying to leave this area, so we wanted to make it safer.” The 83 year old 1,000-foot wooden pipe has been buried under the river bed since the early 1930s but was being uncovered by chronic erosion of the channel since upriver dams were constructed, reducing sediment deposited here. When the problem was revealed more than eight years ago, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District implemented temporary fixes while trying to figure out what the real solution might be.

With assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, MRGCD constructed a rock weir immediately downstream of the pipe near the west bank of the Rio Grande. “The MRGCD had previously had an inspection performed on the siphon and found that the wood pipe was in remarkably good condition with the exception of one missing wood stave in a section near the east bank,” the district’s executive director said.

The wooden culvert brings irrigation water from the east side of the Rio Grande to the west and into the Corrales Main Canal. About eight years ago, rapids began to appear where water flowed over the pipe. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXXII, No.16, October 5, 2013 “River Bed’s Drop Disturbs Buried Irrigation Culvert.”)

The former executive director, Subhas Shah, explained to the mayor and Village Council that the uncovering of the siphon had been caused by a reduction in silt pouring into the Rio Grande after Cochiti and other dams were constructed upstream. “In 1975 when Cochiti Dam was built, we started getting less silt coming into the river, and the river bed was getting eroded. So this is what we are seeing after 38 years.” (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXX, No. 2 March 5, 2011 “So Far, River Bed Still Degrading Here.”)

The siphon is made of a series of 20-foot long by five-inch wide wood staves that are held together with steel bands to form a pipe that is approximately 900 feet long. It brings irrigation water conveyed through Sandia Pueblo under the riverbed and into Corrales.

If you don’t have your own photovoltaic panels to generate electricity for your home or business, might you be interested in subscribing to use the output from a community solar facility? A bill under consideration in the 2021 session of the N.M. Legislature calls for rules to govern how a community solar facility should operate. Senate Bill 84 was introduced by Liz Stefanics and Linda Lopez.

The bill directs the N.M. Public Regulation Commission to adopt rules to implement such a program around the state, with special consideration for Native American communities. The bill defines a community solar program as one which is “created through the adoption of rules by the commission that allows for the development of community solar facilities and provides customers of a qualifying utility with the option of accessing solar energy produced by a community solar facility in accordance with the Community Solar Act.”

It would operate based on a community solar bill credit that is the credit value of the electricity generated by a community solar facility and allocated to a subscriber to offset the subscriber's electricity bill on the qualifying utility’s monthly billing cycle. SB84 defines a “low-income customer” for such a program as “a residential customer of a qualifying utility with an annual household income at or below eighty percent of county area median income, as published by the United States department of housing and urban development, or that is enrolled in a low-income program facilitated by the state or a low-income energy program led by the qualifying utility or as determined by the commission; And a “low-income service organization” would be an organization that provides services, assistance or housing to low-income customers and may include a local or central tribal government, a chapter house or a tribally designated housing entity; A “subscriber” means a retail customer of a qualifying utility that owns a subscription to a community solar facility from a subscriber organization; A “subscriber organization would be an entity that owns or operates a community solar facility and may include a municipality, a county, a for-profit or nonprofit entity or organization, an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo, a local tribal governance structure or other tribal entity authorized to transact business in New Mexico; Selected text of the bill reads as follows.

Section 3. Community Solar Facility Requirements.
A. A community solar facility shall:
(1) have a nameplate rating of five megawatts alternating current or less;
(2) be located in the service territory of the qualifying utility and be interconnected to the electric distribution system of that qualifying utility;
(3) have at least ten subscribers;
(4) have the option to be co-located with other energy resources;
(5) not allow a single subscriber to be allocated more than forty percent of the generating capacity of the facility; and
(6) make at least forty percent of the total generating capacity of a community solar facility available in subscriptions of twenty-five kilowatts or less.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a native community solar project; provided that a native community solar project shall be located in the service territory of a qualifying utility and be interconnected to the electric distribution system of that qualifying utility.

