Heath Haussamen had a third question for the mayoral candidates that I will answer here:

1. •Has the city adequately kept up with the need for police and fire coverage? If not, how could it do better?
   

I believe the city has adequately kept up, yes, but more can certainly be done.  If we do more to improve those aspects of planning and community pride that can reduce crime and fire hazards (an ounce of prevention), we reduce the need for special equipment and uniformed officers to deal with the consequences of not having done those things (the pound of cure).  So, before giving a knee jerk reaction to crime and fire issues and saying we need more coverage, I would suggest we need to be looking more to the root issues and seeing if we are addressing them adequately.  If we determine that we are already providing all of the “ounces of prevention” that we can, then I would encourage us to turn to finding the “pounds of cure.”

Specifically, the new Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority center does need to get built.  Police and fire stations need to keep pace with our growth.  However, despite some apparent recent increases in some crimes, we are doing pretty well here, and better job opportunities may reduce some crime statistics while better early intervention may reduce some others.  There is also something to be said, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, for how we plan services and amenities in this community and the opportunities we give members of this community to take pride in where we live, who we are, what we do.