Alamogordo NM
11-01-2023 10:12pm

Questions for the Candidates Cloudcroft Trustee Timothy King for Trustee

The upcoming municipal election in the village of Cloudcroft consists of a highly contested Mayors race with 6 candidates vying for the mayors role. 

The position of Trustee there are 3 candidates seeking a position and the top 2 in votes garnered are elected. The candidates for trustee include 

  • Matthew Brian Lockner
  • Timothy Edward King
  • Tabitha Renee Foster

AlamogordoTownNews.com, KALHradio.org and AlamogordoConservativeDaily.org and our over 12,000 daily readers and listeners are interested in learning more about the various candidates in Otero County. As such we submitted questions to all candidates via email and invited them, to express in their words, why the election is important to them and what value they bring as a candidate. In the position for Trustee in Cloudcroft the most professional campaign is being run by Timothy Edward King. He and his wife Gail own the Summit Inn.

The trustees were each emailed a series of questions, of the three candidates from Trustee only Mr. King bothered to participate. Those following Mr. King will notice he is well educated and his perspective would add a great deal of value to the water issues of Cloudcroft and the surrounding area. 

Mr. King is running a professional campaign and is asking questions via a survey and outlines his history via his website...

A bit of background on Mr. King prior to becoming a co-owner in the Summit Inn in Cloudcroft. 

Mr. King earned a B.S. in Secondary Education (Social Studies) from Youngstown State University in 1990. In 1992, he received a B.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology also from Youngstown State University. From 1990-1995 he worked as a Field Archaeologist for a variety of companies (Skelly and Loy Inc, Gray & Pape, Inc., Ohio Historical Society, MAAR, Inc, Centennial Archaeology) across the country working in the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) industry. From 1996-1997 he worked for Sagebrush Consultants, LLC in Ogden, Utah as an Archaeologist.

From 1997-1999 he attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah pursuing a M.S. in Geography with an emphasis in Remote Sensing/GIS. While there he worked as a teaching assistant and an employee of USUs Remote Sensing lab on the US Army’s National Environmental Database (NED) Project. In August 1999 he moved to Anchorage, Alaska to take a position at the Anchorage BLM Field Office through USU’s LEMA (Landscape Ecology Modeling and Analysis) Center as a GIS Specialist. After 2 years at LEMA he took the first GIS Specialist position at the URS Corporation Anchorage office to work on the Alaska Gas Pipeline Project Team (AGPPT) that was working on environmental analysis of a proposed 750-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Chicago. In December 2004 he left Alaska to return to Utah to work on his thesis. In March 2006 he was hired by Red Castle Resources at the USFS Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) in Salt Lake City, Utah where he was a trainer for the Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory (TEUI) project.

He returned to Ohio in the summer of 2007 when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. In February 2008, he was hired by Gray & Pape, Inc as a GIS Specialist working on pipeline projects in the lower 48 and the expected resumption of the natural gas pipeline project in Alaska. From 2010-2016 he was the Lead Cultural GIS Specialist on the Alaska Pipeline Project (APP) which became the Alaska LNG project in 2013. Following a drop in natural gas prices in 2016 the project was downsized, and he was laid off from Gray & Pape in March 2017. Sensing that the project would not continue, he started LTK GIS Consulting, LLC in May 2016 and has done several smaller projects in Australia, New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida, and California.

He was hired by SEARCH INC in October 2017 as a contractor and hired full time as GIS Data Manager in January 2018. He has continued working on CRM projects while with SEARCH but has also been hired by SEARCH as LTK GIS Consulting, LLC to use UAS technology to create a digital elevation model for the first Viking settlement at L’Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. He has also worked on three National Geographic Drain the Oceans episodes including Buried Secrets of the Gold Rush, Secrets of the Civil War and the recently aired Drain America’s Last Slave Ship. Since 2008, he has worked remotely.

In an interview about his candidacy in the Mountain Monthly he explained how his experience is relevant to the needs of Cloudcroft, "My 30 years of experience in these fields have led me to propose creating a Village Geographic Information System (GIS) geared to increase governmental transparency and boost community engagement.

The GIS system shows my forward-thinking approach. The status quo in the Village has not solved the problems that existed when I arrived in 1995. We need to move forward, and We need to do better.

