Richardson appointment becomes official Wednesday

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Obama also names former UNM prez to head White House Military OfficeBarack Obama will officially nominate Gov. Bill Richardson to be his commerce secretary on Wednesday, several media outlets are reporting. Obama’s selection of Richardson to head the Commerce Department has been known for a couple of weeks, and New Mexico has already begun transitioning to life after Richardson. But Wednesday’s formal announcement, expected to take place at a news conference in Chicago, will accelerate the transition and allow Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who will become governor, to begin to openly prepare for a coming legislative session in which hundreds of millions of dollars must be cut from the state budget. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press are among the media organizations reporting on Wednesday’s planned news conference. A spokesman for Richardson said he had no comment, and a spokeswoman for Denish did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue Reading

Did guv intervene in Senate leadership fight?

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Did Gov. Bill Richardson go against his own word and step into the leadership battle in the state Senate?He isn’t saying, but some Democratic senators say they believe he’s doing just that by pushing some senators to back Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, instead of Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, to be Senate president pro tem. The caucus on Sunday nominated Cisneros to replace Jennings in the job, but Jennings says he intends to seek GOP support to keep the position. “Everybody tells me that he did,” Jennings was quoted by the New Mexico Independent as saying about Richardson’s alleged intervention. “Whether they have the courage to tell you I don’t know. People tell me he called people up to the office.” Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces and a Jennings supporter, also said she had heard about such meetings, but she didn’t know the names of any who had met with Richardson. Continue Reading

We need action on housing authority scandal

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By Dan Foley I was looking at a posting the other day that talked about ethics and the need for ethics reform in New Mexico. The article talked about former State Sen. Manny Aragon and the recently defeated Senate Republican Whip Lee Rawson. What I was shocked to see missing was any real discussion about the New Mexico Housing Authority and the people who are involved with it. Let’s recap some of the news. You start out with former State Rep. Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, who was able to get our very own Board of Finance to approve a few million dollars in bond sales for him to help “people in need” get affordable housing. Continue Reading

Marty Chávez raising money… but for what?

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez is clearly gearing up to run for something, but just what he’s getting ready to run for isn’t clear at all.He’s put up a new Web site at www.martychavez.com that wishes visitors a Happy Thanksgiving and asks for their contact information. In addition, he’s holding a Dec. 11 fundraiser for the Marty Chávez for New Mexico committee. It’s not clear whether the committee is a city, state or federal committee, so that doesn’t help reveal Chávez’s intentions. Click here to view the flyer for the fundraiser. Continue Reading

Senate Dems nominate Cisneros to be president

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“If they bust me up, so be it. I’ve been on the back row before,” Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, told me in November. The majority of Senate Democrats made public their intention to do just that on Sunday by nominating Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, to replace Jennings as the Senate’s president in January. Jennings has been under fire from members of his own party since he recorded a robocall and radio ad denouncing attacks against outgoing Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, just before Rawson lost his re-election bid on Nov. 4. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say cuts and/or tax hike needed

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said the Legislature is going to have to take some drastic measures to deal with the state’s revenue shortfall and balance the budget. Of 132 voters, 48, or 36 percent, said the Legislature is going to have to cut services, jobs and other areas in the budget and raise takes. Meanwhile, 39, or 30 percent, said the Legislature will have to implement across-the-board cuts but not raise taxes; 17, or 13 percent, said the Legislature will have to raise taxes but not make budgetary cuts; nine, or 7 percent, said it will have to find ways to trim the budget that don’t include cutting services and jobs; eight, or 6 percent, said it will have to cut services only; six, or 5 percent, said it will have to cut jobs only, and five, or 4 percent, said the Legislature won’t have to do anything mentioned above. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Smoke and mirrors aside, we still need ethics reform

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Santa Fe wants to be bad, but not so bad that it gets caught. Aragon’s conviction doesn’t change that.One common argument many lawmakers have made against ethics reform is that the state Legislature doesn’t have ethical issues and its members don’t need additional checks on their power. When Manny Aragon admitted several weeks ago to abusing his position in the state Senate to steal millions of taxpayer dollars, he blew that argument out of the water. So, of course, some lawmakers have come up with bogus arguments against ethics reform. Senate President Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, recently told the New Mexico Independent that what Aragon did was illegal but “doesn’t have anything to do with ethics.” Illegal but has nothing to do with ethics? Continue Reading

Tim Jennings’ double standard on negative campaigns

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By John V. Wertheim The 2008 elections brought many surprises to New Mexico: voters delivering handily for Barack Obama, all federal positions now in Democratic hands for the first time in decades, and even additional seats for Democrats in the state Legislature. As a former Democratic chairman, I felt a mixture of pride at the ascendancy of important progressive policy ideas and awesome responsibility at the shear size of the work ahead of us. Both feelings were welcome, albeit sobering. Seeing a top Democratic leader campaigning on behalf of a particularly partisan Republican was, however, decidedly unwelcome. Democratic Sen. and President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, who raised eyebrows by ardently defending Republican Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson in the final days of a tight election contest against criticism of Rawson’s record, demonstrated an indefensible double standard. Continue Reading

