District 4 hopefuls seek better infrastructure, services

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Steve Trowbridge’s decision to leave the Las Cruces City Council means District 4 is the only seat for which voters won’t be able to pick an incumbent on Nov. 6. Three relatively young but experienced candidates are vying for the right to replace Trowbridge on the council. Isaac Chavez, 35, ran unsuccessfully last year against state Rep. Andy Nuñez. He’s also a member of a number of community boards and chairs the Citizens Review Board for Child Abuse and Neglect. Continue Reading

Rawson to announce Congress decision on Wednesday

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State Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, will announce on Wednesday whether he is running for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. Rawson sent me an e-mail today stating that he’ll send a news release on Wednesday announcing his decision. I called him, and asked whether he would also hold a news conference. He said he hasn’t “finalized all the details yet,” but said the announcement will come sometime in the afternoon. Rawson, the owner of Rawson Inc. Builders Supply in Las Cruces, is the Senate minority whip and the only Republican legislator from Doña Ana County. He has the potential to be a formidable candidate. Continue Reading

Activist decides to run for House instead of Senate

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An activist for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community who had been running for a state Senate seat in Santa Fe has decided to instead seek the House seat currently held by Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, because Wirth has decided to run for the District 25 Senate seat. Several weeks ago, Democrats Brian Egolf and Mekah Gordon were challenging Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, for the seat. But when Grubesic decided against running again, Wirth decided to run for his District 47 seat. Egolf recently decided to instead seek Wirth’s House seat, and now Gordon has joined him in switching races. “Peter Wirth and Brian Egolf are two very fine, well accomplished candidates,” she wrote Monday in an e-mail to supporters. Continue Reading

Wiviott says thirst for change will boost his campaign

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Though a recent poll had Don Wiviott far behind GOP U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson in potential Senate match-ups, Wiviott said the poll’s results were encouraging. Wiviott, a Democrat and political newcomer who is vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., pointed out that he has little statewide name recognition and has done almost no advertising to this point. Considering that, “I thought we did amazing well, actually,” Wiviott said Friday during an interview in Las Cruces. The SurveyUSA poll, conducted for KOB-TV in Albuquerque, had Wiviott with 23-percent support to Pearce’s 58 percent – a 35-point difference – and 34-percent support to Wilson’s 51 percent – a 17-point difference. Continue Reading

The value of healthy disagreement

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By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek “When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.” – old Czech proverb Disagreement is usually a healthy sign in a democracy. Our system of government works best when adversaries put forth their best arguments and votes are cast to make decisions. I know there are those who advocate for a consensus approach to public policymaking. But the reality is that, on many issues, there are two or more sides to the matter. Ultimately, our elected and appointed officials must cast their votes, and the majority decision prevails. Continue Reading

District 2 candidates disagree on annexation process

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This article is part of a series running this week profiling the candidates in the Nov. 6 Las Cruces municipal election. By Vicki Nisbett An issue on the minds of many Las Crucens as the Nov. 6 municipal election approaches is the massive East Mesa annexation that was approved by the city council in May. The candidates for the District 2 seat on the Las Cruces City Council, Dolores Connor, 53 and the incumbent, and Vince Boudreau, 78, have different views on the approval process that preceded the annexation. Continue Reading

There may be hope for more transparency at NMSU

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There may be reason to hope that the Board of Regents of New Mexico State University will abandon archaic policies related to public participation in and notification of its business and enter the 21st Century. The board gave Common Cause of Southwestern New Mexico a chance today to argue for increased public input at meetings, earlier release of meeting agendas and more information about what happens in closed sessions, and at least one regent said he was open to making some changes. The board gave no timeline for deciding whether to make changes, but Regents President Laura Conniff said the board would discuss the issue with its attorney. (This seems like a good time to remind the regents that such discussion must take place in a properly-noticed, public meeting of the board.) At issue are three points: • The regents, for years, have only notified the public that upcoming closed sessions would include discussion of “personnel, real estate and legal matters,” and sometimes “water-rights matters,” even though the state Open Meetings Act requires that notice of meetings state “with reasonable specificity the subject to be discussed.” • The regents only allow public input after a request is submitted, along with all documentation that will be presented, two weeks before a meeting, and then only if the regents president, after conferring with the other members, OKs it. • Agendas are made available to the public only 24 hours before meetings. Continue Reading

