Disaster Relief Thwarted for Socorro Hailstorm Damage

Posted: October 10, 2004

October 5th was a difficult day for the folks in Socorro.  The sky opened up with one of those incredible displays of nature's power that tends to leave you with a sense of awe.  It hailed like it hasn’t in a century and it was like a battle scene in Baghdad within seconds.  Those of us in the El Camino Restaurant were of course dismayed to see our cars being totaled in front of our very eyes.  Windows were popping everywhere and metal, paint chips and rocks were ricocheting all over.

The storm wasn’t even over and disaster coordinator Toby Jaramillo was already on the phone.  His first attempts to summon the Federal help he anticipated was snubbed with no response. Toby got back on the phone and this time called the Governor of the State of New Mexico.  The next day there was a delegation that arrived to assess the scene and they were surprised to see it was indeed a disaster and was not being overstated.  Then Toby set about to call out the neighborhood and a meeting convened at City Hall where they approved a form to be filled out by claimants and submitted before the 12th of October.

Soon after, that a cover letter was added to the form written by State Representative Don Tripp and the two papers were distributed around town.  When we read the form at Libertysteward.com we were immediately disturbed by the admonishment on the form directed at persons without liability insurance and without any insurance which said that they would not have to fill out the form as they would not be covered anyway.  In other words they would not be included in the damage assessment, nor would they be compensated by any disaster relief. At least that was the message whether or not it was intended that way, because most folks that read that form and didn’t have coverage just gave up and went home.  That appears to be what the tactic was intended to do exactly.  By counting the damage sustained by people with collision, property and casualty insurance only the total figures submitted to the Feds would be understated and the end result is that Socorro would get fewer funds back.  It is sad enough that the Congress is as we speak trying to steal from the Agriculture Conservation Fund to pay for western drought claims and the post hurricane damages by storms out West; it's a bad thing to play politics with disaster relief.

The intervention by Don Tripp was a blatant political move in the midst of a community mobilization to address a genuine emergency and many people I spoke to today were very upset about that.  Our disaster coordinator has been unfortunately upstaged by Don Tripp in the past when he address a recent emergency in Alamo.  Mr. Tripp had a news release published which gave him the credit for work Toby Jaramillo actually accomplished in his role as Disaster Coordinator for Socorro and Mr. Tripp's office merely put their stamp on it.  There is stress between local officials vying for political position and forming up ranks on various sides of this issue.  What we really need is clearly delegated authority to call out a response to local emergencies for our Emergency Coordinator.  He must have the respect and cooperation of the other public officials who have to be able to put their egos aside to really cooperate and respond to public safety issues in a timely efficient manner. Instead we have a coyote fight over who is going to have the most public prominence and get name identification with the issue. That’s sad.

When asked about the allegation of many that claimed the poorest would be left out of the damage estimation Mr. Tripp responded: ‘If they had liability only on no insurance they wouldn’t be able to collect anyway”.  He did however also state that he favored the extension of the deadline beyond October 12th.

Mayor Bashkar was out and about on Columbus Day and when we asked him what he thought about the issue he said he felt "It was unfortunate that the poor had been singled out not to get any help and that he planned to lay low on the issue until he saw what State Authorities decided to do about it."  Of course, we understand that since he is running for Mr. Tripp’s current office in a few weeks time he may have a lot more to say soon and he will be heard.

The poor should not be left out rather they should be the centerpiece of disaster relief and our disaster coordinator at the local level should have more say in how folks get help and when they need it.  Toby Jaramillo is in touch with his community and folks love him for his Turkey giveaway every year for the last 30 years.  He doesn’t deserve to be snubbed. Keep up the good work Toby and don’t let the politicos mess up the care the People ought to receive. Our hat is off to you.