It’s official: Obama is president

By |

This article has been updated. With the words, “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear…” moments ago, the new president of the United States put an end to the Bush era and formally began a new period in which he has promised to end the Iraq war, repair a sinking economy and change the way Washington does business.“My fellow Americans, I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you’ve bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices born by our ancestors,” Obama told a crowd of millions of people in Washington and tens of millions more on television, radio and the Internet shortly after being sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serous and they are many,” Obama said. “… But know this America — they will be met. Continue Reading

NM Senate leadership fight to be decided today

By |

Will the Senate continue to be a thorn in the governor’s side or become more amenable to his agenda? The race between Jennings and Cisneros is too close to call.When the state Legislature convenes today, senators will decide whether to continue following a bipartisan coalition that has been the only real check on the governor’s power or take a new direction under leadership many believe will be friendlier to Bill Richardson and his agenda. Supporters of keeping Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, as Senate president pro tem say their coalition, which consists largely of Republicans and conservative Democrats, is a necessary check on Richardson, especially in a year in which lawmakers have to make dramatic cuts to the state budget. Supporters of replacing Jennings with Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, are looking to take advantage of progressive gains in the Senate and the current left-leaning mood of the nation to move their agenda forward. In a number of interviews conducted in the last few days, Jennings and many of his supporters said he has the edge going into today’s vote, while Cisneros and his supporters made the same claim about Cisneros. Continue Reading

A contagious excitement about what lies ahead

By |

This is the first of a handful of guest blogs that will run in the next few days related to the inauguration events in Washington, D.C.By U.S. Rep. Harry Teague I remember in sixth grade, my government teacher brought a little black and white television into the cafeteria, and we all huddled around to watch John F. Kennedy’s swearing in. Back then, just to be able to watch the ceremony on screen was a great privilege, and television was a relatively new thing. Washington, D.C. and Hobbs, N.M. felt like they were a world apart. I was lucky enough to be able to see and hear a part of a nation inaugurating a president, but the idea of actually standing in front of the U.S. Capitol for the event did not even cross my mind. One of my favorite things to do, always as a parent and now as a member of Congress, is giving generations younger than mine opportunities I never had. Continue Reading

Time to start living within our means

By |

By Tom Taylor and Keith GardnerAfter the economic crisis occurred last fall, many New Mexicans have learned a valuable lesson — that they can no longer spend every last dollar from their paychecks. All of us have come to realize that we must pay our bills, but we also put away something in the savings account in case times get tough. Tough times are now here. For the last six years, Governor Richardson and the Democratic-controlled Legislature refused to stop their spending spree. Now we must deal with the consequences. Continue Reading

Donors giving to guv’s nonprofit in secret

By |

We’ve all spent time reading (or on the case of many journalists, writing) about the money that flowed from campaign contributors to Gov. Bill Richardson in the last few years, and the (coincidental or not) awarding of state contracts to those contributors, often around the same time the contributions were made.But I didn’t know until I read about it on Sunday in the Albuquerque Journal that the governor had also set up a way for donors to give money to a cause of his without the public ever knowing it. In an article you can read by clicking here, the Journal’s Colleen Heild reports on the Moving America Forward Foundation, a nonprofit formed by Richardson that has taken in at least $1.7 million in donations and doesn’t have to tell us who gave any of it. Who are the donors? Do any of them do business with the state? We don’t really know. Continue Reading

Voters in poll: Probes don’t increase hope for reform

By |

The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site don’t believe that current corruption investigations plaguing state government increase the chance that the 2009 Legislature will approve significant ethics reform. Of 197 voters, 115, or 58 percent, said the investigations do not increase the chances for ethics reform, while 71, or 36 percent, said they do, and 11, or 6 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

Guv picks attorney to fill state House vacancy

By |

This article has been updated. Zachary J. Cook is the new representative for District 56 in the state House. Gov. Bill Richardson announced his appointment today of the Republican Cook to replace the GOP’s Dub Williams, who retired earlier this week due to health reasons. District 56 includes portions of Lincoln and Otero Counties. On the recommendation of Williams, the county commissions in both counties nominated Cook to replace the retiring representative. Continue Reading

Guv appoints Arrieta to Las Cruces district court

By |

Las Cruces attorney Manuel Arrieta is the state’s newest district judge. Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Arrieta today to the Third Judicial District Court in Doña Ana County. He replaces Robert E. Robles, who Richardson recently appointed to the state appellate court. Robles is already serving on the higher court, so Arrieta’s appointment to the bench is effective immediately. “Mannie is a native of southern New Mexico, and his experience and commitment to the community will be an asset to the bench; he is well respected,” Richardson said in a news release. Continue Reading

