Opinion

Salary cuts have been a major topic throughout our nation during this time of financial crisis.

The discussion is headed by Wall Street executives of bailout companies who raked in a reported $18 billion in bonuses. That incurred the wrath of President Barack Obama, who called it shameful.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill has introduced legislation to hold executive salaries and benefits to no more than the $400,000 salary of the president of the United States. President Obama is suggesting a cap of $500,000.

Here’s a quote from Mayor Tony Marquez: “I’m very disappointed that these two councilmen persist in negativity, division, mistrust and fear-mongering. I had hoped that they would change for the better if the people spoke. Obviously, if they choose to continue the dark past, they are free to do so, but they will have to answer to their constituents.”

Is this about City Council members Diane Moore and Andrew Feldman, who have been harshly critical of Marquez these days?

SANTA FE — A gutsy state lawmaker has forced the door open ever so slightly to audio and video transmissions from state legislative committee hearings.

Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, an Albuquerque Republican, went out and bought a webcam and has begun streaming video and audio from the committees on which she serves.

The Webcasting was unauthorized so there is no telling how long it will continue but it did get some wheels turning that had been stuck in neutral for years.

While campaigning for president, Barack Obama insisted he couldn’t make real change alone — he needed all of us to help him by making our wishes known. Newly introduced in the New Mexico legislature are Joint Memorials entitled “Withdraw New Mexico National Guard from Iraq” (SJM20 in the Senate and HJM18 in the House). It’s a perfect opportunity to make our wishes known to our legislators that we need our Guard to come home.

UP thumb ... TWO NEW FACES. Congratulations to the winners of the East and West school board elections — Elaine Luna, Gabe Lucero on the east side and Christine Ludi and David Romero on the west side. Lucero defeated incumbent Philip Leger and former mayor Matt Martinez to become the City Schools district’s newest board member, while David Romero won the open seat being vacated by Ralph Garcia, who chose not to seek re-election. Luna and Ludi retained their positions in re-election bids.

In these times, renewable energy cannot afford to be given a bad name by big business whose bottom line is bigger profit.

Public officials should be held accountable, and that includes Las Vegas Mayor Tony Marquez.        Before last year’s election, we endorsed his candidacy for mayor, expecting him to be a breath of fresh air at City Hall. We supported his vision of transparency and accountability — and still do.

But we have come to disagree with how he has tried to carry out that vision. He has brought great instability to city government, and that has high costs for our community.

We all know school board elections are coming up. In the atmosphere of hope that encompasses our country today, we can’t help but feel like we can make a difference. All elections are important, yet school board elections, the decision we make on behalf of the children in our community, typically have overwhelmingly low turnout rates.

I would like to thank all the SAM-FM listeners who contributed to this year’s annual holiday turkey drive.

This was the seventh year for the turkey drive and again people reached deep down to help their neighbors. Because of your generosity, I was able to get turkeys for the Samaritan House, Victory Home Health, the Soup Kitchen, the Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul, the I.C. Church and even some for Santa Claus. They were all extremely grateful for the donations and I also thank them for their devoted service to our community all year round.