BY MELANEE HAND
Democratic Candidate for
Los Alamos County Council

The General Election is fast approaching with early voting starting October 11.  Forums and newspaper articles are beginning to clarify the stance of candidates for Los Alamos County Councilor.  Voters have an advantage when evaluating two of the candidates (me and Chair Ryti) who are currently serving on County Council.  Voters can see the actual records of attendance, how we vote on the current issues, and our comments during Council sessions.  If it is too difficult to sit through the four-hour meetings, any citizen has the luxury of watching a videotaped meeting on their own schedule and cut it into increments if needed.  There are many topics and many votes, and in many instances the council members agree unanimously regardless of partisanship.  Many citizens are not aware of the tremendous amount of information that a County Councilor processes every week and may question when the Council makes a decision that is different from the recommendations made by a board.  Sometimes the reason for this is that new information has come to light after a decision has been made by a board, and although this information is often mentioned briefly by Council members in the Council meeting, the details don’t always carry back to everyone in the public, sometimes leading to skepticism.  I have participated on Council for only a short time; yet I see that the current seven councilors are able to get positive things done for our community on a regular basis.  Councilors listen to input in a variety of ways and work with county staff to address issues daily.  In many instances, developing a good working relationship with colleagues and staff helps to get things done because we are working together to reach common community goals and priorities, not against each other which can cause stagnation.