I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Secretary Rick Homans announced today that the final two Budget Balancing Task Force meetings will be webcast live.
“A number of people kept mentioning to me that it the meetings are being held during the afternoons, primarily during working hours, in all parts of the state…and it would be great if we could webcast it and open it up to more people to listen in,” Homans said late Tuesday.
The New Mexico Independent webcast and live blogged one of the previous meetings, held in mid-November at Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Homans said that webcasting the Budget Balancing Task Force meetings would have several benefits.
“Number one, it sends the signal that it is a total transparent and open process. That nobody’s trying to hide anything or do anything in secret. Number two, you get to more people, but it can be done at the convenience of somebody’s home or office. You can be multitasking while you keep an eye on the webcast, and drop in and drop out of it as you desire,” he said.
Homans has experience keeping one eyeball on a webcast. He told The Independent that he had been an avid watcher of our live blogs during October’s special legislative session.
“During the special session I was on quite a bit because it was the best way to find out what was going on in three different places. You’ve got to be kind of a wonk sometimes to be into it, but it was pretty suspenseful to watch the deliberations on whether a bill would be considered germane or not,” he said.
The next task force meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 10, from 1-5 p.m. at the Farmington Civic Center. The last meeting is set for Thursday, Dec. 17, from 1-5 p.m. at the Santa Fe Community College. To watch live, go to the Budget Balancing Task Force Web site.
The webcast will include PowerPoint presentations that will be shown in-person, and Homans said he would try to make sure that speakers introduced themselves so that webcast viewers would know who is speaking.
