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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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