Democrat Baca, Republican Evans on defense in PRC primaries, and NMSU workers vote to unionize

Posted 5/31/2006 11:11:00 PM

Public Regulation Commissioner E. Shirley Baca says she has missed only 21 percent of meetings in 2005, most because she was traveling on PRC business.

Her challenger in the Democratic primary, Sandy Jones, sent out a mailer three weeks ago accusing Baca of not being physically present at 38 percent of PRC meetings in 2005. Jones said Baca was present by telephone “for a few minutes” at 10 percent of meetings he counted as absences.

I asked Baca to respond. She had a PRC paralegal create an official attendance record based on minutes of meetings.

(That a PRC staffer paid by taxpayers spent time pouring over minutes of 160 meetings and creating a document so Baca could respond to a campaign attack is questionable, but that’s a topic for another time.)

The paralegal found that, out of 160 meetings in 2005, Baca was physically present for 110, or 69 percent. She attended another 16 by telephone, raising her attendance record to 79 percent, the document states.

Baca was absent from 34 meetings last year, the document states – 28 to attend conferences and conduct other official business, two because of a death in her family, and four for “personal” reasons.

Baca said she missed two meetings because she took a week off to “kind of get my breath back” after the drug possession charges against her were dropped last year. In case anyone doesn’t know, she was arrested at the Albuquerque airport for allegedly possessing marijuana.

Baca claimed she was framed. There was never a trial.

Jones’ analysis, he said, is based on records provided by the PRC. It includes 125 meetings from 2005. He found that Baca missed 35 meetings and attended by telephone another 13.

Baca defended her attendance record.

“If I’m not here, I’ll do it on the phone. If I’m not on the phone, it’s because I’m at a national conference representing us,” she said.

Jones doesn’t like that, either. He sent out a second mailer last week attacking Baca for spending $7,000 in taxpayer money to travel to national conferences last year.

“She’s pretty well traveled,” Jones told me. “I don’t see any sense in all that travel. We’ve got too much to do at home.”

***

Kent Evans, one of three Republicans seeking the Public Regulation Commission seat held by E. Shirley Baca, announced Wednesday that he will step down from the Doña Ana County commission if elected to the PRC.

Evans had said previously he didn’t know what he would do about his county commission seat if elected to the PRC. The county attorney advised him that nothing in state law would prevent him from holding both positions, and Evans said he would make a decision if and when doing so became necessary.

That cost him the endorsement of the Las Cruces Sun-News, his hometown newspaper, which gave its nod to C. Earl Greer of Truth or Consequences.

Then Greer went on the attack, Evans said, by claiming in a recorded phone solicitation that Evans said he would not resign his county commission seat if elected to the PRC.

Evans said in the news release that he delayed an announcement because he takes seriously his obligation to the residents of his county commission district.

“I had hoped the campaigning would remain positive and clean,” Evans said. “I overestimated my opponent.”

Evans said he will resign his county commission seat the day he is inaugurated as a PRC member, should he win the race.

“In the meantime – and despite the pressure and challenges of campaigning – I will continue to devote my energy to my constituents in Doña Ana County,” Evans said. “Further, I reiterate my promise to campaign on the issues relevant to the Public Regulation Commission. I am hopeful that my opponents will join me in this pledge.”

***

After months of allegations that administrators were attempting to silence organizers, New Mexico State University employees have voted to unionize.

Of 1,300 non-exempt employees who were eligible, 559 voted to organize and 302 voted against unionization, according to unofficial results released by the university Wednesday night. They will be represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The Labor Management Relations Board will officially certify results on June 8.

I’m not going to say that NMSU President Michael Martin and other administrators tried to shut down union organizers, but I am going to say that many NMSU employees believe that’s what happened. The university denied the allegations.

Following a public outcry, some Democratic state legislators from Las Cruces publicly announced their support for the union.

Whatever the case, Martin did the only thing left for him to do after the votes were counted Wednesday: He offered an olive branch.

“As we have said throughout this process, we respect our employees, and we worked to keep them fully informed as they made this very important decision,” he said in a news release. “Now, in the same spirit of respect and cooperation, we will work with them through their representatives to ensure a smooth transition to unionization.”

***

Wednesday’s announcement that prosecutors won’t file criminal charges related to the 2004 special audit of Doña Ana County government is certain to inflame many Republicans.

With less than a week before the primary election, there is a Democratic primary in one county commission race and a Republican primary in another, so there could be some fallout.

The audit found widespread problems in county government as recently as 2004, but the state auditor says it appears the problems have largely been fixed. An audit next year will check that.

Three findings were referred to prosecutors, but the statute of limitations had already expired on any potential misdemeanor violations that were found, even before the audit began.

One Republican source called that an outrage, and vowed to continue pressing the issue. Many Republicans blame the county manager for the violations and want him fired.

***

The Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque Tribune and Santa Fe New Mexican have put out guides to next week’s primary election. You can check out the Journal’s by clicking here, the Tribune’s by clicking here, and the New Mexican’s by clicking here.

By the way, Jay Miller’s newest column on the culture of corruption is excellent. You can read it by clicking here.

***

Google, the company that hosts this site, is having a problem with photos right now. That’s why you don’t see any on this posting. Hopefully it will be fixed quickly.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

BREAKING NEWS: Prosecutors won’t file charges related to Doña Ana County special audit

Posted 5/31/2006 02:58:00 PM

Prosecutors have completed their review and will file no criminal charges related to the 2004 special audit of Doña Ana County government.

Shari Weinstein, chief deputy district attorney in Santa Fe, confirmed Wednesday that her office has closed the case after reviewing the results of an investigation by the New Mexico State Police.

“We’re not pursuing any criminal charges,” Weinstein said. “If there were any possible criminal charges from our point of view, the statute of limitations has run.”

A source told me that police and prosecutors believe there were several misdemeanor violations but no felonies, and the statute of limitations on the misdemeanors expired before the audit began.

The Santa Fe district attorney’s office took the case because Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez had a conflict of interest. She and her staff are housed by the county, which was in the process of designing its new building and her new offices at the time of the audit. One of three findings referred to prosecutors involved the architect selection.

The audit found widespread problems as recently as 2004, but the state auditor said it appears most identified problems have been fixed. Three findings were referred to prosecutors:

• The county set up a loan agreement with landowners to repay its 1999 water bonds, which were used to build a water and sewer system in Santa Teresa. Bond payments were supposed to be made with revenue from the system, but the agreement bypassed the terms of the bond and created an entirely new arrangement.

• The county improperly used money from the 1999 water bonds to pay other bills not related to the water and sewer system.

• The commission may have intentionally violated the state procurement code in its selection of an architect to design the new county administrative complex. Commissioners bypassed the established process to review and rank the firms that applied and voted on secret, paper ballots to select the firm. The ballots later vanished.

County spokesman Jess Williams was pleased to learn that criminal charges won’t be filed.

“The fact that this matter has come to a close is good news for all Doña Ana County residents, and means the Board of County Commissioners and management can keep our focus where it belongs – on substantive matters of public policy,” Williams said.

LCPS board not fazed by superintendent search outcry, and governor praises embattled judge

Posted 5/30/2006 11:33:00 PM

Even the political big dogs could not convince the Las Cruces school board to add Charles White to its list of superintendent finalists Tuesday evening.

Among the 10 people who asked the board to include White were State Rep. Joni Gutierrez, New Mexico State University College of Education Dean Robert Moulton, former Las Cruces school board member Patsy Duran and former State Board of Education member Francis Stevens, who was also the deputy superintendent in Las Cruces in the early 1990s.

After listening to their pleas, the board adjourned without comment.

White, the district’s former deputy superintendent for operations, was the only local named a semifinalist for the top job. The board eliminated him last week from consideration.

But with news that finalist Tony Amato was taking a job in Kansas City, and that two other finalists were up for the top schools job in Aurora, Colo., the board met again Tuesday.

The situation in Las Cruces ended up not being further complicated by the Aurora search. That district named its superintendent Tuesday night, and the choice was not one of the finalists in Las Cruces.

The new list of finalists for the Las Cruces job, approved at Tuesday’s meeting, includes David Barbosa, superintendent for the Grand Prarie (Texas) Independent School District; Sonia Diaz, former superintendent of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Public Schools; William Harner, principal of Gainesville Middle School in Gainseville, Ga., and Joan Kowal, Florida’s Nova Southeastern University Superintendent in Residence.

At the meeting, Duran told board members they had “lost enormous credibility” by not including White.

“We don’t have time to try out a leader to see if he or she fits,” she said. “We need a leader who can go to work tomorrow.”

Board member Gene Gant was absent from the meeting and did not vote on the new finalist list. Only Chuck Davis voted against the list, and he said he did so because “I do not believe that the set of candidates reflects what the community and our employees would like to see.”

“I think we ought to have a local candidate be part of the process,” Davis said. “Though I don’t necessarily endorse that candidate, I think he should be part of the process.”

White was a tough but fair negotiator with the unions and during employee disputes. He has the backing of the district’s principals and the teachers’ union. Many believe he can restore calm and stabilize the district after two of the last three superintendents left in scandal.

Davis was the only board member to comment at the meeting, though one parent asked the others to resign, and many speakers attacked them.

The 75 people in attendance cheered after each White supporter spoke.

“Look at him, please,” said Moulton, who said he was giving his opinion as an individual, not the education dean at NMSU.

Helen Davis, a teacher and wife of Chuck Davis, reminded board members that they asked for public input.

“Are you going to ignore it? You have people pouring out their hearts to you. They’ve been pouring out their hearts since this process began,” she said.

The most touching moment of the evening came when Ellen Sage, a former teacher at Hermosa Heights Elementary, recalled a time that administrators were invited to read one-on-one with young children at the school. She said White was one of only two administrators who did, and he came several times.

“His words, as best I remember, were, ‘Administrators should do this more often. It reminds us of why we’re here,’” she said.

Gutierrez spoke last.

“You have just been told by all these people, and I’m sure a lot more, that they will help you succeed,” she told board members. “… If it were me, I would say, ‘You know what? These people are the keys to my success, so I’m going to listen to them.’ Let these people help you be successful.”

The board plans to hold a public reception Thursday at Las Cruces High School beginning at 6 p.m. so community members can meet the candidates, who will all be present and will give public statements beginning at 7 p.m. The board will meet Friday to attempt to select the new superintendent.

***

Embattled District Judge Larry Ramirez received a warm reception this weekend from a group of Democrats that included Gov. Bill Richardson.

During a fundraiser in Las Cruces for Patricia Madrid, who is trying to unseat Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., Richardson was acknowledging people in the crowd. A source tells me he heaped some extremely generous praise on Ramirez and his accomplishments, and the approximately 60 people in attendance broke out in applause to honor the Las Cruces children’s court judge.

Ramirez is currently waiting for the New Mexico Supreme Court to rule on a petition for immediate, temporary suspension while the Judicial Standards Commission investigates allegations that he engaged in an ongoing pattern of sexual harassment and making inappropriate comments.

Ramirez is already on judicial probation following an incident in which he inappropriately hushed a defense attorney in court and another incident in which he admitted to improperly involving himself in is son’s alcohol-citation case.

There have been two prior investigations by the Administrative Office of the Courts into Ramirez’s conduct. One found in 2004 that sexual harassment had occurred, and Ramirez had to undergo counseling and sexual harassment training. Months later, the second found that Ramirez had engaged in improper conduct in the courtroom, leading to him being reassigned away from the juvenile drug court.

***

Corrections Secretary Joe Williams was suspended without pay by the governor Monday after the Albuquerque Journal reported that he used his government cell phone to make more than 600 calls in five months to a woman who registered as a state lobbyist.

The Journal told an extensive and convincing story indicating that Williams had some sort of personal relationship with the woman and may have misused tax dollars in the pursuit of that relationship.

This comes after the February resignation of New Mexico State Police Chief Carlos Maldonado, who allegedly left over a relationship he was having with a married, female legislator.

How often does this happen in state government? There need to be better checks on those who hold top the state’s top positions.

***

The Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting that 0.5 percent of Doña Ana County residents have voted thus far in the primary election. Come on, people. Get out and vote.

And come back tomorrow for more news and analysis. Thanks for reading!

An earlier version of this posting had "phased," not "fazed," in the headline.

News update: LCPS superintendent finalist likely taking Kansas job, and search uproar continues

Posted 5/30/2006 01:30:00 PM

The Las Cruces school board’s list of superintendent finalists will likely drop from four to three because one candidate is in negotiations to become the superintendent of the Kansas City school district.

Former New Orleans schools superintendent Tony Amato is working out a deal with the Kansas City board to become superintendent there, the Kansas City Star is reporting.

The Las Cruces board meets tonight to discuss its search. In addition to Amato’s likely withdrawal from consideration, two other finalists are also finalists for the top job in Aurora, Colo., and many of the candidates have controversial pasts.

Those pasts are being dug up and spread around by community members upset that the board eliminated Charles White, a former deputy superintendent for operations for the Las Cruces district, from consideration for the top job. Many principals and union members are also upset, believing White is the candidate who can restore calm to the district after the turmoil surrounding two of the past three administrations.

Two Las Cruces superintendents have left under clouds of scandal in recent years.

Amato was a controversial candidate. He was forced out of New Orleans in April 2005 after two years on the job because critics felt he wasn’t making progress in improving budgetary issues.

The other finalists for the Las Cruces job are David Barbosa, superintendent for the Grand Prarie (Texas) Independent School District; Sonia Diaz, former superintendent of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Public Schools; and William Harner, principal of Gainesville Middle School in Gainseville, Ga.

The board also named alternates: Joan Kowal, Florida’s Nova Southeastern University Superintendent in Residence; and Chip Zullinger, former Manassas (Va.) City Schools Superintendent.

Barbosa’s contract is not being renewed after eight years on the job because the school board felt the district was not making progress. In addition, according to a 1999 article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he was involved in a controversy in which, while he was superintendent, a 17-year-old female high school cheerleader was paddled by a male administrator behind closed doors, with another male administrator present, after she was caught smoking.

Kowal was forced out of her job as superintendent of a school district in Florida in 1999 after three years, according to a 2003 article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She was then hired in 2001 to run a school district in San Francisco, but dismissed in 2002, the newspaper said.

Kowal blamed both on politics during an attempt to become superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools in 2003.

The public portion of the school board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the district’s administrative office at 505 South Main Street. It will be televised on the city’s public access channel, Comcast channel 20.

House Republicans set to pick new leaders, and sources think Lujan will remain speaker, for now

Posted 5/30/2006 12:17:00 AM

Republican leadership positions in the House are up for grabs.

Sources tell me to expect that Brian Moore of Clayton will be the new minority floor leader and Dan Foley of Roswell will be the minority whip when the legislature convenes in January.

Those positions are up for grabs because current minority leader Ted Hobbs is retiring. The current minority whip, Terry Marquardt of Alamogordo, wants to replace Hobbs.