Section 4. Ownership of Community Solar Facilities.
A. A community solar facility shall be owned or operated by a subscriber organization.
B. Third-party entities or subscriber organizations developing projects on the land of an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo are subject to tribal jurisdiction.
Section 5. Subscription Requirements. A. A subscription shall be:
(1) sized to supply no more than one hundred twenty percent of the subscriber's average annual electricity consumption; and
(2) transferable and portable within the qualifying utility service territory.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a native community solar project; provided that subscriptions to a native community solar project shall be transferable and portable within the qualifying utility Community Solar Program Administration.
A. A qualifying utility shall:
(1) acquire the entire output of a community solar facility connected to its distribution system;
(2) apply community solar bill credits to subscriber bills within one billing cycle following the cycle during which the energy was generated by the community solar facility;
(3) provide community solar bill credits to a community solar facility's subscribers for not less than twenty-five years from the date the community solar facility is first interconnected;
(4) carry over any amount of a community solar bill credit that exceeds the subscriber's monthly bill and apply it to the subscriber's next monthly bill; and
(5) on a monthly basis and in a standardized electronic format, provide to the subscriber organization a report indicating the total value of community solar bill credits generated by the community solar facility in the prior month as well as the amount of the community solar bill credits applied to each subscriber.

B. A subscriber organization shall, on a monthly basis and in a standardized electronic format, provide to the qualifying utility a list indicating the kilowatt-hours of generation attributable to each subscriber. Subscriber lists may be updated monthly to reflect canceling subscribers and to add new subscribers.

C. If a community solar facility is not fully subscribed in a given month, the unsubscribed energy may be rolled forward on the community solar facility account for up to one year from its month of generation and allocated by the subscriber organization to subscribers at any time during that period. At the end of that period, any undistributed bill credit shall be removed, and the unsubscribed energy shall be purchased by the qualifying utility at its applicable avoided cost of energy rate as approved by the commission.

D. The environmental attributes, including renewable energy certificates, associated with a community solar facility may be sold or transferred by the owner of the community solar facility to the qualifying utility.

E. Nothing in the Community Solar Act shall preclude an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo from using financial mechanisms other than subscription models, including virtual and aggregate net-metering, for native community solar projects.

Section 7. Public Regulation Commission Rule making.

A. The commission shall adopt rules to establish a community solar program by no later than November 1, 2021. The rules shall:
(1) provide an initial annual statewide capacity program cap of one hundred megawatts proportionally allocated to investor-owned utilities until November 1, 2024. The annual statewide capacity program cap shall exclude native community solar projects and rural electric distribution cooperatives;
(2) establish an annual statewide capacity program cap to be in effect after November 1, 2024;
(3) require a target thirty percent annual statewide carve-out of the annual statewide capacity program cap to be reserved for low-income customers and low-income service organizations. In facilitation of this target, the commission shall issue guidelines to ensure the carve-out is achieved each year and develop a list of low-income service organizations and programs that may pre-qualify low-income customers;
(4) establish a process for the selection of community solar facility projects and allocation of the statewide capacity program cap;
(5) require a qualifying utility to file the tariffs, agreement or forms necessary for implementation of the community solar program;
(6) establish reasonable, uniform, efficient and non-discriminatory standards, fees and processes for the interconnection of community solar facilities that are consistent with the commission's existing interconnection rules and interconnection manual that allows a qualifying utility to recover reasonable costs for administering the community solar program and interconnection costs for each community solar facility;
(7) provide consumer protections for subscribers, including a uniform disclosure form that identifies the information that shall be provided by a subscriber organization to a potential subscriber, in both English and Spanish, and when appropriate, native or indigenous languages, to ensure fair disclosure of future costs and benefits of subscriptions, key contract terms and other relevant but reasonable information pertaining to the subscription;
(8) provide a community solar bill credit rate mechanism for subscribers derived from the qualifying utility's total aggregate retail rate on a per-customer-class basis, less the commission-approved distribution cost components, and identify all proposed rules, fees and charges;
(9) reasonably allow for the creation, financing and accessibility of community solar facilities; and
(10) provide requirements for the siting and co-location of community solar facilities.

B. The commission shall solicit input from relevant state agencies, public utilities, low-income stakeholders, disproportionately impacted communities, potential owners or operators of community solar facilities, Indian nations, tribes and pueblos and other interested parties in its rule making process.

