Veterans Day (A time to honor our veterans and spend time with our family)

Today is the day to honor our veterans for their service to our country. I had to work because the college does not feel that our college should be closed on this special day. I have often wondered about that since families should be given time to spend the day with veterans and families.

I attended the Central New Mexico Community College school board meeting this evening. I still find it odd that most votes on the board are decided long before it comes to a vote in front of the public. The board elections are coming up in February for four members of the board. The members up for reelection if they should decide to run are: Robert P. Matteucci, Jeff Armijo, Blair L. Kaufman and Richard Barr. Richard Barr is the only republican on the board and it will be interesting to see if he draws any democratic rival in such a blue city as Albuquerque. One does have to wonder. Blair L. Kaufman is a solid active democrat and should receive the support of the party. Jeff Armijo is the same candidate who ran for State Auditor in 2006 but pull out and the seat went to Hector Balderas who is another very solid active democrat. This should be an interesting race to follow if he decides to run once more for reelection. Robert P. Matteucci is one of the oldest board members and I personally think that they should name a building after him. So in short the two races to watch for those of you who are political junkies and feeling the withdraw pains of after election times are those of Richard Barr (district 7) and Jeff Armijo (district 3). See Map. Union members may not be too happy with these people because they still don't have their raise which was approved last July by the state. If anyone is feeling the need to run for a board seat the deadline is in december and you can contact the county clerks office to get the deadline date. I look forward to interviewing anyone who runs this next year after all we follow small local races just the same as the large races in this city.


Business Week’s The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009


Albuquerque listed thirty second on the list but it was on the list which I am sure is better than some cities faired. This city could do a great deal more to make itself kid and family friendly in the coming years. We have grown culturally over the last few years with the bio park and the zoo. We have the explorer museum, an art museum and the natural history museum. We have the National Hispanic Cultural Center that has an art museum and live performers. We are beginning to design and build bike trials but more could be done to build bigger parks with activities for children. Community Centers could also be built that appeal to children of all age groups. The city has redesigned Tingley Beach with a small train that runs between the Bio Park and the Zoo but it would be nice to run it to the National Hispanic Cultural Center and The Rio Grande Nature Center. The train could even at some point be expanded to run to the International Balloon Park museum. The linking of all of these attractions would further encourage tourism in the City of Albuquerque therefore making it a more family friendly city for visitors. The local Native American tribes should also be encouraged to build a National Native American Cultural Center in the city alone the route of that small but family friendly train. Hotel chains should also be encouraged to invest in linking to the train around the airport which would encourage even more family friendly tourism. Families look for cities with a lot to do and an easy way to connect these activities. They also want to visit a place before they agree to live there so having all of your activities connected to the local airport is always a good way to attract attention to local attractions. Something for people and city leaders in this city to think about on a day like today where many families are off from work.