Two sources tell me that won’t happen.

House Republicans have been ineffective for years because there are several factions, one source said. Many Republicans view Marquardt as an unsuccessful whip and don’t want him as leader.

He was elected whip the last time over Foley by a one-vote margin after a few tie votes. Since then, many Republicans have been trying to replace Marquardt with Foley.

Moore is a choice upon which most House Republicans can agree, two sources said. And though Foley is a controversial legislator with a hot temper, enough Republicans are fed up with Marquardt that they’ll vote for him, they said.

The main criticism of Marquardt is that he has made deals with the governor to save his own capital outlay requests, often at the expense of the Republican agenda, infuriating many.

Marquardt apparently sent out an e-mail immediately after Hobbs announced he was retiring seeking support for his bid to replace the leader.

“It’s almost like he is oblivious to all this,” one source told me.

Another source said most Republican House members are uniting behind Moore and Foley in an attempt to make a stand. Democrats have accomplished much in the past few years, despite disunity caused by a polarizing governor, in part because the Republicans have been even more disorganized.

“Expect a dramatic different from the minority party,” the source said. “Expect a closing of the ranks.”

Since they don’t have opponents this year, Moore and Foley can focus on lobbying for the leadership positions. Marquardt has a potentially tough re-election battle ahead of him against Democrat Nate Cote. The Doña Ana County Democrats think this is one legislative seat they have a chance of taking from Republicans, and the three Democratic House members from the county who are unopposed are working hard to help Cote.

I’m not convinced that Cote will win, but Marquardt will have to spend a lot of time campaigning in the next few months. There is some discontent among Doña Ana County Republicans with their party’s leadership, but I don’t think it’s bad enough that Cote will take Republican votes from Marquardt.

I also don’t think the House leadership deal is done, at least in the case of minority whip. Foley is a polarizing figure, disliked by some members of his party who will be hesitant to give him more power.

Which leads to Roswell, Foley’s home. There’s been a nasty battle between Republican Party factions seeking control of things in Chaves County, which has boiled over publicly in the stealing and trashing of campaign signs and attacking letters to the editor of the Roswell Daily Record.

Foley is out to show he holds the power in Chaves County. If he can do that, he’ll probably pick up the votes he needs for minority whip. If he can’t, he risks appearing weak, one source said.

***

Meanwhile, the two sources who spoke with me about Republican leadership think the move among some House Democrats to oust Ben Lujan as their speaker won’t go anywhere, at least this year.

Lujan has been under fire since he slipped a $75 million appropriation into the capital outlay bill in this year’s session without the knowledge of most of his colleagues. The governor later vetoed the money because he wasn’t told about it, either.

One source predicted House Democrats will keep Lujan as their leader as long as he wants to stay despite the distrust many have of him. The other said Democrats may force Lujan out, but will allow him to exit gracefully. They’ll keep him as speaker for the next two years but force him, in exchange, to retire from the legislature at that time, so it will appear that he opted to go.

Nothing has been decided, but Lujan has a fight ahead of him.

***

Thanks for reading today. The primary election is only a week away. If you’re a Democrat or Republican, why don’t you go vote now? Get it over with. Ensure that you actually do it.

Come back tomorrow for the latest political news.

An earlier version of this posting had Chaves County misspelled.

When we assume the worst about each other, the system breaks down and nothing is accomplished

Posted 5/28/2006 11:48:00 PM

Scandal seems to permeate politics these days.

As the nation becomes more polarized, allegations monopolize the headlines. Many are deserved. Former state Treasurer Robert Vigil needed to be ousted. So did Eric Serna, the outgoing state insurance superintendent.

There are a lot of problems with our political system. Corporate money has too much influence. The media rarely scrutinizes what’s happening. Many citizens aren’t involved.

But some scandals and allegations are born when polarized politicos assume the worst about each other.

When that happens, the debate and compromise upon which our system of government is dependent breaks down. The public becomes even more distrustful of its leaders.

District Attorney Susana Martinez, a Republican, recently told me she is supporting Democrat Gary Perez in the race for Doña Ana County assessor. When I asked why, Martinez said the Republican candidate isn’t qualified, and Perez has spent years proving himself.

After I wrote about her endorsement on my blog, many Democrats cried foul. The most prevalent conspiracy theory is that Martinez, whose husband is the undersheriff, wants to appear moderate to help her husband and the sheriff take Democratic votes away from their opponent in this year’s election.

That’s silly. The vast majority of voters don’t know that Martinez is married to the undersheriff, or that his name is Chuck Franco.

The reality is that Martinez and I were discussing several candidates when assessor hopeful H.F. “Junior” Adams came up. She said she heard him speak and didn’t believe he was qualified for the job. I asked if that meant she supported Perez, and she said yes. I asked if she would say that for the record. She hesitated, then agreed.

I steered the conversation toward her doing that. If anything, she was reluctant to do so.

Another example: Many Republicans are up in arms about the recently released special audit of county government. It found widespread problems as recently as 2004, but the state auditor says it appears the problems have largely been fixed.

An audit next year will check that. The New Mexico State Police are still investigating three audit findings.

Many Republicans aren’t satisfied. They want County Manager Brian Haines fired. They assume that, because he worked for the commission that committed many of the violations, he’s a criminal.

Why would the commission fire the man who has worked tirelessly to fix most of the problems revealed by the audit? It’s for prosecutors and a jury, not the commission, to decide whether he is a criminal.

Treasurer Jim Schoonover is a victim of the same assumptions plaguing Haines. He bought some pencils with his name on them using taxpayer money and gave them to kids. The county attorney says they have no public value and accuses Schoonover of a felony crime. The pencils will likely result in an audit finding, as will the allegation that he used county staffers and equipment to record minutes for the Elks Lodge, if it’s true. He’ll probably have to reimburse the county for the costs.

If you’re assuming the worst, Schoonover and Haines appear to be criminals. Many Democrats have said for years that Martinez is a criminal.

The reality is that these people work hard for us. They could move to the private sector, make more money and work less.

Like the majority of public officials, they care about doing good. That doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes.

If we quit assuming the worst about each other, we could accomplish more. The commission, with three Democrats and two Republicans, accomplished a lot in the past 18 months, including the settlement of a longtime water battle with Sunland Park that had stymied economic development. It worked with the Republican sheriff to approve a tax increase to pay our officers more.

These weren’t political actions. They were accomplishments made only when officials put politics aside and worked together.

Our community could use more of that.

***

Thanks for reading today. Don’t forget to vote in the online poll on the right side of this page, and come back for more politics news tomorrow!

BREAKING NEWS: High court asked to permanently ban Galvan from becoming a judge again

Posted 5/26/2006 11:48:00 AM

The New Mexico Supreme Court has been asked to ban former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan from holding judicial office again.

This week’s filing by the Judicial Standards Commission is the result of an April trial before the board and states that Galvan “is unfit to hold judicial office.”

The high court has not set a date for oral arguments.

Galvan resigned last year amid allegations that he raped and solicited a bribe from a Las Cruces woman in August 2004. After two hung juries, prosecutors dropped the criminal charges.

Galvan admitted in a statement to police to actions that may violate the judicial code of conduct. While drinking and flirting in a bar, he discussed with the woman a pending battery case against her husband, though she was the alleged victim in that case. He had sex with the woman, though she and her husband had been married two months earlier by Galvan.

He also took the woman for a ride in his Porsche, though he told police he had too much to drink before driving.

Before the rape allegation surfaced, Galvan was barred from hearing criminal cases for a time because he had a sexual relationship with an assistant district attorney while hearing cases she was prosecuting. He also has two prior drunken driving convictions.

The fact that the commission is asking the court to permanently keep Galvan off the bench means the two sides could not reach a settlement on their own, most likely because Galvan refused to agree to never again run for judicial office.

Galvan has said he may attend law school and become an attorney.

He does exist! In scathing attack, Damron calls Richardson administration most corrupt ever

Posted 5/25/2006 11:09:00 PM

Republican gubernatorial candidate J.R. Damron has been silent thus far in the election season, baffling those who believe Gov. Bill Richardson is vulnerable on many issues.

No more.

In a speech he gave across the street from the federal courthouse Thursday in Albuquerque, Damron called Richardson’s “the most corrupt administration in our state’s history.”

“Pay to play, abuse of power and cronyism have become just the way we do things in New Mexico,” Damron said. “Multiple Richardson administration officials have had to resign in disgrace.”

“Whether by fear and intimidation, or rampant nepotism, this governor and his cronies are conducting the state’s business – the people’s business – in an irresponsible and dishonest manner,” he said.

Damron was announcing his proposal for ethics reform, which is included below along with a transcript of Damron’s speech.

More interesting than the proposal was Damron’s message to voters.

“Ethics laws mean nothing when those who violate them are not held accountable for their actions. And if the people do not demand that their top elected officials, such as the governor and the attorney general, be held accountable, no one else will,” Damron said. “The best and most important way to ensure our government operates in the highest ethical manner is to elect honest officials.”

Democracy requires debate and choice. Until Thursday, Damron was doing little to challenge Richardson’s re-election campaign. I hope there is more of this to come in the next few months, and that Richardson also engages Damron.

Maybe we’ll even see the candidates in a debate. How about holding one in Las Cruces?

Here are the details of Damron’s ethics proposal and a transcript of his speech:

***

Damron’s ethics proposal:

• Standing nonpartisan ethics commission

1. A standing nonpartisan ethics commission should be established.

2. The commission will hold open, public meetings and make recommendations to the legislature and the governor on a codified, regulated standard code of conduct for all state employees.

3. Ethics training, education and counseling must be made mandatory for all state employees and political appointees who have a fiduciary or procurement responsibility.

4. The commission must be empowered to punish those who violate this code.

5. All ethics findings and/or violations must become part of the public record.

6. The governor should be required to present an annual state-of-ethics report to the legislature, at which time he and the ethics commission will be required to answer questions about the report by members of the House and Senate.

• Eliminating Cronyism

1. Implement a rigorous, merit-based system for hiring qualified state and political appointees.

2. Establish a thorough vetting process.

• Eliminating Pay to Play

1. All political appointees will have to submit and sign annual financial disclosures, which will be open to the public.

2. Any company with business before the state will be prohibited from contributing to the campaigns of any sitting elected state official. All meetings concerning RFPs (requests for proposals) must be open to the public and include all bidders.

3. The timely disclosure of travel expenses and funding from all state elected officials and political appointees will be required.

***

Transcript of Damron’s speech

Good afternoon. I’m J.R. Damron, and I’m here today to prescribe a solution for ending the corruption and scandals that are running amok in our state government.

For the last three and a half years, New Mexico has had to endure the most corrupt administration in our state’s history.

In the courthouse across the street, the trial for the worst scandal in our state government’s history just played out.

Pay to play, abuse of power, and cronyism have become just the way we do things in New Mexico.

Multiple Richardson administration officials have had to resign in disgrace.

Friends, you can be blind or you can turn a blind eye, but the most hands-on governor we’ve ever had can’t use either of those excuses.

Whether by fear and intimidation, or rampant nepotism, this governor and his cronies are conducting the state’s business - the people’s business - in an irresponsible and dishonest manner.

And that’s a leadership problem.

I find it strange that this administration has to look to another task force to find its ethics. It’s been my experience that if you have to look outside for something, you probably didn’t have it at home in the first place!

Strong ethics are the backbone of good government, not something you make up as you go along.

We must seek to bring more transparency in general to government by opening more meetings and documents to the public.

Pay to play and cronyism are games that must stop.

The governor has established an ethics task force to study what new laws or regulations may be passed. And there are steps that should be taken to restore higher ethical standards to our state government and discourage corruption. These include:

• Enforcing a rigorous merit-based system of hiring qualified state and political appointees and implementing a thorough vetting process.

• Implementing a standing nonpartisan ethics commission. We are one of only a few states that doesn’t have one.

• The commission should hold open, public meetings and make recommendations to the legislature and the governor on a codified, regulated standard code of conduct for all state employees and officials.

• Ethics training, education and counseling must be made available to all state employees and be made mandatory for all state employees and political appointees who have a fiduciary or procurement responsibility.

But laundry lists of new ethics guidelines or laws are not a magic bullet. Every time an official violates the law or behaves in an unethical manner, the first impulse is to pass more new laws. But the bottom line is that ethics mean nothing to unethical people, and new laws are meaningless if the current ones are not being enforced.

Ethics laws mean nothing when those who violate them are not held accountable for their actions. And if the people do not demand that their top elected officials, such as the governor and the attorney general, be held accountable, no one else will.

The best and most important way to ensure our government operates in the highest ethical manner is to elect honest officials.

The headlines from over the past year show just how endangered democracy is in New Mexico. It is embedded with corruption and unethical officials at virtually all levels of government, all the way up to the Fourth Floor of the Roundhouse.

Our governor demonstrates his lack of ethical standards all too clearly, even in the legislation he chooses to sign or veto.

Let me ask you, what kind of governor - what kind of man - saddles the most vulnerable of our state with a $3,200-a-year bed tax, and then uses taxpayer money to buy a new $5 million jet?

What kind of man spends half a million dollars trying to get a pro-football team, but vetoes money for homeless children?

How is it that this governor couldn’t find $7,000 for school library books for our kids, even with a $1.4 billion surplus?

Not the kind of governor who puts New Mexicans first.

And here’s a headline I threw in just for fun. “Governor pays $200,000 for new ideas.”

Well here’s an idea: How about electing an honest and ethical governor to lead New Mexico?

It’s time to put New Mexicans first. It’s time to make the state’s opaque government as transparent as possible in order to protect their best interests. And it’s time to throw out corrupt, dishonest officials and replace them with people who have a track record of honesty and integrity.

***

This should make the election a bit more interesting. Chew on that while you enjoy the holiday weekend, and come back Monday for more on New Mexico politics.

BREAKING NEWS: Governor releases details of National Guard's role on border

Posted 5/25/2006 04:40:00 PM

Gov. Bill Richardson released today details of the National Guard deployment to the New Mexico border ordered by President Bush.

Richardson spoke with Lieutenant General Steven Blum, head of the National Guard, according to a news release. Here are the details the governor released:

On June 1, 50 members of the New Mexico National Guard will be deployed to the border to handle planning and logistics for the overall Guard operation in the state. In mid-June, those troops will be joined by an additional 100 Guard troops that Richardson previously directed perform a regular training mission along the border in a similar support effort.

This will be followed by an additional 50 troops per month through September.

When this mission is fully operational, the total number of Guard troops stationed along the border in New Mexico will be approximately 200. This is in addition to the 68 troops already on the border who are performing various missions in support of border security.

Additional Guard troops from other states will be available to augment local troops if necessary.

These troops will remain under the command and control of the governor of each state.

The federal government will cover all of the costs of this mission up-front.

