Commentary: I am disgusted by the Chamber of Commerce's selected candidates. Eli Guzman, City Council candidate, appears to want to eliminate impact fees. This will shift the burden of infrastructure costs for new developments to Las Cruces residents. The developers will pay nothing. The negative campaign of city council candidate Philip VanVeen attacks all aspects of our local community except the Chamber. He says that he finds it "difficult to live here." I am proud of Las Cruces and its quality of life. City Council candidate Rick Hall hasn't voted in a municipal election since 2007 and on his Facebook page spouts the usual Tea Party-type nonsense.
I listened to Mayoral candidate Miguel Silva at the June 1st City Council meeting regarding the recall vote. He showed total ignorance of the certification of the City Clerk's report. In fact his comments in my eyes insulted our City Clerk and Judge Mary Rosner, who ruled that the Las Cruces City Clerk had the power to remove the names of those who had signed the petitions under false pretenses. The average person would have a hard time understanding Mr. Silva's twisted logic to vote against certification. It is my opinion he wanted the recall to succeed. That is probably why he wanted Olga Pedroza, Nathan Small and Gill Sorg to recuse themselves on the vote. I guess his coy plan failed. Now he is rewarded with the support of a few Chamber leaders. I am sorry, but I cannot trust Mr. Silva.
Like numerous state and local chambers, the Chamber should become truly "nonpartisan." The Chamber should not support unqualified candidates who just support the political ideology of a few Chamber leaders, who constantly rip and bad-mouth local government. Their constant negativity in our community discourages new businesses from locating in our community.