Chavez announces run for city council

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Isaac Chavez formally has formally announced that he’s running for the District 4 seat on the Las Cruces City Council being vacated by Steve Trowbridge. Chavez, a local businessman and fifth-generation Las Crucen, said in a news release that he’s running on a platform of promoting economic growth and greater public participation in planning and annexation processes. District 4 includes much of the city’s west side. “Now that the secret is out about how amazing and safe Las Cruces is, our district needs a leader with the energy and vision to see to it that our wonderful city reaps as many of the economic benefits as possible,” Chavez said. “I believe that life in Las Cruces can be better for everyone. Continue Reading

Looking for political fidelity

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© 2007 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Last week I stirred a number of readers when I made fun of presidential candidates and possible drug use that allows them to campaign 20 hours a day. It was repeated to me that I did not give the proper respect since one of them will be elected president. I wonder why this society so reveres politicians, actors and musicians. While painting with a wide brush, politicians, actors and musicians tend to be mostly style with little substance. There are exceptions. Continue Reading

Fifth person indicted in widening Metro Court scandal

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A fifth person has been indicted in the widening Bernalillo County Metro Courthouse scandal. Michael Murphy acted as a right-hand man for former Court Administrator Toby Martinez, prosecutors allege in the new indictment charging him today in the case. Read the new indictment by clicking here. Prosecutors say the group bilked taxpayers out of a combined $4.2 million by inflating and falsifying invoices on the project. Three have pleaded guilty for their roles and, as of today, five others, including Martinez and former Senate President Manny Aragon, are facing felony charges including conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering. Continue Reading

Liveblogging the Prez on the Rez forum

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I haven’t done any liveblogging in awhile, so I’m going to do it for today’s Prez on the Rez forum involving Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. It begins at 4:30 p.m. Check back throughout for updates. • 4:48 p.m. The forum has yet to begin. They’re having problems with the sound. • 5:08 p.m. So much for that idea. Continue Reading

New poll has guv seven points behind leader in Iowa

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A new Iowa poll places Gov. Bill Richardson only seven points behind the leader in a narrowing race in the first state to hold a presidential nominating contest. The new poll conducted by Strategic Vision has John Edwards at 23 percent, Barack Obama at 22 percent, Hillary Clinton at 21 percent and Richardson at 14 percent. Thirteen percent said they are undecided. The poll was conducted Friday-Sunday, at the tail end of a week of campaigning in the state by all four candidates that culminated with a nationally televised debate pundits agreed was Richardson’s best to date. The survey of 600 likely Democratic caucus goers has a margin of error of 4 percent. Continue Reading

After a brief climb, Domenici’s support falls again

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Support for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has dropped once again as he faces a barrage of criticism from the left and right, but he still hasn’t drawn a well-known challenger to take him on next year. In the newest SurveyUSA Poll, Domenici’s approval rating has fallen to 52 percent, one point above his lowest rating since the monthly survey began in May 2005. I’ve already reported on the Sierra Club’s assault on Domenici for opposing a requirement that electric companies derive 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. On Wednesday, Americans United For Change began airing this television ad in the Albuquerque market attacking Domenici for “still standing with President Bush on Iraq, voting time and again against bringing our troops home.” And the conservative Freedom’s Watch is airing these ads in various markets, including Albuquerque, to pressure members of Congress to support Bush’s Iraq strategy. Domenici has broken ranks with the president, supporting a bipartisan proposal to begin withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq as soon as next spring, but he opposes cutting war funding or bringing the troops home now. Continue Reading

Another Democrat to fight for right to battle Wilson

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Another Democrat has entered the race to take on U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., next year. Jason Call is more liberal than the frontrunner in the race, Martin Heinrich, and the other Democrats, Bryon Paez and Jon Adams. He states on his Web site that he’s running “because I think I can do a better job for the people of New Mexico and the United States than either the current officeholder, Heather Wilson (R), or any of the other candidates. … The American people deserve a change from the pandering, corporate-owned politicians who squander tax dollars on this illegal, immoral, and unjust occupation of a sovereign nation, while refusing to provide even the most basic of human needs, adequate healthcare, to the taxpayers.” Call is a high-school math teacher in Albuquerque who states on his site that he “became active in the antiwar movement during my second year in college when Bush 41 invaded Iraq.” He states that he is a member of a number of “progressive activist causes” including the Green Party, though he’s running as a Democrat for Congress. Call says he won’t take any corporate, political action committee or union money and won’t accept individual contributions of greater than $100. “Why would I make such a commitment? Continue Reading

