Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 56 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 6, 2015
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
New RISD board says it will battle bullying
By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer A new leader has been elected president of the Roswell Independent School District board, and two newly elected board members were sworn onto the five-member board this week, amid complaints of bullying akin to those that thrust the school district into the national spotlight little more than a year ago. Dr. Peggy Brewer was unanimously elected president at Tuesday’s school board meeting at Valley View Elementary School, the school board’s first meeting following the Feb. 3 school board elections.
Brewer, a member of the school board for six years and its former vice president, succeeds former school board president Pauline Ponce, who was defeated in her re-election bid last month. “I’m very excited and it’s quite an honor,” Brewer told the Daily Record. Brewer, whose term as school board president is for two years and whose four-year elected term ends in 2017, said her top priority is bringing top-notch teachers to Roswell. “Just continuing to recruit highly qualified, talented teachers in our district,” she said. “That’s our
No. 1 priority for our students.” Ruben Sanchez and board member James W. Waldrip were sworn into office Tuesday by 5th Judicial District Judge Steven L. Bell, each for four-year terms. Sanchez defeated Ponce, a former state representative, 179 votes to 163, in the Feb. 3 school elections. It was Sanchez’s first run for public office. Ponce was seeking a second four-year term on the Roswell school board. Waldrip defeated challenger Carey D. Smith Jr., 387 votes to 322, to win re-election. Waldrip
has served on the Roswell school board since 2003. It was Smith’s first run for public office. In other elections of school board officers Tuesday, Waldrip was unanimously elected board vice president and school board member Eloy Ortega Jr. was unanimously elected board secretary. Sanchez, 34, is a realty specialist for the federal Bureau of Land Management and a U.S. Air Force and Iraq War veteran. He reiterated his election night commitment to rooting out bullying at all Roswell schools. “As far as school bully-
ing, like I said, I’m going to talk with everybody,” Sanchez said. “I’m going to talk with administrators. I’m going to talk with teachers, get their opinions on what’s going on. As far as taking care of bullying, we’re going to take steps to counteract that.” Sanchez said he has “zero-tolerance for bullying.” “I will not put up with it,” he said. Sanchez said he’s very excited to serve on the school board. He said his other goals will be based on feedback he receives from RISD teachers and administrators.
“It’s kind of hard to say for the next four years, that’s kind of a long ways out,” Sanchez said. “The first item on the agenda is going to be getting with our schools, talking with our administrators, talking with our teachers, gathering their questions and concerns and starting from that.” Waldrip begins his 13th year on the Roswell school board. He has previously served two years as board vice president, four years as president and two as secretary. “I re-upped, and fortuSee RISD, Page A3
‘I stole him,’ Polasek says of incoming aide
By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
Bill Moffitt Photo
For the past several weeks students in the Roswell Museum Ceramic Program have been making ceramic bowls for the Soup ’n Bowl event, which begins tonight with a pre-party at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art.
