Valencia County Sheriff’s Department Captain Don Donges told county commissioners on Wednesday night that problems with “missed calls” at the county’s emergency dispatch center mean officers aren’t being dispatched to address crime.

“This is ridiculous,” he told the commissioners.

Donges has been defending his department against accusations that it failed to respond to calls about a rave in Tierra Grande during the Fourth of July weekend.

Caught in the middle of the debate is the Valencia County Regional Emergency Communication Center, a collaborative effort of the county and municipalities, housed within the Village of Los Lunas Police Department.

The dispatch center coordinates 911 emergency response for the county, the City of Belen, the Village of Bosque Farms, the Village of Los Lunas, and the Town of Peralta.

According to Donges, the call-takers at the dispatch center aren’t properly trained to identify when it’s appropriate to dispatch police, which had citizens at the meeting wondering out loud if the call-takers have been empowered to decide what laws should and shouldn’t be enforced.

He said calls to the dispatch center about the rave were never conveyed to the sheriff’s department.

The problems go beyond whether or not police were dispatched on the night of the rave. Commission Chairman Don Holliday expressed frustrations with an incident in his district.

Holliday said the county manager called the dispatch center after the incident to find out why there was a failure to respond, but the center’s administrator hasn’t responded to him.

“I’m concerned they haven’t gotten back to the county manager,” he said, acknowledging problems at the dispatch center. “We’re going to find out what the hell is going on.”

Commissioner Ron Gentry also wants to “find out what’s going on over there,” saying calls from citizens about crime, and in particular the rave, seem to be “falling on deaf ears.”

He said the county should “reevaluate” the $215,000 it contributes to the operation of the dispatch center.

“Are we getting what our citizens deserve?” Gentry asked.

The Belen City Council last night approved a grant-loan for the purchase a fire truck and brush truck for the fire department.

The total cost allotted for the purchase is $460,000, though the trucks could cost much less after bids are received. The city will receive 15% of the total purchase as a grant.

The money for the purchase is coming from a special fund that can be used only for things like fire equipment and training, not for hiring new firefighters.

The city recently paid off a loan on another fire truck, which freed up money to be used to buy the new fire and brush trucks.

The purchase was recommended to the city council by Fire Chief Manny Garcia and Finance Director Michael Steininger.

City of Belen Fire Chief Manny Garcia last month gave the city council a detailed improvement plan, highlighting the fire department’s needs.

Improvement plans were requested by Mayor Rudy Jaramillo and the city council as a part of the appointment of the police chief, fire chief and airport director in March.

Mike Chavez resigned as police chief shortly after presenting his department’s improvement plan to the city council. Interim Chief Dan Robb has said he will continue to move forward with that department’s plan.

Garcia’s 25-page plan, augmented by data, describes the fire department as a “value-drive organization” with strengths and weaknesses.

The plan includes eight goals:

GOAL 1: To professionally recruit staff, and retain [a] talented, committed, and diverse employee group in an effort to continue the strong legacy of service to the community and progress the organization into the future at a level which will enable it to deliver services to citizens in an effective, efficient, and safe manner.

GOAL 2: To enhance our services to the public to include advanced certified firefighters and emergency medical technicians beyond the basic level.

GOAL 3: To maintain current and purchase new apparatus, small fleet vehicles, and equipment that provide reliable and effective service delivery with high regard for member safety and comfort that represents the organization and the City of Belen in a manner that supports a positive public image.

GOAL 4: To plan for and maintain public safety facilities in a cost-effective manner with maximum consideration for service delivery, energy conservation, and the health, safety and comfort of organizational members.

GOAL 5: To deliver the highest level of emergency services in a safe and efficient manner in compliance with recognized standards.

GOAL 6: To identify areas of need and develop training programs to assist our members to become more proficient in personnel management and supervisory leadership, service delivery, customer service, incident management, safety and public education.

GOAL 7: To protect the health and safety of the organization’s members through effective training, education, and management and through the development of policies and procedures that prevent illness, injuries or death, and promote good health.

GOAL 8: To reduce the current insurance rating; reducing insurance rates; allowing additional fire protection funding for the fire department.

Each of these goals will be used in a 90-day and 180-day evaluation of the fire chief.

The charred remains of Freedom1.

Gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh today began raising funds to put another campaign bus on the road, less than two weeks after the RV being used as a mobile campaign headquarters was destroyed in a Rio Communities fire.

