Wilderness designation will stop overdevelopment

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By Oscar Vásquez Butler I want to make my feelings known about the proposal to place several thousand acres in Doña Ana County under the protection of wilderness designation. As an elected official, I encounter people each day who have long-term ties to this area and who are watching it disappear in an ever-marching parade of developments that encroach on farmland, threaten the Rio Grande and disrupt the delicate ecosystem of the desert. I see firsthand the downstream effects of irresponsible arroyo development and diversions. With my neighbors and constituents, I watch irreplaceable viewsheds disappear hill by hill, dune by dune, ravine by ravine. I cannot see – but I certainly wonder – whether we have the water resources to continue this breakneck pace of growth that is fueled by spaceports and magazine rankings. Continue Reading

Pearce oversees contentious wilderness meeting

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., led a somewhat contentious discussion today on a proposal to create 300,000 acres of permanent wilderness in Doña Ana County. A divided audience of about 200 people listened as officials and others talked about the proposal. Panel members often disagreed and at times took shots at each other. The meeting was preceded by concern that Pearce stacked the panel with anti-wilderness members. Pearce admitted at the beginning that the put a number of people who had concerns about the proposal on the panel because he had already been visited in Washington by two public officials pushing the plan – state Rep. Jeff Steinborn and Doña Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler – and wanted to hear other views. Continue Reading

Former superintendent’s arbitration hearing this week

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Former Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz and the district will hold arbitration talks Tuesday and Wednesday over the school board’s decision to fire her last year. The talks, which are secret unless Diaz opts to open them to the public, will be held at the Third Judicial District Courthouse in Las Cruces. Diaz was fired last year following a school board investigation into a host of allegations involving her treatment of district employees. She appealed to the board, which denied her request in January. The arbitration won’t end with her getting her job back, but could result in a monetary settlement. Continue Reading

Bloggers who don’t like balanced budgets boo guv

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Gov. Bill Richardson was booed by a national group of liberal bloggers this weekend when he backed a proposed constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget. It happened at the annual Yearly Kos convention of liberal bloggers. The group is the powerhouse of the far left of the Democratic Party, and moderates like Richardson won’t win them all over. Hillary Clinton was also booed at the event. But Richardson stuck around after the debate longer than any other candidate, according to the New York Times. Continue Reading

Suspicious building project situation examined

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The Albuquerque Journal ran an interesting package on Sunday about two men who the state Transportation Department says weren’t involved with its project to build a new headquarters flying with DOT officials to Texas for meetings on the project. They flew free of charge. One of them has since been indicted in the Bernalillo County Metro Court scandal and the other was, for a time, romantically involved with the DOT secretary. It’s an interesting situation, and the appearance of impropriety surrounds it. Check out the main article about the situation by clicking here, and a sidebar that includes details of the project by clicking here. Continue Reading

Pearce to hold controversial wilderness meeting

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has stepped into a new controversy by holding a meeting today on wilderness study areas in Doña Ana County and putting together a panel of speakers whose only member participating in his capacity as an elected official is from Catron County. State Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, will be participating in the panel, but was invited in his capacity as southern New Mexico director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Steinborn’s group is leading a campaign that has widespread support to create 10 permanent wilderness areas in the county. Upset that no local government officials from Doña Ana County were invited to a meeting about Doña Ana County’s wilderness study areas, Oscar Vasquez Butler and Bill McCamley, Doña Ana County Commissioners and Democrats, wrote a letter to Pearce on Wednesday expressing concern. McCamley is vying for the right to take on Pearce next year. Continue Reading

Heather Wilson visiting Las Cruces today

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Heather Wilson, the GOP congresswoman who represents the Albuquerque area in Washington, is also raising eyebrows with a visit today to Las Cruces. While in Doña Ana County, Wilson will tour the Cervantes chile plant and meet with that high-profile family that includes Democratic state Rep. Joseph Cervantes. Wilson has raised eyebrows in recent months with a couple of visits to locations in the northern New Mexico district of U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a Democrat. She is – or at least, until the U.S. attorney controversy broke, was – the heir apparent for the GOP nomination to succeed Pete Domenici as U.S. senator. Her visits to Udall’s district had many wondering whether she knew something about Domenici’s 2008 plans that others did not. Continue Reading

Poll: Most say NMSU is violating transparency laws

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said they believe New Mexico State University is violating government transparency laws. Of 161 voters, 134, or 83 percent, said they believe NMSU is violating the law, while 23, or 14 percent, said the university is not, and four, or 3 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