Soup ’n Bowl kicks off tonight
Staff Report
Call it the post-football season bowl, and the beauty part is you get to eat soup and take home a handmade bowl for the money you spend. On Saturday, the Ros-
well Interarts Organization invites the public to Soup ’n Bowl 2015 at the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, 409 E. College Blvd. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and soup is served from 11 a.m.-2
p.m. The silent auction ends at 3 p.m. More than 1,000 handmade ceramic bowls have been produced by local artists, including members of the Pecos Valley Potters Guild and
students at the Roswell Museum Ceramic Program. For $25, ticket holders can choose a handmade bowl to keep, then See BOWLS, Page A3
The city of Roswell has made its first administrative hire under a new organizational structure that will be implemented by City Manager Steve Polasek, who is relatively new on the job himself. Polasek, who became city manager in mid-November, went back to his previous post in Keller, Texas, to lure Jonathan Phillips to become director of administrative services. “I stole him. Darn right. I’m not a popular man in Keller right now I can assure you that,” said Polasek, adding that the job was added to the city hall team rather than filling another’s shoes. Phillips, 34, will earn about $100,000 as one of three men to hold that title as the assistant city manager position is phased out under the restructured format. The other two directors of administrative services will be Louis Najar, currently city engineer, and Mike Mathews, whose current title is special services
administrator. Phillips will be assigned to oversee eight city departments (parks/recreation, library, museum/arts, convention/ visitors bureau, finance/ utility, human resources, information technology and special projects) while each of those agencies will retain its current department head, Polasek said. “He’s going to be a busy man,” Polasek said. “There are no assistant city managers anymore. There are leadership roles and positions that they’re all going to play. When I’m out of town, for instance, I’ll probably rotate around who’s acting city manager in my absence. It may be Mike Mathews one time, it may be Louis Najar, it may be Jonathan Phillips, but I very much believe in spreading it out and not putting all the knowledge and power in one area, and this is kind of what this does.” Phillips holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas and a bacheSee AIDE, Page A3
IRB bill passes Senate Geraci leaving NMMI after 10 years
Staff Report
A bill that would expand industrial revenue bonds to the housing and energy development industries passed the New Mexico Senate Thursday. A committee substitute for Senate Bill 319 passed the Senate by a 33-7 vote and now heads to the New Mexico House of Representatives for consideration. The amended bill was passed by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday with a 9-0 vote. The substitute bill adds the energy development industry, includ-
ing refining and extractive mining, to industries eligible for industrial revenue bonds. It also clarifies that a mine or energy project cannot be in operation prior to issuance of the IRBs. State Sen. Carroll Leavell, R-Jal, sponsor of Senate Bill 319, said the measure would encourage business projects by expanding IRBs. He said the bill would provide an economic boost for southeastern New Mexico and would benefit the entire state by allowing counties
See BILL, Page A3
Staff Report
Brig. Gen. Richard Geraci will not be on the New Mexico Military Institute’s campus come the 2015-16 season. Geraci has been the commandant and dean of students at NMMI for 10 and a half years. Geraci came to NMMI in December 2004, after retiring from the United States Army. He is a 1975 graduate of NMMI. Geraci has been recognized by NMMI and inducted into the Hall of
Geraci Fame on campus. His military duties included director, national security space architect,
A teacher of character Submitted Photo
Alexandra McGrath, an eighth-grade student at Berrendo Middle School, nominated her math teacher, Ashley Owen, for a Character Counts! award. From the 100 teachers nominated, Owens was one of the top 10 teachers to receive the award at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center on Tuesday night. “The reason I nominated
Today’s Forecast
HIGH 56 LOW 25
Mrs. Owen for the teacher of character award is because she demonstrates all six pillars of character,” McGrath said. “Mrs. Owen is very loving, wonderful, kind and supportive. She makes the lessons fun and encourages us to try harder. She is much more than just a teacher to me. She has inspired me to become a math teacher when I grow up.”
NMDOH releases vaccine exemption data for schools Staff Report
The New Mexico Department of Health has compiled vaccine exemption data for each public school district in the state. The data is for the 2014-15 school year. The Department of Health said in a released statement it is making a commitment to update vaccine exemption data by school district each year. New Mexico law requires children be vaccinated to
• Jerrold Keith Johnson
attend school, but it allows exemptions for medical and religious reasons. Schools are required to maintain records of the child’s immunization records or their exemption forms. In Chaves County, 63 children between the ages of 4 and 18 have been given exemptions. That averages to four exemptions per 1,000 children. The New Mexico county with the highest rate See VACCINE, Page A3
Index
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
• Phillip Jaramillo
guished military student of NMMI’s junior college division. He was deployed four times with Air Defense units before and after the Cold War as well as deployed three times to southeast Asia in support of Operations Desert Storm, Desert Focus and Desert Falcon. Geraci said he is leaving NMMI to move closer to his children and grandchildren, who reside in the Kansas City area.
deputy commanding general for operations, U.S. Army space and missile defense command, chief for the space and information operations element, U.S. Space Command in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and deputy director for joint war fighting experimentation. He commanded units at platoon, battery, battalion and brigade level, for which he has more than 10 years of experience. Geraci is also a distin-
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