County checkup: Commission chair Frank Blackburn talks county issues

Editor’s note: This is the first in a continuing series of question-and-answer sessions with community leaders.

Frank Blackburn is a farmer and rancher, a lifelong resident of Curry County and chairman of the Curry County Commission. Blackburn has served four terms, or 16 years on the commission, from 1991-1998 and again from 2007 until his term ends Dec. 31.

What’s the county’s plan for the oft-troubled jail?

It seems to me that we need to add on ... a hard unit.

The inmates have changed so much since ‘92. I was there when we ... (built) that jail. It was on top of the courthouse before then. We had a lot of problems.

Anyway, it’s not hard enough. We need an additional, some additional space for the maximum security types.

We tried that (bond issue election) two or three times. It just, because of various reasons, didn’t pass. But we need to add on.

We saw a plan a while back and I think it’s a good one. We can add on ... A pod system with fewer persons (in each pod). Now you know most of ours are 16 (inmate) pods now. I believe (one proposal) talked about eight in each pod.

We’ve got to have foresight. My gosh, I’m in business. You’ve got to plan ahead and you’ve got to improve your infrastructure or you lose out.

There’s going to come a time, to improve the safety of the employees over there ... to improve the safety of the community. It’s an unsafe deal for them guys (inmates) to get out. And it’s unsafe over there for them (employees) not to have the best. The plan that we have would greatly improve it.

We’re talking about (a loan) from the New Mexico Finance Authority or ... banks.

We can do it. We have to do it. I’m a taxpayer, too. It’s going to cost me and I’m not afraid of it. The county needs it.

A lot of people say well I’m a taxpayer and I’m against it. Well, we’ve got to improve our infrastructure, continually, and we need to do it.

But I’m talking about the safety of employees. Those new jails they’re building now, especially those maximum security facilities are a lot safer.

The renovation of the building on Gidding Street: Do you have an idea when that will be taking place?

I don’t know. I wanted to do it before I got off (the commission) but I just ... I think (County Manager) Lance (Pyle) thinks we can pull that off in another couple of months.

But you’ve seen what happens and what goes on. That’s like that road out there, that end mile of 21st Street and a mile south of that 467 Overpass.

Of all things, we had to do an environmental study before we could lay caliche and asphalt on that road. It took almost a month to do that.

I’m 81 years old and I live down that road about a mile south of that. That’s been a road all these years. What in the world would be an environmental problem now? If it’s a new road, I could understand it.

They really drag their feet on it. It’s not us. It’s them.

That’s a good buy (the Gidding building). That was looking ahead. That $750,000 we spent ... we were paying the General Services Administration $100,000 a year in rent (to house district attorney offices).

What are your feelings on the proposed “gentlemen’s” or strip club?

I come from a family that’s opposed to that sort of thing.

I don’t want to try and stop it. It’s legal in the U.S. They have nudity (beaches) and all that.

But if people want something (regulation), we may have to do it. Some kind of regulations and some of those regulations I’ve read (laughs) ... they’re just like regulations. You know, the height of the stage and the space between bathrooms.

It sounds like zoning.

You know zoning only deals with the place, position. And, the city’s got an industrial zone. That’s almost an industrial zone out there.

But it’s been all along the county commission’s position that they don’t want zoning?

Yeah. I think you’re right. It won’t help us with anything.

I think they want regulation of that club. Zoning’s not going to do that. Zoning it will just be about the location of it. Zoning will take a long time. I’m not expecting that at all.

I expect some regulations. I know I’m not really happy about them but I expect them.

One more issue we need to talk about, because it’s been front-page news for several weeks, is the county clerk’s office. What was it that made the county commission decide they needed to put Lance Pyle in charge of training the (clerk’s) employees?

She (County Clerk Rosalie Riley) called it a takeover. We only offered assistance.

We had, many of the other commissioners had people ... complain about things weren’t recorded right. Also documents not being notarized, not being signed.

A subdivision, you’re required to have the permission of the tax assessor, who’s in charge of subdivisions. They’ve got a big piece of paper and she’s got to sign off on that. Somebody was bringing one of them in there without her signature. She brought it to her (Riley’s) attention. It was recorded without all of the signatures.

Also they said there was a complaint of the original’s being lost. That happened several times. And I think it’s happened lately, I hear.

Another thing was for many years they cut off at 4 o’clock the recording. When you bring something in there, it’s supposed to be recorded that day. It’s supposed to be stamped and recorded that day.

They got two or three days behind. For some reason that’s bad. They say it shouldn’t lay there.

Now, in the past they cut it off at 4 o’clock. If you brought something in after 4, they didn’t record it. So they would have a little time there between 5 p.m. to go ahead and record it that day.

They say that is a problem. Now this is mainly mortgage companies, banks , abstractors, they really got on this deal. It didn’t start with us.

She (Riley) didn’t respond too well. Man, she just accused us of taking over, wouldn’t cooperate.

Lance hired a former employee in there ... and she had, seemed like seven years experience. She said she didn’t get any cooperation. She said, “They are looking over my shoulder.”

So, we pulled her out. He (Pyle) pulled her out. I think she was in there four or five days maybe a week, I’m not sure how long she was in there.

Now, our attorney (Steve Doerr) has made it very clear (to Riley), you are responsible. You are responsible.

Is it resolved after all this?

I don’t know. I haven’t heard any differently. She’s got to resolve those issues.

All these years I’ve been a commissioner, I’ve never heard of any problem there. Then, suddenly this thing explodes. Sometimes we have to kind of act on what other people say.

You don’t know if it’s resolved yet or not?

No. I don’t. I can’t say that.

— Compiled by Projects Editor Robin Fornoff