August 30, 2018
New Mexico – New Mexicans now have a resource to simply understand how their state legislators are performing on their behalf. Viante New Mexico has been created to empower citizens with educational tools to explore how state senators and representatives are actively working to address education, crime, and quality of life.
After a thorough formational period, Viante New Mexico has released its inaugural scorecard based on the 2018 New Mexico Legislative session. It scores legislator’s attendance, as well as their voting record and sponsorship on 15 Focus Bills that support improvements to education, crime, and quality of life. The scorecard is nonpartisan and has concise and accurate information to aid members in voting for who they believe is actively working to improve the state. The results of the scorecard show a clear spread of both republican and democrat legislators, highlighting the elected officials who are working towards nonpartisan solutions.
Viante’s mission states that the group is a unique nonprofit that is not funded by businesses or organizations, but instead by individual, working New Mexicans. This community-oriented, transparent organization is not politically motivated, only working toward the betterment of New Mexico by facilitating better informed voters.
Dale Armstrong, owner of TLC Plumbing and Utility, founded Viante New Mexico when he became discouraged with the lack of improvement in the state. He remarked, “After visiting the 2017 legislative session, I became so frustrated with party politics that were keeping New Mexico from moving forward that I considered selling my stuff and moving to Texas or Arizona. I quickly remembered my love of the state and those I have met along the way, and instead decided to invest in New Mexico to make it the best it can be. My goal is to bring New Mexico from the bottom of national lists to the top.”
Since March 2017, Armstrong has created a politically and generationally diverse volunteer Board of Directors. The directors include: Jaqueline Baca of Bueno Foods; Tom Keleher who is a retired lawyer; Deena Crawley from Dions; Kelly Kern who is a former rural New Mexico teacher and is now a stay-at-home mother; Sal Perdomo from Titan Development; Julian Sutter who is an entrepreneur and consultant; Jon Patten of Dions; Josh Lujan from HUB International Insurance Services, Inc.; and finally, Gary Haman of United Blood Services. The Board works to make unanimous decisions to create resources to assist empowering working New Mexicans to get involved with state politics and demand the change the they want to see.
Rhiannon Samuel, Executive Director of Viante New Mexico remarked, “Our group has eliminated the ability for people to say they are too busy to get involved with politics. I know that New Mexico can improve, and I believe this is accomplished through the collective effort of every citizen. There is an appetite to move New Mexico forward and we will assist New Mexicans in becoming more engaged on the state’s most pressing issues.”
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