HOUSE MEMORIAL 71

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia A. Lundstrom and Brian Egolf and Debbie A. Rodella and Carl Trujillo

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION TO NAME A PORTION OF NEW MEXICO STATE HIGHWAY 50 NEAR PECOS, NEW MEXICO, AFTER REPRESENTATIVE LUCIANO "LUCKY" VARELA.

     WHEREAS, requests for the designation or dedication by name of any department of transportation interchange or highway are submitted to the state transportation commission for approval; and

     WHEREAS, a requested designation by name is intended as a memorial to an event, a person or persons of historical significance or is intended as an honor to a person of national esteem; and

     WHEREAS, Luciano "Lucky" Varela was born in Pecos, New Mexico, on February 17, 1935 to Catalina and Celestino Varela; and

     WHEREAS, Lucky was raised in Pecos, graduated from Pecos high school, was enrolled at the university of New Mexico and, in 1957, joined the United States army; and

     WHEREAS, following his military service, Lucky graduated from the college of Santa Fe with a degree in accounting and then earned a law degree from La Salle university; and

     WHEREAS, Lucky gave many decades of service to the state and retired from the department of finance and administration in 1986; and

     WHEREAS, in 1987, Lucky was elected to represent house district forty-eight in the house of representatives; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Varela's dedicated advocacy and expertise in finance and budget matters earned him the greatest respect from his colleagues on the legislative finance committee, which he chaired for many years, and from the legislature as a whole; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Varela retired in 2016 after a thirty-year-long career in the legislature; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Varela died on September 7, 2017; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Varela is held in national esteem for his illustrious career in public service; and

     WHEREAS, a fitting honor to recognize Representative Luciano "Lucky" Varela for his many decades of public service would be to have a portion of New Mexico highway 50, near his birthplace of Pecos, New Mexico, named after him;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state transportation commission be requested to name a portion of New Mexico highway 50, near Pecos, New Mexico, after Representative Luciano "Lucky" Varela; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of transportation and each state transportation commissioner.

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