Press Release- Feb 1, 2018
BARCUCH SEEKING HOBBS DISTRICT 5 ON OPEN-GOVERNMENT PLATFORM; Says making government less a mystery key to involving residents, protecting tax dollars
HOBBS, NM, February 1, 2018– Dennis Barcuch filed last month to run for a seat on the Hobbs City Commission, running on a platform that “opening government to more Hobbsans” is the top priority of his candidacy and pledging to move the City of Hobbs forward.
A local businessman and self-described open-government activist, Barcuch, pronounced “bar-CHOO,” said he has dedicated himself in recent years to making local government less of a mystery for his fellow Hobbsans.
“I started with the premise that informed voters contribute to better-informed decisions by their representatives, especially to protect the hard-earned tax dollars we entrust to the city to provide us with essential services,” he said, adding that his local activism started with an epiphany. While he’s long had an interest in politics and policy, Barcuch said that he’d been more outspoken on national topics and debates until the last few years.
“The reason, I realized, that I was so engaged with debates on federal issues was that information is so plentiful and just a click away,” Barcuch said. “At the local level- in Hobbs, specifically- knowing what city leaders are doing requires much more individual effort, to the point that it can disenfranchise many residents from the process.”
Barcuch’s earliest efforts to close the information gap began in the spring of 2015, when he began lobbying the Hobbs City Commission to adopt webcasting and archiving of its public meetings. Barcuch said he was dismayed that the idea faced skepticism- if not “out-right opposition”- from then-city manager J.J. Murphy and members of the commission. In fact, he said, it took a full year before the city commission approved- on a razor-thin 4-3 vote- a proposal to purchase equipment and services necessary to begin archiving its meetings.
“The Livestream service the City of Hobbs uses displays in real time the number of viewers who are watching a live meeting,” Barcuch said. “Seeing that number reach as high as several dozen at any one time is important to appreciate, because it is rare that the physical seats in the commission chambers have that many persons sitting in them during a meeting. And now that I’ve had occasions to watch streamed meetings of city councils in other states, what’s happening in Hobbs is very much the norm. There are more people watching online than sitting in a physical room with nice, expensive- and decidedly empty- chairs.”
Still on Barcuch’s wish list is the ability for residents to comment in real time during a meeting through the same website the live video is being delivered. In lieu of that feature, which is offered by some cities, Barcuch said, he moderates discussions on a Facebook group he created during the campaign to secure webcasting, called “Hobbs Commission Cameras”.
“I post the agenda before the meetings and remind folks to watch,” Barcuch said, “then I try to provide a play-by-play as the commission moves through the agenda, especially capturing what votes were on items. It’s just another example of what’s possible to provide Hobbsans more complete information and to allow them to engage.”
The deadline for voter registration in order to be eligible to vote in the municipal election is February 6. According to materials being released by the city, early voting begins February 14 and runs through March 2, and votes can be cast at the City Clerk’s Office inside City Hall, located at 200 E. Broadway Street. Election Day is March 6.
Now halfway into the two-month municipal-election cycle, Barcuch said that he has been working hard to meet with residents to discuss their concerns, but there is one subject he did not expect to become a campaign issue- the former city manager, J.J. Murphy.
Barcuch said he has repeatedly heard that Murphy, whose five-year city manager contract ended Aug. 23, but who remains an employee through June 2018 as part of a settlement agreement, wants to be reappointed as city manager. Barcuch said that, if Murphy applies for his old job when the city commission posts the position, he pledges to oppose Murphy’s rehiring.
“The city commission spent a lot of time and continues to spend a lot of money to relieve Mr. Murphy of his duties as a city manager in August 2017,” Barcuch said, noting that Murphy’s contract pays his salary of $183,976 through the end of June 2018. “And on top of the salary and benefits, Mr. Murphy was paid a lump sum of $60,000, and his attorney in Las Cruces collected nearly $40,000. The spigot that has enriched Mr. Murphy like no other city administrator must be shut off.”
Barcuch said controversies in which “Murphy embroiled himself,” some of which made national news, distracted from the issues facing the City of Hobbs and its residents. Barcuch said it’s time to turn the page.
“The selection of the next city manager is a prime example of why it is so important for residents to be engaged,” Barcuch said, “and my pledge is to assist more residents than ever- from all districts- to get involved.”
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For more information, please contact Dennis Barcuch at (575) 297-0234 or email hobbsdistrict5@gmail.com.
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