Wednesday’s Sandoval County Commission meeting coincided with International Woman’s Day, which is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women’s rights movement. Fittingly, the first major action of the meeting was a proclamation declaring March as Women’s History Month.
District 5 Commissioner Joshua Jones read the proclamation, and several women who work for Sandoval County accepted a plaque from the commission.
“So as we all know, it is Women’s History Month and I have the distinct pleasure of being able to present this proclamation to some great women who work here in Sandoval County that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting,” Jones said. “Some of you have served the county for more than a decade and you continue to bring leadership to Sandoval County and its constituents. And you guys keep county manager Wayne Johnson in check. So all us commissioners do appreciate that. I know for a fact that without each one of you here today that Sandoval County would not be an A-rated county, and just because of your hard work, because of your dedication and because of your fortitude, that is made possible. Each of you are an inspiration, a standard of excellence, and the very people who continue to make this world a better place.”
After Jones read the proclamation, District 1 Commissioner Katherine Bruch singled out some of the women who work hard for Sandoval County.
“I’d like to especially recognize some of those women that came up for that recognition,” Bruch said. “Our county has several directors who have leadership roles that have really impacted our community for many years. I’d just like to recognize Community Services Director Jayme Espinoza; our communications director, Shawn Perry-Turner; our finance director, Cassandra Herrera; and our human resources department. Thank you for all you do for us, and I appreciate it.”
District 2 Commissioner Jay Block also spoke following the proclamation, speaking on the history of the holiday and the important role women play in the United States military.
“This actually started of Women’s History Day in 1978 in California and grew to what it is today, not just celebrated in the United States but is celebrated in certain countries around the world. What you may not know is every year there’s a different theme and this year, our theme is celebrating women to tell their stories,” Block said. “That is cross-cutting across so many different functions and areas where women play vital roles. I want to just hit on the military, women in the military telling their story for generations, because now we know when I came in in 1989, women weren’t allowed in combat roles. Now we have women fighter pilots. I served on the ground in the combat area with women as well in beautiful Afghanistan. We see women in space as astronauts; it’s more than just teachers and stay-at-home moms, which are critical roles. But we have women CEOs, and I hope that those women, in all these different positions, tell their story. The challenges that many of them had, especially in the first part of the last century before they had the right to vote with the 19th amendment. So please women tell your story, whether it’s your family history, or whether it was your professional career, or whatever it was, capture that story so it’s passed on from generation to generation. And I’d like to thank all the women here work in the county. We have women in law enforcement. So thank you so much for everything that you do.”
