Zanetti

Greg Zanetti of Albuquerque, a  Republican candidate for state governor, stopped in Clovis Wednesday, getting an early start on the 2010 campaign.

Current Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, is term-limited. Thus far, no others have announced for the position in either party.

Zanetti most recently worked as a financial adviser and is the former brigadier general of the New Mexico Army National Guard.

Here’s his take on state issues:

Water: “First, people have to have private water rights, to respect private property. The Ute pipeline; we have to take a long strong look at it. You're not going to go anywhere without it, especially in the south.”

Zanetti said we have wastewater and new technologies to clean it.

“I think water shouldn’t hold us back and shouldn’t be used as a political weapon.”

Education: “I’m all for education. New Mexico ranks...well in education in the nation.

“Step one: What we are going to have to do is push the education issue back into the local communities. It cannot be controlled by Santa Fe and expect stellar results.

“Step two: Parents have to have more choices, whether that is charter school systems they can put their children into.”

He said schools need to get local control.

“There are a lot of public school teachers and administrators, who just hate the system. They would like to change it. They want more autonomy and more freedom. Let principles run their own schools and not Santa Fe.”

Economy: “The state has budget problems. No one understands investments and budgets and that is what the government is supposed to. What we need from the governor is someone who understands money, someone who understands investments and maybe a fresh face people can trust.”

Energy: “I think we should be the energy state. We should embrace oil and gas, the wind farms, geo-thermal, nuclear and all that.