This interactive platform would allow residents to track local projects in real-time, get up-to-date information, and stay informed about ongoing projects in Cloudcroft. I will ensure that you will always be informed.

Such a system ensures that the community remains at the heart of local governance, fostering trust and collaboration between the council and its residents."

Mr. King responded to our questions as a candidate, what follows is his responses:

AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: What community experience qualifies you for public office?

Candidate Timothy King Response: I first came to Cloudcroft in 1995 for archaeological work. Since then, I have had an unwavering affection and appreciation for our Village. My background is in Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). My wife, Gail, and I purchased the Summit Inn in August 2021 and have been updating and renovating it since then. I understand the problems that come with growth and feel my previous career as a GIS Specialist can help better manage Village resources.

Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND 

Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: If you are seeking office, please explain 3 initiatives you propose to directly impact your district or village and how you will facilitate passage with the commission.

    Candidate Timothy King Response:

    i. A Village GIS System

    ii. Water Capture Initiative

    iii. Village Govt Transparency on infrastructure initiatives

    b. I will use demo projects along with my past experience to show other council members and the Mayor the benefits of a Village GIS System.

    Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND

    Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: Why are you running for office? What is your motivation to be an office holder?

    Candidate Timothy King Response: I am running for the Village Council because I love this community and I want to see it thrive and share its natural beauty with residents and tourists alike.

    Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND

    Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: What do you view as the biggest opportunity as a leader in the role you are seeking? How will you expand community engagement and bipartisan leadership?

    Candidate Timothy King Response: My previous role as Lead Cultural GIS Specialist on the Alaksa LNG Project gives me a unique perspective on managing and protecting our natural and cultural resources that make The Village of Cloudcroft special. I developed data collection systems along the 850 mile Alaska LNG pipeline corridor using wide variety of datasets to fulfill local, state and federal regulations. This experience leads directly to my primary initiative to develop a GIS system for Cloudcroft that will aid in issues including water, housing and infrastructure. The system will involve the use of a Village App that will keep local residents abreast of ongoing projects, timelines and other activities in the Village.

    Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND

    Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: The demographics of Otero County 4.6% Black, 8.1% Other 39.7% Hispanic, 46.9% Caucasian, 7.1% identify as members of the LBGTQ community according to the US Census. What outreach have you done to build consensus and constituencies within the diversity of the citizens in your district or village?

    Candidate Timothy King Response: I prefer not to divide people into groups/categories other than human beings. As the Innkeeper of the Summit Inn, we have hosted guests from all over the world and every one of them is respected as an individual human being. My outreach has been to highlight my personal story and my previous work experience and hope those experiences are relatable to other human beings personal experiences.

    Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND

    Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    AlamogordoTownNews.com Question: What is the one thing about your district, city or village that excites you the most?

    Candidate Timothy King Response: I really feel a Village GIS system can move Cloudcroft forward and make it one of the most innovative villages in the state of New Mexico and maybe the entire US. We can do better!

    Matthew Brian Lockner FAILED TO RESPOND

    Tabitha Renee Foster FAILED TO RESPOND

    To take a survey from candidate Timothy King on issues of concern or what you like about Cloudcroft check out 

    https://www.summitinnnm.com/tking4cloudcroftvillagecouncil.html

    We believe the public has a right to receive as much candidate information as possible from a variety of outside sources.

    Media has a responsibility to dig, investigate, question and report. The public has a responsibility to gather information and make an informed decision and then of course vote. We take our role serious and appreciate the candidates that take their role with an equal level of respect for the process.

    For transparency sake we share that our media business is owned by Rene Sepulveda a registered Democrat. He has issued a few personal endorsements via opinion pieces. Those are of his personal choice and may not reflect the opinions of the editorial board.

    The primary author of a majority of the content on our site is our lead journalist, a registered Republican, Chris Edwards. Mr. Edwards during past elections assisted in the campaigns of two Democrats and one Republican Judge. The judge who's campaign he assisted with in crafting a web presence, and social media engagement, won her race. She is a seated 12th Judicial District Judge.

    The editorial board consists of representation from each party plus a Libertarian, Independent and Decline to State affiliations. We do not offer commentary on their responses in this series of articles, and thus allow you the reader to decide the merits of the candidate based upon responses. A future endorsement commentary will be issued closer to November 7th.

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