Many call for Richardson to follow his own advice, and Evans could hold two public offices

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The criticism of Gov. Bill Richardson’s ethics task force continues.Political analyst Joe Monahan challenged Richardson this week to put his money where his mouth is – literally – in calling on the governor and his Republican opponent in November, J.R. Damron, to voluntarily agree to limit the size of campaign donations and their overall spending, to disclose campaign contributions on the Internet within 48 hours, and to disclose all travel paid for by outside interests.Most of those are suggestions Richardson made in Las Cruces a week ago in announcing the formation of the task force, which he says will propose sweeping legislation to clean up state government.One inside politico balked at the governor’s proposals, which won’t even be debated by legislators until next year, after Richardson’s last election in New Mexico has come and gone.“How do you keep a straight face, when here’s the guy getting all the free rides, and sports tickets, and other gifts, and saying we need to eliminate gifts?” the source asked. “If you believe we shouldn’t be doing this, then why are you still doing it?”The politico is right. Richardson has accepted all sorts of gifts that sometimes teeter on the edge of ethical lines, and now he says the ability of New Mexico’s politicians to accept gifts should be limited.Another source, a longtime politico in New Mexico, reminded me that former Gov. Jerry Apodaca set up an ethics task force in the late 1970s. Its members met periodically for two years and ultimately did nothing but hold a few press conferences and make Apodaca look good.“They didn’t want to do anything,” the source said. “It was a game.”Now, the source said, we have a similar situation. Continue Reading

Is giving free election passes to House Democrats part of GOP plan to take over county commission?

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Today I’m going to do something a little different.Rather than telling you what’s happening in New Mexico politics, I’m going to entertain a conspiracy theory a longtime politico shared with me. I don’t know whether it’s true, but I find it so intriguing that I have to pass it on.Let’s say you’re the Republican Party chair in a growing county that has been controlled by Democrats since the dawn of time – like, perhaps, Doña Ana County. Let’s say you’re fed up with the same old game. You run candidates in all the races but never gain ground.You look at the numbers and realize you aren’t going to win those south-valley House races. There’s just no way in the current climate.But the real problem is that darned county elections bureau and county government that has been corrupt for a long time, you believe. Continue Reading

County government on verge of political meltdown, and Leno mocks Richardson’s indecision

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There might be fireworks at today’s meeting of the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners.Republican Treasurer Jim Schoonover will ask the commission to approve several fee increases – some quite substantial – and at least one new fee, all tacked on to various transactions the office has with the public. The increased revenue will go to a discretionary fund “for employee training and equipment purchases,” according to a copy of the proposed resolution the commission will vote on today. Schoonover also wants the revenue from a couple of existing fees that currently goes to the county’s general fund moved under his control.The embattled Schoonover was accused last week of committing the felony crime of misusing public money by County Attorney John Caldwell. Last year, Schoonover purchased 1,700 pencils with almost $500 in taxpayer money. They look similar to Schoonover’s campaign materials and contain no information beyond his name and title.Caldwell says that means they serve no public purpose, but do serve the purpose of making Schoonover’s name known. Continue Reading

Minor parties stand to gain from corruption scandals, and Bibb’s answer on death penalty

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With the number of scandals currently plaguing local, state and national politicians, it’s a wonder citizens don’t rise up and overthrow the government.A Sunday article that I wrote for the Las Cruces Sun-News details the Doña Ana County attorney’s allegation that Republican Treasurer Jim Schoonover committed the felony crime of misusing public money by purchasing with taxpayer dollars pencils that look like his campaign materials.And the Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Century bank bought $16,500 worth of pens from the wife of embattled state Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna, a Democrat, about the same time the state put out a request for proposals for a banking contract Century later won.That further compounds the scandal that has resulted in Serna being suspended while the attorney general’s office investigates the relationship he had with the bank, which gave more than $124,000 to Serna’s non-profit health care foundation.The former state treasurer’s trial continues today. There might soon be indictments in an FBI investigation into construction contracts for government buildings in Bernalillo County. The special audit of Doña Ana County is still being reviewed by the New Mexico State Police.The list goes on and on.Now there’s an ethics task force, formed by the governor, that will examine and propose sweeping changes to state ethics and campaign finance laws, but the public has every right to view even that with skepticism.After all, it’s formed by a Democrat with ties to many of those currently plagued by scandal. And as I reported last week, one of the co-chairs of the task force, former Gov. Garrey Carruthers, compounded his own scandal when he was governor with an ethically challenged decision to have people who worked for him investigate the allegations against him. Of course, they found he did nothing wrong.Who is clean in politics? Continue Reading

