Martin has list to take care of

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series on the candidates for the upcoming Roosevelt County Commission District 2 election.

George Martin has a list of things he wants to fix in Roosevelt County.

Now he just needs to get on the county commission to start crossing some of those items off his list.

Martin, a 70-year-old Portales man is facing two others — Charles May and Harvey Teague — for the Republican nod of Roosevelt County Commission District 2 in the June 1 primary.

The winner of that race will face Democrat David Sanders in the November general election.

Commissioner of District 2 Chad Davis decided not to run for re-election.

Martin said he’s seeking the commission seat because he has time and the desire to serve his community.

“I can’t stop working,” he said. “I think that I can serve the county and I have varied experience and I’m interested in helping solve several problems in the county.”

John Gentry of Portales Hardware, who has known Martin all of his life, said he thinks the Portales native would make a good commissioner.

“He is a real honest guy,” Gentry said. “He thinks things through before he makes decisions. He is real straight forward and honest. I think he would be an excellent commissioner.”

During a recent interview, Martin said there were several things he would focus on if elected — waste, roads, administration and the sheriff’s department.

Waste

Currently, Martin said he believes Portales is spending too much money on the transportation of waste.

“I have a brother in Missouri and there is a great big mountain near where he lives,” Martin said. “On one end of the mountain they are still piling trash near it and covering it. It’s just an economical way of doing it.”

He said if the county took proper precautions, a program similar to the one in Missouri could be implemented locally.

Roads

More money has to be raised to pay for the county’s poor roads, Martin said.

“We have to raise additional funds to help with these roads,” he said.

Martin said the county needed to get more money from the state for road improvements. During the last Legislative session, the county didn’t receive the full amount of road funding that they hoped for from capital outlay money.

Administration

Martin, who helped run a large stock control supply when he served in the Army in Europe, said he would bring an administrative background to the commission seat.

“I think that with my vast knowledge I can look into various functions of the county and improve them and make sure that they are operating efficiently,” he said.

He said the county currently needs to think twice about what roads it applies chip seal to.

“I think we are spending money on roads to chip seal them where we should chip seal just roads that are heavily trafficked,” he said. “We need to raise money somehow for fixing those roads. Some may not like it that we would have to raise funds, but it wouldn’t be that much money.”

Sheriff’s department

The time and cost that it takes to transport juvenile offenders out of town is a problem that needs to be dealt with, Martin said.

“With transferring juveniles you are talking a lot of money,” he said. “There is the cost of vehicles and everything else and the cost of officers to take them.”

Martin applauded the county’s sheriff department though saying that the current sheriff has done a lot to improve the way the department functions.