C. By no later than November 1, 2024, the commission shall provide to the appropriate interim legislative committee a report on the status of the community solar program, including the development of community solar facilities, the participation of investor-owned utilities and rural electric distribution cooperatives, low-income participation, the adequacy of facility size, proposals for alternative rate structures and bill credit mechanisms, cross-subsidization issues, community solar facilities' effect on utility compliance with the renewable portfolio standard and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the commission's rules to implement the Community Solar Act and any recommended changes.
…
Section 9. Exclusion from Commission Regulation.. Subscriber organizations, or the subscribers to a community solar facility, shall not be considered public utilities subject to regulation by the commission under the Public Utility Act solely as a result of their ownership, interest in, operation of or subscription to a community solar facility. Rates paid for subscriptions shall not be subject to regulation by the commission.

After its usual winter hiatus, Casa San Ysidro Museum: The Gutiérrez-Minge House, across from Old Church, is once again up and running, with COVID-19-safe tours, five-person per tour, New Mexico residents only, via timed tickets available for purchase only online through Hold My Ticket. And, according to Site Manager Aaron Gardner, the museum also is offering a full roster of online programming. You can get each relevant Zoom connection by going to http://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/albuquerque-museum/events
• February 13: The Unique Legacy of Abraham Lincoln in New Mexico
Abraham Lincoln spoke very little about the far western territory of New Mexico. Yet, during his presidency, two different wars were fought here and the territory’s landmass was divided in half. Lincoln signed into law legislation that would eventually aid in the settlement and development of New Mexico. New Mexico has a county, town, range of mountains and national forest named in his honor. New Mexico State University Professors Christopher Schurtz and Dwight Pitcaithley describe Lincoln’s connection to the New Mexico Territory.
• March 13: Traditions of the Santero: Bulto Restoration Techniques
Bultos, sculptures of saints and other religious figures, are a living tradition within the religious iconography of Spanish folk art. They played an integral part in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The tradition of wooden santo carving has been preserved as a folk art in parts of Mexico and Northern New Mexico.
Conservators Allison Herrera and Keith Bakker discuss bultos and bulto restoration techniques while referencing objects from the Museum's collection and other pertinent examples in New Mexico.
• April 10: Native American Language Revitalization in New Mexico Christine Sims will discuss the leading efforts in indigenous language revitalization, language maintenance issues, and how the American Indian Language Policy Research Center is providing technical assistance to indigenous nations and training for American Indian language teachers.
In his 1991 revision of Acoma: Pueblo in the Sky, Ward Alan Minge references some of the early work that initiated a bilingual program at Acoma Pueblo’s local school.
Acoma’s bilingual program today is directed by Sims, who is also the state director for the National Indian Bilingual Center and an associate professor at University of New Mexico.
• June 12: Native Dye Plants of New Mexico
Native American and Spanish weavers traditionally have used native plants to dye wool with an array of colors to create one-of-a-kind textiles and clothing.
A weaver’s expertise not only required the skill and dexterity to create intricate patterns but the knowledge of where to find the plants that yielded the desired colors.
Las Arañas weaver Myra Chang Thompson and Rio Grande Return Conservation Director Cameron Weber describe native dye plants, their uses, and the local practices that people have employed in New Mexico for generations.