Richardson campaign’s newest ad is brilliant

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s new television ad is a brilliant, touching and effective spot that portrays him as a man with courage and a big heart. Whether the 60-second commercial will make any difference in Iowa and New Hampshire, where it began running today but where Richardson’s campaign has, at best, stagnated, remains to be seen. The ad includes interviews with Bill Barloon, the late David Daliberti and his wife Kathy, who praised the governor for securing the release of the two American men from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1995. “He’s the only one that was willing to leave his family, his wife, behind, travel to a dangerous section of the world, for two men he didn’t even know,” Kathy Daliberti says in the ad. “Here’s this big guy, you know, he is a pretty big guy, and he’s got a heart as big as he is, one of the kindest guys, you know, just so nice to us,” Barloon says in the ad, tears in his eyes. Continue Reading

Cervantes to announce decision before Nov. 4

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State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, a Las Cruces Democrat who many have pushed to run for Congress for years, will announce before Nov. 4 whether he will run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. “I’ll have a decision before Nov. 4,” Cervantes said today in a brief interview. Why that date? It’s exactly one year before the Nov. Continue Reading

Check out newsman’s take on lobbyist controversy

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Though the attorney general recently ruled that it was legal for a lobbyist for PNM to serve as an unpaid member of Gov. Bill Richardson’s staff during the 2007 Legislature, Las Cruces Sun-News Managing Editor Walt Rubel wrote in a column published this weekend that the situation obviously created a clear conflict. I agree, and couldn’t have said it any better than Rubel. Check out his column by clicking here. Continue Reading

Rep. Herrera dies following battle with cancer

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State Rep. Manuel Herrera, D-Bayard, died Sunday morning following a long battle with cancer. Herrera, who had been a member of the Legislature since 1999, was vice chair of the House Labor and Human Resources Committee and a voting member of a number of other committees, and was a fighter for issues in Grant and Hidalgo counties. Gov. Bill Richardson ordered flags flown at half-staff beginning today in memory of Herrera. “Manny Herrera was a quiet but effective advocate for the people in Grant and Hidalgo counties,” Richardson said. “I always turned to Manny Herrera on any issue that affected Southwest New Mexico. Continue Reading

District 1 hopefuls agree on education, not on growth

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This article is part of a series running this week profiling the candidates in the Nov. 6 Las Cruces municipal election. By Vicki Nisbett The four candidates competing to represent District 1 on the Las Cruces City Council agree that the city is going to grow, but they disagree about how it should happen. The incumbent, 64-year-old José V. Frietze, a champion of the city’s growth, said he wants the West Mesa Industrial Park enhanced for a new-generation workforce. “I want growth that will enrich our community, our culture, our environment, our wilderness and provide employment opportunities for our youth,” he said. Continue Reading

An indefinite hiatus for The Wednesday Morning QB

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The Wednesday Morning Quarterback is taking an indefinite hiatus because Whitney Cheshire has accepted a position in the government office of U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson. Cheshire is loved by many of you and hated by others. For my part, I’ve been glad to have on this site a voice from the right who provided a different viewpoint than my own – just as I’ve been glad to have other columnists who write from the left and right – and I’ll miss reading Cheshire’s weekly columns. I especially enjoyed a recent column on Wilson’s support for a children’s health insurance bill and another on why the Democrats beat the Republicans in the diversity category. Her willingness to take on issues that are controversial within her own party has been refreshing. Continue Reading

Voters in poll say Connor will be re-elected

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Dolores Connor will win another term as the District 2 representative on the Las Cruces City Council. Of 230 voters, 131, or 57 percent, said Connor will win re-election on Nov. 6, while 99, or 43 percent, said her challenger, Vince Boudreau, will win. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Complaint filed over Frietze/Philippou land deals

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A complaint filed Wednesday against Las Cruces City Councilor Jose Frietze alleges that he violated the city ethics code by failing to disclose land transactions between his non-profit and a Las Cruces developer during council meetings at which he voted to approve that developer’s projects. A non-profit Frietze founded and runs, Resources for Children & Youth, Inc., had been in negotiations with developer Philip Philippou for three years, and land changed hands several times beginning on Dec. 30, 2005, county records indicate. Not once during a council meeting in that time did Frietze disclose the negotiations or land transactions. Frietze has been one of Philippou’s biggest advocates on the council, promoting and voting for approval in May of the annexation and master-plan approval of a 6,000-acre East Mesa development called The Vistas at Presidio and, several months earlier, approval of the 2,600-acre Sierra Norte annexation north of Highway 70, another Philippou project. Continue Reading