Mayor Martin Hicks from Grants, New Mexico broke with the liberal governor and vowed he will reopen his city next week.
Mayor Hicks is a Democrat.
Hicks had this to say about Democrat Governor Michelle Grisham, “The governor is killing us. She’s totally killing us.”
The liberal governor wants businesses to remain closed until the middle of May.
New Mexico has seen only 2,660 cases of the coronavirus and 93 deaths across the entire state. The state has seen 44 deaths for every million in population. There is no need to extend the lockdown.
Times Union reported:
The mayor of a small New Mexico city announced Thursday that he will allow small businesses to reopen next week in defiance of the governor’s order that shuttered nonessential businesses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks said he’s giving businesses permission to reopen on Monday and is ordering the police force in the city of about 9,000 people to prevent any State Police officers from issuing lockdown violation citations.
“The governor is killing us. She’s totally killing us,” Hicks said. “So we have no choice. So right now, we are reopening. Let State Police come down here.”
Hicks made the announcement after 81 businesses in Grants signed a petition calling for the reopening of the city that sits on historic Route 66, about an hour west of Albuquerque.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday that she’s putting together a bipartisan group of mayors who will work with her office on plans to reopen businesses across the state.
