During the past 15 months, Valencia! was dedicated to bringing you news and information about Valencia County, starting as a scrappy blog and developing into a respected journalistic enterprise.

At its peak, Valencia! received more than 2,500 hits per day, a number that makes us proud.

I want to personally thank you for reading our articles. I also want to thank our many supporters — the people who advertised, the citizens who emailed tips and all the public officials who didn’t mind the scrutiny.

Because I was elected to the Belen City Council this week, Valencia! will cease to operate as a Valencia County news and information website.

As a city councilor, it would be difficult to cover the public officials I will work with, not only in Belen but throughout the county. As a journalist, I don’t feel it would be ethical.

Starting next week, Valencia! will be redesigned and become an open government website paid for and maintained by me as an elected official dedicated to open government.

Transparency and accessibility are essential to good government. This open government website will give Belen’s residents and business owners a way to see what their government is doing each day. It’ll also make it easy for citizens to contact me with their comments, concerns and criticisms.

The open government website will provide as much information as possible, everything from the city’s budget and planning documents to proposed ordinances and public notices. It will be updated immediately as information becomes available.

For a limited amount of time, you will be able to access the website with the same web address — www.valenciavoices.com — but it will also have a new web address: www.betterbelen.com.

Jerah R. Cordova
Reporter and Publisher
Valencia!

This page was published on March 3, 2010 at 9:52pm and is filed under Archive.