Annual Meeting, Board and President Nominations

The La Cienega Valley Association’s Annual Meeting and Board and President Nominations will be held this Saturday, May 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the La Cienega Community Center following the Community Breakfast.  Information about holding a joint breakfast is already described on our website, later our mba essay writers from https://place-4-papers.com/mba-essay-writing-service/ will also describe the event of the presidential nomination on the website.

The positions that are up for nomination are Paul Murray, Upper La Cienega, Keir Carrecio, La Cieneguilla, Mary Dixon, Lower La Cienega, (east side of the creek) and Carl Dickens as LCVA President. Paul, Keir, and Carl are all interested in continuing to serve on the LCVA Board but after many years of dedicated and faithful service to her community, Mary Dixon has decided to step down.

The LCVA sincerely appreciates all that Mary has done for our community and her down-to-earth perspective will be missed by the Board. We do look forward to her continuing involvement in special events, especially the Halloween Carnival.

At the Annual Meeting, Holly Bostwick, as she has done for several years, will oversee the Board/President nomination process. Only La Cienega Valley Association members are eligible to participate in the nomination process. Residents who have lived or owned property in La Cienega and La Cineguilla for a year are eligible to join the LCVA. Applications will be available on the day of the Annual Meeting. If you are new to the LCVA please bring something to document your address and your one year residency/ownership to become a member.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas serves as the boundary between Upper and Lower La Cienega.

If there is more than one nomination for any Board position or president, an election will be held within 30 days. To be nominated for LCVA President, the candidate must have served on the LCVA Board.

Community Breakfast

Please join us for the great breakfast and great conversation preceding the LCVA Annual Meeting this Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Keir and the kitchen crew always appreciate volunteers to help set up, serve and clean up. Contributions of baked goods are always a welcomed addition to the breakfast.

County’s Proposed Zoning Map

Our community was well represented at the County’s Zoning Map Comment Open House held at the Nancy Rodriguez Center to get feedback from residents on the proposed zoning for La Cienega and La Cieneguilla. A number of La Cienega/La Cieneguilla Planning Committee members and LCVA Board members stopped by the open house to express their concerns regarding the proposed zoning. County staff appeared to have recognized some of the issues raised by residents so LCVA will be interested to see if there are any changes incorporated as a result of our residents’ input.

As you may be aware, LCVA does not support the County’s proposed zoning and process they have employed to adopt the zoning designations. LCVA has requested that the extensive work of the La Cienega/La Cieneguilla Planning Committee be respected and appreciated. The Committee had, through a thoughtful and open process, in addition to amending our community plan, completed a proposed zoning map for our community. Unfortunately, the County did not allow the Committee to present their zoning proposal to the community and now has ignored the Committee’s over two years of work completely. There has been no response to the LCVA letter to the County Manager requesting that the work of the Committee be honored and accepted.

If you would like to express your support of the La Cienega La Cieneguilla Planning committee the LCVA encourages you to e-mail, Penny Ellis Green, Director Growth Management – Land Use, [email protected], and Katherine Miller, County Manager, [email protected], with a copy to Commissioner Robert Anaya, [email protected], supporting the work of the La Cienega/La Cieneguilla Planning Committee.

As currently scheduled, the final adoption of the proposed County Zoning Maps will be after public hearings before the County Commission on May 28 and June 25. Please check out our Community Plan page for more detailed information on the issue.

Beaver Update

The Santa Fe River Traditional Communities Collaborative (co-chaired by the LCVA) is actively working to establish a management plan for the beaver population below the City’s wastewater treatment plant. This will involve having all the property owners along the river agree to work with the Game and Fish Department to establish a management plan.

The County has installed beaver deceivers (fools the beaver, allowing water to flow through their dams) near the Calle Debra Bridge to prevent any further damage to the bridge (estimated at $1 million). If successful, the beaver deceivers may be part of the management plan.

At the next LCVA Board meeting, May 5, Lisa Roach, Open Space Community Planner, is scheduled to present the work the County is doing on the County’s open space along the river.

Newsletter

The LCVA Board, due to cost concerns and the poor and inconsistent delivery of the newsletter, has chosen to discontinue the bulk mailing of the newsletter. The LCVA intends to mail one last newsletter before May 15 informing residents of the decision. Any resident who wants to continue receiving the newsletter by mail will be given that option by providing their mailing address.

After May 15, the LCVA newsletter will be posted on the LCVA website with plans down the road to have hard copies of the newsletter available at public places like the community center, library and San Jose Church.

New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding

The following information is provided by Ashley Armijo, Executive Director of the New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding. The Center is a new and welcomed addition to our community and is located at the Jurado Stables just behind the racetrack. Please note some really interesting and fun volunteer opportunities at the end of her communication.

Mission
The New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding aims to enrich the lives of children and adults with special needs by providing professional therapeutic equine programs under the supervision of accredited instructors. We teach safe horseback riding skills to improve physical, cognitive, social and emotional well being, while recognizing and celebrating the individual’s abilities. The Center’s motto is “Changing Lives One Stride At A Time.”

History
NMCTR began providing equine-assisted therapy services to the Santa Fe area in 2006. We are a member of PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, www.pathintl.org). PATH, Int. is the governing international body for equine related therapies and activities for adults and children with physical and/or mental needs.

The Need
There are over 10,000 individuals with disabilities in Santa Fe County alone. As we head into our 8th year of equine assisted therapy, we continue to partner with Santa Fe Public Schools, The New Mexico School for the Deaf, The Albuquerque School for the Blind and Vision Impaired, youth shelters, senior centers, day habilitation centers, and individual riders with special needs. We’re planning to work with at least 150 students this year. 85% of our students are from low to middle income families.

Equine-assisted activities and therapies have been known to provide therapeutic benefits for people with the following needs:

• Stroke and Brain Trauma
• Physical Challenges
• Cerebral Palsy
• Autism
• ADHD
• Emotional disturbance
• Hearing and sight impaired
• Senior Citizens
• Developmental delayed
• Down Syndrome
• Speech / language impairment

Our Programs
NMCTR riding program uses therapeutic riding to link sport, responsibility, and education to therapeutic benefits. The ultimate goal for our students is to learn to ride as independently as possible and gain self-confidence from their accomplishments. We have on average 20 students that attend private or group lessons. The lessons are one to two hours long that include horse care, horse management and skills to ride a horse. In addition to the weekly lessons, school groups have seasonal lessons. The school groups learn the same horse knowledge and experience learning as a class. During summer, we have summer camps that include horse management, horse riding, arts and crafts, and activities to link fun with life skills. Yearly, a group of our students are involved in a horse show called Team Challenge. Our students and professionals make teams and compete at a local horse competition.

Volunteers
Volunteers are the heart and key to the success of our organization. NMCTR is recruiting volunteers now for our 2014 riding season. No horse experience is necessary; we provide training. We need people that are willing to help with the horses, the riders, barn duties, fundraising, photography, and/or administrative tasks.

Ashley Armijo
Program Director, [email protected] 505-471-2000
New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding