Lawsuit claims Teague ignored harassment of worker

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A federal civil-rights lawsuit filed in December accuses Second Congressional District candidate Harry Teague of ignoring a sexual harassment complaint filed by an employee against a top manager at one of his companies. Teague, one of four Democrats vying for the seat being vacated by Steve Pearce, hasn’t been served in the case, his campaign said in a statement. The plaintiff has 120 days from Jan. 8 to do that. The lawsuit, filed Dec. Continue Reading

Elections should be run by governments

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Elections should be run by governments. The debacle that was last week’s New Mexico Democratic caucus makes that clear. It’s not the record voter turnout and the resulting long lines that bother me. That’s a great problem to have. What calls into question the integrity of the vote is the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s difficulty in responding to the high voter turnout, the weak protection for the ballots and the fact that a party-run caucus isn’t subject to state election law. Continue Reading

Mayor to deliver State of the City address

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Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima will deliver his State of the City address this afternoon. It will take place at 12:15 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, located in City Hall at 200 N. Church St. You can watch it live online by clicking here, listen online by clicking here, or watch it on Comcast Cable channel 20. This will be Miyagishima’s first State of the City address since he was elected in November. Continue Reading

Richardson faces a new reality in Santa Fe

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The first legislative session since his longshot presidential bid came to an end is turning out to be a pretty lonely one for Gov. Bill Richardson. He’s at odds with Lt. Gov. Diane Denish on a couple of issues, and Attorney General Gary King is siding with the Senate in another dispute. The Senate hasn’t been a friend to Richardson in quite some time, and even many House members are up in arms over his line-item vetoes in the general appropriations bill. Richardson has always ruled with an iron fist. He has a deep need to be in control. Continue Reading

Candidates file for U.S. House, Senate races

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Three New Mexicans who had previously announced their candidacies for federal offices didn’t file to run on Tuesday, putting an end to their short-lived campaigns. Democrat Lehland Lehrman and Republican Tom Benavides, who had announced their candidacies for U.S. Senate, failed to file and gave no indication of why they hadn’t collected the signatures to get on the ballot. Republican Bob Cornelius, who had announced his candidacy for the Second Congressional District House seat, announced shortly before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline that he was ending his campaign. In dropping out, Cornelius endorsed Terry Marquardt, one of 28 Democrats and Republicans who did file on Tuesday to run this year for one of New Mexico’s four open seats in Congress – one in the Senate and three in the House. There were no other surprises on filing day. Continue Reading

McCamley shines at CD2 forum in Anthony

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Bill McCamley presented the most articulate, intelligent and passionate plea for support of any of the Democratic candidates running for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce at a forum in Anthony on Monday. McCamley effectively answered criticisms of his tenure as a Doña Ana County commissioner. He spoke with authority about the need to reform the educational system and trade agreements to help Americans compete for jobs that are going overseas and talked about increasing cooperation among local governments to grow the economy and ensure some of those jobs come to the Second Congressional District. He also made two attempts at speaking Spanish during the forum, which impressed several I spoke with afterward. As I’ve disclosed many times, I’m friends with McCamley (read about that by clicking here), which is why I solicited the opinions of several others before I wrote this article. Continue Reading

Canvass changes Democratic caucus results slightly

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Hillary Clinton’s lead in New Mexico’s Feb. 5 caucus decreased slightly today when the Democratic Party announced canvassed results of the regular and absentee votes. The new and final results for the regular and absentee ballots are 68,084 votes for Clinton and 67,010 votes for Barack Obama, giving Clinton a 1,074-vote lead. That doesn’t include the more than 17,000 provisional ballots that are still being considered. The party has qualified about 7,000 of those ballots, but is still sorting through the rest. Continue Reading

Garcia urges approval of ethics commission

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State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, says her bill that would create a state ethics commission will likely pass the House today, and she’s urging the Senate to give it honest consideration before the session ends at noon on Thursday. House Bill 309 was approved unanimously by members of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee on Monday, but not before a two-hour debate that resulted in its funding being cut from $500,000 to $250,000. Garcia said the bill will pass the House, most likely today. If she’s right, the bill would have moved further this year than it did in 2007, when it passed the House but without any funding to implement it. Garcia said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, has tried to stop the bill, and she urged him and other senators to read the bill and consider reality before they refuse to hear it or vote against it. Continue Reading

Oil and politics – are you mad yet?