The original campaign bus, called Freedom1, was owned by Tom Greer, a local who works with the Weh campaign. It was burned when the storage facility where it was parked caught fire on November 27.

Since 2002, Freedom1 had been a memorial of sorts to firefighters and others who lost their lives during the attacks of September, 11, 2001.

“While nothing can replace the rich history of Freedom1, we are committed to getting another bus so that our volunteers and supporters can continue traveling this state to spread the word about my commitment to take back New Mexico,” Weh said in an email to supporters.

Weh said the campaign planned to use Freedom1 in a recent campaign stop in Roswell. The RV had been seen in many parts of the state before it was lost in the fire.

Without a bus, Weh is now seeking donations to get a new bus for his campaign.

According to the Weh campaign, the cause of the fire hasn’t been determined by investigators and arson hasn’t been ruled out.

Allen Weh graphics on the Freedom1 RV.

The charred remains of Freedom1.

The Allen Weh for Governor campaign bus, which was destroyed in a storage facility fire in Rio Communities on Friday night, didn’t just destroy a local man’s RV, but also claimed miles of 9/11 memories and more than 30 hours of another local’s artwork.

“The history of this bus and it’s 40,000 miles on the road doing outreach about America and the principles the founders built this country on are lost — all of the memorabilia from 9/11, all the photographs, all the books with people’s signatures and comments in them showing what moved them about 9/11,” said Tom Greer, a Rio Communities resident who owned Freedom1, the charred RV he used to memorialize September 11, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.

Sometime after 10:30pm on Friday, Freedom1 caught fire while parked in a storage facility in Rio Communities. With a loud explosion that startled neighbors, the fire quickly overtook much of the facility.

“We heard an explosion and the whole place was engulfed,” said Anthony Baca, who lives nearby.

Twisted, blackened metal was all that remained after the flames were doused by fire crews.

Freedom1 was built in the summer of 2002 to lead that summer’s “Ride to Remember,” when 450 firefighters on Harley Davidson motorcycles rode across the country to the World Trade Center site in New York City, where the participants honored their fallen brethren. Since then it’s been a fixture at events.

“Cyndi and I,” Greer said of his wife, “always think of the Freedom1 as belonging to the American people.”

At the time of the fire, the RV had been newly christened as an extension of the Allen Weh gubernatorial campaign. Greer, who works for Weh as the campaign’s coalitions director, allowed Weh to use Freedom1 as a mobile campaign headquarters. In recent weeks it’s been spotted all around the state and often in Belen.

While the bus had been decorated with the Stars and Stripes for years in honor of those who died on 9/11, Greer recently had Belen graphic designer Bruce Prater add Weh’s campaign insignia, including Weh’s name and photograph, to the patriotic RV.

The Allen Weh campaign's bus design conceptualization.

The intricate work took Prater, who owns Graphic Arts Station in Belen, more than 30 hours to complete, as he designed, laid out, printed and applied an adhesive vinyl wrap to the campaign bus. It’s the largest vehicle he’s ever wrapped with his design work.

The project had been exciting for his business, until Baca left him a voicemail message late Friday night: “Bruce, that RV you did is burning up!”

“I didn’t listen to the message till the next morning,” Prater said. “I was listening to it over and over and over. I must have listened to it 10 times before it sunk in.”

While he acknowledged that any mass-production graphic arts business loses time and material to errors every once in a while, it’s not often they lose it to a fire.

For Prater, the loss was also his artwork. He calls everything he does artwork, especially a vehicle vinyl wrap, because it takes an artistic eye, the mastering of technique and a lot of patience to get it right.

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “Can you imagine Michelangelo watching the Sistine Chapel burn up? He’d be throwing buckets of water on it. All of the stuff I do is artwork, to me.”

Prater also wrapped a Jeep for Weh, which the gubernatorial candidate is still using.

The Village of Los Lunas has prepared its wish list of major projects, highlighting the direction the village will take in the coming years.

The village’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) will be submitted to the State of New Mexico, so the state and legislators know what projects Los Lunas wants funded. Typically, only the top five projects receive money, but this year, with the state’s budget deficit now estimated at $700 million, the village isn’t expecting much funding from the state.

“We shouldn’t be too optimistic about getting state funds,” Peter Fernandez, the village administrator, told councilors. “In fact, we’re trying to do everything we can to hang onto the funds we do have.”

