As I did in November with the regular Las Cruces municipal election, I’ve been looking into rumors and allegations related to the upcoming District 6 special election. I’ve found a few things worth reporting. Here they are:
Shipley fined
Candidate Berchard Ray Shipley, while he was a planning commissioner in
“I made the mistake of mailing in my annual statement and did not get a return receipt from the post office,” Shipley said in explaining the situation. “I was notified several weeks later that they had not received my statement so I sent in a duplicate and paid the fine for the late submittal.”
“Hope that clears the matter up,” he said.
I’ve seen no evidence that suggests Shipley’s explanation is false. As long as he’s telling the truth, this is worth noting, but not a big deal.
A family connection
Candidate Sharon Thomas’ daughter works for the Las Cruces Metropolitan Planning Organization, a joint agency of the City of
Caeri Thomas is an associate planner who coordinates the transit strategic plan and works with the city bus system. The city is the fiscal agent for the MPO and houses its employees. The city council approves and helps fund the MPO budget – including salaries – each year, and three
In a news release announcing her candidacy, Sharon Thomas stated that her daughter is working on her master’s degree in geography at
“I don’t see this as presenting any sort of conflict,” Sharon Thomas told me. “…The city council has nothing to do with employment of city staff except for the city manager. The city manager is the only employee of the city council.”
That’s technically true, but anyone who has worked in local government knows that the council has some sway over other employees, if for no other reason because it determines their salaries. Thomas is the former head of the Quality Growth Alliance, and many of its members have gone after Councilor Gil Jones, former Councilor Jose Frietze and others for failing to disclose potential conflicts and for failing to recuse themselves when those citizens believed the councilors had conflicts.
I don’t see Thomas’ situation presenting a real conflict, just as I don’t see a real conflict arising out of Jones’ distant relationship with developer Philip Philippou, but, just as Jones was wise to disclose that relationship, Thomas should have come out disclosing this one from the beginning, especially in light of the harsh treatment others tied to the Quality Growth Alliance have given Jones.
If she is elected, Thomas would be wise to disclose the relationship when matters related to her daughter’s work are discussed by the council.
Use of non-profit e-mail
Candidate Karen Trujillo, the president of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, used the chamber’s e-mail system to send a message in December to members of the chamber inviting them to a fundraiser for her campaign.
It was a brief e-mail that didn’t urge any action but simply invited members. It’s not the first time this has happened. The chamber e-mail list has been used to spread word about events related to U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce in the past.
The e-mail doesn’t appear to violate IRS rules governing non-profits. If the chamber was a 501(c)(3), it might be a different story, but groups such as business leagues that are classified as 501(c)(6) organizations are not prohibited from some types of political activities, “so long as that is not its primary activity,” according to the IRS Web site. Political expenditures, however, may be subject to tax.
All dues-paying members are allowed to use the list to send announcements to chamber members. Still, as the president of the chamber,
An out-of-control citizen
At a forum earlier this week,
Hopefully, the Thomas campaign has already had a stern talk with that supporter to ensure he doesn’t pull similarly inappropriate stunts in the future. If such a talk hasn’t already taken place, it should immediately.
An inappropriate mailer
Someone has anonymously sent a mailer to a number of District 6 residents – many of them supporters of Thomas – making potentially libelous allegations against Miyagishima and stating that the mailer’s goal is to share the “truth” about the mayor because the recipients’ “choice of councilor is the mayor’s choice.” Miyagishima has endorsed Thomas.
I won’t repeat the allegations here, because some of them are potentially libelous, but I will tell you that I’ve looked into them and most of the allegations – including the most serious – are things I haven’t reported because I haven’t found any evidence that they’re true.
Why write about them if I’m not going to repeat them? Well, they’re being circulated in the district and have the potential to impact the election, and I wanted those who have received the mailer to know that I haven’t found any evidence that the allegations are true.
Miyagishima said he’s had to deal with rumors his entire career in public office, and called those in the mailer “hurtful” and “untrue.”
These are swift-boat tactics. Whoever is behind this should be ashamed. I wish I could publicly expose this person, but I don’t have his or her identity.
That’s it
That’s what I know. We’re close enough now to the election that I’m not planning to write any more before Tuesday unless something major happens. Most important now is that you vote.
Early voting ends Saturday. You can vote at the City Clerk’s Office, located in the basement of City Hall,
Polls will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To find your polling location, click here. For more information, call the clerk at 541-2115.
Update, 2:15 p.m.
The man who I wrote verbally accosted
I noticed during the forum that
Durbin also said he did not know security was called because he walked out on his own after the encounter with