Environmental Justice Tour 2009

Here is a link to SWOPblogger, where Aurea put together a video from their EJ Tour in April. The video includes comments from Albuquerque City Councilor Rey Garduño. Enjoy.

photo from 2007 US Social Forum, from sarahruthvg's @ flickr

APS Holding Public Workshops on 2009-10 Budget

Get involved the APS budget process! Ensure the money is benefitting our students. APS is holding workshops on budget process. The last workshop, on May 14 will be held in the International District. Below is more info...

Albuquerque Public Schools will be hosting a series of workshops to offer parents, staff and the community an opportunity to learn more about the APS 2009-10 budget. The first workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, at Mountain View Elementary School, 5317 2nd St. SW.

“As part of our transparent budget process, it is critical for the district to inform the public of some difficult choices we will be forced to make, and to take public input,” APS Superintendent Winston Brooks said. “We have a uniquely challenging year ahead of us.”

The workshops will give participants an overview of the budget, including projected revenues and expenditures; APS' focus on classroom resources; history and forecasts; anticipated student growth; capital construction; and changes from the 2008-09 budget.
A question and answer period will follow.

Other workshops are scheduled as follows:

7 p.m., Thursday, May 7
APS Aztec Complex
2611 Eubank NE

7 p.m., Tuesday, May 12
Taylor Middle School
8200 Guadalupe Trail NW

5 p.m., Thursday, May 14
Van Buren Middle School
700 Louisiana Blvd. SE

photo from Kittroid on Flickr

MAY DAY

ACHIEVE

City Councilor Rey Garduño attended a Presentation by ACHIEVE, Action Communities for Health, Inovation, & EnVironmental changE, yesterday and wanted to share the 10 Tips for Better Health and the 10 Things Your Doctor Didn't Tell You.

For more info click here.

Conventional 10 Tips for Better Health
1. Don't smoke. If you can, stop. If you can't, cut down.
2. Stay on a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables.
3. Make sure you stay physically active and exercise at least 3 times a week.
4. Manage stress by, for example, talking things through and taking time to slow down, or planning relaxing get-aways.
5. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.
6. Cover up in the sun, and protect children from sunburn.
7. Make sure you practice safer sex.
8. Don’t forget regular check ups with your family doctor and get screenings for cancer.
9. Be safe on the roads: Follow the highway code and wear your seatbelt.
10. Learn the first-aid ABC: airways, breathing, circulation.

What Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You
1. Don't be poor. If you can, stop. If you can't, try not to be poor for long.
2. Live near good supermarkets and affordable fresh produce stores
3. Live in a safe leafy neighborhood with parks and green space nearby.
4. Work in a rewarding and respected job with good compensation, benefits, and control over your work.
5. If you work, don’t lose your job or get laid off.
6. Take family vacations and all the benefits you are entitled to.
7. Make sure you have wealthy parents.
8. Don’t live in damp, low-quality housing, next to a busy road or near a polluting factory.
9. Be sure to own a car, so you don’t have to rely on under-funded public transportation.
10. Learn how to fill in the complex housing.

Capital Battle

from the New Mexico Independent

By Marjorie Childress 4/15/09 1:57 AM

ALBUQUERQUE — An ongoing turf-war between Mayor Martin Chávez and Albuquerque’s City Council bubbled up yesterday, this time over the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Apparently, the city attorney and the mayor think the Council amended and passed this year’s CIP budget too late, which means the mayor’s version will go before voters in October.

The Capital Improvement Program funds projects like parks, roads, and city buildings.
The final legislation approved by the council on April 6 eliminated several of the mayor’s high profile priorities — including a $6.48 million lagoon intended for swimming at Tingley Beach as well as infrastructure for a big soccer field complex to be built on the far West Side near I-40 and Paseo del Volcan. SunCal Corporation offered to donate that land after the Council cut funding, with the Mayor making the offer to the Council on March 13.

But now, City Attorney Bob White — a long-time appointee of the mayor — says the Council didn’t follow the proper timeline, which means the mayor’s original proposal stands.

In response, city councilors said at a press conference late yesterday that White is mistaken, and that the decree represents an encroachment on the council’s power.