For 2011, the village is asking for $27.8 million worth of project funding. The village is concentrating on constructing a new westside fire substation to service the houses and businesses located near the Interstate 25 interchange.

“It’s our number one priority,” Fernandez said of the estimated $3.5-million project.

Second in line for funding is reconstruction of Highway 314 south of Main Street, with previous council conversations centered around adding lighting and sidewalks, among other things. The village also wants to work on Highway 314 north of Main Street at a later time.

“We’re in the process of doing some work in the next six months on New Mexico 314 through some stimulus funds,” Fernandez said.

The village also has plans to continue the expansion of the Los Lunas Rail Runner Express station. The first goal, and priority number three on the ICIP, is to add parking east of the station. The village expects more parking in coming years both south and north of the station.

Fourth on the list of priorities is an extension of Morris Road costing just under $2 million. The extension would be from west of Sichler Road to Camelot Boulevard.

Rounding out the top five is to improve water service infrastructure east of the Rio Grande.

Beyond the top five, the list also includes a request of $5.5 million for a family health clinic. The village has been working with First Choice Community Healthcare and United States Rep. Harry Teague to build such a facility to replace the existing First Choice facility.

The village council is seeking money for better drainage at the Los Morros Industrial Park, improvements to parks and sports facilities, a community indoor aquatic center and a landfill.

By 2013, the village hopes to have $40 million for a new I-25 interchange and bridge, which is a part of an ongoing Mid-Region Council of Government’s study of where to place them. That year, it also would like to get $1.5 million for utility improvement along Edeal Road in anticipation of a new subdivision.

By 2015, the village wants $4.3 million to construct a new library and $2.5 million to build a convention center.

The ICIP contains 51 project proposals totaling $121.7 million in costs.

The driver of a car that wrecked into a power pole sending a dangerous electrical surge into San Francisco Xavier Mission Chapel in Jarales died late last month.

Efren Chavez-Mendoza’s crash caused sparks to fly from the electrical panel inside the Catholic church.

At the time, the church’s caretaker, Susan Cordova, said the church was saved from flames by bottled drinking water placed next to the panel.

A memorial cross with red flowers has been erected at the site of the wreck.

Susan Cordova is crediting a singed and melted case of bottled drinking water for saving the San Francisco Xavier Mission Chapel in Jarales from burning down.

The case of bottled water next to the electrical panel.

On Sunday night, a gold Nissan Infinity traveling north on Jarales Road in front of the Catholic church swerved off the road and wrapped itself around a power pole, crushing the car and scattering debris.

Efren Chavez-Mendoza, the driver, was critically injured in the wreck and airlifted from the Jarales Fire Station to the University of New Mexico Hospital. The Valencia County Sheriff’s Department Incident Report alleges the possible cause as “excessive speed” and a driver “under the influence of alcohol.”

The car Chavez-Mendoza was driving.

The power pole that caught the car had a line with a direct connection to the church’s main electrical panel.

Cordova, one of the church’s mayordomos (or caretakers), has for some time left several of the church’s lights on as a security precaution after someone broke into the church and stole two gold chalises late last year.

When the car hit the pole, an electrical surge shot through the line into the church, exploding one light bulb, sizzling wires, melting light bulb sockets and blowing a black hole in the metal front cover of the electrical panel. Sparks from the panel explosion rained down on decorative linoleum covering a wood cabinet that holds the church’s holy vestments.

A case of bottled drinking water placed in front of the electrical panel stopped the fire, Cordova said.

“We had courtesy water in the church, you know, for when the priest or people need water. The explosion arced and the water caught the explosion. It stopped the church from burning down,” she said. “That’s the only thing that saved the church. The church would’ve been burned to nothing.”

The wreck, which was heard more than a half mile away, also downed a power line and caused a power outage in the immediate vicinity.

Chavez-Mendoza’s stepson, Jorge Ramos, said his stepfather isn’t doing well, with a broken face, a swelled brain and severe heart problems.

Ramos surveys the damage and collects the debris.

Cordova has placed Chavez-Mendoza’s name on the church’s prayer list for tomorrow evening’s service, a mass that was almost cancelled because of the electrical problems throughout the church. All the lights are again working and the panel is back in order.

“We had just left that water there, you know, just in case the priest or someone needed water. Sometimes people do ask for water,” she said, pausing to think. “Kindness. What goes around comes around. I think those little acts of kindness come back to you. Little did I know it would save the church.”