Richardson’s fundraising impresses; so does Hillary’s

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson has raised about $6 million for his presidential campaign and spent about $1 million. Richardson’s campaign said he had raised that amount during the three-month period that ended Saturday, and said he has $5 million left, the Associated Press reported. By comparison, Hillary Clinton raised $26 million and transferred another $10 million from her Senate fundraising account. John Edwards raised more than $14 million. The figures were released by the campaigns, and Barack Obama didn’t release a dollar amount. Continue Reading

Governor may call another session for ethics reform

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson announced on Saturday that he will reconvene his ethics task force and may call a second special session to deal with ethics reform. The announcement came the day after the first special session ended without any significant ethics reform being approved. During the regular and special sessions, the Legislature approved amendments to the governmental conduct act, limits on gifts to public officials and candidates for office, and public financing of judicial races only if voters approve a constitutional amendment that eliminates the retention system. Lawmakers failed to place limits on campaign contributions, create a state ethics commission or approve legislative expense funds. Most of the ethics reform proposals were based on the work of the task force. Continue Reading

Gonzales should resign, voters in poll say

By |

The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site think U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign. Of 156 voters, 101, or 65 percent, said he should resign, while 55, or 35 percent, said he should not. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Session ends; road funding, public financing bills OK’d

By |

The 2007 special session of the Legislature is over. Now that I’ve sorted through all the confusion that colored its last minutes, here’s what happened: The Senate did not adjourn Thursday night after approving the feed, road funding and public financing bills. It instead stood in recess. When the House convened today, it immediately began considering House Bill 7, the approval of which would have required the Senate to act again. It was a bill that would have placed limits on campaign contributions. Continue Reading

Special session might be ready to end after all

By |

After voting to adjourn sine die and end the 2007 special session, the four senators present told the House to do the same. Speaker of the House Ben Lujan said it would happen soon. The House has now stopped consideration of House Bill 7, voted to concur with the feed, public financing and road-funding bills approved by the Senate. It appears the House might adjourn sine die. There’s a lot of maneuvering going on. Continue Reading

No deal: Special session fighting erupts again

By |

There is apparently not a deal in place that will bring a peaceful end to the special session that has, thus far, been a disaster. The Senate is in the process of voting to adjourn sine die again after the House apparently refused to accept versions of two bills the Senate approved Thursday. The move sets up another three-way showdown between the House, Senate and governor. After the Senate reluctantly approved public financing and road funding bills on Thursday that were significantly different than those previously approved by the House, senators essentially told the House and governor to take it or leave it. The governor opted to take it, praising the Senate in a news release. Continue Reading

UP Aerospace to try new launch next month

By |

UP Aerospace will make its second attempt to reach space from the Southern New Mexico desert on April 28, officials say. The Connecticut-based firm plans to make the launch from Spaceport America on that day, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. It will be the first attempt since its Sept. 25 launch went awry. Officials blamed the problem on a design flaw in the tail fin, and have spent months correcting it. Continue Reading

Richardson to travel back to North Korea

By |

How many presidential candidates get to campaign for the job in North Korea? According to the Associated Press, Gov. Bill Richardson will be doing just that next month. The news service quoted sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are still being firmed up. Richardson’s campaign has not made an announcement. Richardson will travel to the Asian state to meet with government officials. Continue Reading

Richardson promotes spaceport tax in Las Cruces, but signs of nervousness and dissent color rally

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson made one last stop in Las Cruces on Thursday to push for approval of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. He was joined by a bipartisan group of local public officials at the rally, held at his office in Las Cruces. Not all of them expressed support for the tax increase, however. “You can vote for a new industry – 5,000 new jobs – or you can vote for the status quo,” Richardson said. “… This is a vote for the future.” The election is Tuesday on whether to raise the tax in Doña Ana County. Continue Reading

Senate OKs road funding, public financing bills

By |

After tacking an amendment on to one and completely rewriting another, the Senate has approved two of the proposals on the special session agenda. Senators approved House Bill 6, which would expand the public financing system to include judicial elections, but amended it to take affect only if voters remove the state’s retention system and subject judges to a competitive election process. They also approved House Bill 2, which would have provided $208 million for road projects around the state, but only after scaling it back and reworking it. The House must come back and consider the changes made by the Senate. That chamber is scheduled to convene at noon on Friday. Continue Reading

Here are details of the Metro Court plea agreements

By |

Here are summaries of the plea agreements in the case involving the Bernalillo County Metro Court: Marc E. Schiff The former president of the architect firm that designed the courthouse, Design Collaborative Southwest, has agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of conspiracy and one felony count of mail fraud. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 5 years and a $250,000 fine. The mail fraud charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Both could also result in restitution. Schiff stated in his plea agreement that the scheme began when his company’s lobbyist, former Albuquerque Mayor Ken Schultz, wanted a cash bonus for securing the architect contract. Continue Reading

Here are the details of the Metro Court indictments

By |

The indictment of former Senate President Manny Aragon and others alleges a far-reaching scheme to secure money through the legislative process and then steal it from taxpayers. The alleged conspiracy began in 1999 when the New Mexico Legislature, during a special session, approved $46.5 million for construction of the Metropolitan Courthouse in Bernalillo County. In March, Design Collaborate Southwest, which has since changed its name, was hired to design the facility. DCSW’s president, Marc Schiff, hired former Albuquerque Mayor Ken Schultz to be its lobbyist. Over the next several years, according to the indictment, the defendants and those who have entered into plea bargains carried out an elaborate scheme relating to the DCSW contract and a separate contract for electrical wiring. Continue Reading

Aragon, others indicted in public corruption scandal

By |

Former Senate President Manny Aragon was indicted today, along with three others, in a massive public corruption scandal involving construction of the metro court facility in Bernalillo County. Aragon is facing one count of conspiracy, seven counts of fraud, 11 counts of money laundering and other charges. Read the indictment by clicking here. I’ll have an update on this soon. Update, 5:15 p.m. Also indicted were former metro court Administrator Toby Martinez, his wife Sandra, and Raul Parra, a contractor. Continue Reading

Preservation group, spaceport authority, make deal

By |

A non-profit group that exists to help protect El Camino Real, the remains of a historic trade route that cuts through the land that is set to become Spaceport America, has agreed to not oppose the spaceport after the state agreed to help protect the trail. That’s good news for supporters of the proposal to raise the gross receipts tax 1/4 percent in Doña Ana County to help fund the spaceport. Opposition from the group might have been enough to tip the scales in an election that is expected to be very close. Officials with the Camino Real De Tierra Adentro Trail Association, the preservation group, aren’t necessarily endorsing the spaceport and the tax. They generally realized, however, that calls to move the spaceport away from the historic trail wouldn’t be successful, and took the more practical route of attempting to find compromise. Continue Reading

Indictments coming today in courthouse probe

By |

Multiple sources told the Albuquerque Tribune that long-awaited indictments in a major corruption investigation are expected today. In investigation into kickbacks related to the awarding of government contracts for buildings in Bernalillo County has been ongoing for more than a year. One of the targets of the probe has been former Senate President Manny Aragon. This is the investigation U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson called former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias about last year, a month before the November election and two months before he was fired. Iglesias alleges the two members of Congress pressured him to speed indictments in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election, which both deny. Continue Reading