Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with candidates in the Nov. 7 elections. Rustin Self is challenging incumbent Daniel Boan for the Portales City Council B position.
Rustin Self
Q: Why do you want this job?
A: I do not want another job, I want to make positive change for our city and our people in this community.
Q: If elected, what are your top three priorities?
A: (A) Analyze the privatization of our water or have another company manage our water and all the infrastructure associated with it.
(B) Utilize our effluent system that all citizens are paying for every month. Watering the cemetery with a $27 million plant is below subpar performance.
(C) Road maintenance and trash are both important and need to be addressed ASAP.
Q: Portales has well documented water problems. What is your plan to address these problems?
A: I want to look at another company taking over the water! A company that will invest the time, money, and planning needed to get our water situation back up to the standards our community deserves.
We also need a company to reinvest in our aging infrastructure every year to keep it up to date. A company that has a team that will help design a loop system and electronic valves that can be shut off at a moment’s notice in the event of a leak. So businesses and residents don’t have to shut down in the event we have a main water line break.
We need a company that is regulated by the Public Regulation Commission so our residents are treated fairly with the bills. I don’t have faith in our current leaders to borrow the money, (grants and loans) on new wells, tanks, piping, etc., and keep our bill at a reasonable rate. We are behind and our infrastructure is nowhere near where it needs to be in the 21st century.
I don’t think we should be on level 3 water restrictions and the current leaders are not following their own emergency plan! Period. Fear is not a plan!!
Getting a team to address our water situation through the private sector will always be more efficient than our local government trying to manage it themselves.
Q: Do you consider today’s Portales business friendly?
A: Absolutely not business friendly. We have sent many developers to Clovis and other places because we have no water (restriction of water meters) to give them. Or so they say on the water situation. This is wrong and anti-business.
We should be praising people that are trying to spend millions of dollars in our community. We have a nationwide housing shortage of starter homes. Clovis is growing and adding homes all over. We have only a few homes being built versus multiple sub divisions in Clovis.
Last time I checked we are on the same water aquifer. So if we have leaders that restrict water meters and create fear throughout the state that we are running out of water I don’t know many people that want to invest in Portales.
Clovis has more people and a much better business friendly attitude. They want more business and more housing in Clovis and they act on that goal. A few people are making the decisions that we just don’t have the water to supply residential houses and certain businesses. I want people on my team that will help figure out how we can do something, not just tell me why we can’t do something.
It’s simple, attract more businesses and create more jobs. Get more jobs and you will attract more people. Get more people and it will help our real estate market.
Q: The city manager is the city council’s only employee. What do you think of the job that Sarah Austin is doing? Is she a good leader? Does she follow directives of the council? What if anything would you like to see differently in her job performance?
A: I am becoming very opinionated on how things are being run in our government. I think that there are many issues that are not being addressed. I think this starts with leadership and works its way down.
I look at things differently and that business is a team sport. I think that the government should be run more like a business. I think leadership is bigger than one person.
I don’t know if the work culture in the city is great right now. It doesn’t appear that way to me and I think the citizens of Portales are frustrated with the lack of transparency with what is going on in the city. Being upfront with what is going on would be a great start with the public.
Daniel Boan
Q: Why do you want this job?
A: I’m running for re-election because I want to continue to make a positive impact and difference in the community. I grew up in the city of Portales, I graduated from Portales High in 2006. I joined the U.S. Army shortly after high school, I served my country for eight years on active duty, even deploying to the war in Iraq.
After I returned home to Portales I met my beautiful wife (Madeline). We have two small, wonderful boys together.
I continued my service to the community by working at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office, where I currently hold the rank of sergeant. I want to keep this town a great place to raise a family.
Q: If elected, what are your top three priorities?
A: Water, city employees competitive pay wages, and roads.
Q: Portales has well documented water problems. What is your plan to address these problems?
A: (A) There have been talks with EPCOR water and the possibility of continued talks with this company, as they could possibly provide the positive view the city of Portales needs for its water infrastructure. I believe EPCOR could possibly be the solution the city of Portales needs to help with the infrastructure.
If the city decides to have this company or another company control the water infrastructure, I do not believe the city of Portales should sell their water rights. The city of Portales needs to continue to explore all options to fix the water issue.
(B) I was not in favor of the stage 3 restrictions the city is in right now that were set in place by the city manager.
Q: Do you consider today’s Portales business friendly?
A: Portales offers high quality of life and a strong sense of worth of every resident in the community, but a place with a small population has a hard time supporting a broad range of goods and services. I believe a key to building a healthy business community in a small town is to create an economic development plan that maximizes the town’s strengths and minimizes its weaknesses.
Q: The city manager is the city council’s only employee. What do you think of the job that Sarah Austin is doing? Is she a good leader? Does she follow directives of the council? What if anything would you like to see differently in her job performance?
A: I was one of the council members that was on the committee to interview personnel for the city manager position. The city of Portales was not perfect when Sarah was hired as the new city manager. I believe Sarah has done good things for the city of Portales as its city manager in the short years she has held that title. Do I agree with everything she does, no. But I believe she is doing the best she can for the city of Portales. I support the city manager.
— Compiled by Madison Willis, the Staff of the News
