A Bit of a Shake-Up on City Council

By John Earp

This past Tuesday’s unofficial election results, as published on the website of the New Mexico Secretary of State, revealed Julian Sauceda, Lorenzo Chacon (incumbent), and Elizabeth Acosta (aka Lisa Olivas) to have received the top three numbers of votes, 25%, 17% and 15%, respectively. The race was also very close, with Acosta just edging out incumbent councilor Rebekah Richard by just five votes. Stacy Ward, incumbent, received 11% of the votes cast for city councilor, followed by Julia Watson with 10% and Michael Thorne with 6%. With two incumbents not being reelected Tuesday, the city council will have a different makeup in the new term. Also, with a new mayor looking likely, the business of the City of Jal may be in for some changes. It remains to be seen just how these changes in representation will affect the overall attitude and approach of the council.