With the number of scandals currently plaguing local, state and national politicians, it’s a wonder citizens don’t rise up and overthrow the government.
A Sunday article that I wrote for the Las Cruces Sun-News details the Doña Ana County attorney’s allegation that Republican Treasurer Jim Schoonover committed the felony crime of misusing public money by purchasing with taxpayer dollars pencils that look like his campaign materials.
And the Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Century bank bought $16,500 worth of pens from the wife of embattled state Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna, a Democrat, about the same time the state put out a request for proposals for a banking contract Century later won.
That further compounds the scandal that has resulted in Serna being suspended while the attorney general’s office investigates the relationship he had with the bank, which gave more than $124,000 to Serna’s non-profit health care foundation.
The former state treasurer’s trial continues today. There might soon be indictments in an FBI investigation into construction contracts for government buildings in Bernalillo County. The special audit of Doña Ana County is still being reviewed by the New Mexico State Police.
The list goes on and on.
Now there’s an ethics task force, formed by the governor, that will examine and propose sweeping changes to state ethics and campaign finance laws, but the public has every right to view even that with skepticism.
After all, it’s formed by a Democrat with ties to many of those currently plagued by scandal. And as I reported last week, one of the co-chairs of the task force, former Gov. Garrey Carruthers, compounded his own scandal when he was governor with an ethically challenged decision to have people who worked for him investigate the allegations against him. Of course, they found he did nothing wrong.
Who is clean in politics? Many I talk with wonder whether there is even one.
Not all are dirty. But it’s a fair question to be asking.
Nationally, it’s the Republican Party that’s under fire for scandal after scandal after scandal. In New Mexico, it’s the Democratic Party.
In 2004, a huge and unexpected number of New Mexicans opted to register to vote as independents. As both major parties continue to come under fire, expect that trend to continue. Now may be a great time for the wilting Green Party to reemerge. The Libertarians are also looking to gain. The party was recently recertified, and formed a Doña Ana County chapter in November.
Why shouldn’t the minor parties grow? Who wrote the rules that say we have to have a two-party system?
Gov. Bill Richardson said last week he favors capping political contributions from individuals, corporations and other groups. When pressed to explain why, he said doing so would take away some of the advantage held by incumbents.
That sounds fantastic to me. It creates a more level playing field, making elections more about issues and less about who is friendly to corporations and the rich.
You all need to be involved in pushing this task force, the governor and the legislature to make real changes in state ethics and campaign finance law. E-mail your ideas to University of New Mexico Law School Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia, co-chair of the task force, at scarnecc@unm.edu, or Carruthers at garreyc@nmsu.edu.
One suggestion: Let’s get rid of the law that makes it tougher for minor party candidates and independents to get on the ballot than Democrats and Republicans. Why should the Democrats and Republicans have an easier time just because they have more members? Our government is supposed to protect minorities, not shut them out.
And wouldn’t having more options in the voting booth push politicians to clean up their acts?
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Jim Bibb, the Republican running for attorney general, has responded to my request for information on his death penalty stance.
“As a former assistant district attorney, FBI special agent, and assistant United States attorney, I swore to uphold the law, even in death penalty cases. As attorney general I will do the same,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I believe that the death penalty option needs to remain available in New Mexico for those cases involving premeditated murder that are so heinous as to not warrant life imprisonment. A defendant facing the death penalty should have the time and resources to mount the very best defense. However, once a judgment in favor of execution is rendered, I believe the appellate process should be swift and if upheld, it should be carried out promptly.”
So, no big surprises. The three democrats would all enforce the current law that allows the death penalty in some cases, and at least two of them like it that way (Lem Martinez’s campaign manager didn’t directly answer that question).
I wrote last week about Geno Zamora making an embarrassing mistake in calling Las Cruces the state’s third-largest city, when it’s the second-largest. One insider called that “a more serious problem than a mere slip of the tongue,” saying Zamora and his campaign are clearly not spending enough time studying numbers.
If my source is right, Zamora’s campaign is in trouble.
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Speaking of attorney general candidates, you can share your opinion on which Democrat is most likely to win the primary by voting in the poll on the right side of this page.
Thanks for reading today. Come back tomorrow for more on New Mexico politics.