Aaron Walker -
Fighting For A Better
Los Alamos
About Me
A Voice For The Future
I am a 35 year old U.S. Navy veteran who moved to Los Alamos several years ago with my wife and two wonderful boys. I immediately became involved with the local county government after hearing about (and having my own) interactions with code enforcement. I was appointed to the Community Development Advisory Board at its inception in 2018, and am currently the chair. Since then, I have worked tirelessly to improve the way the county does business and interacts with the citizens of the community. I want to take the next step, and fight to improve the county by instilling a culture of accountability, transparency, and honesty as a county councilor.
The Issues
Sadly, due to COVID-19 I have been unable to get out and go meet with many members of the community. I have continued my online and newspaper approach in order to maintain social distancing and not put others at risk unnecessarily. I am constantly evaluating what I can and cannot do in the age of COVID-19, but I look forward to the day when I can sit down and chat with anyone that wishes to. There are many more issues than the ones I have listed below, and just because it is not on here does not mean I do not take it seriously. If there is an issue you wish to discuss, please contact me and I will make time for each and every one of you.
Small Businesses
Our small business economy is struggling. Businesses cannot find employees, and they are stifled by artificially inflated rent due to the lab. In order to foster an environment where small businesses can succeed, we must look at several changes:
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- We must aggressively pursue the development of truly affordable housing. This means re-development where possible, and in areas that are slated for development we must set aside a larger portion of land for affordable housing.
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- We must find a way to lower commercial rent. The cost of commercial space in town is artificially inflated by LANL and government rates. We must lower these rates by establishing a financial penalty for keeping commercial properties vacant. The additional path to accomplishing this is to also set an ordinance that bans the use of first floor commercial space for office space.
Communication And Accountability
The county government routinely fails at effective communication. Information that has been released is hard to find or poorly described. In order for people to understand fully what is going on within the county, the communication must be better. As a county councilor, I will do the following to ensure the county is doing its best to get the information to the people:
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- Maintain a proactive social media presence. I will be active within the local social media groups to effectively disseminate communications from the county, and will ensure that I am available for questions.
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- I will make myself available to all members of the community, and will respond as quickly as I can to any and all correspondence. Elected officials cannot accurately represent the people if they are not interacting with a variety of community members.
Utilities
The utility infrastructure in our town is deteriorating. It seems like every week we hear about 1-2 water main breaks. Our water fund and our electric fund are not in the most healthy of positions. The county has a carbon neutral goal of 2040. We have to make definitive strides to address these issues.
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- We must remove the 5% revenue transfer ordinance from the utility to the county. This is a regressive tax on the people and it could be sorely used by the utilities to accelerate infrastructure replacement and restoration of fund balances.
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- We must continue to invest in the carbon free power project if the county wishes to maintain its goal of being carbon neutral by 2040. Solar and wind will help, but nuclear is the only technology available right now that can scale to meet the needs of our community.
The Environment and Open Spaces
Our community faces a lot of environmental challenges. We live in a mountain community that is teeming with wildlife, and we must ensure that we are doing our best to maintain the health and safety of the wildlife we share the land with.
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- The county must immediately adopt a 3-5 year plan to phase in the usage of bear-resistant trash cans for all residents. The cost will be spread out over 3-5 years and can be paid with GRT revenue so that the residents should not have to pay the cost for the trash cans.
Contact/Donate
Click "Donate" button at the top right of the page to donate electronically.
Donations can be mailed to :
Aaron Walker
413 Pruitt Ave.
White Rock, NM 87547