Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Second chances offered by Teen Court

Sandy Battin News-Bulletin Staff Writer; sbattin@news-bulletin.com

Peralta A voluntary Teen Court designed to give young people alternatives for misdemeanor offenses and to appear before a jury of juvenile peers to determine sentences is being set up.

County Commissioner Lynette Pinkston and Joseph Dorn, county juvenile justice administrator, appeared before the Peralta Town Council Wednesday to describe the court's mission and to invite the elected officials to serve as judges.

The state mandated a juvenile justice board be set up in each county, and the court was among the alternatives the local group came up with. "Teen Court is popular in the U.S. We'll be the 13th county in New Mexico to have one," Pinkston said.

First-time offenders who plead guilty are referred to the court, she said. The court does not determine guilt or innocence; it is for sentencing only. Teens who go through the process must accept complete responsibility for their actions.

But it gives teens a chance to keep their record clean. Once they successfully complete the sentence, all charges are dropped.

Court officials have already signed up 45 volunteers from Los Lunas' two high schools and 65 from Belen High School. Magistrate Tina Gallegos is chairing the steering committee, and all of the local municipal and magistrate judges have said they'll be involved, Pinkston said.

Teen offenders can be sentenced to community service, to write a letter of apology, take alcohol or drug assessment, appear on a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel, write essays on specific topics, provide or receive tutoring or serve on a Teen Court jury.

"They'll be visiting fire departments and doing cleanups," Pinkston said. "They'll clean the hose and learn how the truck works." The first such fire department session will be in Meadow Lake.

Teens can also be referred by schools for breaking of rules, such as being tardy or using a cell phone during classtime.

Information about Teen Court is available by calling 866-3323.

In a separate report, Mary Andersen of Habitat for Humanity told about Ride the Bosque Trail, an event in which riders take the road on the east side of the river that will be opened by the conservancy district from Belen to Bosque Farms. "They'll pay small sums or get pledges," she said.

At the Bosque Farms arena, there'll be a band and a meal.

"It's the most beautiful scenery," Andersen said. "You ride along the river, and all the cottonwoods will be on your left. The view to the east is our beautiful Manzano Mountains."

Walkers can also make the trek, but bicycles are prohibited, she said.

Andersen said Habitat has turned its attention to building homes in communities other than the neighborhoods it's created for itself. "We're looking at possibilities in Peralta and Los Lunas — those are two areas we think we could build a Habitat home for a qualified family," she said.

The council also discussed the possibility of a town motto. Olguin suggested "Hy Pear Preserving the Past for Future Generations."

Hy Pear? Councilor Christian Garcia said the legend is that Civil War soldiers ended up sitting under pear trees that the town was once famous for. When they saw that the best fruit was at the top of the tree, they commented that it was a "high pear," which apparently, through the years, has become spelled as Hy Pear.

Mayor Bryan Olguin said that Hy Pear has become a joking name for Peraltans; when he was a student at Los Lunas High School, people would say, "Here comes Hy Pear."

Councilor Joseph Romero commented lightly that "having a fruit in our motto is kind of weird" and said he believes it's more likely that the community was named after a family named Peralta.

But he suggested asking the public to come up with a motto.

Meanwhile, Garcia said he believes impact fees for building commercial or residential structures would be a good idea for the new municipality. The money raised could be used for street work, he said, and it "will address our land use materials."

Romero said that he thinks the county government struggled with the issue. "I'd caution it be reserved strictly for larger and commercial developments," he said.

Garcia said he receives two to three calls every week about potholes. "We've got to do something," he said.

Olguin asked the town clerk to start gathering fee schedules from other communities in the area for study.

In other action, the council: