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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Española Typifies the American Financial Struggle
By David Roybal
For the Journal
Barack Obama rolled into a very public rally in Española last week, two days after raising about $9 million at private parties in Beverly Hills. If elected to the White House, Obama could visit Española once a week every week during back-to-back presidential terms stretching into 2016 and still not raise $9 million.
Española has many proud, accomplished people, but it also has long been home to high dropout rates and too many teen pregnancies; low test scores in schools; huge ranks of uninsured or underinsured families; and disheartening unemployment rates. Unemployment would be through the roof if not for jobs provided by local, state and federal governments.
Are the two settings — Beverly Hills near the Pacific and Española along the Rio Grande — reflective of the "two Americas" that John Edwards referred to repeatedly earlier this year while campaigning against Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination?
Yeah, probably as much as anything even though much of what Edwards alluded to were the very rich among us who have theirs and don't particularly care about the struggles the rest of us find ourselves in. People at last week's L.A. parties included Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand and Steven Spielberg, celebrities known for their charitable works.
In contrast, the buzz about Obama's visit to northern New Mexico was among people like Marlo Martinez. An Española Valley native, Martinez owns a small business whose lone office sits off Española's busiest street. His wife, Valerie, had her picture taken with Hillary Clinton during her visit to Española in support of Obama a few weeks earlier. (Democrats are giving Española a lot of attention this election cycle because a heavy voter turnout in the Democrat-rich area between Santa Fe and Taos will be critical to Obama's ability to carry this battleground state.)
Martinez, 51, supports Obama and would like to see the next president help reverse conditions that hobble much of northern New Mexico. But he has been around too long to allow his hopes to run unchecked. Not only are social and economic woes of the region deeply embedded, the unfolding national financial crisis that is exploding on Wall Street and is further fueled by high energy costs sends new pain rippling into the upper Rio Grande Valley.
Across the country, most businesses with fewer than five employees say they are hurt by rising energy costs, according to the National Association for the Self-Employed. Prodded by energy costs, inflation is at its highest level since 1990-91 and is said to be the number-one problem for members of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Martinez faces it all as he works the floor of New Mexico Office Products. He bought the business from his father, Celso, in 1979. Celso Martinez opened the business as Española Typewriter Service in 1959, selling and servicing typewriters to small businesses and government agencies.
"We'll celebrate our 50th anniversary next year. One of the things that hasn't changed over time is that you still have to go out door-to-door every day and ask people for their business. You need employees for that, and it costs money to get good employees to stick around," said Martinez, who has three full-time and two part-time workers.
"What's going on nationally makes things slower for everybody. Money is tight and it requires a lot more work to chase down customers," he said. "The rising cost of fuel has led to higher freight costs. I really have to be careful with shipping costs these days. It can kill me."
Getting knocked off is not an option for Martinez, who is already preparing his 13-year-old son, Joshua, to take over the family business.
Obama in Española spoke to some of the concerns Martinez has as both a business owner and a father. Referring to the mushrooming crisis in the nation's financial sector, Obama told the crowd of thousands, "This isn't new to you at all because you've been going through hardships a lot longer than Wall Street has."
He pledged to change conditions where about three in 10 U.S. Hispanics don't have health insurance and to improve the nation's schools as part of a comprehensive effort to strengthen families and fortify the economy. "We can do better than four in 10 Hispanic students dropping out of school," Obama said.
The crowd roared its approval in a part of New Mexico where change couldn't come soon enough. Obama promised change, and he pledged it would come without "a dime" of tax increases for anyone making less than $250,000.
But, as if to remind people that there are two major candidates in the race promising change, a sign posted outside Rio Arriba County Republican Headquarters a block away from the rally read: "Don't be insane. Vote McCain."
David Roybal can be reached at (505) 351-4053.
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