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Connor enters Las Cruces mayoral race
Dolores Connor
Las Cruces City Councilor Dolores Connor announced today that she’s challenging Mayor Ken Miyagishima for the city’s top job this year.
“My experience and commitment will bring a new kind of mayor to Las Cruces – a mayor that first seeks commonsense to solutions and not the latest fad or another report to sit on a shelf,” Connor said at a news conference, according to prepared remarks.
Connor said she would be “a mayor that understands that we have many experts living in our own community – they should be combined with our staff, adding knowledge on how we grow Las Cruces, recognizing our past and how we step into the future; a mayor that wants everyone to have a chance to be successful; and a mayor that is humbled everyday by the opportunity to serve the citizens of my favorite city.”
The Nov. 8 municipal election is nonpartisan, but Connor is a Republican and Miyagishima is a Democrat. No other candidiates have entered the race.
Connor represents District 2 on the city council. She was first elected in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. Miyagishima, a former councilor, is completing his first term as mayor.
Connor, who called herself a fiscal conservative, said the city needs to reduce red tape and become more business-friendly, which she said would bring money into the city’s coffers. Pointing to cuts the city has had to make in recent years, she said the city is at the point where some departments can’t be cut further.
Connor singled out public safety.
“We need to have officers and firefighters on the streets, with good equipment and resources to fund operations,” she said. “We need an additional fire/police station in the eastern part of our city, and you have heard me more than once insist that a new 9-1-1 center is critical.”
Connor, a third-generation Las Crucen, is a graduate of Mayfield High School who started and later became vice president of a local savings and loan company. She has also been an owner and partner in a local retail business.
Connor served as mayor pro-tem from 2005 to 2007. She was named citizen of the year in 2007 by the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, received the Wilderness Society’s Environmental Hero Award in 2006, and was one of New Mexico Business Weekly’s “Women Who Mean Business” in July 2008.
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There is only one word for pro-business in this town, given the track record from 2006-2007 is Building Industry Association (BIA). Conner is not the right choice for this town, only for the BIA.
Hemingway, did I say she didn’t? Don’t put words in my mouth.
When Dolores came into office, she actually showed some independence and leadership. Now, she is nothing but a bitter shell of her former self, and only interested in being a hand maiden for all the negative right wingers. Through her transition, she has showed a divisive and negative quality that would not be good in a Mayor. If we wanted someone who would betray their committments and divide the town, we would elect Dollar-Bill Mattiace again. Her slogans are hollow and nothing more than bumper stickers taken from Susana’s campaign. Sorry Dolores, being against everything positive is not going to help bring businesses or entrepreneurs here. They want quality of life and this is what the current Mayor and Council understand and advocate for. Come November, the citizens will endorse this as well, and we can look forward to you taking your sanctimonious negativity back home to the great District 2.
Stever forgets that City Councilor Dolores Connor was all gung ho about the red light cameras when it was adopted on October 8, 2008. She moved the main resolution to give the contract to Redflex.
The important questions are will we get more unused bike lanes and more revenue, er I mean speed, er I mean red light cameras?
Explain to me how you can reduce the city budget and add city services. By encouraging investments from out of town corporations and development firms who have accountants and lawyers whose job is to make sure they never pay any taxes? By developing the desert–and increasing city infrastructure costs–and ignoring the city’s proudest neighborhoods?
Dolores Connor will never be my mayor.
What are Ms. Connor’s biggest accomplishment as a City Councilor? First she is always angrily opposing everything the other City Councilors approve. I thought of something – her biggest success. It is banning text messaging, emailing, and playing games with a cell phone or computer during council meetings. I guess using internet access as a helpful tool when it comes to informed decision-making is wrong.
However I might be wrong. Maybe it was her full and uncritical support of the Philippou sweetheart land deal that could have wrecked Las Cruces’ development.
Oh well – it is up to Las Cruces voters to judge whether she has done an outstanding job as a City Councilor. Judged by her accomplishments listed above, it appears the answer is a resounding “NO”.
Ms. Connor would be a poor choice as mayor. She responsive to the interests of a few local businesspeople and the development industry — we shouldn’t forget that she is the lone council member remaining who supported Philip Philippou’s Vistas at Presidio project — the biggest development boondoggle in Las Cruces history. We don’t need to go back to that era when we were supposed to let our “betters” run city affairs — luckily we now have a mayor and majority of councilors who are accessible, courteous, and open in their dealing with their constituents.
Las Cruces is on the move, and the new atmosphere at City Hall is positive and productive. There’s no reason to go back to the insider game that Ms. Connor knows so well.
Dolores Connor has always been known to want to quickly approve new zoning in Las Cruces neighborhoods without due process and proper safeguards. She is basically “development-driven.” If you want irresponsible development, Ms. Connor is your candidate. It is sad that some people call this pro-business.
She would make an excellent mayor, and bring fiscal conservatism and business understanding to the job. She could then make a good Guv as well.
Are those ‘many experts’ supposed to be unpaid volunteers?
Health,
Ask Ms. Connor where she would get the money to fund new public safety facilities.
also,
Connor said she would be “a mayor that understands that we have many experts living in our own community – they should be combined with our staff, adding knowledge on how we grow Las Cruces. ( I didn’t know David Roewe was still in town.)