Aragon sentenced to 5.5 years in prison

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Former Senate President Manny Aragon was sentenced today to 5.5 years in federal prison for his role in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal, The Associated Press is reporting. Aragon was also fined $750,000 — most of which he has already forfeited to the government — and ordered to pay at least $649,000 in restitution, the news service reported. Read about it here. Aragon pleaded guilty in October to three felony counts of conspiracy and mail fraud. He was accused of pocketing more than $600,000 in the scheme in which prosecutors say he and several others stole $4.2 million in taxpayer money by inflating and falsifying invoices during construction of the courthouse. Continue Reading

Las Cruces Sun-News hit with layoffs

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This article has been updated.Three staffers at the Las Cruces Sun-News — two in the editorial department and one in the advertising department — have been laid off in the last week as the newspaper and its parent company deal with economic woes that are hampering the newspaper industry. The editor of Pulse, the newspaper’s weekly entertainment insert, in addition to the typist who transcribes calls to Sound Off! and the paper’s only advertising writer, were all laid off in the last several days, sources confirmed. The layoffs come as all employees of the paper’s parent company, Denver-based MediaNews Group, are taking weeklong, unpaid furloughs before the end of this month to help the company make ends meet for the quarter. When the furloughs were announced last month, MediaNews said they were an attempt to avoid layoffs. Continue Reading

Senate Rules OKs open conference committees

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The Senate Rules Committee gave a do-pass recommendation this morning to a bill that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public. With a similar bill already on the calendar for today’s Senate floor session, what happens next isn’t clear. House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, was approved by the committee on a vote of 3-2 with Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, Committee Chair Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque and Dianna Duran, R-Tularosa, voting for it. Voting against the bill were Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, and Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales. While Duran has voted to open conference committees in the past, Sanchez twice voted against the proposal in 2007. Continue Reading

Another conference committee bill being heard

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I wrote last night that one bill that would open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public was scheduled but not being heard on the Senate floor. Meanwhile, a similar bill is getting a hearing this morning in the Senate Rules Committee. House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, is being considered by the committee right now. The meeting isn’t being webcast, so I can’t tell you what’s happening there, but I can tell you that at least one other journalist is attending the meeting. More on Cervantes’ bill later. Continue Reading

Senate skips conference committee bill again

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For the second straight day, the Senate had on its agenda a proposal to open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public, but, as it did on Sunday, the Senate adjourned late this evening without considering the bill. Senate Bill 737, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, will appear on the Senate’s agenda again on Tuesday, but when the bill is brought up for debate is solely in the hands of Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen. Two other bills that would open conference committees to the public — Feldman’s Senate Bill 150 and House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces — have been languishing in the Senate Rules Committee. Because of that, Feldman used Senate Bill 737 and an unusual procedural move last week to force a Senate floor vote on the issue. Feldman replaced what’s called a “dummy bill” — one that contains no actual legislation but can be replaced with a committee substitute after the deadline for new legislation passes — with a mirror of House Bill 393, which had already passed the House. Continue Reading

Senate webcast elicits jokes, discontent, anger

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Though some of it is being expressed in a joking manner, there appears to be some serious disappointment, beyond what I personally expressed earlier today, with the Senate’s first attempt at video webcasting. The single-camera webcast, unveiled today, shows the desks of only nine of 42 senators, and it shows them from behind. That prompted a series of jokes on the Senate floor today, the New Mexico Independent is reporting. “This does create the impression out there that all senators are bald,” said Albuquerque Democratic Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, whose head appears shiny in the video. Sen. Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces, got in on the joking with this quip: “I’ve heard that there’s already a raging discussion about how much advertising space might cost on top of Ortiz y Pino’s head,” he said. Continue Reading

But what about ethics reform?