The deployment is expected to be phased out within two years as the Border Patrol brings new agents on line, according to the news release.

Land commish hopefuls both qualified, Macias tries again, and critics attack cock-fighting candidate

Posted 5/25/2006 01:01:00 AM

The candidates for land commissioner in the Democratic primary are very different people.

Jim Baca is confrontational and pushes hard to accomplish his agenda. Ray Powell seeks to meet his goals by building bridges and forming alliances.

I’m not going to profile both men. Mainstream media has done a good job of profiling both, who are former land commissioners, and detailing their records.

What I am going to tell you is that either is a viable choice for the Democratic Party.

Baca has no problem being blunt about what he sees as the shortcomings of Powell and Patrick Lyons, the Republican who currently holds the office. He has made many enemies in his years in politics. Democrats overwhelmingly voted for Powell during this year’s preprimary nominating convention.

Long ago, Baca led a much-needed reform of the state’s liquor-license laws. Politicos who own bars have never forgotten it, and that’s why some dislike him.

Others think he’s a poor leader because he is so abrasive.

Baca shakes things up. He’s not someone the party can count on to fall in line.

I like that. Any candidate who isn’t owned by a political party gets my attention.

Powell is better at finding common ground and planting a tree in the middle of it. He audited 15 oil and gas companies as land commissioner and collected more than $120 million in owed taxes through negotiations. He sued the one company that refused to pay, proving he isn’t afraid to make enemies when necessary.

He has many more friends in the party than Baca.

I like his ability to find compromise.

The reality of politics is that there’s not one right philosophy of governance. If all elected officials were Democrats, we would pay too many taxes and be overregulated. If they were Republicans, corporations would control the universe.

If only nice guys like Powell were in government, everyone would seek compromise and no one would push for major reform when necessary. If they were all like Baca, no one would compromise. Everyone would be shouting at the same time.

We need people like both Baca and Powell in government.

After meeting with both candidates in separate meetings in Las Cruces, I’m convinced they have the right intentions and the interests of the people of New Mexico at heart. The voters have a tough choice to make.

***

Fernando Macias is continuing his quest to jump back into politics.

This time, he’s applied for a new district judgeship in Las Cruces that was created this year by the legislature and will be assigned to the overworked children’s court.

Macias, a state senator from 1985-2000 and Doña Ana County manager from 1997 to 2000, left to take the prestigious job in Ciudad Juarez as general manager of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission.

He recently began efforts to jump back into politics, first by considering a run for county commission, which he later abandoned, then by applying for a vacancy on the Mesilla Board of Trustees.

Macias didn’t get the appointment. Some speculate that Mayor Michael Cadena didn’t want someone more powerful than himself on the board.

Some also say Macias has little chance of being appointed judge, because he hasn’t practiced law in more than a decade. Though the governor makes the appointment, he’ll have to choose from a group of finalists selected by a committee. The system is set up so that the committee is not political and, historically, that’s how it’s worked out.

Though Macias might have some influence with the governor, he may have a hard time getting to the point where that matters.

The other applicants are Frederick Kennon, Las Cruces Municipal Judge James T. Locatelli, Michael Murphy, Rita Nuñez Neumann, Melissa Reeves and Bernadette Sedillo.

The nominating commission will meet in Las Cruces on July 27 to interview the candidates.

***

I keep hearing criticism of Chris Jaramillo, who is running in the Democratic primary against Doña Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler. He is a lobbyist for the cockfighting industry.

I wrote several weeks ago that it would be interesting to see him work with Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, whose senate district overlaps that commission district, since Garcia has been the champion of the unsuccessful effort to outlaw cockfighting in New Mexico, one of two states where it’s still legal.

Animal rights groups have begun a concerted effort to keep Jaramillo off the commission. They have found citizens to write several letters to the editors of both local newspapers, and I’ve been contacted by many people who don’t want Jaramillo on the commission.

Butler has faced criticism in his time on the commission, which has been reported here and in local media. He has upset many Democrats but won over many others, especially in the colonias.

But many are asking whether Jaramillo belongs on a commission that has already outlawed cockfighting in this county.

I don’t think that should disqualify him. Were a vote related to cockfighting ever before the commission, I would expect that he would recuse himself. Commissioners aren’t paid much and have to make a living. Many local politicians hold down other jobs and have to recuse themselves from time to time when their jobs conflict with their political positions.

The question is whether voters in commission District One want someone representing them who supports a practice already outlawed in this county. It’s a question I’ll leave to those voters, but I suspect there’s a wide variety of opinion on the subject. Some in the more urban Picacho Hills area are probably oppose cockfighting, but the district also includes most of the county’s rural communities, and it’s rural voters who have kept cockfighting alive in New Mexico.

Stay tuned.

***

I met with Stephanie Gonzales when she was in town recently. She’s one of the Democrats running for secretary of state.

(I’m writing about her and not the others because she came to town and asked to meet with me, and they have not.)

Gonzales said she plans to lobby Congress to reauthorize the 1965 Voter Rights Act, which, among other things, allowed ballots and other literature to be published in languages other than English. It’s critical for New Mexicans that the act be reauthorized.

Who knows why Congress put an expiration date on the law, but it’s up next year. In the context of the current immigration debate, this is likely to become a hot issue.

Gonzales also said, on a party level, she wants to reach out to Greens and other progressives to try to bring them into the Democratic Party.

“We need to bring them to the table,” she said. “We need to listen to them.”

She had an interesting take on voter identification.

“If you really want voter ID and you want teeth in it, it’s going to have to be a photo ID,” she said.

But when I asked whether she supported doing that, she said it would disenfranchise a lot of people, and she is pushing instead for same-day voter registration, which she said would address many of the concerns that have led to the push for voter ID.

When I asked her why she couldn’t push for both, she said, “Fight one battle at a time.”

You can learn more about Gonzales by clicking here.

***

I’m on the Michael Swickard show this morning at 8 a.m. If you get a chance, tune in. Don’t forget that you can get the day’s headlines in your e-mail box by entering your address in the subscription box on the right side of this page.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

Principals’ protest reveals deep wounds in the Las Cruces school district; plus, where is J.R. Damron?

Posted 5/23/2006 11:11:00 PM

As a group, Las Cruces Public Schools principals watched quietly as three union-backed candidates were elected to the school board more than five years ago, and as the anti-union and controversial Superintendent Jesse Gonzales quit in frustration.

They watched as allegations of secret board payments to Gonzales surfaced, and as board members were recalled and convicted of violating the New Mexico Open Meetings Act in 2002.

A few spoke as individuals against the recall but, as a group, principals remained silent.

They watched again when the board hired Louis Martinez to take the helm in 2003. They watched as allegations surfaced against him and he was eventually chased out, but not before he ousted longtime Mayfield Principal Robert Ogas.

Again, a few spoke, but as a group, they remained silent.

The principals finally left the bleachers and stormed the field last night.

When the school board announced finalists for the district’s top job at last night’s meeting, four principals, including Las Cruces High School’s Nyeta Haines, told the board they were disappointed that they hadn’t been included in the process. When board members tried to explain that principals and others would be included from this point forward, about 25 principals – the vast majority in the district – walked out of the meeting, leaving in mid-sentence a board member who was addressing them.

The action revealed deep wounds that have never healed from the scandals of the past few years, and a group of administrators fed up because they believe they haven’t been heard.

Here’s the result: The principals think the board has already failed, before it’s picked the new superintendent.

The unspoken issue Tuesday night was the board’s decision to eliminate Charles White from the list of contenders. White, the district’s former deputy superintendent for operations, quit in frustration last year over the leadership of Martinez.

He had the backing of the Mayfield faction of the district, making his candidacy controversial since at least some board members supported the ousting of the notorious Ogas. Sources said some board members didn’t take White’s application seriously because they thought he had little support outside Mayfield.

They were very, very wrong, as the principals showed.

Many felt White was the man to stabilize the district, to provide solid leadership for a few years while allowing the district to heal from the wounds of the past. The support extended far beyond Mayfield and included parents, students, teachers and administrators.

It’s understandable that the board may not have agreed. Board members hired Foltz to stabilize the district and then made the wrong choice in Martinez. Why not try a different tactic this time?

It must have been frustrating to spend years trying to rebuild from the Gonzales mess only to have things fall apart again last year. Board members are probably anxious to get things going again.

Instead, they have another big mess on their hands. This district is becoming accustomed to dealing with turmoil. The next superintendent will face quite a task in trying to clean it up and unite the district.

Superintendent finalists are set to be interviewed June 1 and 2. The board must figure out how to truly include principals and everyone in the process.

***

Where is J.R. Damron? When his party views his opponent as so vulnerable on so many issues, why aren’t we hearing from the Republican seeking the governor’s seat?

“Money – he ain’t got any,” said one Republican.

But there’s another factor, the party insider said.

“I’m for Damron and I like the guy,” he said. “But he’s the kind of guy you want as a dad or a grandpa. He isn’t going to attack anybody. He’s a nice guy.”

Of course, Matt Farrauto, spokesman for the Democratic Party of New Mexico, put it bluntly:

“He knows nothing about government and even less about campaigning,” Farrauto said. “He also has no money to pay someone who might know how to campaign.”

The Republicans couldn’t have come up with a nicer gift for a governor who wants to be president than the chance to get more than two-thirds of the vote this year.

***

Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s re-election television commercials began airing statewide Tuesday, even in Las Cruces. Many candidates won’t buy airtime here because we’re in the El Paso/Las Cruces market, not the Albuquerque market.

Bingaman’s ad will run for several weeks on network and cable television, and cost the senator more than $200,000, his spokesman said.

The 60-second ad targets rural and Southern New Mexico voters by highlighting Bingaman’s Silver City roots.

If you care, you can view the ad by clicking here.

***

Some have inquired again about how to e-mail my blog postings to friends. You can do it by clicking on the letter icon at the end of the posting.

Thanks for reading today. Come back tomorrow for more.

BREAKING NEWS: LCPS principals walk out in protest as board names superintendent finalists

Posted 5/23/2006 09:10:00 PM

The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education named four finalists and two alternative finalists at a meeting tonight. The finalists are Tony Amato, former New Orleans Public Schools superintendent; David Barbosa, superintendent for the Grand Prarie (Texas) Independent School District; Sonia Diaz, former superintendent of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Public Schools; and William Harner, principal of Gainesville Middle School in Gainseville, Ga.

The alternate finalists, should any of the finalists drop out, are Joan Kowal, Florida’s Nova Southeastern University Superintendent in Residence; and Chip Zullinger, former Manassas (Va.) City Schools Superintendent.

That cut the list from eight to six, essentially.

Principals were unhappy. Four spoke to the board to share their belief that they have been left out of the process. When board members tried to explain how they would be involved from this point forward, some 25 principals walked out as a group in protest.

There’s much more to this story. Come back tomorrow for more.

Fallout from Vigil mistrial, border crisis hits home, and Big Bill wants to have a cigar with you

Posted 5/22/2006 11:15:00 PM

Monday’s mistrial in the case of former State Treasurer Robert Vigil doesn’t mean the charges are going away, doesn’t mean criticism of Attorney General Patricia Madrid is going away, and is likely to increase calls for ethics reform in the state, sources told me.

In case anyone didn’t hear, 11 of 12 jurors told the judge they did not believe they could reach a verdict on any of the 24 counts against Vigil in the massive public corruption case. Apparently, there was one juror who insisted that Vigil was innocent.

It was Vigil’s attorney, Sam Bregman, who made the motion for a mistrial. One source who is a lawyer told me Bregman pulled a classic move by not presenting a defense, a move that was criticized by many during the trial. But Bregman probably had a sense from watching the jury and the prosecution’s case that a mistrial was likely.

Now he has seen the cards held by federal prosecutors, and they’ve seen none of his.

A gamble, but it paid off in a big way

On to round two.

What an expensive fight. Jurors from around the state spent weeks in Albuquerque. A new jury will have to do it all over again.

Gov. Bill Richardson immediately released a statement saying that, despite the verdict, testimony revealed “corruption and a serious breach of public trust within the treasurer’s office” that “clearly demonstrates the need for comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reform.”

Another source told me the mistrial would increase pressure on the legislature and governor to pass meaningful ethics reform. The others charged in this scandal, including Vigil’s predecessor, Michael Montoya, quietly pleaded guilty to charges they faced.

Guilty or not, Vigil has become the face of this scandal. The failure of prosecutors to get a conviction on the first try might make the public impatient and shift some of the pressure for action to lawmakers.

Rumors of a special session abound.

Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who has faced allegations that she was asked years before the feds to investigate the treasurer’s office but did nothing, won’t be helped in her bid for Congress by Monday’s mistrial, one source told me. For starters, the Republicans will use the fact that so many others, including Montoya, pleaded guilty. They don’t need a Vigil conviction to attack Madrid.

Second, the retrial will probably take place before November. Federal courts are much more efficient than the state court system.

“I think the federal prosecutors – headed by Republicans – will work very hard to get this thing retried before November,” one source told me.

Some think Republicans are desperate in New Mexico, seeing little chance to win any statewide races. That leaves them to put most of their resources into the battle between Madrid and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.

“They want to hold on to the House seat. That’s the only thing they’ve got in New Mexico,” the source said. “If they lose the House, it will be impeachment season.”

Madrid called for Vigil’s resignation months ago, and said Monday she will review testimony from the federal case to search for violations of state laws.

One source said that is too little too late. I guess we’ll see in November whether the voters agree, but it appears that a lot is going to happen before the election.

Fortunately for Madrid, the problems plaguing Republicans in the federal government rival those plaguing Democrats in New Mexico, so the scandals may cancel each other out on Election Day.

That might mean voters will just stay home. I hope not.

***

While politicians fight about what to do with the U.S.-Mexico border, people are dying.

Beeatriz Sanchez Nicholas, 27, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was found dead Saturday in the desert north of Las Cruces. She and her husband were abandoned by guides after she showed signs of heat exhaustion. He went for help, but Border Patrol agents returned to find his wife dead.

Some will say she deserved it, or that she shouldn’t have been here in the first place. Maybe she didn’t have a right to be here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be compassionate. Congress needs to put politics aside and act, now. It’s hot out here in the desert. People are dying.

In the meantime, perhaps the National Guard troops President Bush is sending this way should set up shade tents and hand out water, like they often do at public events in Las Cruces.

They would probably save a few lives.

***

I wrote last week about many people expressing concern that Magistrate Judge Olivia N. Garcia had reported so many anonymous donations on her May campaign contribution report.

Of the almost $7,000 she raised, Garcia reported $1,700 as anonymous contributions, including 15 of $100 each.

As it turns out, state law only allows $500 in anonymous contributions. I called Garcia’s treasurer, Nadine Handy, to inquire about that Monday, and found that she already knew about and had corrected the problem. Garcia’s fundraising committee filed an amended report Friday that includes two anonymous contributions of $100 each.