Guv’s administration targeted using bill he signed

By |

Fraud Against Taxpayers Act allows lawsuit alleging schoolteachers and taxpayers lost $90 million in investment deals made in exchange for contributions to Richardson’s presidential campaign When he signed the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act into law in 2007, Gov. Bill Richardson said it “sends a strong message to those who would try to cheat the taxpayers and the state of their money.” “Crime doesn’t pay,” Richardson said at the March 15, 2007 bill-signing ceremony in his office. On Wednesday, the public learned that the very law Richardson said would help fight corruption was being used to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state alleging that schoolteachers and taxpayers lost $90 million in investment deals made in exchange for contributions to Richardson’s presidential campaign. Richardson, whose office says the allegations are baseless, hasn’t been publicly named as a defendant in that lawsuit, but the names of dozens of defendants remain sealed, and it’s possible the governor’s is among them. The act, which was unanimously approved by the Legislature in 2007, was sponsored by state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who said in an interview that he proposed it in response to the scandal in the treasurer’s office that led to the previous two state treasurers serving time in federal prison for felony crimes. “The act is designed to weed out corruption in state government by providing a bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with knowledge of wrongdoing,” Cervantes said. Continue Reading

Housing authorities were ‘a colossal failure’

By |

Lawmakers wanted the state auditor to determine whether there were widespread problems with the state’s affordable housing system. The auditor’s answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’ When the Legislature was discussing comprehensive reform of the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities two years ago, Rep. Jose Campos, a leading skeptic of a State Investment Council report that found widespread misuse of bond money, said he wanted independent audits to determine whether reform was necessary. “Before we start condemning anybody, let’s get all the information out,” he said at the time. “Let’s not commit a political hack job.” Several lawmakers sided with Campos, and out of that was born a compromise: Some changes to the housing authority system were approved in 2007, but a bill that would have enacted comprehensive reform was gutted. Instead, the Legislature appropriated money to empower State Auditor Hector Balderas to determine the extent of the problems with the system. Continue Reading

Legislator’s ‘oops’ creates appearance of impropriety

By |

A state representative who says she doesn’t review her campaign finance reports before they’re filed is blaming poor bookkeeping for several egregious items on her reports that create a distasteful appearance.As reported by the Albuquerque Journal’s Thom Cole, Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert, R-Corrales, used more than $2,000 from her campaign account in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to pay for costs of attending out-of-state government conferences. Then she was reimbursed by the state, but there’s no record that she ever paid that money back to her campaign account. That’s an eyebrow-raising situation, to say the least. But it gets worse. She reported spending campaign money to pay for lodging and meals on those trips even though she received per diem from the state to cover those costs. Continue Reading

AG isn’t saying pay-to-play lawsuit lacks merit

By |

When a former state employee unsealed on Wednesday his lawsuit alleging that the state lost $90 million in investment deals made in exchange for contributions to Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign, the governor’s office was quick to point out that the attorney general had already reviewed and declined to prosecute the allegations.Under the state law that allows former New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Chief Investment Officer Frank Foy to sue on behalf of the state, Foy had to first take his case to the AG and give that office the option to prosecute. The AG declined to get involved. In pointing that out on Wednesday, Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos was using that fact as supporting evidence of his assertion that the lawsuit lacks merit. But an AG spokesman says his office’s decision to stay out of the case isn’t an indicator of the case’s merit — or lack thereof.“Under the Fraud Against Tax Payers Act, the AG can intervene or not intervene, but the decision has no impact on the merits of the case,” said Phil Sisneros, spokesman for Attorney General Gary King. “In this case, we believe the plaintiff is capable of pursuing his claims and that we can assure the state’s interests are protected.” Continue Reading

Read the housing authority audits right here

By |

Want to find the interesting points in the audits of the regional housing authorities that were released today? With all that’s been going on today (the release of the audits and the unsealing of a lawsuit alleging pay to play in the governor’s administration) I haven’t had the time, yet, to actually read through the audits of five regional housing authorities released by State Auditor Hector Balderas. Together, they include more than 200 pages. So I’m going to read them this evening and tomorrow morning, and I plan to write a comprehensive article on their findings tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the audits: • For the Region I audit, click here. Continue Reading

Guv’s administration faces new pay-to-play allegations

By |

Lawsuit alleges that state invested with company in exchange for contributions to Richardson’s presidential campaign; guv says state did nothing inappropriateThis article has been updated. Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration was hit with its second pay-to-play controversy today with the unsealing of a lawsuit alleging that the state lost $90 million in investment deals made in exchange for contributions to Richardson’s presidential campaign. The lawsuit, which you can read by clicking here, was filed in July and unsealed today by Frank Foy, the former chief investment officer for the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board. The educational board invested $40 million and the State Investment Council invested $50 million with Vanderbilt Financial and affiliated companies. Foy alleges that the investments were directly tied to more than $15,000 that Vanderbilt employees and family members gave to the governor’s campaign. Continue Reading

Balderas refers housing audit to prosecutors

By |

State Auditor Hector Balderas has completed and is asking prosecutors to take a look at a long-awaited special audit of the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authority system. Balderas is also releasing the special audit and other reports to the public today. The move follows a two-year investigation that began when the state Legislature asked him to take a look at the state’s affordable housing system in early 2007. Balderas says his work confirms previous reports detailing widespread problems with the system. “In my opinion, the five regional housing authorities audited by my office were plagued by weak internal controls and a lack of adequate oversight,” Balderas said today in a news release. Continue Reading