Zamora considering running for lieutenant governor

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Geno Zamora is considering running for lieutenant governor in 2010, further crowding the field of actual and potential Democratic candidates more than three years before the election. Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron has already announced that she’s seeking the state’s No. 2 job, and Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano announced this week that he’s running. And, as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican, former Santa Fe County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, a regent at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, is also thinking about running. Zamora, a former chief counsel for Gov. Bill Richardson, told me he is considering “how I can better serve the people of my state and work to improve the lives of its citizens. Continue Reading

State might change project to developer’s benefit

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Please read the updates posted at the end of this article. The state Department of Transportation is considering scaling back plans for its new headquarters complex, leaving more publicly owned land for the use of a private developer who is a large donor to Gov. Bill Richardson, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. A project that is already controversial is further tainted by the revelation. This is the same project that, in recent months, the Journal has reported was initially tied to two men now indicted in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal. Richardson has ordered a review of the DOT project as a result. But the newest revelation about the project is the worst. Continue Reading

Officials should identify donors paying for probe

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Jay Miller’s newest column is an interesting look at the mystery of who bankrolled an investigation into the death of Billy the Kid. In recent days the public has learned, for the first time, that the trail leads through Gov. Bill Richardson. Four years ago, two Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies began an investigation into whether Sheriff Pat Garrett might have shot someone else instead of Billy the Kid and then covered it up, Miller wrote. The kicker was that private money would finance their investigation. Miller has been on the trail ever since. Continue Reading

Government should be for the people

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Hearing Hillary Clinton say recently that corporate lobbyists “represent real Americans” helped me realize I’m not too excited about the current slate of presidential candidates, primarily because I’m skeptical of a system over which Corporate America has too much influence. The fact that the favorite to win the White House in 2008 doesn’t understand that lobbyists don’t represent the average American proves we have a big problem. I’m not convinced that any of the candidates who are above the margin of error in the polls – Democrat or Republican – would bring about real change in a system that has been corrupted by corporate money. Without serious ethics reform, policy debates on Iraq, health care, energy independence and all other issues will continue to be too heavily influenced by corporations whose only interest is financial gain. The result is always a compromise between what’s good for the richest of the rich and what’s good for the rest of us. Continue Reading

Miyagishima announces candidacy for mayor

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Las Cruces City Councilor Ken Miyagishima officially announced today his candidacy for mayor of the state’s second-largest city. I reported Tuesday night that Miyagishima, 44, would announce his candidacy today. He did so in a news release, saying that encouragement from residents throughout the city was a key factor in his decision. The councilor has earned support in recent months from residents who have been galvanized by their belief that growth is out of control. “I have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls in recent months urging me to run for mayor,” Miyagishima said in the release. Continue Reading

Why the Dems beat GOP on diversity

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By Whitney Cheshire The ethnic and gender “Diversity Factor” of presidential campaign ’08: Should Republicans even try to defend ourselves, or just admit, “OK, you got us?” I had a good laugh when I read this article about diversity in the presidential campaign. It’s a pretty sad-sack attempt to spin the Republican field of presidential candidates – in all of its male, Anglo, wonder – as being just as diverse as the Democratic field of hopefuls. But I didn’t laugh for long. Why do the Democrats have a white woman, a white man, a Hispanic man and a black man filling out their top four spots in the presidential contest while the Republicans have, well, four white men? Please, please tell me why… The standby response among Republicans appears to be “Well, that’s who wanted to run this year. Continue Reading

Miyagishima will try to unseat Mayor Mattiace

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Las Cruces City Councilor Ken Miyagishima will take another shot at unseating Mayor Bill Mattiace on Nov. 6. Miyagishima, whose current term on the council runs until 2009, plans to make his mayoral campaign official with an announcement on Wednesday, a source confirmed. Miyagishima ran for mayor in 2003, receiving 25 percent of the vote in the unsuccessful effort. Almost 40 percent went to Mattiace, while three additional challengers split the other 35 percent. Continue Reading

Group says N.M. is ‘on the cutting edge’ of elections

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An independent research group issued a report today that said New Mexico “is on the cutting edge of election administration” after examining the state’s management of the 2006 general election and the switch to paper ballots that accompanied it. The study found that more then eight in 10 voters rated their experience as excellent or good, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The report came from the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project. The report said the state “has executive and local leadership forging aggressively ahead with the intent of building a better, strong, efficacious and more voter confident voting system.” “This independent report confirms that our state’s transition to a paper ballot system has been successful,” Gov. Bill Richardson said in a news release. “Voters and poll workers favored the new voting process and gave it high marks for reliability, privacy and ease of use. Continue Reading