Meeting with Kirtland Air Force Base Regarding Air Noise

My office has received numerous calls and email regarding noise from Kirtland Air Force Base disturbing residents of the SE Heights. Last week my office and a constituent met with Kirtland Air Force Base leadership including Col. Robert Maness, Commander of the 377^th Air Base Wing and Col. Joseph Hastings, Vice Commander of the 58^th Special Operations Unit. The Base leadership is committed to being a good neighbor to the SE Heights of Albuquerque and is willing and open to working with us. However, they did make it quite clear that they are unable to stop their operations and trainings they perform on the base. Their operations at KAFB are critical to the mission of the United State Air Force.

They assured us that they take noise complaints seriously and shared with us that over the last couple of months, there has been a major spike in noise complaints. I believe that if the “spike” becomes the norm, then they will be forced to modify their operations. I encourage folks to continue filing noise complaints with KAFB.

I offered to host a public meeting with the 377^th Air Base Wing and 58^th Special Operations Unit to allow the public to speak about the noise coming from the base. They were hesitant to host a separate meeting from their regularly scheduled Citizen Advisory Board Meetings. The next CAB Meeting is November 23, 2010 and they encouraged residents to attend this meeting and speak to this issue during the public comment period. Again, if there are number of residents speaking to this issue, they will be forced to revisit their operations.

Col. Maness and Col. Hastings were supportive of an idea to have a regularly scheduled CAB Meeting being devoted specifically to the noise issue from the base. CAB Meetings are held quarterly, so we look forward to that meeting which will occur next calendar year (April, 2011). Col. Hastings proposed having ongoing meetings on noise in the early fall of each year, as this is the time of year where they usually see a spike in noise complaints.

I would like to thank everyone for participating in this discussion and would like to encourage you to continue your participation. Keep filing your noise complaints with KAFB by calling the Public Affairs Office at 846-5991 or email at marie.vanover@kirtland.af.mil. My office will continue to keep in communication with KAFB and you can contact me 768-3152 or email me at reygarduno@cabq.gov or my staff person Julian Moya at julianmoya@cabq.gov.

APS Affirms Migrant Policy

From the Albuquerque Journal

By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
Affirming a policy that has been in writing since 2006 and in practice since before then, an Albuquerque Public Schools committee voted Monday to strengthen language banning immigration officials from its campuses.
The revision was passed with no discussion, and was one of nine policies updated at the meeting, part of a monthslong process of bringing the rules in closer alignment with what is actually being done in the schools.
The ban on immigration officials was laid out in a policy adopted in 2006 but has been inconsistent in the district's written rules.
The policy was adopted during APS's negotiations with lawyers for three Del Norte High School students from Chihuahua, Mexico, who were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol outside the school in March 2004.
That incident prompted a policy that banned school employees from investigating students' immigration status or offering any information about a student to immigration officials. The same rule also said school employees must initially deny immigration agents access to students on campus.
The 2006 policy directs school employees to ask administrators whether any request for information about or access to students by immigration officials is lawful before providing it.
The policy, which deals with keeping students safe on campus, currently requires "close monitoring" of all campus visitors, including law enforcement, social services and immigration officials. The proposed revision would strike that language and add a sentence that explicitly says, "Immigration officials shall not be permitted on school campus at any time."
Board member Lorenzo Garcia, who often speaks about the rights of immigrant students, said strengthening the language is a positive move.
"The important thing is to keep children safe," he said, adding that schools should establish an environment where students and parents feel secure.

Read the rest of the article here.