Mary Meade, Candidate

In Luna County our SNAP recipients are not required to work because the Feds recognized there are not enough jobs. As well, people can't afford to take many of the lower paying jobs because they risk loosing SNAP and housing assistance benefits. At the same time our businesses can't afford to pay the higher salaries because their profit margins are too slim.

ACTION: Require high tech companies that want to do business in Luna County to provide job training to locals with hiring guarantees. Luna is positioned to be a leader in solar agri-voltaics; we just need qualified installers and maintenance workers. The same goes for Geothermal power systems. More good paying jobs builds jobs in other sectors like home construction, education, retail,. etc. Give companies incentives to work here... but don't give the house away to get them to come.

Luna County farmers use 92% of our water, or 100,000 acre feet, annually, per a 2020 OSE report. The towns of Deming and Columbus, residential and commercial, combined, used 5,000 acre feet at the same time. We could double our population and still only use 5% of the water 120 farm families use. How do we help farmers to reduce water usage so our communities can grow?

ACTION: Establish a Water Advisory Council to research current conditions, successful alternatives, grants, and partnerships.