• July 10: Bioregional Perspectives with Jack Loeffler. With the ever expanding civic and suburban sprawl of the Southwest, understanding how ecosystems can sustain development in the face of unexpected change is needed now more than ever. Jack Loeffler describes bioregionalism occurring in New Mexico and the Southwest. A bioregionalist, aural historian, environmentalist and author, over the past 50 years Loeffler’s work has focused on the vital importance of indigenous-minded environmentalism —citing Native American, Hispano, Anglo, and countercultural excerpts from interviews and folksongs he’s recorded for local history projects.
• August 14: Herreros: The Spanish History of Blacksmiths
Herreros, or Spanish blacksmiths, were highly valued members of Spanish expeditions to New Mexico. They shoed horses and repaired armor, made horse gear, firearms, and small tools. As more colonists arrived, blacksmiths turned their attention to providing domestic goods like griddles, roasting spits, ladles, and knives. Dave Sabo, a local blacksmith skilled in the traditional methods of herreros, describes some of the early iron manufacturing and blacksmithing practices that were used in New Mexico.
• October 9: From Spain to New Mexico, The Journey to Keep a Secret. Who were the Crypto-Jews and Conversos?
An award-winning journalist and educator, Norma Libman describes a history of the Jews in Inquisitional Spain, how crypto-Jews kept their secrets, and the forces that brought them to the American Southwest.
Libman has researched crypto-Jewish history for more than 25 years and has interviewed more than 50 individuals about their family histories and religious practices. This program is co-sponsored by the Historical Society of New Mexico.
• November 13: Civil War History in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Long known as a place of cross border intrigue, the Rio Grande’s unique role in the Civil War has been largely forgotten or overlooked. Few know the complex history of ethnic tensions, international intrigue, and the clash of colorful characters that marked the aftermath of the Civil War in Texas.
Professor of anthropology at Rio Grande Valley Texas University, Russell Skowronek discusses Civil War history in the Southwest through the university’s traveling exhibit. In addition to its Second Saturday Programs via Zoom, Casa San Ysidro also will virtually experience the El Camino Real Trade Fair, throughout April. The fair celebrates 1800s life along the Camino Real, and will be filled with living history, music, demonstrations, local artisans, educational sessions, and other family-friendly free activities.

Come May, it’s entirely possible that Heritage Day, May 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., could be experienced actually, rather than in that other manner. The museum joins the Corrales Historical Society in a free event that explores local heritage through exhibits on the living traditions of New Mexico, and a variety of activities that highlight local art and history.

Finally, Corrales Harvest Festival rolls around again on September 25 and 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the village’s largest festival, with events at various venues. Family events at Casa San Ysidro will be free. Last year’s program was entirely virtual, alas, and assorted fingers are crossed for a return to an in-person, live festival this 2021. Contact Gardner with any questions via email to agardner@cabq.gov For tour tickets, go to https://tickets.holdmyticket.com/location/casa-san-ysidro-the-gutierrez-minge-house-in-corrales.

Frank Steiner, who wants to create a complex of five duplexes on the 1.89-acre parcel where his Sunbelt Nursery now sits, said recently he wants to be clear that these two-bedroom dwellings all will be rentals. At this time the actual rental price per unit is not known, because it all “depends on when I get the approval to build, as the cost of construction is increasing almost daily,” as he put it. He added that the project’s cost estimates have risen 47 percent since he first proposed it in the fall of 2019.

Steiner wants to keep rents “as affordable as possible.” And would be delighted were “the Village to reduce or forgive the construction impact fees.” Renting out houses since 2001 on his compound off Espinosa Road, Steiner believes his tenants “love it there and stay forever.” And if a vacancy does come up, it is rented in hours because of referrals from satisfied customers.

He typically requires a year lease, with tenants paying for gas and electricity. Steiner pays for water and trash removal, and his son Brandon, a contractor, does all the maintenance and repair work. “We usually can respond to the needs of tenants on the day they notify us of a problem.”

The planned duplex would sit on land at the corner of Corrales Road and Dixon Road, in the commercial district, which would make walking or bike riding to village stores, restaurants and the Bosque uncomplicated for residents.

The longstanding one-home-per-acre rule that dominates Corrales real estate may no longer apply to plots in the commercial zone, if Steiner can convince the right people. As Steiner suggested in early January, “We need a majority of the Councillors to vote for approval of this project and direct P&Z to offer the appropriate zoning solution.”

By Meredith Hughes
It was big news a week ago, when the University of New Mexico opened its Health COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at The Pit, the university’s basketball arena. Those in charge had hoped to inoculate 3,000 people a day at The Pit, but started out doing about 1,700 a day, then, on the day this reporter got there, 700. The entire operation was efficient, friendly, and professional —there were traffic control people guiding cars into the enormous parking lot. There were greeters, doing the obvious in the huge Pit walkway area, lined with tables or numbered stations. Most all shuffling through appeared to be in the “elder” category.

There were “runners,” aiding supply drop-offs; “scribes,” who checked in patients and handed out small paper cards; vaccine preparers, and of course, vaccinators, these latter two categories filled only by medical pros. The Pfizer shot administered, by a pediatric specialist, a longtime nurse from New Jersey, retired, and now a volunteer, guided the recipient to an open space near some exit doors, the space filled with socially distanced folding chairs. On which one sat, either for 15 minutes, or 30, depending on what one had admitted to, allergy-wise.