The other donors who were previously listed as anonymous are now named in the report.

The mistake was Handy’s, not Garcia’s. Judges are required to set up committees to handle their money and then stay away from it all. In theory, Garcia didn’t even know who was donating to her campaign, except when people called her to say they wanted to donate. Garcia told me she refers those callers to Handy.

You can view Garcia’s and other campaign finance reports by clicking here.

***

Gov. Bill Richardson will be in Las Cruces Wednesday at the home of State Rep. Joni Gutierrez and her husband, Lowell Catlett, for a reception and book signing. You have to pay to get in - $30 for the reception and $25 for the book signing.

It’s what happens next that’s interesting: one of those infamous “Richardson Roundtable” events.

It’s a gathering of the inner circle – those willing to pay big to hang out with Big Bill. Unless you’re already in good standing (you’ve paid a few times before), you have to put up $1,000 to joint the governor for “cigars and cognac,” according to the invitation. (If you’re already a friend, it’ll only cost you $100 this time.)

The invitation has a sort of watermark of a sword with jewels on the handle behind the text.

Cognac and cigars conjure images of a bunch of White men in suits hanging out in the study while the wives wash dishes and play bridge. Speaking of cigars, let’s not forget that the White House tried to give Monica Lewinsky a job with Richardson after that cigar incident.

Does the governor really want to associate his campaign with those images?

***

There’s lots going on in the political arena. Come back tomorrow for more.

An earlier version of this posting incorrectly stated that Richardson sent Lewinsky to the White House, not the other way around.

BREAKING NEWS: Former treasurer Vigil's trial ends with deadlocked jury

Posted 5/22/2006 04:24:00 PM

U.S. District Judge James Parker declared a mistrial Monday in the public corruption trial of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil, and prosecutors promptly announced they would seek a new trial, the Associated Press reported late Monday. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

I'll have more on this tomorrow.

Paper mistakes one Curry for another, PRC primary gets nasty, and Cruces community leader passes

Posted 5/21/2006 11:20:00 PM

An embarrassing mistake in the local newspaper had politicos all over Doña Ana County talking this weekend.

On Saturday, the Las Cruces Sun-News ran an article about an issue I wrote about last week: allegations that Environment Secretary Ron Curry sent inspectors to a local restaurant after he was refused service there. Instead of a photo of Democrat Ron Curry, the front-page article was accompanied by the photograph of Doña Ana County Commissioner Paul Curry, a Republican.

The article mentions the environment secretary’s first name once, with a lot of references to a Curry after that, alongside the commissioner’s photograph.

So do you think the one reference to Ron Curry or the photograph of Paul Curry left a more lasting impression?

Those who actually read the article thoroughly certainly didn’t confuse the two. And anyone who doesn’t know what Paul Curry looks like probably didn’t notice the error.

But studies have shown that the vast majority of people don’t read articles thoroughly. Most don’t get past the headline or the first sentence, but they do look at photographs. And Paul Curry’s face is well-known around town. He is a politician, builder, church member and avid bicyclist who was born and raised here.

The damage is done. Thankfully, though Curry’s seat is up for grabs this year, he chose not to seek re-election, or the mistake would be much worse.

I attended the Democratic candidate forum at New Mexico State University this weekend. Many Democrats thought the mistake was hilarious.

Many Republicans were, obviously, upset.

Give the Sun-News credit for correcting the mistake on the front page of Sunday’s edition. Journalists are human, just like everyone else, and we sometimes make mistakes. Front-page corrections are almost unheard of, so the newspaper took a big step toward righting this wrong.

Mistakes like this happen in part because that newsroom, like those across the nation, is understaffed and overworked. As newspaper circulation continues to drop nationwide, editors are forced by corporate bosses to repeatedly slash their budgets, even though newspapers continue to make healthy profits that, in terms of percentages, rival those of the oil industry.

Editorial quality suffers as a result. Work is rushed. Staffers are forced to cut corners to get their jobs done.

Newspapers will always make mistakes, but the current climate in the corporate newspaper industry creates a workplace where more mistakes are going to happen. Unless that changes, credibility will continue to suffer.

***

The Democratic primary race for the Public Regulation Commission District 5 seat turned nasty at a candidate forum in Las Cruces this weekend.

Incumbent E. Shirley Baca defended herself from an attack by challenger Sandy Jones.

Baca showed up to the forum at New Mexico State University looking angry and passing around a Jones mailer stating that she had missed 40 percent of PRC meetings since taking office. When it was Baca’s turn to speak to the group of about 70, she held up the mailer and told the group that her primary opponent had gone negative.

“This is not acceptable,” she said. “… We don’t do this.”

That elicited cheers from many in the group, though some looked confused as they clapped because they hadn’t seen the mailer and didn’t know what Baca was talking about.

Baca also called the 40 percent statistic “misleading.”

I spoke with Jones afterward, and he stood by the mailer, telling me Baca was not physically in attendance for 40 percent of PRC meetings, though she attended about 10 percent of those by phone “for a few minutes.”

“It was certainly a negative ad, but it was absolutely factual,” Jones said. “Showing up to work is probably the most important thing you can do.”

So I asked the obvious: If you’re going negative, why not attack Baca on the marijuana issue? She was arrested last year and charged with possession of marijuana, but the charges were later dismissed.

“If you’re not convicted, you’re innocent, and as far and I’m concerned, that’s off limits,” Jones said. “We’re going to hit her on facts, and there’s more coming,” he said.

***

Former Las Cruces City Councilor J. Henry Gustafson died Friday of a heart attack. He was 86.

Gustafson was born and raised in Las Cruces and was a U.S. Marine who fought in World War II. He owned Gustafson Realty.

I interviewed Gustafson when President Ronald Reagan died in 2004. He brought Reagan to Las Cruces in 1961, five years before the actor was elected California governor, to speak at a chamber of commerce banquet at New Mexico State University.

“I’ll never forget how funny he was,” Gustafson said at the time. “He just absolutely kept us laughing.”

Gustafson served as president of the United Way, Rotary Club of Las Cruces, Community Concert Association and the NMSU Alumni Association through the years, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.

He was a city councilor from 1995 to 1999.

Gustafson touched many people during his life. He will certainly be missed.

***

It appears I missed two local candidate Web sites in Friday’s posting. E. Shirley Baca’s Web site can be found at http://www.eshirleybaca2006.com/, and the Web site for Scott Witt, the Republican candidate for House District 37, can be found at http://www.scottwittnm.com/.

***

You’ll notice several advertisements appearing on my site beginning today. Know that advertisers get no special treatment, as is stated in my advertising policies, which you can read by clicking here. They can disagree with editorial content and can discuss it with me, just like the rest of you can. But I won’t compromise editorial content for advertising.

If you want to share your thoughts on the advertisements, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com or comment at the end of this posting.

Have a great day!

Curry was refused service, but says he didn’t order eatery inspection; plus, local candidate links

Posted 5/18/2006 11:13:00 PM

There is evidence to show that the recent downgrading of a Las Cruces restaurant was the result of a normal, annual inspection, despite allegations that New Mexico Environment Secretary Ron Curry sent inspectors to the eatery after he was refused service there.

Mix Pacific Rim Cuisine in Las Cruces had its status downgraded to “unsatisfactory” Monday after an inspection found that fish was being improperly thawed, there wasn’t hot water for hand washing at the sushi bar, gloves weren’t being used to handle sushi, and other violations. The restaurant’s next-door neighbor, Mix Pacific Rim Express, was also downgraded after inspectors found missing ceiling tiles and a dish washer that needed repairs.

Curry and his significant other, State Sen. Cynthia Nava, D-Las Cruces, have apparently eaten at Mix on several occasions. Allegations surfaced that Curry sent inspectors there this week after the two were refused service because the restaurant was closing.

I spoke Thursday with Curry about the situation. He said the allegations are false.

In fact, environment department spokesman Adam Rankin told me, Mix was inspected on June 1, 2005 – last year’s annual inspection - and similar violations were found. It was inspected again on June 22, 2005 following an anonymous complaint. Similar violations were also found that time.

The restaurant was required to get training for its staff after the violations were found last summer, Rankin said.

The Monday visit was, like the one June 1, 2005, simply the annual inspection required of all restaurants in the state, Rankin said.

Curry also spoke with me about the night he and Nava were refused service.

It was a weeknight in February and the two were at Nava’s home. Curry said he called sometime after 8 p.m. to see how late Mix was open, and was told they would be served as long as they arrived before 9 p.m.

They arrived at the restaurant 2-3 minutes before 9 p.m., Curry said, but were told the restaurant was closed. He said he reminded the host that he had just called and was told they would be served, but he and Nava were still refused.

“I said, ‘That’s no way to run a business. I’m a regular customer here,’” Curry told me. “I put my card on the desk and walked out. … I felt like we should have been served. I felt like I was a victim of bad service.”

Curry was in town again 2-3 weeks later and he and Nava returned to the restaurant, where they “had a wonderful meal,” he said.

A few weeks after that, Curry received a letter from the restaurant’s owner apologizing for the night he wasn’t served and urging him to return to the restaurant.

I tried to get in touch with the restaurant owner Wednesday and Thursday, but was unsuccessful.

Curry said he never ordered inspectors to the eatery. In fact, he said, Mix is one of his favorite restaurants, and he plans to eat there next time he is in town.

Curry is right about the restaurant. Its sushi is fantastic. But, clearly, there have been some issues with the restaurant’s handling of fish and a few other things.

The environment department has good evidence that this week’s inspection was not retaliation, but was a normal, annual inspection. Still, there’s that darned appearance of impropriety again. Though it might be commonplace for people who receive bad service to leave a business card and expect a call or letter from the owner, Curry, in his position, should probably not do that. After all, his department has the power to shut down a restaurant, and his doing so could be perceived as a threat.

Perhaps Curry should avoid leaving a business card if there’s ever a next time.

***

I’ve been promising links to local candidates’ Web sites, so here they are. There aren’t that many. A much higher percentage of candidates for statewide offices have Web sites. I guess Doña Ana County is still a bit behind the Internet revolution.

For those who don’t have candidate sites, I’ve included professional sites, with the exception of Doña Ana County officials. The county Web site is down for the next few days while it moves computer servers to the new building.

I need to make one correction to last week’s list. I gave you Jeff Bingaman’s senator Web site. Here’s his campaign site: http://www.bingaman2006.com/.

Have a great weekend!

Public Education Commission, District 7
Eugene Gant: None

District judge
Jim T. Martin: http://www.keepjimtmartin.com/

Public Regulation Commission District 5
Sandy Jones: http:www.jonesforprc.org/
E. Shirley Baca: http://www.nmprc.state.nm.us/commissioners/bacabio.htm
Doyle Pruitt: http://doylepruitt.com/
C. Earl Greer: http://www.earlgreer.org/
D. Kent Evans: None

House District 33
Joni Gutierrez: http://legis.state.nm.us/LCS/legdetails.asp?Name=316

House District 34
Mary Helen Garcia: http://legis.state.nm.us/LCS/legdetails.asp?Name=191

House District 35
Antonio Lujan: http://legis.state.nm.us/LCS/legdetails.asp?Name=205
Lawrence Joy: http://www.votejoy.com/

House District 36
Andy Nuñez: http://legis.state.nm.us/LCS/legdetails.asp?Name=213
Isaac Chavez: None

House District 37
Jeff Steinborn: http://www.jeffsteinborn.com/
Scott Witt: None

House District 52
Joseph Cervantes: http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legdetails.asp?Name=186

House District 53
Nate Cote: http://www.pva-nm.org/candidate_cote.html
Terry Marquardt: http://legis.state.nm.us/LCS/legdetails.asp?Name=209

County Commission District 1
Chris Jaramillo: None
Oscar Vasquez Butler: None
John Zimmerman: None

County Commission District 3
Karen Grace Perez: http://www.pva-nm.org/candidate_karen_perez.html
Ruben Gonzalez: http://www.voteforruben.com
Mack Haley: None

County Assessor
Gary Perez: None
H.F. “Junior” Adams: None

County Sheriff
Ralph Misquez: http://www.misquezforsheriff06.org/
Todd Garrison: None

Probate Judge
Dino Villani: None
Alice Salcido: None
Neri Frietze: None
Patrick Curran: None

Magistrate Judge Division 1
Oscar Frietze: None

Magistrate Judge Division 2
Joseph Guillory: None
Steven Foldy: None

Magistrate Judge Division 3
Maria E. Rodriguez: http://www.pva-nm.org/candidate_rodriguez.html
Olivia N. Garcia: None

Magistrate Judge Division 4
Richard Silva: None

Magistrate Judge Division 5
Carlos Garza: None

Ron Curry in hot water over restaurant snafu, and controversial candidates apply for top job at LCPS

Posted 5/18/2006 12:19:00 AM

The recent downgrading of the status of a Las Cruces restaurant has New Mexico Environment Secretary Ron Curry in hot water over allegations that he sent inspectors to the eatery after he was refused service there.

The allegation is that, when Curry and the woman he was with showed up at the restaurant late one night and were told it was closing, Curry slapped a business card on the counter and demanded to be served, a source told me.

The restaurant still refused service.

Not long after, the inspectors came. They found violations and downgraded the restaurant’s status to “unsatisfactory.”

I don’t know whether Curry tried to use his position to get service, and sent inspectors after that didn’t work. Let’s hope not. Public officials should never try to use their positions for personal gain, no matter how much their stomachs are growling.

Stay tuned for more on this one.

***

The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education is in the process of selecting finalists for superintendent, and there’s a lot of nervous energy surrounding the process.

Two of the last three superintendents have left under clouds of scandal.

To ensure the search would be a success, the board took its time picking a replacement after the 2001 departure of Jesse Gonzales. But Louis Martinez left last year in disgrace.

So the board started over, again.

Two of eight semifinalists have interesting pasts.

Semifinalist Charles White, the former LCPS deputy superintendent for operations, left the district in frustration over the leadership of Martinez. The Mayfield High School faction of the district, the group largely responsible for the departure of Martinez, is backing White, making his candidacy controversial.

Some board members may not take White seriously by because of the Mayfield support. There is a split in the school district between those who back the Mayfield style of education, which allows more freedom for creativity, and the more standardized style Martinez implemented throughout much of the district, which is designed to ensure that fewer struggling students are left behind.

The split is healthy. Both sides have important points to make about the system, and the debate is, hopefully, leading to better education.

But there are some who fear the hiring of White would mean a return to the old Gonzales days. After Gonzales left, the public learned that the school board had secretly given him almost $1 million in incentives to stay in Las Cruces. Those board members were convicted of violating the New Mexico Open Meetings Act. It was one of only two times the law has been enforced with criminal charges in the state’s history.

White wasn’t a puppet of Gonzales, and his heart is with the students. Through the union turmoil that led to the anti-union Gonzales’ departure, White was a tough but fair negotiator for the district. We’ll see whether he makes it onto the list of finalists.