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By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – from the film Network, 1976 As I was filling up my Camry at the gas station the other day, and bitching and moaning about the $48 cost, I noticed the guy next to me with his big pickup, still pumping at over $100. “Doesn’t this piss you off?” I asked. “Just the way it is,” he shrugged, “I gotta drive. The oil companies have us by the b***s.” Well said. Recently, Exxon announced that it had made a $40.6-billion profit in the past year. Continue Reading

AG says Denish’s acceptance of funding bills was valid

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Attorney General Gary King said late Monday that the lieutenant governor’s Saturday acceptance of funding bills on behalf of the governor was valid and did start the clock on the time the governor has to act on them. King was responding to a request for an opinion from Paula Tackett, director of the Legislative Council Service. “My attorneys have been working on this question and have found nothing in state law or these circumstances that would prohibit the lieutenant governor from accepting legislation on behalf of the governor and starting the clock on the time that the governor has to consider it,” King said in a news release. You can read the AG’s letter, written by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Glenn, by clicking here. Gov. Bill Richardson’s office did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment. Continue Reading

Sen. Papen announces re-election bid

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State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, has announced that she is running for re-election this year. Papen, who represents District 38, has served in the Senate since 2000. In a news release, she said she has championed mental health, affordable housing reform, water rights adjudication and education. Papen serves on the interim Water and Natural Resources Committee, the interim Health and Human Services Committee and was recently selected to serve on the Senate Finance Committee. “The people of Senate District 38 deserve a conscientious advocate and a strong voice in Santa Fe. Continue Reading

Who’s right in dispute over aquatic center funding?

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There’s quite a dispute brewing over how much money Gov. Bill Richardson promised in 2006 to help fund the planned aquatic and recreation center in Las Cruces. Las Cruces City Manager Terrence Moore wrote in his Friday information letter to city councilors that, despite “seemingly universal understanding by all involved, including state legislators, city administration and (city) lobbyist Ray Davenport” that the governor would give the city $10 million for the project, Richardson’s office now says he is only going to give $5 million. The governor’s office says Richardson gave $5 million from his own capital outlay in 2006 and pledged to help the city secure another $5 million in the form of a low-interest loan from the New Mexico Finance Authority. Here’s what I know, starting from the beginning: This was a project initiated by state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, not the city or the governor. Cervantes worked hard to get legislators and the governor on board, and they jointly announced, publicly, on Jan. Continue Reading

County GOP chair steps down, cites personal reasons

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After three years at the helm, Sid Goddard resigned Saturday from the position of chair of The Republican Party of Doña Ana County, citing personal reasons. The party’s vice chair, Mark Van Dyke, has been named interim chair, and hopes to have the “interim” stripped from his title when the party elects a new chair at its March 8 meeting. Goddard, who had a year left on his second, two-year term as party chair, notified Republicans of his resignation during the party’s Saturday meeting. “My reasons are personal and beyond that I will say nothing to anyone,” Goddard said in an interview. “It did not have anything to do with being disgruntled or upset or anything like that.” During Goddard’s tenure, the party became more visible and active in the community, becoming a member of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce and Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, updating its Web site and moving to a new office on Wyatt Drive. Continue Reading

GOP CD2 candidates to attend forum in Socorro

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Most of the declared Republican candidates for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce will attend a candidate forum tonight in Socorro. The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the K-BOB’s restaurant. Terry Marquardt and Greg Sowards will be unable to attend, and Monty Newman has indicated that he will try to attend but isn’t certain he’ll make it. The other candidates have confirmed their attendance. Continue Reading

Hillary Clinton to campaign in El Paso

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in El Paso on Tuesday for a public rally and a private fundraiser in advance of Texas’ March 4 primary, according to the El Paso Times. The public rally begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Don Haskins Center on the UTEP campus. Doors open at 5 p.m. That event will be followed by a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser at a private residence. Clinton plans to make other stops in Texas this week. Her husband and daughter may also visit El Paso, the newspaper reported. Continue Reading