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Doctor gave me my life back

M. Frank Erasmus and Dinah Erasmus wrote an op-ed in the April 5 Sunday Journal concerning their father, Dr. Mark Erasmus, and various inequities in New Mexico malpractice law.

I saw Erasmus in 2014 for serious debilitating neck issues. An avid cyclist, I was unable to ride for four years due to pain, numbness, and tingling in my shoulders, arms and hands. My days were filled with neck and shoulder pain, and for the first time in my life I felt a profound sense of hopelessness.

Erasmus diagnosed severe spinal stenosis and proposed 2 level neck surgery involving titanium implants. That surgery completely eliminated the pain, but I still had numbness and tingling. Two surgeries later, at two separate levels, all of my symptoms were resolved. Twelve years later, I'm still as active as I ever was 鈥�  riding the bike and hiking at 73.

Surgery carries numerous inherent risks, particularly when the brain and spine are involved, as was emphasized in the aforementioned op-ed. All I can say is, Erasmus gave me my life back, and I'll always be grateful. Thanks, doctor.

Guy Miller

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Ranked choice voting has many benefits

For the last few years, I鈥檝e talked with voters across our region who represent just about every part of the political spectrum. These everyday voters have diverse ideas, but they are unified about their dissatisfaction with extreme political polarization. They鈥檙e sick of shock value, 鈥渦s vs. them,鈥� and escalating rhetoric being met with escalating political violence. Voters in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 want and deserve winning candidates who will bring people together and focus on essential issues 鈥� not candidates who divide us for their own political gain.

One way to decrease polarization and get the focus back on basic issues is ranked choice voting,  also known as instant runoff voting, which has been proven to decrease negativity between campaigns and increase the conversations around candidates鈥� views and policy priorities. When candidates aren鈥檛 just vying to be your one-and-only choice, ranked choice voting discourages them from relying on attack ads and divisive tactics. Candidates need to work for broad support, making extreme speech or personal attacks liabilities for their campaigns.

Ranked choice voting rewards leaders who can find common ground, which is exactly what sa国际传媒官网网页入口 needs as we face challenges like public safety, housing and opportunity for community members. We need leaders who will work together to hear voices from across the community 鈥� not just big donors and political insiders. Ranked choice voting can reduce negative campaigning and still uphold majority winners while abolishing our traditional runoff elections that cause taxpayer dollar waste and voter fatigue. Voters are ready for this simple, common sense type of election, and the many benefits it can bring.

Perry Radford

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Ranked choice voting is the future

Some people prefer antiquated technologies (such as manual typewriters) because they are familiar.

Runoff elections are the manual typewriters of voting. They work. They ensure that mayors and city councilors are supported by more than 50% of voters. But runoff elections are slow. They are burdensome. Every voter has to vote twice; election officials deploy election judges and set up voting machines in dozens of voting sites twice. Runoff elections are expensive 鈥� costing sa国际传媒官网网页入口 an extra $1.8 million in 2025.

Ranked choice voting is the 21st century technology that gets the same outcome in a single election.

In their recent (April 4 Journal) column, Paul Gessing and Trent England indicated that they are on the side of the manual typewriter. They incorrectly state that it is difficult to rank candidates. Scientific surveys show that 80-96% of voters in states and localities with ranked choice voting find ranked choice voting to be simple.

Gessing and England note that ranked choice voting was rejected to replace partisan elections in Arizona and Colorado in 2024. Local elections, however, are nonpartisan. In 2024, ranked choice voting was adopted in all four cities where it appeared on the ballot and voters in the Alaska and Bloomington, Minnesota, rejected proposals to terminate ranked choice voting.

Gessing and England cited a news article that shared anecdotes from a few individuals in Santa Fe who still find ranked choice voting confusing and one woman who finds it easy. There was no data 鈥� just a few anecdotes. A study of Santa Fe voters in 2018 found that 94% of voters reported feeling 鈥渧ery satisfied鈥� or 鈥渟omewhat satisfied鈥� with ranked choice voting.

There is no reason to continue to use manual typewriter voting technologies. Ranked choice voting is the 21st century cellphone of voting 鈥� easy and inexpensive.

David Soherr-Hadwiger

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Project Jupiter is an economic opportunity for NM

Project Jupiter, under development in Do帽a Ana County, is one of the largest construction project in the U.S. The data centers will power the services you already depend on, like GPS and social media platforms, connecting you to the people you love. The demand is real. These facilities will be built somewhere. The question is whether New Mexico is ready to say yes.

The median household income in New Mexico is approximately $65,000. A full-time worker at Project Jupiter will earn between $80,000 and $100,000 annually, before overtime, which many will choose to take. These aren鈥檛 temporary gigs. This is sustained, skilled employment that puts people on a path forward.

What does that actually look like? Keeping a vehicle running. Saving enough to send your kid to college. New Mexican workers deserve those things, and Project Jupiter is a real opportunity to deliver them.

If you鈥檝e ever woken up unemployed and stared at your reflection wondering how you鈥檙e going to feed your children, you already know what this means. The frustration. The helplessness. Our union brothers and sisters invest years in training to do skilled work, and the pride that comes from doing something difficult and doing it well is something no paycheck can fully capture. Take that work away, and you take something away deeper than income.

Workers building and maintaining Project Jupiter will spend their money here, at local restaurants, car dealerships and housing in our communities. That economic activity strengthens our schools, roads and public services.

If you oppose Project Jupiter and claim to stand with workers, what is your plan to create comparable opportunities? Because 鈥渘o鈥� is not an economic strategy.

New Mexico has left opportunity on the table before. Let鈥檚 not do it again.

Courtenay Eichhorst

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