Also noteworthy is semifinalist Joan Kowal, the superintendent-in-resident at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. I’m going to bet she won’t make the final round.

Kowal was forced out of her job as superintendent of a school district in Florida in 1999 after three years, according to a 2003 article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She was then hired in 2001 to run a school district in San Francisco, but dismissed in 2002, the newspaper said.

Kowal blamed both on politics during her attempt to become superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools in 2003.

“In Palm Beach (Florida), she said, things got sticky after voters elected to the School Board a former high school principal whom she had sought to discipline because he failed to squelch a teacher who humiliated and intimidated students on internal suspension in the school,” the newspaper reported.

“In Hayward (California), Kowal said she drew criticism because she pushed hard to shake up a chronically underperforming school district. She said she ran afoul of the teachers union - in part because she maintained that new academic standards adopted by the School Board were not negotiable - and the union exerted its political influence over the School Board to oust her,” the paper said.

The paper also reported that “Kowal’s critics say she’s a top-down manager, a control freak who rules by intimidation and manipulation.”

She later withdrew her name from consideration in Seattle, writing to the school board that “I have concluded that what appears to have been a concerted campaign of undocumented rumors, allegations and innuendo around my candidacy has become a distraction from the important task facing your board.”

The similarities between Kowal’s situation and the departures of Gonzales and Martinez from Las Cruces will make the board hesitate to give her the job, I’m betting.

Gonzales ran afoul of the teachers’ and classified employees’ unions, and left after three union-backed candidates were elected to the school board. He cited difficulties in working with the new school board when he left.

Martinez left after ousting longtime Mayfield Principal Bob Ogas, causing the stir at Mayfield that spread throughout the district. He and Gonzales were both accused of being, like Kowal, controlling, intimidating and manipulative.

It’s interesting how these situations follow a candidate. Many people in Las Cruces are so bitter about Martinez’s actions that they have vowed to follow him wherever he goes to tell what they believe to be the truth about him. It appears the same has happened to Kowal.

After the humiliation of the Open Meetings Act convictions, then the devastation of working so hard to right the situation, only to fail with Martinez, it seems unlikely the board will take a chance on someone with a similar past.

***

Tomorrow I’m planning to post those links I promised last week to local candidates’ Web sites. If there’s any breaking news that can’t wait until Monday, I’ll tell you about that, as well. Thanks for reading!

Another judge falls to addiction, anonymous contributions raise questions, and it’s time to vote

Posted 5/17/2006 12:17:00 AM

Another New Mexico judge is in big trouble.

District Judge John W. Pope of Los Lunas admitted in a Monday filing at the New Mexico Supreme Court that alcoholism was the reason he failed to show up during the final stages of an April criminal trial. His absence led to a mistrial.

He didn’t show up because he was busy consuming “excessive amounts of alcohol,” according to a news release from the Judicial Standards Commission. To make matters worse, when questioned by the media, Pope lied and attributed his absence to a mild heart attack.

The binge forced Pope to be hospitalized.

In the Monday filing, Pope admitted to the allegations. He also agreed to the discipline recommended by the commission. If the high court approves the agreement, Pope must spend 60 days in alcohol rehab, write humbling letters to jurors in the case and the commission to apologize for his actions, pay a $1,000 fine, and, if he completes rehab and returns to the bench, be on permanent, supervised judicial probation and in a 12-step alcohol recovery program for the rest of his time on the bench.

The commission showed a tough but fair approach in the Pope case. Clearly, he has a major problem. Rather than seeking a long, unpaid suspension or Pope’s removal from the bench, the commission is trying to get him the help he needs. That’s honorable.

If only our criminal justice system had the same focus on rehabilitation.

I can only wish Pope, who has been a district judge for 13 years, the best. This state has experienced enough failures in recent years.

• In 2005, District Judge Thomas Fitch of Socorro resigned after crashing a state-owned van and pleading guilty to drunken driving.

• In 2004, District Judge John Brennan of Albuquerque resigned after being arrested while trying to dodge a DWI checkpoint and later pleading guilty to aggravated drunken driving and cocaine possession.

• In 2002, District Judge Thomas Cornish of Las Cruces resigned after pleading guilty to drunken driving in an incident that involved prescription medications.

Why have there been so many cases of substance abuse by judges? Will there be more? More than one source has confirmed for me that there is at least one other current investigation into allegations of substance abuse by a New Mexico judge.

It’s encouraging to see the commission make a stand in these cases. New Mexico is no longer looking the other way when judges act improperly. The judiciary, and the citizens of the state, will benefit in the long run.

This should be a wake up call to voters. Judicial races are often the last to get attention. I know this is a sleepy election year with many boring races, but there are contested races for magistrate and probate judge positions in Doña Ana County.

Take the time to learn about the candidates. Vote. Vote. Vote.

***

While we’re on the subject of judges, some of you have expressed concern about Magistrate Judge Olivia N. Garcia reporting so many anonymous donations on her May campaign contribution report.

Of the almost $7,000 she has raised, Garcia reported $1,700 as anonymous contributions, including 15 of $100 each.

There’s nothing illegal about this, and it doesn’t violate the state’s judicial code of ethics. But I cringe whenever I see an anonymous contribution on anyone’s campaign finance report, especially that of a judge. Probate Judge Alice Salcido, who is up for re-election this year, reported one anonymous $100 contribution.

I don’t like seeing one on a report, but 20 separate anonymous contributions? Who are these donors to Garcia’s campaign? Are they attorneys who might appear before her in court? If so, should they be giving money? Maybe, but it should be done in such a way that requires Garcia to disclose it.

If they aren’t attorneys, why are they concerned about remaining anonymous?

It’s not likely that Garcia is doing anything improper, but how are we to know for certain?

And the bigger question: Why does the law allow this? Perhaps Judicial Standards Commission Executive Director Jim Noel, who is a member of the governor’s ethics reform task force, should raise this issue. The law should be changed.

***

Early voting has begun. Here’s the information on where to vote in Doña Ana County, thanks to a handy news release:

You still vote at the old county courthouse, 251 W. Amador Ave. in Las Cruces. The elections bureau won’t move into the new governmental complex until after the June primary.

Early voting is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Beginning May 20, additional early voting sites will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays in these locations:

• Anthony Community Center, 675 N. Main Street in Anthony
• Hatch High School Band Room, 427 N. Main Street in Hatch
• Sunland Park Community Library, 984 McNutt Road in Sunland Park
• Highland Elementary School, 4201 Emerald Street in Las Cruces

Don’t forget that you’ll be required to provide some sort of identification (the law is lenient enough to include a utility bill in its definition of identification, but that’s a subject for another time) or you will be subjected to a series of questions about your identity.

If you have questions, call the elections bureau at (505) 647-7428 or 7505.

***

Did I mention that you should vote? If, like me, you’re registered as an independent, you’ll have to wait until November to do that. Those of you who opt for party membership, go vote. You have three weeks to do it. What excuse do you have to not get it done by June 6?

Thanks for reading today. There’s more to come tomorrow.

Guard troops won’t help border, schools strapped, more on pencils and an interesting endorsement

Posted 5/15/2006 11:44:00 PM

President Bush’s plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border is appropriately being met with skepticism. It’s a blatant attempt to appease the conservative base in an election year when his approval rating is headed toward zero.

Bush’s plan won’t work. Until we deal with the root of the problem – the reason Latin American immigrants are so desperate to come here – they are going to keep trying to enter our nation, no matter what. Are our Guard troops going to start shooting them?

The United States – you and me – have held down Latin America for a long time. Sure, its governments are plagued by corruption. We can use that as an excuse to not help them, or we can acknowledge that many of those dictators came to power or stayed in power because we supported them.

We need a trade agreement that makes sense. We need to help build infrastructure in Latin America. We need to admit that, in the past, we have supported dictators who were friendly to our corporations and, because of that, overlooked atrocities they committed against their own citizens. And we need to ensure we’re no longer doing that.

Our corporations need to be responsible citizens of third-world nations. It is true that some of them raise the standard of living for their workers. It’s also true that many of them take advantage of a labor class that will do anything for bread.

We need a more streamlined system for becoming legal residents and citizens of the United States.

The catastrophe of our immigration problem is complex. I don’t have all the answers. I do know that until we begin dealing with the real problems, no border fence - whether it’s made of concrete or soldiers with guns - will stop Latin Americans from attempting to enter this nation illegally.

Putting more guns on the border intensifies an already divisive situation. We’re bound to have a shootout, a dead kid who ran when a soldier told him to stop, or a violent protest.

Then Bush’s numbers will drop even more, and he will start taking Republicans who are facing re-election this year down with him.

***

If teacher layoffs keep making headlines, education might become a major issue in November.

The Santa Fe Public Schools are laying off 37 teachers. In the Gadsden Independent School District, 27 are looking for new jobs. The Las Cruces Public Schools are considering cutting travel, vehicle and other funds to avoid laying off teachers because of a projected $7 million shortfall this year.

Why is this happening?

The state is mandating a 5 percent pay increase next year. It will take up almost the entire increase in state funding for school districts. Meanwhile, utility costs have skyrocketed.

Didn’t we have a huge surplus of oil and gas money to spend this year? Couldn’t this have been avoided?

It wasn’t. There are going to be some angry teachers roaming the state looking for new jobs, and some angry parents, because class sizes will grow as a result of the layoffs.

If the state is going to mandate higher teacher pay and tougher licensure requirements (which the state should do), it has to provide the money for school districts to keep up. Right now, the state is not doing that. Teachers are being paid more, but their loads are increasing as others are laid off, and other necessities are suffering.

Overall, that probably means the quality of our education system stays the same.

***

Police officers recently spoke to elementary school students in Las Cruces about reporting crimes. And they handed out pencils.

Guess what’s printed on the pencils: “Speak out! Stop crimes against children! Susana Martinez, district attorney.”

You guessed it. No phone number. No Web address. No physical address.

I don’t think this is going to be another pencilgate, and here’s why. The pencils were paid for with a federal grant. Martinez’s office applied for $5,000 to promote the reporting of crimes during national crime victims week, April 24 through 28. The Department of Justice knew exactly how the money would be spent, down to the words that would be printed on the pencils, and approved the grant, Martinez told me.

In addition, Martinez said, the pencils contain a useful message: Speak out to stop crimes against children.

The pencils Doña Ana County Treasurer Jim Schoonover handed out to elementary school kids had no message - just his name, title and the government of which he is treasurer. The pencils were paid for with state money, and it’s because of a provision in the New Mexico Constitution that County Attorney John Caldwell says Schoonover has committed a felony crime.

Regardless, should any law enforcement agency agree to investigate Schoonover’s pencils and later refer the case to the district attorney’s office, the fact that police handed out the Martinez pencils is bound to add another twist to this saga. Martinez and Schoonover are both Republicans.

***

But my last item today will come as a surprise to those who consider Martinez a die-hard Republican who is out to take out all Democrats by any means possible.

She is supporting Gary Perez for county assessor.

That’s right. Perez, a Democrat, is up for re-election this year. His Republican opponent is H.F. “Junior” Adams.

Here’s what Martinez had to say about why she supports Perez:

“There needs to be some experience, education or training to hold these positions,” she said after telling me that Adams is not qualified for the job.

That’s a major blow to the Adams campaign. Martinez is probably the most popular Republican in Doña Ana County.

Many Democrats literally hate Martinez. She was once a member of their party. Then-District Attorney Greg Valdez fired her in the mid-1990s. She sued him for wrongful termination, won a big settlement from the state, switched parties and used the money to beat Valdez in the 1996 election. She has been untouchable ever since, causing weeping and gnashing of teeth among many Democrats.

Many Republicans are frustrated with Martinez. Though the party has pushed, she has repeatedly refused to run for a statewide office such as attorney general. She tells me she loves her job and has no interest in a higher office.

Comments like those Martinez made to me about Perez and Adams don’t help her popularity among some Republicans, either.

***

Keep the news tips coming. You can send them by commenting at the end of this posting or e-mailing me at the address listed in the right column of this page. Thanks for reading today!

Richardson, Madrid flirt with appearance of impropriety, and E. Shirley says ‘the cops lied’

Posted 5/15/2006 12:02:00 AM

That darned appearance of impropriety showed itself again in two Albuquerque Journal articles this weekend.

In the first, it was reported that Gov. Bill Richardson, in his role as head of the Democratic Governor’s Association, has taken tens of thousands of dollars worth of free corporate jet flights from a huge tobacco company. That same company pushed hard in the last legislative session for a change in state taxes on tobacco that many said would have benefited only that company.

The legislation was sponsored by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan.

In the second article, it was reported that Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino owner Stan Fulton gave $100,000 to a political action committee formed by Attorney General Patricia Madrid weeks after she officially opposed the proposal to build a casino in Anthony that Fulton has bitterly fought against.

First on Richardson and Lujan: The first legislative finance report on the tobacco bill said it would result in a half-million-dollar reduction in the amount of tobacco tax collected by the state.

But the company that would have benefited, the same one that flew Richardson around, provided its own numbers, and a new financial impact report released the next week estimated that the state would instead bring in an additional $300,000.

The House easily passed the bill. It died in the Senate.

Why was the financial report changed? Why do corporations get to provide new numbers when they don’t like reports? Who authorized that in this instance?

Even though officials said the first estimate was based on bad numbers, here’s that old appearance of impropriety creeping into state politics again. Why in the world do we pay financial analysts if the corporate number crunchers have to do the math for them?

It simply doesn’t make sense.

I’m accusing no one of actual impropriety. Richardson’s people say the governor was never briefed on the bill and took no position on it. Lujan said he never asked Richardson whether he supported it.

Richardson’s people say all this corporate travel saves the state money. Frankly, I’d rather pay for the governor’s travel and know he’s not in the pocket of Big Tobacco, payday loan companies and other corporate giants who might support his presidential bid if only he helps them out a bit.

The tobacco company’s spokesman told the Journal that the company doesn’t ask politicians to take trips on its planes, but responds to requests. So Richardson sought a ride from the company.

“Hey, lend me your plane and I’ll lend you my ear.”

Five times.

Of course, the company’s lobbyists joined the rides. What do you think the lobbyists and the governor talked about?

“Once again, we get a glimpse of the way things are working these days,” said one politico who isn’t too happy with Richardson.

The source also characterized Lujan as “carrying water” for the governor.

“If not for the backbone of the Senate, the Legislature would serve no purpose right now,” the source said.

Expect an attempt to override the governor in January. Lujan will probably try to kill it, but will he still be the speaker of the House? Remember there’s also a move to oust him. More than 80 percent of you said in last week’s poll that he needs to go.

Many Democrats tell me they are fed up with the way business is being done.