Shady Carruthers decision revealed, governor defends spaceport and Cervantes in the hot seat

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So the governor wants an ethics task force to recommend to him and the legislature sweeping changes that will clean up state government. And he appointed New Mexico State University Business Dean Garrey Carruthers and University of New Mexico Law School Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia to head the effort.One source with a long memory snickered at the appointment of Carruthers to head a committee that will suggest how to properly deal with our ethically challenged state law book. That’s because Carruthers had a shady way of dealing with allegations against him when he was governor.Here’s the scoop from a Feb. 18, 1991 Associated Press and Las Cruces Sun-News article:“…a secret probe ordered by former Gov. Garry Carruthers revealed no wrongdoing regarding Carruthers’ alleged involvement in a proposed port of entry in Southern New Mexico.”In a nutshell: The creation of the Santa Teresa port of entry was finally gaining the support that would later make it a reality, but was delayed significantly when Carruthers got on a helicopter with then-Chihuahua Gov. Fernando Baeza to tour the border in 1989. When they landed, Carruthers said he would support a port at Santa Teresa or nearby Anapra, which was being pushed heavily by Mexican developers.That came to the dismay of those on the American side, including Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who had been working tirelessly for the Santa Teresa port until Carruthers threw a wrench in things.Rumors swirled about secret deals in choppers. Continue Reading

AG candidates respond to death penalty questions, and Zamora makes an embarrassing mistake

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I’ve been writing for awhile about the death penalty being an issue in this year’s attorney general race. Geno Zamora’s campaign had already responded to an e-mail from me by saying he supports the death penalty “in limited cases.” I was still waiting to hear from the other candidates.Earlier this week, I received this e-mail from Philip Muller, campaign manager for Democrat Lemuel Martinez’s campaign:“As the district attorney for the 13th Judicial District, Lemuel Martinez is the only Democratic candidate for attorney general who has taken an oath to uphold the law. The death penalty is the law in New Mexico. As the chief law enforcement officer in his district, he is the only Democratic candidate for attorney general who has prosecuted death penalty cases. Until the legislature decides to repeal this law, he will continue to enforce the death penalty.”Which doesn’t entirely answer the question about where he stands on the death penalty, so I e-mailed his campaign back and have not yet received a response.Gary King called me Wednesday. Continue Reading

Riordan first to fall during Vigil trial, but who’s next? Plus, $800 mistake raises GOP eyebrows

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Gov. Bill Richardson is coming to Las Cruces Thursday to speak to Southern New Mexico Common Cause about ethics in government. If the first day of testimony in the trial of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil is any indication, the talk might be more personal than the governor intended.Democrats Vigil and his predecessor Michael Montoya were charged last year with using the treasurer’s office to secure millions of dollars in kickbacks. Montoya and several others charged in the case have already pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Vigil.Montoya took the stand Tuesday and, under oath, named Guy Riordan, a longtime political ally of Richardson, as someone who paid him at least $75,000 in kickbacks in exchange for state business.Riordan of Albuquerque is the managing director of Wachovia Securities, a large brokerage firm that has done a lot of business with the state. It should be noted that, if the feds had the evidence to charge Riordan with a crime, they probably would have done it.Riordan’s attorney told the Associated Press that Montoya is an “absolute liar.”Riordan, a registered lobbyist, was a member of the state Game Commission and, according to the commission’s Web site, a member of the board that oversees the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. He’s also a friend of Richardson who has attended many sporting events with the governor and given more than $24,000 to his gubernatorial campaigns.So Richardson wasted no time Tuesday in removing Riordan from the Game Commission. Continue Reading

Friendly press and spaceport vote have Richardson pumped, and Pearce finally lists accomplishments

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It’s shaping up to be quite a week for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.It began Sunday with a Denver Post article that said Richardson has what “may be the best résumé of any potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008.”“Richardson has spent a lifetime positioning himself for this moment: He’s a Latino at a time when the ethnic group’s influence is growing. He’s a Westerner as the region is becoming critical to the national strategies of both parties. And he’s a powerful governor with impeccable foreign-policy credentials,” the article states. “… With the exception of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Richardson, 58, may be the West’s biggest political star.”The profile of the governor was a bit shallow on some of the issues. For example, it called him a tax-cutting governor when, in fact, he has cut some taxes and fees and raised others, making it difficult to say whether the average New Mexican is paying less.But the article was a mostly positive look at a man who, because of a lifetime of hard work and a bit of circumstance, has a realistic chance of becoming the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2008.Following the Post article, Richardson appeared on “Face the Nation” Sunday morning to call for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Continue Reading

