Day 4 of the ROUNDHOUSE ON THE ROAD Tour

On the road again…

I left Albuquerque early this morning, drove 151 miles south to Carrizozo, and had breakfast at the Four Winds Restaurants with some local folks and a couple of Village Trustees.  I met an interesting transplant from New York, who happens to be working on a documentary film about Carrizozo, and visited his studio on 12th street, the old main drag in town.

We parked the bus at Carrizozo City Hall for office hours and many people wanted to talk about opening a grocery store in town.  The nearest grocery store is 20 miles away in Capitan. The high cost of gas makes trips to the store financially difficult, and the long drive is impractical for the elderly.  After speaking with more than 20 people who came to visit with me, I took a brief tour of Carrizozo, making a quick stop to see the old recreation center and its antique bowling alley. I understand the Village Trustees will be requesting some CDBG funds to get the rec center renovated and fully operational again.

In Tularosa I had a quick lunch with city officials and local leaders at Casa de Sueños. The local Rotary club was having their weekly meeting so I got to say hello to them, as well as others having lunch.

Office hours in Tularosa were held at the Tularosa Village Hall. The mayor was waiting for me and we had a detailed conversation about the immediate needs of Tularosa. Turnout was fantastic and, as has been the case throughout the tour, health care was one of the most common concerns for local citizens and elected leaders alike. Some also spoke with me about the serious need for road improvements.  After office hours concluded, I traveled a short distance down the road to Alamogordo.

In Alamogordo I had time to attend a great reception hosted by the Chamber Ambassadors, the mayor of Alamogordo and Chamber Director Mike Espiritu.  Then we set up for office hours in front of the Chamber of Commerce but it was so hot we decided to move inside to make everyone more comfortable. I spoke to the large group and then met with constituents one on one.  Local concerns varied from health care to the spaceport and some more personal constituent issues that we will follow up on when we get back to Santa Fe.   I’m going to spend the night here in Alamogordo and get back to work tomorrow, visiting with people from Cloudcroft and Ruidoso.

I’m eager to get to Ruidoso tomorrow to see for myself what the rains left behind. My heart goes out to the family of the young man that lost his life, and to all the people who lost their homes in the floods. I will be in Ruidoso tomorrow with folks from Human Services and the Department of Health, and hope to help make state resources available to those people who really need them in this difficult time.

Hasta Mañana...