A few suggestions on an immigration law
Editor:
Having read the five responses to the question about the Justice Department suing Arizona’s Immigration Law, I have come to the conclusion there is one word that must be removed from the House and Senate; that word is comprehensive. 
I have noticed whenever that particular word is used invariably the reform never gets passed. My solution is to pass individual pieces of legislation that when all are passed they will automatically create comprehensive reform.
1. Pass a simple law that seals the border with enough personnel to enforce the law.
2. Pass a simple law to prevent individuals from gaining employment without positive proof the person is legally in the country.
3. Fine any employer with an amount that will discourage any employer from subsequent hiring of any person who cannot prove legality.
4. Make deportation a simple removal process that can be accomplished in a matter of days instead of months.
5. Make immigration lawyers responsible for the behavior of their clients.
6. Do not allow any other country to dictate what our laws should be.
7. Have all drivers’ licenses issued by the Federal Government through the states so every drivers license looks the same throughout the country.
These are just a few suggestions. There are probably many more, but this my idea.
We do not need 1,000 to 3,000 pages for any legislation. A simple, less than 10 page, document will do.

James Taylor
Los Lunas

Don’t look in the past, let’s look at our future
Editor:
In reference to the weekend edition of May 22, headline: “Belen overspent $3.5 million since 2007,” Councilor Jerah Cordova said, “There was a clear pattern of overspending. There was too much money dedicated to projects without a focus on basic infrastructure.”
Cordova said there was mismanagement on the part of the previous administration with projects such as the Camino del Llano Road project.
Councilor Wayne Gallegos said, “You can’t point the finger, that’s not right.” Bravo for standing up to facts and not innuendos. Counselor Gallegos stated that he did see the city’s cash flow shrink over the past two budget years, and said the previous administration took budgetary action before they left office.
So, why, according to Gallegos, who has been on the council for two years, knew about the financial problems, and Mayor Rudy Jaramillo, who has been on the council for the past 10 years, says he did not know about the financial problems until two days after he was elected mayor?
Mayor Jaramillo also said “I don’t want to blame the previous administration...they had to have known.”
Rudy should include himself since he too was an elected official in the previous administration. How could Rudy have not known being he was on the council for as long as former Mayor Torres was mayor?
Councilor Gallegos knew about it. Were you not at the council meetings, Rudy? Mayor Jaramillo, you must be aware that a mayor cannot do any spending without council approval, so being you were in the previous administration, you were involved in the Camino del Llano project. Even the president of the United States has to go through Congress for approval.
Everyone is aware of the financial problems hitting the government in the state, county, city, school and businesses all over the nation — not just Belen. The economy is nationwide. Instead of putting blame on any administration, everyone should work together to come up with a solution to fix the economy.
Councilor Gallegos stated “officials must become more efficient and work together to get to the root of the problems...It can be done.” At least Councilor Gallegos has a positive attitude.
Councilor Jerah Cordova, on the other hand, has a very negative attitude, and has been putting down the previous administration even since before he became a council member. Enough is enough. You are sounding like a broken record.
Do something more constructive with your time. There is a shortage of employees due to layoffs. Why not volunteer your time helping out the departments that could use the help? How about helping clean up the parks?  I’m sure there is plenty to do.
Instead of walking up and down the halls at city hall, as you are known to do, why not do physical work that helps? Talk is cheap. It doesn’t help.
...There’s an old Spanish “dicho” my Dad always used, “No escupas para riva por que te kie en la cara,” which means, “Don’t spit up because the spit will fall on your face.” Moral of the saying, be careful what you say because it can come right back on you.
In closing, I just want to wish the present administration, which to me is “they” the mayor and council, the very best of luck. Maybe through their efforts, the economy will go up and the budget can go up and Belen can, once again, be a prosperous town. Like Councilor Gallegos said, “It can be done. I feel it can be done, but it’s going to take time.”
I was born in Belen in 1940. I’ve lived here all my life, and have seen so many changes. I can recall when the Republicans and Democrats used to work together to better our town. Everyone helped each other; no one thought they were better than anyone else. Rich or poor, everyone stuck together.
I remember Republican mayors, Democrat mayors, and to this day, I have nothing but good to say about them — Neel Alexander, Boleslo Lovato, Earl Peter, Richard Aragon, Ronnie Torres (the youngest mayor, I believe) just to name a few. They were all there for the city. Businesses came and some stayed and some are gone.
The buildings on Main Street, at Del Rio Plaza and buildings across the river in Rio Communities are mostly vacant now, not due to the administration, but due to the economy. No mayor, council, governor or even the president can make any business come in and occupy these vacant buildings. That is just common sense.
Its is sad to see all that vacant property on Main Street all boarded up. Hopefully, someday the owners of these vacant buildings will do whatever it takes to attract businesses to consider occupying these buildings.
All in all, Belen is still the best town there is, in my opinion. It is the friendliest place around. We can still meet for coffee every morning at Donut King and discuss the problems the city is having, talk politics or whatever the topic we can come up with.
It used to be Gil’s Bakery where one used to hang out, but today it’s one of the vacant buildings. How nice it would be if Gil and Priscilla were still there welcoming Democrats and Republicans alike.