Here the “post injection observers” roamed, looking for signs of imminent collapse among the fully masked occupants, who checked phones, and noted the appointment for shot number two on that little card, roughly three weeks in the future. And then rose, to exit The Pit when appropriate. Or maybe some people scooted out early.

After an essentially positive experience, one soon noted the news was filled with reports that The Pit would close for a week. Not enough vaccine, even with assistance from N.M. Senator Martin Heinrich. Supply chains are iffy everywhere, and N.M. Health was concerned, rightly, that people awaiting shot number two, had to be considered. Hence, the pause on administering the first shot.

Meanwhile, on January 28, “Oregon health workers who got stuck in a snowstorm on their way back from a COVID-19 vaccination event went car to car injecting stranded drivers before several of the doses expired….” January 29, according to the Washington Post, “…staff and volunteers with Seattle’s Swedish Health Services had been rushing to administer hundreds of doses of the coronavirus vaccine set to expire early in the morning after a freezer malfunction. Finally, they had only a few dozen shots left and about 15 minutes to get them into people’s arms.”

“In the end, none of the more than 1,600 soon-to-expire doses in Seattle were wasted, health officials said, after a colossal scramble that showcased both the enormous pressure on those immunizing millions of Americans and the hope these vaccine doses have brought. The rollout of shots nationwide has been plagued with bottlenecks, frustrations and disagreements over who should get protection first.”

Good people are stepping up everywhere, and working hard to get these pesky vaccines into waiting arms. In fact, New Mexico is among the top ten states/US territories in getting that first shot to people. Do register for the vaccine at https://cvvaccine.nmhealth.org, create a profile, and wait. A text and email will arrive regarding your appointment. Really.

Responding to villagers’ concerns that Corrales’ long-standing one-home-per-acre policy is consistently being circumvented, the Village Council has imposed a six-month moratorium on permits to build secondary dwellings on lots and on applications to operate short-term rentals. After substantial public comment at its January 26 session, the council voted five-to-one to impose the 180-day moratorium noting that “the size of accessory structures is virtually unregulated, sometimes resulting in what appears to be two homes on one lot,” and that such residences “are being utilized for the commercial purpose of providing short-term rental accommodations.”

The approved resolution noted that “the proliferation of loosely-regulated accessory structures being used as short- and long-term rentals has the potential for far-reaching deleterious effects on the village, including negatively impacting neighborhoods with greater numbers of vehicles and persons not previously present and increasing the effective density above that permitted or intended in the A-1 an A-2 zoning districts.”

Much of the discussion during the Zoom meeting, to which at least six listened in as audience, focused on the perceived need for a moratorium when the same issues are being addressed by planners with the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) through a contract with the Village approved last month.

The lone hold-out member of the council who objected to the moratorium, Councillor Zach Burkett, said he thought the resolution was “duplicitous” because its stated purpose is to allow time for the Planning and Zoning Commission to analyze the problem and come up with recommended fixes, “but this is exactly what MRCOG is supposed to be doing” by the end of the year.

The problem has been recognized for years, even decades, but it has become more acute with the advent of Airbnb and other short-term rental opportunities. Going back to the 1980s, pressures to bust the prohibition against higher residential density were expected to intensify when the Village installed a sewer line, thereby obviating groundwater pollution from septic leach fields. But nowadays, the pressures actually come from neighborhoods not served by the wastewater system, especially where new homes are built on vacant lots. The current controversy apparently erupted over a new home being built on West Ella Drive last year. (See Corrales Comment Vol.XXXIX No.13 September 19, 2020 “West Ella ‘Casita’ Draws Neighbors’ Ire.”)

Construction of a large “casita” next to a new home underway at 489 West Ella Drive last summer riled neighbors, including the mother of former Mayor Scott Kominiak. The new home construction site on West Ella Drive is at least the third project in recent years where a house and “casita” have been built simultaneously in seeming contravention of the one-dwelling-per-acre regulations.

