As acting guv, Denish appoints members to boards

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s staffers have repeatedly insisted that, even though he’s been out of the state most of the time since the Legislature quit working a couple of months ago, he’s still running the government. That’s why two news releases sent out by the office of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish late Thursday caught my attention. Acting Gov. Denish appointed Greg Fuller of Jal to the Lea County Board of Commissioners and Fred G. Mobley of Las Cruces to the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission. Through Monday, Richardson had been out of the state 71 days this year, including 28 of the last 36. But he was in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday, and he’s in the state today. Continue Reading

Housing authority bond default could lead to lawsuit

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The State Investment Council has hired a law firm in preparation for a potential lawsuit to try to recover some or all of the $5 million in bond money lost when the Region III Housing Authority defaulted on payment last year. The council signed a contract Wednesday with Robles, Rael and Anaya, which partnered with the firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck to do the work, according to the Associated Press. In its request for proposals, the council sought a firm to review the actions that led to the default and also determine whether a lawsuit should be filed and who should be sued. Charles Wollmann, spokesman for the investment council, said the firms will “identify what potential claims we might have and who the defendants might be.” “We’re looking at all the principles who were involved one way or another with the default,” he said. “They’re going to look at the facts, and we’ll make a decision then.” He said that would happen in the next few months. Continue Reading

Iglesias walking a fine line between amplifying and contradicting previous testimony before Congress

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In a new interview, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias comes close to contradicting testimony he gave before a Senate committee in March that has led to an ethics inquiry into the actions of Sen. Pete Domenici. In an interview published today in the weekly Alibi in Albuquerque, Iglesias said he doubts Domenici intended to interfere in the federal investigation into construction of the Bernalillo Metro Courthouse, which has since resulted in the indictments of four, including former state Senate President Manny Aragon, and plea bargains for three others. “Could his phone call to me (concerning the timing of charges in the courthouse corruption investigation) constitute a criminal offense? I’m not sure. I suspect ethics charges are more likely than criminal charges as I doubt he called me to interfere with the courthouse cases,” the Alibi quoted him as saying. Continue Reading

ACLU sues Adair, alleges he barred man from hearing

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The American Civil Liberties Union is suing state Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, for allegedly barring a man from the legislative committee meeting in violation of his First Amendment rights. Virgil Beagles, a Roswell man who has been a vocal critic of Adair, alleges he was barred from the meeting on Feb. 16. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of Beagles on Wednesday in federal court “Adair verbally accosted Beagles as he sat in a hallway of the Capitol building, yelling and pointing his finger at Beagles and demanding that Beagles exit the building,” an ACLU news release states. “At Adair’s insistence, Senate security prohibited Beagles from entering the Senate side of the Roundhouse and from attending committee hearings on bills that were of special interest to him.” Bad blood between the two apparently stems in part from an event that took place last year. Continue Reading

Support for Domenici drops once again

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s approval rating has fallen once again. The most recent SurveyUSA poll, conducted May 11-13, found that 52 percent of New Mexicans approve and 42 percent disapprove of the job the republican is doing. It’s the lowest approval rating for the senator since at least May 2005. The survey of 600 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. By comparison, those surveyed gave U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., a 63 percent approval rating. Continue Reading

Vigil situation proves the need for ethics commission

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I’d like to thank a West Las Vegas School District employee and her lawmaker husband for making the case for creation of a state ethics commission. We already knew that, last year, Roberta Vigil spent almost $10,000 in taxpayer money secured with the help of her husband, Rep. Rep. Richard Vigil, D-Ribera, on a private, invitation-only party billed as a workshop for employees of the district’s bilingual education program, which she directed at the time. In addition, Richard Vigil got his wife more than $40,000 to buy furniture, a refrigerator, a big-screen television and other items for her office. Roberta Vigil has been demoted to an elementary teacher since the allegations surfaced. An article in today’s Albuquerque Journal gives us more information. Continue Reading

Former DOJ official testifies on U.S. attorney firings

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Former Department of Justice staffer Monica Goodling, who was involved in the firings of eight former U.S. attorneys last year, shed no new light on why David Iglesias and others were ousted, but made a number of tantalizing statements that are sure to ramp up the controversy. Goodling, who was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony after she originally refused to appear before a House Judiciary subcommittee because she didn’t want to incriminate herself, said she had limited involvement in the firings and could shed little light on why the attorneys were fired, according to the Associated Press. She did, however, tell the committee that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty knew more than he told Congress about the extent of White House involvement in the firings, and said he falsely accused her of withholding details from him before he gave incorrect testimony before Congress several weeks ago. “I believe the deputy was not fully candid,” Goodling said, according to the news service. “… I didn’t withhold information from the deputy.” McNulty disputed that. Continue Reading

