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.
Former three-term ABQ Mayor Martin Chavez has been named executive director of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. ICLEI is a membership organization of local governments with a focus on climate protection, sustainability, and clean energy.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I could not be more pleased to welcome this experienced, committed, and tireless local government leader to assume the ICLEI Executive Director position,” Patrick Hays, ICLEI USA president and board chairman (and mayor of North Little Rock, Ark.) said in a statement.
“I’m a strong mayor at heart, and I’m therefore particularly excited to assume executive responsibility for building an organization that I consider so important,” Chavez said in the statement. “ICLEI has a successful tradition of helping our cities and counties do more and do better—to create places where we can thrive for generations to come. I look forward to working with fellow local elected officials and professionals nationwide, and of course with the very dedicated ICLEI staff, to achieve measureable impacts in the years ahead.”
A biography on the ICLEI website highlighted Chavez’s efforts to increase water conservation and to develop the San Juan Chama water diversion project to bring surface water into Albuquerque’s drinking water supply:
During Chavez’s first term as mayor, scientists determined that Albuquerque’s aquifer, its sole source of drinking water, would run out of potable water within 25 years. In response, he established one of the nation’s most aggressive water conservation programs and set a course for Albuquerque to access non-indigenous surface water to serve the City’s water future. Albuquerque reduced water use by one-third over 10 years while growing the number of water accounts by 33 percent. For this, Mayor Chavez accepted the World Leadership Award for Water Conservation and Utilities in 2006 from the World Leadership Forum in London.
