Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 123, No. 177 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
July 24, 2014
Supervisor: Animal shelter following ordinance
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Practice of holding animals for rescues suspended
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Since the Roswell Animal Control came under the supervision of the Police Department on July 1, the shelter has been following the city ordinance to the letter of the law — much to the chagrin of local rescue groups. “We have been told to follow the ordinance and go by the book, and that is what we are doing,” said Joseph Pacheco, Animal Control supervisor, on Wednesday. Going by the book means putting animals to sleep on their eighth day of captivity. Pacheco estimated the
number of dogs the city has euthanized in the past two days at 17, but he didn’t have the exact numbers. “I don’t like putting animals down, but we have to do it,” Pacheco said. “If people want change, then they need to get with the city councilors and get the ordinance changed. But for now, we are going strictly by the ordinance.” Pacheco has worked for the city for 19 years, and he said the shelter at one time followed the ordinance, but a few years ago, before he was supervisor, things became a little slack. “We would work with the rescues, and they could put a hold on the animals, and
we would hold them for 10 or 14 days until they could be rescued,” Pacheco said. “Now we are not holding any animals. On their eighth day, they are euthanized.” Putting the animal shelter under the police department was the latest in a series of changes the city’s animal control services underwent following the mauling of a 9-year-old boy in June by three pit bull mixes that had escaped from a rescue kennel located just outside the city limits. Mayor Dennis Kintigh and the City Council enacted an agreement with rescues requiring them to be
open to inspections by city animal control officers. Rescues that signed agreements with the city are allowed to rescue animals for a $1 fee, as opposed to the $40 dog/$30 cat fee charged to the public. Pacheco said there are 15 rescue groups that are currently signed up to rescue animals from the city shelter.
“I think there are things that can be done to improve the shelter,” Pacheco said. “I would like to see the city increase the number of days we are able to hold the animals, and I think the
File Photo
City Councilors Jeanine Corn Best, left, and Tabitha Denny look at photos of a rescue kennel with city investigator Steve Halvorson on June 16, following a press conference by Mayor Dennis Kintigh announcing his plans to change the way the city shelter interacted with local rescue groups.
Second district candidates have $2M cash on hand
See SHELTER, Page A3
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Steve Stone Graphic
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce has about a 2-to-1 advantage in campaign funds over his Democrat challenger for Congress, although Roxanne “Rocky” Lara out-raised Pearce in the most recent reporting period. Pearce, R-Hobbs, had $1,467,884 cash on hand as of June 30 in his bid for a sixth, two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to campaign finance reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission. Lara, D-Carlsbad, had
$711,822 cash on hand as of June 30, according to her reports recently filed with the FEC. Pearce’s campaign committee, People for Pearce, has raised a total of $1,448,997 of net contributions in the election cycle for the 2nd Congressional District seat. The figure is lower than Pearce’s cash on hand because of funds left over from Pearce’s previous campaigns. Lara’s campaign committee, Lara for New Mexico, has net contributions of $941,711 in the election cycle. Lara closed the gap in the most recent reporting period.
See CANDIDATES, Page A3
Salvation Army to host Calls for troops at border echo previous pushes benefit golf tourney STAFF REPORT
The Salvation Ar my is sponsoring a golf tournament at the New Mexico Military Institute Golf Course at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 26. The tournament will be played as a three-person best ball. Green fees, cart, breakfast and lunch are included in the $60 per person entry fee. The proceeds of the tourney will allow the Salvation Army to continue serving the people of the Pecos Valley community. Maj. Beau Perez, of the Salvation Army’s Roswell Corps, reported that in
June, 217 families and 2,469 seniors received emergency food aid. In addition, The Salvation Ar my assists with clothing, rental and utility allowances, substance abuse rehabilitation and emergency disaster relief. Due to the recent high demand for service, the cupboards are bare. Gen. Jerry Childress and Bart Hoffman have formed the Golf Outing Committee. Four levels of sponsorship are of fered. Corporate sponsors receive paid green fees for their team for the cost of $500.
Jim Burress, general manager of Dean Baldwin Painting in Roswell, visits with the Roswell Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.
The one-time and possible future presidential candidate is in the waning months of his third and final term as governor. His visits to Iowa, including the weekend before his National Guard announcement, suggest he is considering another run for the Republican presidential nomination. If Perry’s call for troops to the border sounds
familiar, that’s because it’s not new. In early 2009, as he was running for re-election, Perry urged then Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to deploy 1,000 troops along the border in Texas. At the time Perry was quick to note that his concer ns focused on the growing violence from Mexico’s warring drug cartels and the potential for a spillover into U.S. cities, including nearby El Paso. Now, his worry is the arrival of more than 57,000 child immigrants, most of who are from CenSee BORDER, Page A2
Boehner asks Obama to declare stance on border WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner is calling on President Barack Obama to declare his support for changing U.S. law to speed removals of migrant kids arriving here from Central America. In a letter to the president Wednesday, Boehner writes that it is hard to see how Congress can make progress without strong
White House support for such reforms.
Boehner points to mixed White House messages about a 2008 law that's emerged as a sticking point on the border crisis.
The law allows unaccompanied kids from Central America to remain here indefinitely while their court cases progress.
Manager: Encouraging employees improves profits See GOLF, Page A3
BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Randal Seyler Photo
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — When Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced the deployment of up to 1,000 ar med National Guard troops to the Mexican border, he was speaking to voters in Iowa as much as Texas.
Treating employees with respect and helping them build self-confidence improved the company’s bottom line, said Jim Burress, general manager of the Roswell Dean Baldwin Painting facility. Burress, who was speaking at the Roswell Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, said that when he arrived at the aircraft painting facility seven years ago, the previous management had fostered a culture of cronyism. “There was a ‘good old boy’ network, and people
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were getting promoted based on who they knew,” Burress said. “That was the first thing that I did away with.” Burress, who spent a career working for corporate America, including GE and the Carlyle Group, came to Roswell seven years ago to improve his wife’s health. “She was allergic to corn, and we lived on top of a hill in Kansas, completely surrounded by corn.” Burress came to Roswell to interview for the job, but he really came here because of the people. “I met so many nice peo-
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ple that first evening, I called home and told my wife, ‘I feel at home here. It feels really comfortable.” Burress grew up in the air industry, with his father working on airplanes and missiles. In 1977, Burress began his career in the aircraft industry in Wichita, Kan., where he worked on a paint line for Cessna. Over the years, Burress became experienced in practically ever aspect of the aircraft industry, which made him uniquely suited to taking over the aircraft painting facility. “I believe that employees
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should have self-respect, and I want to help them work on that,” Burress said. He developed a training program and a career progression that takes employees through an apprenticeship and teaches them all the skills needed to become a master painter.
“I started this program when I got here, working with University High School,” he said. “I told those kids they could come work with me after school, from 6-10, then they were going home and doing homework. My only requirement was that they CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B5 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B4
graduate high school.” Employees start at $10 an hour and, with training and dedication, they can eventually earn as much as $23 an hour. “Some of our section leaders, who supervise 16 or so employees, are making $60,000 a year,” he said. Burress said the most important thing is to find employees who care and have a sense of responsibility. “You can’t teach heart,” he said. “You have to care about what you do and want to do a good job.” See BURRESS, Page A3
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