State doesn’t want to pay for Galvan’s defense

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The New Mexico Risk Management Division doesn’t want to pay to defend former Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan against a civil lawsuit brought by a woman who alleges he raped her. The agency requested last month that a federal judge declare that Galvan was acting outside the scope of his duties on the night in question and, therefore, it has no duty to defend him or pay if there’s a judgment against him, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. That could leave Galvan responsible for his own defense and any potential judgment against him. The woman who accused Galvan, 45, of rape and bribery in 2004 filed a lawsuit against him in August. The allegations ended Galvan’s judicial career in 2005 but, after two criminal trials ended with hung juries, prosecutors dropped the charges. Continue Reading

Senate approves Bingaman immigration amendment

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Senators approved today an amendment proposed by Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would cut in half the number of temporary guest workers allowed under an immigration proposal they are considering. It’s the first major amendment to the bipartisan proposal by the White House and a number of senators, including Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to reform the nation’s immigration system. The amendment was approved today on a vote of 74-24, so the bill now proposes allowing 200,000 temporary guest workers into the United States each year. The original proposal was to allow 400,000, with the number changing based on demand. Approval of Bingaman’s amendment was expected. Continue Reading

Lyons is the latest to prove the need for ethics reform

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State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons is the latest official to prove that pay-to-play politics – or at least the appearance of such – is a systemic problem in New Mexico that plagues both parties. Before last year’s election, developer Philip Philippou gave $20,500 to a political action committee run by lobbyists he employs. The PAC gave most of it to Lyons’ re-election campaign, and the lobbyists gave another $3,600. Then Lyons bypassed his own bidding process and leased thousands of acres of land in Las Cruces to Philippou before the announced deadline for developers to submit proposals. Since then, Philippou has given another $6,000 to Lyons, who also flew at Philippou’s expense in March to a New Mexico State Aggies’ basketball game in Washington state. Continue Reading

Another poll confirms growing support for Richardson

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Another poll has confirmed Gov. Bill Richardson’s growing popularity in Iowa. Support for Richardson in the first state to hold a presidential nominating contest is at 9 percent, according to conservative polling company Strategic Vision. Richardson isn’t far behind Hillary Clinton, who came in third among Democrats in the poll at 16 percent. The poll, conducted May 18-20, surveyed 600 likely Democratic caucus goers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. A poll conducted by the Des Moines Register between May 12 and 16 had Richardson at 10 percent. Continue Reading

Conservative blogger to become a weekly columnist on this site, will be balanced by progressive writer

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Since 2005, Whitney Cheshire has been maintaining a blog called The Wednesday Morning Quarterback with which I’m sure many of you are familiar. Since then, the conservative media relations and campaign consultant, who is based in Albuquerque, has provided witty, frank analysis from the right. A week from today, The Wednesday Morning Quarterback is going to join Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics. Cheshire plans to write a weekly column that will run on Wednesdays. Though this site, she’ll continue to bring you news, analysis and a view from the right. Continue Reading

Ethics task force to take on familiar issues, also look at conference committees and election commission

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s reconvened ethics task force met for the first time on Tuesday and came up with familiar topics and new issues to discuss in the coming months. The group’s members decided to examine several issues as they consider what reform proposals to suggest to the governor: campaign finance reform, public financing of campaigns, opening conference committees, creating ethics and election commissions and paying legislators. Last year’s task force tackled campaign finance reform, public financing, the ethics commission and paying lawmakers, but didn’t take up conference committees or an election commission, so those add a new dimension to the debate. The proposal to open conference committees is an annual battle that came within one Senate vote of approval this year. Conference committees are the secret meetings at which members of the House and Senate reconcile differing versions of bills and, sometimes, appropriate money or make other decisions that haven’t been vetted publicly. Continue Reading

Bingaman proposal tackles guest-worker plan

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U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is proposing an amendment that could shake up the fragile alliance pushing an immigration reform plan in the Senate. Last week, a bipartisan group of senators and the White House announced a compromise proposal on the problem that has angered those on the left and right. You can read the details by clicking here. The Senate began debating the bill on Monday, and is taking on the first of several sticky points today – the creation of a guest-worker program that would bring in at least 400,000 temporary workers to the United States each year. Critics of that proposal, including union groups, say it’s a pro-industry provision that keeps immigrants working for low wages and also keeps down wages for American workers. Continue Reading

New publication covers politics in Santa Fe

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There’s a new publication in New Mexico covering the Legislature and what’s happening in Santa Fe. Capitol Report will be published three times each year, and you can also find it on the Internet at www.capitolreportnm.com. The first issue just came out and is up on the site. It’s published by longtime political watchers and media professionals Jack Swickard and Harold Morgan. I put a link to the site under the “Political blogs and other sites” section in the right column on this page. Continue Reading