A rapid rise to prominence

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In 2006, Hector Balderas became the nation’s youngest statewide Hispanic elected official. Now many consider him a top contender to become lieutenant governor when Bill Richardson leaves the state. Hector Balderas says he’s trying to keep in the proper perspective the fact that he’s being named as a strong contender to become the state’s next lieutenant governor. “I’m really at this point, I think, going through what every voter and citizen in New Mexico is going through,” the state auditor said in a Monday interview. “I’m really excited about the opportunity for change, and I’m really excited that new leaders are getting opportunities. Continue Reading

Votes to unionize should be cast in private

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By Dan Foley I was sitting around reading about all the people that President-elect Obama is looking at putting in his cabinet, and I thought we might wait until later to see what we think of them. I then started thinking about the last few elections and all the work of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), together with groups like ACORN and the ACLU, to make sure as many people vote as possible. Clearly they have signaled they advocate allowing everyone to vote, documentation or not, as virtually anonymous participants. In New Mexico, they even went so far as to file a frivolous complaint about voter intimidation and suppression. This made me think about the upcoming “card check” issue — a process they are pushing to force union representation on workers. Continue Reading

Richardson names new transportation secretary

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Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday announced the appointment of Gary Girón to serve as secretary of the Department of Transportation. Currently a deputy secretary in the department, Girón will replace Rhonda Faught when she retires at the end of the year, according to a news release from Richardson. The governor’s apparent appointment to be Barack Obama’s secretary of commerce means Lt. Gov. Diane Denish will become governor sometime in the coming weeks or months and will have the ability to choose her own cabinet secretaries. Regardless, Richardson said in a news release that Girón has extensive experience and a thorough understanding of transportation issues. “Gary understands the need to be bold and pursue every opportunity to build a safe and modern transportation system,” Richardson said. Continue Reading

Former Obama staffer to run Teague’s office

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Harry Teague, the 2nd Congressional District representative-elect, has hired the man who ran Barack Obama’s campaign in New Mexico, Adrian Saenz, to be chief of staff for his congressional office. “I am excited to have Adrian on board,” Teague said in a news release. “His experience working on Capitol Hill makes him a valuable asset in advocating for the issues important to New Mexican families: jobs, health care, energy independence and education. His strong ties to the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular, mean that he has a good sense of the needs of people here in New Mexico struggling to make ends meet in these tough economic times.” Saenz has worked on several campaigns in New Mexico, most recently for Obama. He has more than seven years of Capitol Hill experience, most recently serving as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas. Continue Reading

Cheshire named acting director of state GOP

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Whitney Cheshire, a conservative pundit who has worked on several GOP political campaigns, has been hired to be acting executive director and communications director for the Republican Party of New Mexico. She’ll serve at least until a new party chairman is elected in on Jan. 10. “New Mexico Republicans are already looking forward to the 2009 local races, as well as the statewide and district races of 2010,” Cheshire said. “I’m happy to help with the transition as Republicans get ready to elect a new chairman in January.” Cheshire is a former unpaid columnist for this site and, before that, published the Wednesday Morning Quarterback blog. Continue Reading

Richardson replaces three regents at NMSU

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This article has been updated. Gov. Bill Richardson replaced three of five members of the New Mexico State University Board of Regents today, opting for new blood at a time when the university is going to be making a second attempt at finding a new president.With little explanation, Richardson replaced Steve Anaya, Bob Gallagher and Student Regent Ed Kellum with Thomas “Dick” Salopek of Las Cruces, Javier Gonzales of Santa Fe and Student Regent Christopher Anaya. The new regents’ terms will begin on Jan. 1, a news release from Richardson’s office stated, but the appointees must be confirmed by the Senate before they can begin their work, and the Legislature doesn’t convene until Jan. 20.In the meantime, the terms of Steve Anaya, Gallagher and Kellum end on Dec. Continue Reading

NM begins moving into the post-Richardson era

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Even before Gov. Bill Richardson is officially appointed to be secretary of commerce, New Mexico appears to be heading into the post-Richardson era.Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, became today the first high-ranking politician to publicly congratulate Richardson for his appointment. And he’s thinking forward to the fact that, assuming Richardson leaves, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is about to become the first female governor in the state’s history. “It is a great honor for New Mexico and a testament to Gov. Richardson’s leadership that he will soon be joining President-elect Barack Obama’s administration as cabinet secretary for the Department of Commerce,” Sanchez said in a prepared statement. “During this time of economic crisis, it is reassuring to have a steady and proven leader guiding and assisting businesses throughout our country.” “At the same time, it is also a historic moment as Lt. Gov. Diane Denish will assume the formal role of governor. The Senate looks forward to working together to solve the very serious financial issues facing our state,” Sanchez said. Continue Reading