The flip-flopping fiscal impact reports aren’t the fault of staffers who did the analysis. It’s common in Santa Fe for the leaders, when they want to kill a bill, to ask staff to assume the worst-case scenario. When they want it passed, they ask staff to assume the best case in their analysis, several sources have told me.

It’s “just one more way that the public and legislators get duped,” one source said.

On to Madrid and Fulton. The casino owner has fought shamelessly against the proposal by the Jemez Pueblo and Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters to build a competitor in Anthony. When the plan became public, Fulton threw millions of dollars at New Mexico State University and the Gadsden Independent School District, and characterized the gifts as an assault in a battle he was trying to win.

Fulton had pledged years ago to give half ownership of his casino to NMSU upon his death. But after the Anthony proposal, Fulton amended his pledge – NMSU only gets that estimated $10 million each year if there are no other casinos located in an area that would include the Jemez proposal.

Talk about buying friends.

In light of that, it seems disingenuous of Fulton to tell the Journal that Madrid’s opposition to the Jemez proposal had nothing to do with his contribution.

Fulton also gave $25,000 to Madrid’s PAC in January 2005. In April 2005, Madrid issued an advisory letter stating that the Jemez/Peters proposed services agreement with Doña Ana County was likely illegal. The request for an attorney general opinion came from State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, a fierce opponent of the Jemez proposal whose family has ties to the horse-racing industry.

Papen is also a close friend of Madrid. The two shared that with me when they came to the Las Cruces Sun-News office together last year to announce the release of the advisory letter.

Madrid officially opposed the Anthony proposal in June 2005. The $100,000 check came on Aug. 1, 2005.

Papen and Madrid both seem to genuinely believe a casino in Anthony would open the floodgates for off-reservation gaming everywhere.

I like Madrid and believe she has been a tough, ethical attorney general.

But she didn’t avoid the appearance of impropriety in this case, especially after Fulton told me (his comment was published in the Sun-News), in explaining his gifts, that “We play to win. … This is a battle, and we’re going to look at it like a battle.”

That’s why corporate money in politics needs to be limited. Some donations should be refused. And free rides on corporate jets filled with lobbyists should never be allowed.

***

In reporting last week on the campaign finance reports in primary races, I neglected to tell you about the District 1 county commission primary between Democrats Chris Jaramillo and Oscar Vasquez Butler, the incumbent.

Jaramillo reported raising $7,550 and spending $5,774.81. Butler reported raising $7,073.04 and spending $2,664.43.

Jaramillo’s contributions from various members of the Salopek farming family added up to $2,000. Butler had a $500 gift from a Salopek, and $1,000 gifts from Mesilla Valley Transportation and Mesilla Valley Training Institute.

***

One last note. Public Regulation Commissioner E. Shirley Baca was asked last week by the Las Cruces Bulletin about the 2004 marijuana incident.

Here’s what she had to say about the fact that the charges were dropped on the day her trial was to begin:

“The district attorney came in and asked the judge to drop the charges because he had found that, No. 1, there was no evidence to substantiate the charges, and, No. 2, that the police officers had been less than forthright – and when I asked, ‘What does that mean?’ That means that the cops lied.”

She also hinted that former PRC Chief of Staff Patrick Baca was involved in what she said was a conspiracy to set her up.

***

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: only in New Mexico. Have a great day.

Candidate Web sites

Posted 5/11/2006 11:08:00 PM

Web sites have become almost a requirement for candidates seeking public office. Here are links to the sites for candidates seeking federal and statewide offices next year. When you have some time, visit the sites and learn more about the men and women who want to be your leaders.

Sometime next week I’ll post the links to local candidates’ Web sites. If I missed any links for statewide candidates or you know of Web sites for local candidates, send me an e-mail at heath@haussamen.com.

Have a great weekend. Come back Monday for a new week in New Mexico politics.

U.S. Senate
Jeff Bingaman: http://bingaman.senate.gov/
Allen McCulluch: http://www.allen4senate.com/
Joseph Carraro: http://www.senatorcarraro.com/
David Pfeffer: http://www.pfeffer-for-senate.org/

U.S. House District 2
Steve Pearce: http://www.stevepearceforcongress.com/
Albert Kissling: http://www.kisslingforcongress.com/

Governor
Bill Richardson: http://www.billrichardson2006.com/
J.R. Damron: http://www.damronforgovernor.com/

Lieutenant governor
Diane Denish: http://www.dianedenish.com/
Sue Wilson Beffort: http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legdetails.asp?Name=252&Submit=Search

Secretary of state
Mary Herrera: http://www.maryherrera.com/
Stephanie Gonzales: http://www.newmexicansforstephanie.com/
Shirley Hooper: http://www.shirleyhooper.com/
Letitia Montoya: None
Vickie Perea: http://www.newmexicoforvickie.com/

State auditor
Thomas Buckner: None
Jeff Armijo: http://www.jeffarmijo.com/
Daniel Alvarez: None

State treasurer
James Lewis: http://www.jamesblewis.net/
Demesia Padilla: None

Attorney general
Geno Zamora: http://www.geno2006.com/
Gary King: http://www.garyking.org/
Lemuel Martinez: http://www.lemmartinez.com/
Jim Bibb: http://www.jimbibb4ag.com/

Land commissioner
Jim Baca: http://www.jimbaca.com/
Ray Powell: http://www.raypowell4land.com/
Patrick Lyons: http://www.nmstatelands.org/GetPage.aspx?sectionID=15&PagID=69

Public financing slows candidates, and Richardson supporter gives big money to E. Shirley’s opponent

Posted 5/10/2006 11:40:00 PM

New Mexico’s experiment in public financing of campaigns appears to have slowed both candidates in the Public Regulation Commission District 5 race who opted to go that route.

The public money arrived for E. Shirley Baca, the Democrat incumbent, and Republican D. Kent Evans just before reports were due this week. Including $16,203.19 in public financing money, Baca reported contributions of more than $22,000, some $7,000 more than her challenger in the primary, Sandy Jones.

Baca hasn’t yet had time to spend much of her money. Jones has outspent her thus far by more than $4,000.

Evans apparently didn’t receive his public financing money in time to report it, and has come up with far less money this period than his two opponents in the Republican primary.

Baca reported raising a total of $22,183.19 and spending $7,480. She had a $500 donation to herself and several donations from public officials, including $100 from PRC Member Ben R. Lujan, $100 each from Las Cruces School Board Member Chuck Davis and his wife Helen, and $50 each from State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia and Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley.

Jones reported raising $14,800 and spending $11,741.15. He was given $500 by Las Cruces developer Edgar Lopez, a member of the New Mexico Border Authority and a big supporter of Richardson, and another $1,500 to $2,000 from companies owned by Lopez. (I’m not certain on one donation.) Keep in mind that Richardson called for Baca's resignation following the alleged marijuana incident at the airport in Albuquerque.

The committee to elect John Arthur Smith also gave Jones $500, and Jones loaned himself $1,800.

Baca’s main expenses were signs and bumper stickers. Jones had those expenses, too, and also had a $5,800 expense for radio advertisements that have been running in the Las Cruces area.

On the Republican side, Evans reported raising $4,375 and spending $4,298.19. His campaign was given a total of $500 by various employees of the Borman Autoplex, a Las Cruces car dealership owned by former NASA astronaut Frank Borman.

C. Earl Greer reported raising $9,170 and spending $7,829.48. He had numerous donations of $500. Doyle Pruitt has raised no money, but loaned his campaign $15,000. So far, he reports, he has spent $12,333.51 on a ton of signs and bumper stickers.

Baca and Evans now have their money. We should see more of a push from them. Evans just bought a big billboard on U.S. Highway 70.

***

There are only three local primary races in Doña Ana County.

In the magistrate judge Division III Democrat primary, incumbent Olivia N. Garcia reported raising $6,956.97 and spending $4,468.85. Her opponent, Maria E. Rodriguez, reported raising $4,506 and spending $2,352.19.

Garcia got $1,000 from Richardson supporter Lopez. She reported a total of $1,700 in anonymous contributions, including 15 of $100 each. Her campaign treasurer, Nadine Handy, donated $1,000, and State Sen. Mary Kay Papen gave an in-kind donation of $577.20.

Garcia loaned her campaign $1,956.97.

Rodriguez reported a $1,000 donation from Mac’s Meats of Las Cruces and a $500 donation from Robert Estrada, the owner of Roberto’s restaurant in Las Cruces. She also reported raising $2,166 at a March 25 enchilada dinner catered by Roberto’s and attended by 400 people.

In the county commission District 3 Republican primary, Ruben Gonzales reported raising $3,425 and spending $2,104.29. He loaned his campaign $1,000. Gonzales’ opponent, Mack Haley, raised twice as much - $6,845.30 - but spent only $788.91. He loaned his campaign $2,000.

Gonzales’ largest contribution came from Borman, who gave $1,000. Haley got $500 from Bowlin Travel Centers and $200 each from Sisbarro and Jack Key, both car dealerships.

In the probate judge Democratic primary, incumbent Alice Salcido reported raising $5,400 and spending $4,201.38. Her campaign treasurer, Judith LaPointe, gave $500. She also reported a $100 anonymous donation and a $50 donation from District Judge Gerald Valentine.

Salcido loaned $3,000 to her campaign.

Neri Frietze reported raising $3,865 and spending $3,121.31. He reported an in-kind donation of $3,500 from Roberto’s restaurant and $100 donations from County Clerk Rita Torres and Magistrate Judge Oscar Frietze, his brother.

Dino Villani’s campaign finance report was still not online Wednesday night.

***

Lots of numbers, I know, but important to report. Edgar Lopez, Robert Estrada and Frank Borman seem to be the biggest players in local elections thus far. But there’s a lot of time left, and some very interesting races coming up in November, including two hot House races, two county commission contests and the sheriff race.

You can view all the campaign contribution reports by clicking here.

Thanks for reading. Come back tomorrow!

Note: An earlier version of this posting stated that Magistrate Judge Olivia N. Garcia reported a total of $1,800 in anonymous contributions, including 14 of $100 each.

Media-conscious Zamora traveling the state; plus, AG candidates weigh in on prison overcrowding

Posted 5/09/2006 11:09:00 PM

Geno Zamora is very conscious of the media.

After spending years around the media-obsessed Gov. Bill Richardson, how could he not be? The Democrat, one of three seeking his party’s spot on the November ballot in the attorney general race, has been Richardson’s chief legal counsel and a member of two of the governor’s boards.

When I surprised Zamora by showing up a few minutes early for an appointment at his Las Cruces office last week, he was reading Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano’s blog.

Here’s the disclaimer: I’m writing about Zamora because he took the time to come to Las Cruces and asked to meet with me while here. I’ll meet with any candidate for a statewide race who wants to chat when he or she is in town.

Zamora chooses his words carefully. He tries to speak quotably. He is concerned with his image.

An example: In announcing the opening of his Las Cruces office a few months ago, Zamora called this the third largest city in the state, when it’s in fact the second largest. Though the mistake was a campaign staffer’s, Zamora wanted to talk about it with me. After we discussed it, he gave me a new quote.

“We felt it was important to have a campaign office in the second largest city in the state,” he said, emphasizing the word “second.” He wanted the right quote out there.

Zamora, as his campaign finance report revealed Monday, is clearly using his ties to the governor to raise money. He was in Las Cruces for a fundraiser at the home of Richardson supporters Emma Johnson Ortiz and her husband.

A year ago, few delegates at the Democratic Party preprimary convention knew Zamora’s name. This year, he easily won the party’s endorsement for attorney general.

I can understand winning over hundreds of the most involved Democrats when you’re the favored candidate of Richardson, but what about the voters? Polls have shown Gary King far ahead of Zamora and Lemuel Martinez in the primary race.

Zamora said he will win because he has visited every county in the state. He is out to prove he will be the attorney general of the entire state, not just Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Zamora has backed up those words by opening the Las Cruces campaign office. He’s not the only candidate to say the attorney general should have an office here, but he’s the only one to set the example with his campaign money.

“I decided I needed to put my money where my mouth was,” Zamora told me.

He has all sorts of proposals that sound pretty good. You can read about his plan to clean up state ethics by clicking here.

One promise that stuck with me was his pledge to send attorneys to every county and hold trainings for public officials on laws regarding public meetings, inspection of public records and other issues.

After they are trained, Zamora promised me, he will prosecute violators.

“The further you get from Santa Fe, the less our counties understand the laws, and I have to be the attorney general for the entire state,” Zamora said. “It’s really affected me, traveling my entire state.”

***

Zamora and I also spoke about the overcrowding of state prisons. Though the attorney general doesn’t directly deal with that issue, I recently inquired about the candidates’ thoughts on the situation as a way to learn more about their philosophies on law enforcement.

“It’s a delicate balance, because the public wants strict enforcement of our laws, yet the public doesn’t want new prisons,” Zamora said. “The governor and the legislature need to develop appropriate systems for housing criminal offenders.”

He said we need more alternative programs, “such as separate DWI detention facilities and treatment for DWI and drug abuse that will prevent criminals from violating a second, third, or 15th time. … Treatment is good law enforcement because you’re stopping the criminal behavior.”

Actually, Zamora’s original quote included the words “treatment for DWI.” The media-minded candidate asked me a moment later to amend it to read “treatment for DWI and drug abuse.”

I asked the prison question by e-mail a couple of weeks ago. Zamora came to town to answer it. I’m still waiting to hear from Martinez and Republican Jim Bibb, but King responded by e-mail.

“I believe that we should focus on keeping violent offenders in prison for the maximum time available under their sentences. We should not be releasing these offenders early, and if that means building more cells, we should do so,” King said. “I also believe that the state should not depend on private facilities to provide new capacity. If we need new facilities, we should be planning for their construction by the state.”

King also spoke of a need for alternative treatment programs for non-violent offenders.

“These might include community service, halfway houses, increased fines, work-release, intensive probation, etc. for crimes where appropriate. I also think we need to have programs that will reduce recidivism. These would include substance abuse treatment, vocational training and family counseling. The programs could be paid for by savings from the incarceration costs deferred by diverting these non-violent offenders from long-term sentences to more effective and less costly alternatives.”

I’ll let you know when Martinez and Bibb respond.

***

Many candidates had a hard time filing their campaign reports online this week. Some republicans have pointed fingers at the secretary of state for not implementing a good system in time for the primary, but some Democrats and Republicans told me the blame lies with the legislature and the governor, who failed to provide enough funding for the secretary of state to get the job done. Apparently, the House passed legislation that would have provided more funding, but it died in the Senate.

***

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

County audit is far more serious than pencilgate, but both need probed; plus, more on immigration

Posted 5/08/2006 11:42:00 PM

Doña Ana County’s attorney will present the special audit of county government to commissioners at their public meeting today. The audit has been the subject of much controversy. It found widespread problems as recently as 2004, but the state auditor said it appears most identified problems have been fixed. Three findings have been referred to the New Mexico State Police, who are currently investigating.