Corrales’ laws allow “casitas,” or guesthouses, on a one-acre lot, as long as the secondary residence does not have a full kitchen. And the builder at 489 West Ella, Wade Wingfield, assured Corrales Comment that the “casita” there complies with that rule. “You can have a separate living quarters as long as it doesn’t have a fully-functioning kitchen,” Wingfield said August 11, 2020. “You can have a refrigerator, a microwave, a sink and anything else, but you just can’t have a stove and oven.”  Wingfield said he had obtained all the permits and approvals needed through the Corrales Planning and Zoning Department.

However, one of the main protesters against Wingfield’s casita, Mary LoGuercio, has provided photos to Corrales Comment and Village officials of the interior which show a kitchen area under construction plumbed for a full kitchen, including stove vent and gas line stub-out. LoGuercio also forwarded a 2018 email from former Village Attorney John Appel referring to a similar dispute with the same builder, Wingfield, erecting a guesthouse in the Tierra de Corrales neighborhood.

Appel’s memo to the mayor and to the Planning and Zoning Commission reads as follows, in part. “I just wanted to alert you to an issue that could become ‘significant’ in the near future. Yesterday [P&Z Administrator] Ms. Stout, on [Village Administrator] John Avila’s instructions, called me during a meeting with developer Wade Wingfield to address a proposed 1,100-square foot ‘casita’ (open-plan living area, kitchen, bedroom suite with bath, storage room, carport) that was proposed as an additional structure on a lot in Tierra de Corrales that already has a house on it.  “Mr. Wingfield’s asserted reasons why this second home on a one-acre lot in the A-1 zone should be allowed (my paraphrase, of course) were:

• He himself had just such a ‘casita’ on his own lot, approved by C. Tidwell.
• Manuel Pacheco had been consulted about this proposed ‘casita’ and said it was fine.
• The homeowners’ association had approved it.
• Such structures had always been allowed up until some change in the Village Code during the past two or three years.
• It was all still one family, because the present (elderly) residents were going to move into the new casita and let their kids and families live in the big house.
• ‘Life style’ changes make it necessary for the Village to change its policies to allow these sorts of structures.
“My responses to Mr. Wingfield were, basically:
• If he has such a casita on his property, his property is in violation of the Village Code.  (Unless it was grandfathered before about 1987, which I doubt.)
• If Mr. Pacheco said this was OK [and I expect he probably did], Mr. Pacheco was incorrect.
• Homeowners’ association decisions under the covenants are irrelevant.
• There has been no such change in the Code.”

Former Village Attorney Appel continued his explanation regarding Wingfield’s assertion that is permissible to build such a guesthouse. “Two houses on the same lot are two houses on the same lot. Period.  Doesn’t matter who lives in them.  And, of course, what are they going to do with the ‘casita’ after Mom and Dad die?  Tear it down? Of course not. It becomes a rental property. That’s the huge fallacy with this ‘family accommodation’ argument that we keep hearing.

“I refused to waste my (Village-compensated) time listening to Wingfield’s “life style” argument.  I told him if he wanted to change the Village Code, he needed to talk to his councillors.   “Just wanted you to know about this, since I expect we have probably not heard the last of it.” Before the council imposed the moratorium, they heard or read statements from villagers giving both sides of the controversy.

One of those was from builder Norm Schreifels of Sun Mountain Construction who wrote, “It has come to my attention that there are those in the village as well as council members that are trying to impose a moratorium on the construction of casitas. I have several upcoming construction projects that are casitas for family members of my clients and was told that I will not be allowed to obtain a permit for the casitas.”

Schreifels forwarded to Village Clerk Aaron Gjullin and Councillor Zach Burkett what he said is in State statute that specifically allows such casitas “which cannot be overridden by local municipalities. The law not only allows for casitas for family members but it also allows for a second kitchen.

“I am aware of why this has become a concern, and hope that one occurrence by a certain builder does not reflect on all builders. I have built many casitas and outbuildings here in Corrales and the neighbors didn’t have any concerns or objections. The casitas were considerably smaller than the main house, and the total area never exceeded the allowable percentage of construction that is allowed by the Village of Corrales.