AG King talks about NMSU situation

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The Attorney General’s Office has already begun considering whether the New Mexico State University Foundation can legally keep its donor list secret. That’s what Attorney General Gary King said today during an interview with me. King was in Las Cruces to speak at a luncheon. “I’ve already assigned lawyers to start looking at these questions,” King said. On first glance, he said, federal regulations allow foundations and other non-profits to keep the names and addresses of their donors secret. Continue Reading

New poll has guv way behind Big Three in Iowa

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A new poll of likely Democratic voters in Iowa has the three frontrunners in the race statistically tied and Gov. Bill Richardson a distant fourth. That’s bad news for the governor, who earlier this week was nearly tied with Barack Obama for third place in another poll in that state. The ABC News/Washington Post poll, released today, has Obama leading with 27 percent, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards tied at 26 percent and Richardson with 11 percent. The survey of 500 likely Democratic caucus voters in Iowa was conducted July 26-31 and has a margin of error of 4.5 percent. An American Research Group poll released Wednesday had Clinton with 30 percent, Edwards with 21 percent, Obama with 15 percent and Richardson with 13 percent. Continue Reading

Legislative subcommittee to consider ethics reform

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The New Mexico Legislature has created an interim subcommittee that will hold four meetings this year to consider ethics reform. It would be an understatement to suggest that some of the members of the ethics subcommittee aren’t exactly champions of reform. Membership includes leaders from both parties and both chambers. The committee will be co-chaired by House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, and Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen. Martinez is a member of the governor’s ethics task force and authored much of the ethics legislation that passed the House earlier last year. Continue Reading

GOP lawmakers jump into health-care debate

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In the face of mounting momentum to create universal health care systems on the state and federal levels, a group of GOP state lawmakers from the eastern side of New Mexico are touting a private plan they say will help people without insurance. On the federal level, the House has approved and the Senate is debating expanding funding for a children’s health insurance program that President Bush has threatened to veto if it exceeds $5 billion – which the final version likely will. In addition, the Democratic presidential candidates – including Gov. Bill Richardson – are talking about reforming the health-care system. On a state level, the lieutenant governor and other Democrats are hoping to make the creation of a universal health-care system the main policy issue considered during the 2008 legislative session. This afternoon, a group of Roswell-area Republicans sent out a news release announcing that, tomorrow, they’ll be talking to the public about a private program to help the uninsured save money on prescription drugs. Continue Reading

Sun-News also asks AG for help on NMSU issues

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The Las Cruces Sun-News has also asked the Attorney General’s Office to weigh in on whether e-mail records requests are valid under state law and whether documents that have been discussed and approved in open meetings are public records. The questions arose last week after New Mexico State University told both the Sun-News and me that requests we made for a copy of a new agreement with the NMSU Foundation weren’t valid because they were sent via e-mail and, even if they had been valid, the document wouldn’t be released because, though it had been discussed and approved publicly by the Board of Regents, it hadn’t yet been signed by all parties. I contend the later is a flagrant violation of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act and that the first might be as well. I asked the attorney general last week to investigate, and his office is doing that. NMSU eventually backed down under pressure from me and the Sun-News and released the document before all parties had signed it, but the university still contends that e-mail requests aren’t valid. Continue Reading

Funding for children’s health insurance is critical

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By state Sen. Dede Feldman In today’s polarized political climate, there are few issues that unite Democrats, Republicans, businesses, doctors, insurance companies, hospitals and consumer advocates. But over the past 10 years, a solid consensus has emerged in New Mexico, and across the nation, that we need to ensure that our children have health insurance and the early care it brings. A key element of federal funding for such insurance has been the State Children’s Health Insurance Program – more commonly known as SCHIP. It is now at risk in Washington as the president reverts to an ideological objection to the program as “government-run” health care while the House and Senate debate the proper level of funding. For New Mexico, the stakes are high. Continue Reading

Domenici’s support climbs for first time in months

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After falling for several months as a result of the U.S. attorney controversy, support for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has climbed in the newest SurveyUSA poll. In the newest poll, conducted July 13-15, Domenici’s support was at 55 percent. The poll was released last week but went unnoticed by the print and Internet media (including me). Thanks to Steve Terrell for noticing it. With the Democrats yet to find a top-tier candidate to take on Domenici next year, the newest poll is likely to deter some who might be considering getting in the race. Continue Reading