In advance of today’s presentation, I thought it would be appropriate to share what I know about the audit findings. I have a file cabinet that contains thousands of pages of documents related to my own investigation into the allegations that led to the audit.

The findings referred to state police:

• The county set up a loan agreement with landowners to repay its 1999 water bonds, which were used to build a water and sewer system in Santa Teresa. Bond payments were supposed to be made with revenue from the system, but the agreement bypassed the terms of the bond and created an entirely new arrangement. There are all sorts of potential problems with this, and allegations of wrongdoing. It’s a complicated mess, but the Internal Revenue Service looked at it and found no wrongdoing. State police are still investigating. The commissioners and county manager who were involved with this have all left county government.

• The county improperly used money from the 1999 water bonds to pay other bills not related to the water and sewer system. The largest expense of $38,000 was approved by former County Manager David King without the knowledge of the commission. That and all other improper expenses were repaid to the bond fund from other appropriate funds at the direction of current County Manager Brian Haines.

• The commission may have intentionally violated the state procurement code in its selection of an architect to design the new county administrative complex. Commissioners bypassed the established process to review and rank the firms that applied and voted on secret, paper ballots to select the firm. Then the ballots vanished. The commission later ratified this vote with a new, proper vote, but the fact remains that the auditor said all this adds up to a very suspicious situation, and it may be the most serious finding in the audit.

Findings not referred to state police:

• The state auditor found several instances of “behavior unbecoming to public officials and employees.” The county wrongly denied this finding. County government at the time was characterized by power struggles, politics and a culture of secrecy. Some commissioners at the time in question accused each other of illegal activity during public meetings, shouted, stormed out and generally acted childish. And there was the infamous, alleged punch one commissioner landed on another during a closed session. It’s odd that the county denied this finding, because it’s basically the sum of all the other findings in the audit.

• The county purchased land for the new administrative complex without obtaining proper land appraisals, without enforcing the criteria it set for selecting a land site, and outside the Las Cruces city limits, though being in the city is required by law. The county also does not have in its possession key land acquisition documents it’s required to keep. The county agrees with most of these findings but pointed out that its attorney said before the purchase that the administrative complex did not have to be located in Las Cruces. The head county attorney from that time is no longer employed by the county.

• The county failed to properly approve and enforce detention center contracts. The county agreed with this finding and says a new system is in place to ensure this does not happen again. It should be noted that former detention center Director Al Solis, who was the county’s Republican Party chair at the time, blamed the mess on Haines. Why would he, as the jail’s administrator, not share some of that blame?

• The county did not abide by the procurement code in its selection of a bond attorney. The county says legal opinions differ on whether that is necessary; regardless, it recently began using the procurement code to select a bond attorney.

• The county used private property to store county equipment without written agreements and, in exchange, restored the property to its original condition. The county has implemented a policy that requires written agreements before such activity takes place.

• The county did not bill for solid waste fees from March 2003 through January 2004, though doing that was required by a county ordinance. The commission stopped doing this because the fees were encouraging people to illegally dump their trash rather than using the landfills. Though the intent was good, the commission failed to properly amend its ordinance to allow the change. The commission will soon decide whether to charge these fees and plans to amend the ordinance accordingly.

• The county treasurer’s office incorrectly assessed flood levy taxes for several years. In 2003, the county overcharged taxpayers almost $35,000. The treasurer who discovered the problem, David Gutierrez, is no longer in office. He asked the state to allow the county to refund the 2003 overpayments, but the state refused. The computer system has since been fixed so that there is no overbilling.

• The commission violated the New Mexico Open Meetings Act more than 50 times in 2003, mostly for failing to approve minutes of meetings in the time required by law. The commission voted last year to correct four violations identified by the attorney general’s office. The others, related to the approval of minutes, are largely the responsibility of County Clerk Rita Torres, whose office records and drafts minutes for approval. Haines has twice had to hire extra help so Torres’ office could keep up with the problem.

• The county made bill overpayments in two instances. One is significant - a $1,200 overpayment to a water association of which Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler is president. The county agreed with this finding, said improper payments will be corrected and a new system is in place to ensure such overpayments don’t happen in the future. Of course, the overpayment to a commissioner’s water association creates the appearance of impropriety, but the auditor did not believe it rose to the level that needed to be referred to prosecutors.

Clearly, there are serious allegations in the audit. They are now in the hands of the state police, and we can only hope that agency is taking the investigation seriously. With the exception of Haines and two or three commissioners, most county officials involved in the findings are long gone.

Haines, though had a hand in some of the violations, also implemented most of the procedures the auditor now credits with cleaning things up, and at least four of five commissioners praise him for doing that.

Were there criminal violations? It’s up to the state police and district attorney in Santa Fe to decide whether to ask a jury that question.

Clearly, the allegations being tossed at current Treasurer Jim Schoonover are far less serious than some of the allegations in the audit, but that doesn’t mean the allegations against Schoonover should not be investigated.

Some Republicans have said the county is attempting to deflect attention from the audit by tossing pencils at Schoonover. But the audit is still being investigated and there could be prosecutions. It could just as easily be said that the Republican Party is tossing stones at the county to divert attention from the Schoonover issue.

When the Republican Party accuses the county of a political attack, keep in mind that two of three commissioners are Republicans. So is Haines.

If we had to choose between investigating the audit or pencilgate, which both create the appearance of impropriety, the audit is the obvious choice. But we don’t have to stop there. All allegations should be taken seriously.

Let’s get the Schoonover investigation into the hands of state police as well, so he can be cleared or removed from office.

You can view the entire audit on the Las Cruces Sun-News Web site by clicking here.

***

On to immigration. I wanted to note that U.S. Senate candidate David Pfeffer, a Republican seeking the nomination to run against Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman in November, is nearing the end of his hike along New Mexico’s border with Mexico. He has been keeping an interesting blog of his travels, which you can read by clicking here.

I also recently asked Al Kissling to share his views on the immigration situation. He’s the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican, in November, and he’s been getting almost no media attention. Here’s what he had to say:

“It’s a complicated problem and it has been politicized. We forget we are all descendants of immigrants seeking the American dream. It’s the success of our dream that attracts people from all over the world who want to participate in the dream,” the Las Crucen said. “Clearly, I’m opposed to a wall or criminalization of those who in desperation have sought to work for the American dream. We do need border security and we need to be willing to pay the cost. A sensible, efficient Visa program would resolve many of our problems. We need a rational plan rooted in the expression of the American values of freedom and justice for all, and not an emotional knee-jerk reaction expressing prejudice.”

***

I was shocked last night when I looked at the results of the current online poll on this site. As of 11 p.m., 17 of you thought Speaker of the House Ben Lujan should be ousted from his leadership position, and none of you said he should keep it.

I wasn’t expecting such lopsided results. Why don’t you submit comments that tell us what that means?

Thanks for reading today. Come back tomorrow for more.

Some Democrats want to oust House Speaker Lujan, and treasurer probe expands beyond pencils

Posted 5/07/2006 11:18:00 PM

Some House Democrats want to oust Ben Lujan as their speaker.

Though an organized effort has not begun, the push will start soon after the June primary, two longtime Santa Fe insiders who would know about such things told me.

“He’s just upset too many Democrats,” one of the insiders told me.

Apparently, many are outraged that Lujan quietly slipped a $75 million appropriation into this years’ capital outlay bill without the knowledge of most of his colleagues. Lujan told me last month he wasn’t trying to hide it from anyone, but the fact remains that legislators from around the state say they didn’t know about appropriation, which would have funded the state’s share of future water rights settlements with American Indian tribes, until Richardson vetoed it.

The final days of the session were so frantic that it wasn’t until Lujan shared the story of what happened last month that many legislators learned how it went down.

Lujan sponsored a bill that would have appropriated $20 million for the state’s share of one of three outstanding water rights cases. The bill passed the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, but moved no further.

Sometime in the last 2-3 days of the session, Lujan bypassed his fellow House members and their committees by sticking that settlement money and money for two additional settlements into the capital outlay bill.

Lujan also sidestepped the secret legislative conference committee, something he has apparently done for years with the capital outlay bill. And he bypassed the Senate Finance Committee, though in the past the capital outlay bill has gone there so the Senate can add in its share of the money.

Lujan and a few others, it appears, put together the 440-page bill, pushed it through a House committee, then sent it to the floors of the House and Senate for a final vote when there was almost no time left for legislators to scrutinize it.

A few legislators and the governor’s office noticed the $75 million appropriation hours before the floor votes when they were trying to figure out why the capital outlay bill was much bigger than it should have been. Gov. Bill Richardson would later end up slashing more than $200 million.
When legislators realized the capital outlay bill was far too large, most were so worried about helping their own projects survive the governor’s veto pen that they failed to notice the $75 million, though it was the largest expense in the bill.

Politics at its best, folks.

Lujan defended himself by saying he didn’t intend to fool anyone, and House members made him their leader because he works well with them.

He may not have intended to fool anyone, but why did he change the process this year and skip the Senate committee?

Legislators are so busy in the last few days of the session that they rely on the assumption that their leaders are following procedure. There is no other check on the legislative system. This event has revealed that Lujan was not following precedent and procedure.

But the blame for this doesn’t fall only on Lujan. It’s evident that the legislature is so overworked in the last few days of the session that members play loose and hope someone else is keeping track of what’s happening. The legislators and the governor are to blame for that.

Keep in mind that Lujan’s district includes one of the pueblos that would benefit from the water rights settlement money. I’m not saying the money shouldn’t be spent. In fact, these longstanding lawsuits need to be settled for the benefit of all involved.

To be fair, it is possible Lujan was bypassing normal procedures in an attempt to keep the House on pace with the unattainable agenda set by Richardson.

So who stands to gain if Lujan is removed? Majority Floor Leader Ken Martinez of Grants is in line to become the speaker. If he’s successful, who would replace him?

Possibly Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. He chairs the House Judiciary Committee, but made a bid for majority leader two years ago, when Martinez won the position. Cervantes backed off his bid in exchange for Martinez’s support of his bid for judiciary chair.

My two sources told me Martinez and Cervantes will certainly face opposition from others, should they seek to move into new positions. Many Democrats are positioning themselves for 2010, when the governor’s office is again available.

Two other representatives being named as potential speakers are Luciano “Lucky” Varela and Kiki Saavedra, a third source told me.

Two things are certain: Lujan has a battle ahead of him, but he still has many friends in high places.

***

Doña Ana County’s internal audit advisory committee has expanded its investigation into the activities of Treasurer Jim Schoonover.

Schoonover, a Republican, spent about $700 in public money last year to buy 2,300 pencils that advertise his name but not other information about his office. The county attorney says he has committed the felony crime of misusing public money because the pencils have no public value, and wants to report Schoonover to police. The audit advisory committee voted recently to recommend that the board of commissioners do just that.

But the recommendation to the commission won’t be made at Tuesday’s meeting because the internal investigation is ongoing, County Attorney John Caldwell told the Sun-News last week.

Caldwell would not elaborate, but a source told me that the investigation has expanded to include allegations that Schoonover used county equipment, resources and staffers “to create documents on behalf of the Las Cruces Elks Lodge” last year, when Schoonover was the leader of the lodge.

Schoonover was the “exalted ruler,” as they call it, from April 1, 2005 until March 30 of this year.

Keep in mind this is merely an allegation at this point. I have seen no documentation or other evidence to back it up.

Schoonover, on the advice of his attorney, is no longer speaking publicly about the situation. He told me when the allegations first came out that he is the victim of a political attack by those who want to silence him because he’s pushing for more action to be taken in relation to the recently released special audit of county government. The audit found widespread problems as recently as 2004 that the state auditor says have largely been fixed.

***

Thanks for reading today. I announced last week that I’m leaving my job as a reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News, effective Friday. If you missed it, keep scrolling down to read that announcement. Come back tomorrow for more!

Leaving the Las Cruces Sun-News

Posted 5/05/2006 03:45:00 PM

Hello,

Just a quick note to tell everyone that I am leaving the Las Cruces Sun-News to spend more time working on this blog and other journalistic projects. My last day as a reporter at the Sun-News will be Friday, May 12, 2006.

I have plans to expand and improve this blog and will remain an active journalist in the Las Cruces area.

Many of you are still visiting my blog by clicking on a link that has been on the Sun-News homepage. That link is no longer available on the Sun-News Web site.

The actual Web address for my blog is http://haussamen.blogspot.com.

You can bookmark the site by clicking on the link at the top of the page. I’d appreciate you telling or e-mailing your friends about the actual Web site address. You can e-mail this posting by clicking on the envelope icon at the end.

I will soon begin selling advertising on my blog. Anyone who is interested can contact me at heath@haussamen.com.

Thanks.

Friday bonus: Some public officials flirting with appearance of impropriety instead of avoiding it

Posted 5/05/2006 12:17:00 AM

Why is it so hard for some public officials to avoid the appearance of impropriety?

County Treasurer Jim Schoonover, a Republican, bought 1,700 pencils that advertise his name, but not other information about his office, with just under $500 in taxpayer money. The county attorney says it’s a felony because the pencils have no public value and wants to report Schoonover to police. When I learned recently about the pencil purchase, I put in a formal request for the records.

And though he had been asked but refused to repay the money for months, Schoonover repaid it hours after my request.

Schoonover said the two were not connected, and claimed he didn’t receive the records request until after he repaid the money. He said he repaid the money because he was harassed, and also to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

But his claims that he was harassed and that he is the victim of a political attack don’t help him avoid the appearance of impropriety, true or not. He left County Attorney John Caldwell and Commissioner Kent Evans with the impression in January that he would repay the money, but he waited four months, until hours after a public records request, to do it.

That isn’t really avoiding the appearance of impropriety, is it?

Now we learn about a second pencil purchase. Schoonover bought 500 pencils for $200.66 from the same vendor in June 2005. Though I haven’t seen these pencils, they are described as “promotional pencils” in county records, as “white with cash preprint,” with “Jim Schoonover” imprinted on them, and as “assorted currency replica.”

Sounds like more of the same pencils, which are similar to Schoonover’s campaign materials.

Again, if he was trying to avoid the appearance of impropriety, why didn’t he repay the money spent on both purchases, rather than repaying only the money for the purchase about which county management and the media knew?

Then there’s the situation of Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza, a Democrat. He recently agreed to six months of judicial probation and other sanctions because he improperly involved himself in a court case in which the defendant was a woman with whom he had a personal relationship.

Then Thursday it came to light that Garza presided over jury selection last week in a domestic violence case in which the defense attorney is Joe Arrieta of Las Cruces, Garza’s personal attorney.

The result of both incidents: two public messes that further discredit our elected officials.

I’m not accusing Garza or Schoonover of any impropriety. But we expect our treasurer to have the highest integrity when it comes to spending money. And we expect our judges to have the most impeccable ethics, period.

Some of our public officials aren’t trying very hard to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Instead, it appears, they’re flirting with it.

