By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

They say that two is company. Kathy Colley hopes to make three a crowd.

Colley, a retired banking executive who has lived in Rio Rancho since 1994, announced Tuesday she will seek the city council District 6 seat currently held by a neighbor, Marilyn Salzman.

“My experience in politics is slim to none, but I spent 20 years in business in Cleveland and retired as the regional vice president of a savings and loan,” she said. “It was one of those that was bought out by another bank, and the timing just fit for me to retire and relocate to Rio Rancho. I’ve been fortunate enough to be retired since 1994, but I’ve had enough golf and I’m looking forward to getting involved and making a contribution.”

Todd Hathorne, who lost to Salzman by one vote in 2004 when the seat was last contested, is also in the race.

Colley said “a number of things, a compilation of things” prompted her to make the race, and that her “hot button” issue is what she perceives is a lack of communication between city government and citizens.

“I want to represent the disenfranchised voters,” she said. “In the city in general, the leadership needs to be more cohesive, and I can bring that to District 6. That’s not to minimize Marilyn’s accomplishments in the past four years, but I think I can do a better job communicating with the people in the district. She’s been my councilor for four years, and I’ve never heard anything from her.”

Colley said she believes that using modern communication tools such as web sites and the internet can help keep voters better informed, and spread the word about her candidacy.

“I know that I’m coming in as a neophyte, but maybe the time is right for the voters to have a new face to look at,” she said. “I want to bridge the animosity that might exist between voters in Enchanted Hills and Rivers Edge. I think a lot of that was fostered by our incumbent when she spent $50,000 to re-do the entrance signs to Rivers Edge. I know if I lived in Unit 17 or Enchanted Hills, I would have been pretty honked off.

“I know she got us a nice dog run at the park, but I don’t think that was necessarily the best use of money. And I think a poll of some kind might have shown us where there are better place for tax money to be used. With today’s technology, there has to be a better way.”

Colley said she will also rely on traditional methods of campaigning to get name recognition similar to her two opponents.

“People are going to be seeing a whole lot of me,” she said. “I am going to be knocking on a whole lot of doors.”

Colley said the next city councilor from District 6 “will have a unique opportunity, with all the growth that is anticipated around the new City Hall. “But I am appalled that the city does not have a McDonalds or any type of food outlet nearby,” she said. “How can a city of 70,000 people be operated that way?

“I know the city has a grand plan, but I don’t see it. And I don’t see it being enacted right now.”

Colley said she “could not believe it when I found out the Sports Complex vote (for Enchanted Hills) did not pass. I know there was a lot of misinformation about how it might raise taxes floating around out there. A better job could have been done of getting information out to the city.

“I’m not faulting Marilyn for that, but there are 9,000 voters in District 6. Had there been a better job of getting the information out in the district, we could have carried the election, even though the other areas voted against it.

“It all goes back to communication. We need to establish web sites, send out e-mails and even if we have to resort back to snail mail, we need to communicate with voters, at least on an annual basis, to let them know what faces the district.”

One issue Colley expects to discuss during the race is future growth along NM 528.

“The area along 528 is ripe for commercial development, but first the road is going to have to be widened,” she said. “And I know there will be some people who won’t be happy about it. I was in business long enough to know that I put three people in a room, two are probably going to walk away unhappy.
“At some point we have to find a way to make it as palatable as possible to as many people as possible.”

Colley said she is meeting with “people I know and am trying to connect with a lot of people” to seek financial backing and endorsements for her campaign. She said “was not at liberty” to release any names currently, except one: retired builder Garry Wallen.

“Garry Wallen is the one name I know who has no qualms about being recognized as a supporter of my campaign,” she said.

Colley and her husband George have three stepchildren who live out of state.