“A way that we have done this in other areas is to have the homeowner sign a letter stating that the casita is to be used by family members and not as a rental.” Presenting the other side was a letter from Bob Pinkerton, who resides along Dancing Horse Lane. “My concern is with the apparent speed that accessory dwelling permits and short-term rental permits are under consideration without a real, focused study of impacts to our village and maintaining our rural heritage per the Corrales Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

“[I] strongly urge adoption of Resolution 21-03 moratorium on all accessory building permits and short-term rental permits until conditions and procedures are thoroughly studied with due care and diligence, precluding adverse effects upon our village. Foisting partially thought-out permit procedures in a rush to approve is absolutely out of character, and detrimental to the citizens, homeowners and residents of the Village of Corrales.”

At the council meeting that adopted the moratorium, no mention was made of the casita project on 489 West Ella. The former mayor’s mother, Patricia Kominiak, was one of six villagers who wrote to Mayor Jo Anne Roake on August 13 last year protesting the project on West Ella. Others were Charlotte Anderson, Dan and Estelle Metz, and Joe and Meryl Hancock.

“Secondary dwellings, guest houses or ‘casitas’ are simply not allowed in our land use codes, and it is therefore a mystery to us how the Village would issue a permit for such development, yet you appear to be doing so,” they wrote. “Multiple inquiries to the building inspector about this question have been effectively ignored. No information has been made available about the project in question, and it was not until construction was well underway that the problem became apparent to us and our fears were confirmed.”

At the time, Corrales Planning and Zoning Administrator Laurie Stout explained how the casita on West Ella gained approval, and suggested the Village Council may re-visit the rules in the months ahead. “In Section 18-29, the definition of dwelling unit in Village Code states: dwelling unit means any building or part of a building intended for human occupancy and containing one or more connected rooms and a single kitchen, designed for one family for living and sleeping purposes.”

The definition of kitchen, she added, “means any room principally used, intended or designed to be used for cooking or the preparation of food. The presence of a range or oven, or utility connections suitable for servicing a range or oven, shall be considered as establishing a kitchen. “This means a second structure on a lot, as long as there is no range or oven (or utility connections for such) meets the letter of the law in Village of Corrales Code. Contractors can and will exploit this loophole if their clients request.”

Stout said the mayor and council may try to tighten up relevant regulations. “Potential options in Corrales could be looking into limiting the size of the accessory unit, requiring that it merely be an addition to the home, etc. The intent of the N.M. Statute is to allow family members, such as elderly parents, to live on-property with their relatives.

“The reality is that often at some point the separate structure ends up having a kitchen added retroactively, and that structure eventually becomes a long-term rental with a tenant —thus becoming a zoning violation.” The council’s moratorium adopted January 26 reads as follows, in part. “Be it resolved by the Governing Body of the Village of Corrales, that:

1. Beginning on the effective date of this Resolution there shall be in force a 180 day moratorium on the acceptance, review, or consideration of any new applications, including but not limited to land use applications, building permit applications, and business registration applications related in any way to the development, erection, or establishment of an accessory structure built or modified to accommodate human habitation.

2. Beginning on the effective date of this Resolution there shall be in force a 180 day moratorium on the acceptance, review, or consideration of any new applications, including but not limited to land use applications, building permit applications, and business registration applications related in any way to the development, erection or establishment of Short-Term Rentals in an existing or planned accessory structure.

3. The moratorium imposed by this Resolution shall not be deemed to affect the status of any facilities existing and operational in the Village, nor permits having been properly issued on the date of adoption of this Resolution.

4. During the time that the moratorium described in the foregoing sections of this Resolution is in place, the Village of Corrales will exercise due diligence and work in good faith with the citizens and interested parties to develop and implement balanced and workable public policies relating to these issues.

5. During the time that the moratorium described in the foregoing sections of this Resolution is in place, the provisions of this Resolution shall prevail and have precedence over any contrary or inconsistent provisions of any prior ordinance or resolution of the Village; provided, however, that the provisions of prior ordinances and resolutions are not deemed to have been repealed by this Resolution, and shall remain in full force and effect to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions hereof.

6. The moratorium enacted by this Resolution shall terminate and be deemed repealed in its entirety on the date that is 180 days after the effective date of this Resolution, unless otherwise specifically provided by resolution or ordinance duly adopted by the Governing Body subsequent to the effective date of this Resolution.”