Schoonover was handing the pencils out to kids at the end of educational presentations. I don’t believe he intended to commit a felony (and I’m not saying that he did). Garza says he asked the parties involved in court cases in which Arrieta was involved whether they were alright with him hearing the matters, though the prosecutor in last week’s domestic violence case says that isn’t true.

Regardless of their motives, it seems that neither thought about public perception when taking the actions in question. At least Garza immediately recused himself from the domestic violence case when questions were raised Thursday.

I wish Schoonover had also taken care of his situation the moment questions were raised. Since he hasn’t repaid the smaller pencil purchase, and intends to try to recover the money he paid the county on the larger purchase, he still hasn’t done what’s necessary to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

No one ever said being a public official was easy, and sometimes you have to swallow some garbage to avoid the appearance of impropriety. But whining about it only makes it look like you’re not really avoiding the appearance at all.

There’s more on the Schoonover and Garza situations in today’s Las Cruces Sun-News.

***

Thanks for reading this week. Come back Monday for more!

Two more scandals plague tainted judiciary, and there’s a second treasurer pencil purchase

Posted 5/03/2006 11:23:00 PM

Two more Doña Ana County judges are in the hot seat, extending the recent spate of judicial scandals that has plagued New Mexico in the past couple of years.

First, on Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza: He is the third judge in the past few months to admit to interfering in a case involving someone with whom he had a personal relationship. Apparently, in 2004, he arraigned, took a plea from and sentenced a woman in a drunken driving case. He admits that, sometime after that, he began having a “personal” relationship with the woman, according to a stipulated agreement filed with the New Mexico Supreme Court.

When that came to light, Garza recused himself, and the judicial proceedings began all over again in front of two other judges. The problem is, after admitting that he had a conflict and should have nothing more to do with the case, Garza contacted both judges on more than one occasion to discuss the case with them, and in at least one instance, he asked one of the judges to set a low bond or no bond.

He did that in front of the presiding judge of the magistrate court, Oscar Frietze.

Does Garza, a Democrat, really have no clue? Or was he so focused on “personal” issues that his ethics weren’t in the forefront of his mind?

This is exactly why judges must stay out of cases when they have a personal interest in their outcome. Garza’s stipulation to the allegations includes an agreement to a six-month probationary period and a formal reprimand, but the agreement must still be approved by the high court.

On to the other judicial news of the day: District Judge Larry Ramirez, a Las Cruces Democrat, was brought before the high court Wednesday on a petition for immediate, temporary suspension pending the results of a Judicial Standards Commission investigation.

Apparently, a number of court employees have accused Ramirez of sexual harassment, and a number of people who have appeared before Ramirez in court have accused him of making inappropriate comments. Five women are involved in the allegations, about which details aren’t known.

Ramirez’s attorney played the allegations down and said the judge is not guilty of harassment.

The high court denied the request for immediate suspension, but told the commission to make the probe a priority and come back soon with more information. Expect more news on this case in the near future.

Anyone who has spent time in Ramirez’s courtroom knows he is blunt and has at times offended people. He has crossed the line on at least one occasion. He was disciplined last year for berating a defense attorney.

What will be the result of the newest allegations? It’s too early to say, but Ramirez is already on judicial probation stemming from the defense attorney incident and another incident in which he admitted to improperly involving himself in is son’s alcohol-citation case.

I must say that most judges in Doña Ana County, and especially most of the district judges, are exemplary models for the community. But there have been so many incidents of misconduct in the past couple of years that the public should be skeptical, and there are clearly also some judges who have struggled to comply with the ethical code they swore to follow when they took office.

Yet most of the judges up for re-election this year are running unopposed. Why is that? Have people become so cynical about the courts that they have given up?

I hope not. The court system is too important.

***

Let’s return to the subject of Doña Ana County Treasurer Jim Schoonover, a Republican. The quick recap: He’s been accused by County Attorney John Caldwell of committing the felony crime of misusing just under $500 in public money to purchase 1,700 pencils. The pencils look similar to his campaign materials and contain no information beyond his name and title.

At last week’s meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, Caldwell said the incident needed to be reported to the state auditor and New Mexico State Police.

He then took the issue before the county’s internal audit committee, which includes Commissioners Paul Curry, a Republican, and Oscar Vasquez Butler, a Democrat. The committee recommended that the commission report the incident to the auditor and state police.

So it seems likely that will happen, but the decision will apparently be left to the commission.

The situation may get worse.

I was able to confirm Wednesday that there is a second pencil purchase. I don’t yet know the details, but Schoonover’s office made another sizable purchase of pencils last year from the same vendor.

Are these more of the same pencils in question? I don’t know.

Schoonover has said this entire incident is political and he did nothing wrong. He says the pencils were handed out to kids at the end of educational presentations, and his accusers are after him in part because he is still pushing for more action to be taken regarding the recently released special audit of county government.

Caldwell is scheduled to give a presentation on the audit at Tuesday’s commission meeting in the hopes of quieting the rumblings among Republicans who are demanding prosecutions, firings and disciplinary action over the findings in the audit.

The Republican Party has yet to name specifically those who should go down over the audit, which found widespread problems in county government as recently as 2004. And though the party disputes the state auditor’s assertion the identified problems have apparently been corrected, Republicans have yet to provide evidence or even make specific allegations.

This story is far from over.

***

It’s Thursday again. If there is major, breaking news today, I’ll have a special posting tomorrow; otherwise, I’ll have a link to an interesting political Web site. Come back then!

Judge Ramirez brought before high court again, and NMSU pushing hard for convention center

Posted 5/03/2006 12:01:00 AM

The New Mexico Supreme Court will consider this morning a petition from the Judicial Standards Commission for the immediate, temporary suspension of District Court Judge Larry Ramirez, the children’s court judge in Las Cruces. The reason isn’t known publicly because the petition is sealed. But the hearing before the high court will apparently be public, so many of the details could come out.

The hearing is at 9 a.m.

Clearly, the allegations are serious. The last time a request for the immediate, temporary suspension of a Doña Ana County judge was granted was in 2004, when then-Magistrate Reuben Galvan was facing rape and bribery allegations.

I’m not saying Ramirez is facing criminal allegations of any sort. I’m just saying the allegations are clearly serious.

Even in the Galvan case, the Supreme Court filing wasn’t sealed. Though sealing petitions that seek action against judges isn’t unheard of, it’s not common.

If precedence is any indicator, the high court will have little patience with Ramirez. He was disciplined late last year after admitting to improperly involving himself in a public drinking case against his son, and to belittling a defense attorney in court.

In that case the high court approved Ramirez’s agreement with the commission, which required him to admit the allegations, complete an ethics course and reimburse the commission for some of the costs of its investigation.

But that wasn’t quite enough for Chief Justice Richard Bosson, who, during Ramirez’s hearing, called his conduct “really reprehensible.” Ramirez was the second judge from Doña Ana County to be disciplined for involving himself in a family member’s case last year. The other was Magistrate Susana Chaparro, and Bosson, referring to both the Ramirez and Chaparro cases, issued a warning to the state’s judges to keep their professional and family matters separate.

Chaparro resigned last month, just before another allegation of mixing her judicial and family roles was to come before the high court. She has agreed to never again seek judicial office, but the high court must still approve the agreement.

Is Ramirez, a Democrat, headed for the same fate? Since we don’t know the nature of the allegations against him, it’s hard to say. Hopefully, today’s hearing will shed some light on what’s happening.

***

New Mexico State University President Michael Martin is making a strong push for the City of Las Cruces to build its convention center on the west end of campus.

The long-delayed project was pushed back once again several weeks ago by the university’s lobbying. City councilors seemed all but ready to give approval to build the center at a site near the Interstate 25/U.S. Highway 70 Interchange, commonly known as the Tee Time site, but some – most notably Councilor Jose Frietze – pushed for the city to proceed with planning for both that site and the university’s west-side site.

For years the university had been pushing for the convention center to be built on the east side of campus near the golf course. The site wasn’t ideal because it isn’t quite big enough.

But Martin wants the convention center, and he wants it bad, one source told me. Having it near campus would increase the visibility of the university, draw people toward all sorts of other facilities on campus, and be a huge opportunity for the university’s hotel, restaurant and tourism management program.

As part of the proposal, the university might also build its proposed performing arts center next to the convention center, and the two could share parking, the source said.

But the proposal will require the university to uproot the agricultural center on the west end of campus by moving research fields and some smaller buildings. Those have been around since before the school was a university, and the source tells me there is stiff opposition from the old guard.

Enter the old guard’s boss, Lowell Catlett, dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics, and his wife, State Rep. Joni Gutierrez, D-Mesilla. Gutierrez has apparently been involved in trying to make this deal happen.

The source also tells me that City Councilor Ken Miyagishima is warming to the proposal. The Tee Time site is in his district and he has opposed building a convention center there.

All this adds up to the probability that the city and university will work out a mutually beneficial deal, the source said.

Of course, the city has been this close to inking a deal before, but the project has stalled. In the meantime, Santa Fe has gone from not planning a new convention center to building one.

We’ll see what happens.

***

State Land Commissioner candidate Jim Baca was in Las Cruces last week. As has been reported on Baca’s own blog and Duke City Fix, I had coffee with him to chat about the upcoming primary election. I’m not into endorsements and I’ve already written about one local Baca supporter, so I’m not going to tell you much except to say that Baca is proposing amendments to the state constitution that would actually limit the land commissioner’s power and increase oversight. Seems like an unusual tactic to me – if you elect me, I’ll cut my own power.

If you care to read more, click here. By the way, I’ll meet with any candidate for a state race who is coming through Las Cruces and wants to chat. I’m meeting with Geno Zamora, a Democrat running for attorney general, on Friday.

***

Thanks for reading today. Tomorrow is shaping up to be interesting as well. I’ll have more on the Ramirez situation and whatever else is happening.

Reputable figures on ethics task force, and Bob Schwartz rejoins Richardson administration

Posted 5/01/2006 11:28:00 PM

Gov. Bill Richardson unveiled the names of members of his ethics task force late Monday. He made some impressive choices.

Common Cause Executive Director Matt Brix, Chief Deputy Attorney General Stuart Bluestone and Judicial Standards Commission Executive Director Jim Noel bring credibility to a task force that has already been accused of being nothing more than a diversion from the governor’s own ethical challenges.

Task force member and Albuquerque City Councilor Brad Winter has been praised lately by the GOP for being a Republican’s Republican. While other party members on the council have voted with the Democrats recently, he has held out, making him an interesting addition to the task force.

One item that’s noteworthy because it doesn’t deserve praise: Richardson named two powerful, veteran Democratic legislators – Sen. Dede Feldman and Rep. Ken Martinez – to the task force, but chose two less-experienced Republicans – Sen. Gay Kernan and Rep. Kathy McCoy. Why not Sen. Lee Rawson from Las Cruces?

Here’s the complete list:

Co-Chairs
• Former Gov. Garrey Carruthers, dean of the New Mexico State University School of Business Administration and Economics
• Suellyn Scarnecchia, dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law
Task Force Members
• Chief Deputy Attorney General Stuart Bluestone
• Barbara Brazil, president, New Mexico First
• Matt Brix, executive director, Common Cause
• Marilyn Budke
• John Carey, president and CEO, Association of Commerce and Industry
• Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque
• Mary Graña
• Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs
• Rep. W. Ken Martinez, D-Grants
• Rep. Kathy McCoy, R-Cedar Crest
• Jim Noel, executive director of the Judicial Standards Commission
• Leonard Sanchez, CPA, Moss-Adams+Neff LLP
• Ron Solimon, president and CEO, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
• Stuart Udall
• Brad Winter, Albuquerque City Council member

***

I called last week for the governor and his Republican opponent in November, J.R. Damron, to voluntarily agree to limit the size of campaign donations and their overall spending, to disclose campaign contributions on the Internet within 48 hours, and to disclose all travel paid for by outside interests.

And I quoted a couple of sources who doubt the governor’s motivations in putting together an ethics task force. One pointed out that the governor has called for some changes in ethics law that are contrary to his prior actions, and the other predicted that the governor is trying to look tough without actually being tough, and the task force won’t do any real work.

One politico called to tell me he sympathizes with Richardson. Politicians have goals. Some want to preserve the environment. Others want to criminalize abortion. Some want to create jobs.

Richardson wants to be elected president and create a few jobs in the process.

How do you do that while maintaining ethical standards in a system dominated by corporate money? Should a politician spend all his political capital on ethics reform, or should he focus on other issues?

The source argued that it’s not Richardson, the legislature or an ethics task force that has the power to clean up state government.

“If the American people are going to keep supporting the candidate who raises the most money, what are you going to do about it?” he asked. “I’ll admit, I feel pressured if someone gives me a lot of money. I feel pressured, even if there’s nothing overt.”

The age-old question in politics, he said, is when to compromise and when to stand firm. Without taking campaign contributions and corporate money, the other issues don’t matter much, he said, because those candidates won’t get elected.

He’s right about one thing: Corporate money rules politics in America because Americans allow it. As long as public cynicism of politics translates into doing nothing, the door is open for corporate money and lobbyists to take control.

We have a duty not only to vote, but to be actively involved in politics. Our absence creates a void that is filled by corporations that only care about making money.

At the same time, I would argue that Richardson should spend all his political capital on cleaning up state ethics. Take the influence of lobbyists and corporate money out of politics, and decisions suddenly become about doing the right thing rather than staying in office. Debate on every issue becomes about merit, rather than money.

Then again, most would say Richardson isn’t willing to spend all his political capital to clean up state ethics laws. He needs corporate money for his next project.

***

Changing subjects, Bob Schwartz has a new job, a month after dropping out of the Republican primary in the attorney general race. The former district attorney and state crime adviser to Richardson was trounced in the pre-primary nominating convention by Jim Bibb because of his ties to the Richardson administration.

He’s back.

Schwartz began work last week in the Regulation and Licensing Department, Superintendent Edward Lopez confirmed Monday in response to my question. Schwartz will serve as a prosecutor in the department, focused on arguing at hearings for tough sanctions against liquor establishments that serve alcohol to minors and intoxicated persons.

Lopez said Schwartz will also be tasked with assisting him in defining the department’s role in “the governor’s war on DWI.”

“This sends a clear message to all with liquor licenses in the state that we’re serious,” Lopez said.

Schwartz will be paid about $71,000 annually for his work.

Schwartz and Lopez are both moderate Republicans who have chosen to work in Richardson’s administration despite opposition from their party. But if they can help make a difference by cracking down on bars and stores that have ignored liquor laws in the past, who cares what some Republicans think about them.

After all, politics should be about making a difference, right?

***

I didn’t write today about the immigrant boycott because not much happened that wasn’t expected. Some protested. Some stayed home from work. Most didn’t.

Thanks for reading today. Keep telling your friends about my blog, and come back tomorrow for more.