Van Gundy stays on Municipal Court bench

DEMING – The Honorable Frank Van Gundy won the lone contested race and retained his bench on the Municipal Court with a victory Tuesday in Deming's Municipal Election. Also elected for two unopposed City Council seats were incumbents Roxana Rincon (Dist. 2) and Joe "Butter" Milo (Dist. 3).

Van Gundy will add to his 10 years on the bench with another four-year term. He grabbed 248 of 399 votes cast to outdistance challenger Julie Mendez who collected the remaining 151 votes. Mendez drew 37.84 percent of the votes while Van Gundy cornered 62.16 percent. Voter turnout for this race was six percent.

Van Gundy's push for four more years is to continue what has been established over the past 10 years. "I think we have built the court to a recognized court of integrity and fairness and I just want to continue that."

Van Gundy said he "greatly appreciated the voters of Deming. They have supported me through two elections, and now a third."

He began his tenure on the bench when he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the Honorable Ray Baese who was elected to the Luna County Magistrate Court bench.

Rincon was appointed to City Council (Dist. 2) in March of 2015 by Mayor Benny Jasso. She took over the seat vacated by Linda Franklin who relocated to Texas. Rincon now gets to serve a full term.

"I enjoy this and I am learning a lot," said Rincon. "I hope that I am making the right decisions and I still have a lot to learn."

Running unopposed, Rincon did collect 31 votes. "I love my community and I want to do something for it," she said. "I do need a little help and guidance from the community and I would like to see more participation at our meetings so the community can help us make those correct decisions."

Milo is the senior of the City Council, having served close to 20 years in District 3. His bid for another term has to do with a sense of unfinished business.

"We have done a lot of work on infrastructure, but I see a lot more work to be done," Milo said. He mentioned finding ways to improve roads, sewer lines and completing a solid waste project. "Our city trucks are converting to natural gas, so we save on fuel costs."

Milo admits to having a fire burning inside when it comes to his civic duty. "My father used to tell us to have emotion in everything you do. When you don't have that emotion – it's time to get out. I still have my emotion."

Milo collected 28 votes running unopposed.

Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-446-2611 (ext. 2606) or biarmendariz@demingheadlight.com.