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Want to know why it’s so difficult to pass any ethics-reform measure in Santa Fe? A news release sent out by the governor’s office this evening provides a clue about one of the big reasons. The release was about Gov. Bill Richardson meeting this afternoon with more than 100 New Mexicans to discuss legislation during meetings that each lasted 3-5 minutes. People traveled from as far away as Mesquite (located in southern Doña Ana County) for the meetings, according to the release. Not surprisingly, the most popular issue brought up was the bill the Legislature has approved that would repeal the death penalty, the release states. Continue Reading

Speaker’s bill could exacerbate newspaper woes

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What are already hard times for New Mexico newspapers could get worse under a bill sponsored by House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambé. House Bill 895 would allow the publication of legal notices via television or radio in addition to newspapers. Currently, such notices must be published in newspapers, and that’s a major source of revenue for a struggling industry. Craigslist, which publishes classifieds online for free, has already taken lots of other classified advertising revenue from newspapers, and many papers’ classifieds are now anchored by legal notices. Lujan’s bill has passed the House on a vote of 58-2 and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee. Continue Reading

Check out the Senate video webcast

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The Senate’s official video webcast is up now. You can check it out by clicking here. My immediate thoughts: This is certainly better than what’s been done in the House, which has approved only audio webcasting. And it’s way better than what the Senate was doing before, which was nothing. But the Senate had the ability to place three cameras in the chamber, with one in the back and two that would zoom in on senators’ faces when they spoke. Continue Reading

A lesson from Rev. Harvey to the choir

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By Michael Ray Huerta “We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out, and most importantly, every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is you must tell your immediate family, you must tell your relatives, you must tell your friends, if indeed they are your friends, you must tell your neighbors, you must tell the people you work with, you must tell the people in the stores you shop in, and once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all.” -Harvey Milk on June 25, 1978 Harvey Milk believed in a simple principle: the more of us they know, the more accepted we’ll become. Today, this is especially true in New Mexico. A short time ago, our elected officials voted against providing same sex couples with equal domestic partner rights and benefits. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll don’t want long-serving legislators

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said legislators should not be allowed to hold office for decades at a time because they become too jaded or corrupt. Of 202 voters, 124, or 61 percent, picked that answer, while 74, or 37 percent, said legislators should be allowed to serve that long because no one should be barred from serving the public. Four voters, or 2 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Defendants seek dismissal of Foy lawsuit

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You may have read an article last week about three defendants in a lawsuit alleging pay to play in the Richardson administration filing motions to have the lawsuit dismissed. The Associated Press article details the motions from former Richardson Chief of Staff Dave Contarino, State Investment Officer Gary Bland and Educational Retirement Board Chairman Bruce Malott. Frank Foy’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of the state, alleges that Contarino ordered Bland and Malott to make investments with Vanderbilt Financial and affiliated companies in exchange for a little more than $15,000 in contributions to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign. The state lost $90 million in the investment deals. The three men have already denied the allegations. Continue Reading

Conference committees on today’s Senate agenda

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This article has been updated.The Senate could vote today on whether to open conferences committees and other legislative meetings to the public, and it’s even possible you’ll be able to watch the debate, if it happens, online. I wrote earlier this week that the question was whether Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, would challenge an unusual procedural move and try to reassign Senate Bill 737, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, to the Senate Rules Committee instead of scheduling it for a vote on the Senate floor. Sanchez answered that question late Friday when he left the bill on the Senate floor. And it’s No. 25 on the agenda for today’s Senate session. Continue Reading

Bet on Richardson signing death penalty repeal

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I have nothing more than a gut feeling, but my money is on Gov. Bill Richardson opting to sign a bill that would make New Mexico the 15th state to repeal the death penalty. For the politically savvy and embattled governor, there’s nearly every reason in the world to sign the bill — from a political standpoint — and few to veto it. The Senate sent House Bill 285, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, to the governor today on a vote of 24-18. It’s the most significant legislation to head the governor’s desk so far this session. Richardson put out a statement that says he’s still undecided on whether he’ll sign the bill. Continue Reading

Senate OKs video webcasting, will begin ASAP

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Members of the New Mexico Senate voted unanimously this afternoon to begin live audio and video webcasting from the Senate floor as soon as is technically possible, the New Mexico Independent is reporting. Webcasting could begin as early as Saturday following approval of Senate Resolution 4, a compromise sponsored by Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, and John Sapien, D-Corrales. Under the legislation, the Senate will install one camera at the back of the Senate chamber to try to replicate what a member of the public sitting in the gallery above the Senate floor can see. The resolution also sets up an oversight agency to handle webcasting. While that’s not as good as the original proposal to install three cameras and have video zoom in on lawmakers while they are speaking, it’s better than what is available in the House, which has approved audio webcasting but no video. Continue Reading