Henri Torres
Belen

Rael should recuse himself from vote
Editor:
It was no surprise that in a recent News-Bulletin article that Ms. Piro, Commissioner Pedro Rael’s wife, said that things were not tense between her and the commissioner because of her putting her name on the plaintiff list in the lawsuit against the county’s “donation” to update the hospital project.
After all, Rael is one of the most dedicated and impassioned advocates, in my opinion, for the plaintiffs, and it is his (former) law partner who is the plaintiffs’ attorney.
Their public statements have shown great disrespect for the huge majority of voters who wanted, and still want, a hospital in Valencia County.
What is surprising, however, is that by putting her name on the plaintiff list, she has created a clear conflict of interest for Mr. Rael.
As a commissioner, he is a defendant in the case. Her, being a plaintiff, in my opinion, forces him to recuse himself in all further voting on the issue.
That, to me, seems like it would bring more tension in the household than her desire to defeat the county’s plans to help provide a hospital in the county.
In an apparent change of heart, Rael himself, at a commission meeting, had magnanimously suggested that this “donation” to the Valencia Health Commons should not be limited to $30,000, but be open-ended.
Now, in my opinion, he must remain silent. I have to assume that Mr. Rael is an extremely patient and forgiving husband.

Clarke Metcalf
Belen

Obama is tearing our country apart
Editor:
Well, leave it to Bingaman, Udall, Heinrich, Teague, Lujan and Gov. Richardson to plant their collective lips squarely on the behinds of Obama and Eric Holder. They should be ashamed of their position on this matter.
Our border states should be supporting each other and the Arizona law, not taking sides with an administration that is suing one of our own 50 states.  How dare they! The Obama Administration does not care one hoot about protecting our borders, which incidentally, is their main job. The only thing they care about is getting the votes of millions of illegals after granting them amnesty.
The Obama Administration is doing everything in its power to tear our United States apart, and suing one of our 50 states is just another “chink in the armor.” Our New Mexico delegation just blindly follows along without a thought that it might be the wrong thing to do for our country and state.  It’s obvious that nobody is taking into consideration that the Arizona Immigration Law is the same law that the feds should be upholding, if they were doing their job.
Along these same lines, I haven’t heard any objections from Obama, Eric Holder, or our N.M. delegation regarding the nerve of the Mexican government (yes, I said Mexican) suing Arizona. Again, how dare they! From their silence, I have to assume our government approves of this travesty. 
The Mexican government needs to stay out of our affairs — period. You’d think our government would tell them to mind their own business; but apparently that’s not going to happen.

Donna Crawford
Los Lunas