Important spaceport vote today, and McCamley decries audit attack as possible political ploy

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The Las Cruces City Council is set to vote today on whether to give 11 1/2 acres of land at the West Mesa Industrial Park to the startup Rocket Racing League for its worldwide headquarters. The league plans to develop an international racing series that involves manned rocket planes, with finals to be held annually beginning in 2008 at the yet-to-be-constructed Southwest Regional Spaceport at Upham.One influential source is troubled by the proposal to donate land. The source questioned, when four other companies plan to purchase land at the park (their proposals are also up for approval today), why the racing league needs the land donated.“Can a touted user of the spaceport survive only by ‘corporate welfare?’” the source asked me.The city also plans to add infrastructure to service the property, making the donation sizable – in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In exchange, the assurance is 30 jobs, at salaries ranging from $32,000 to $150,000, and local gross receipts taxes of about $140,000 on the estimated $2 million cost of building a 50,000-square-foot headquarters.The city estimates that the racing league will pump $34 million into the local economy in the next seven years.The doubter isn’t so certain, pointing out that the racing league is a startup company with no certainty of success.“If the city approves tomorrow, somebody is suddenly wealthier by whatever this land and the planned improvements are worth, but conservatively over a quarter million dollars: precisely what the Anti-Donation Clause prohibits,” the doubter said yesterday.Another source pointed out that the state constitution’s anti-donation clause has an exemption for economic development under certain conditions, and said the city has worked hard to meet those conditions.The spaceport has been quite the hot topic since Gov. Bill Richardson asked the legislature in December to approve more than $100 million to build a facility for Virgin Galactic there. The legislature gave the money, but many lawmakers from the northern part of the state have since come out against the project.The massive project is called visionary by its supporters and a waste of money by its detractors. Continue Reading

Friday bonus: Zamora supports death penalty ‘in limited cases,’ and those links I promised

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I blogged a last week about how the recent cop killing in Bernalillo County makes the death penalty a hot issue in this election year. One source told me it would be a touchy subject for the Democratic candidates for attorney general, who could alienate the Catholic Church and Northern New Mexico liberals by supporting the death penalty or the rest of the state by opposing it. I called on those candidates, three Democrats and one Republican, to go on the record by sharing their stances on the death penalty.I have sent out two e-mail requests for statements from the candidates in the past week. On Thursday, I heard back from Democrat Geno Zamora’s campaign.“Geno believes that the death penalty is necessary in limited cases, such as those that exist in statute: murder for hire, murder of a child, murder during rape, murder of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty, murder of a corrections officer in prison, and murder of a witness to a crime,” wrote Zamora’s campaign manager, Allan Oliver. “At the same time, he strongly advocates for additional funding for DNA testing and a proper legal defense of the accused – both to assure that the case is not later overturned, and to guarantee that the guilty are punished and the innocent go free.”The other candidates have not yet responded to my request.***Though I haven’t blogged on the national immigration debate, it’s an important topic to address. Continue Reading

Republicans go on attack with special audit, and cockfighting a hot topic in commission race

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The special audit of Doña Ana County isn’t going away.Two commissioners who have often been at odds are both targets in this election year.The audit, released two weeks ago, found widespread problems in county government as recently as 2004, but State Auditor Domingo Martinez said it appears most of the identified problems have been fixed.That infuriated many Republicans, who have been waiting more than a year for the audit results. The delayed release of the audit gave county officials time to fix many problems before it came out, since most audit findings had already been reported publicly by the Las Cruces Sun-News.The audit, initiated in May 2004, was delayed because prosecutors have taken their time looking into three items referred to them by Martinez, including one procurement code violation auditors said may have been intentional.County Republican Party Chair Sid Goddard stood before the county commission Tuesday and berated Chairwoman Dolores Saldaña-Caviness for saying the audit was in the past and the county has changed.“If there is a single note that resonates with citizens who have taken the time to read the auditor’s report, it has been, this is one issue that will not disappear,” Goddard said. “People who have talked to me over the past week are beyond upset. They are furious. Believe me when I tell you this matter is not in the past, Ms. Chairwoman. Continue Reading

Cruces environmental advocate attacks Powell in Baca endorsement, and Contarino defends boss

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The director of a Las Cruces environmental organization has inserted himself into the race for the Democratic state land commissioner nomination with a strongly worded attack.It’s notable because Kevin Bixby is the director of the Southwest Environmental Center and because he used to work for both candidates during their tenures as land commissioner.Democratic candidate for land commissioner Jim Baca posted on his Web site late last week a letter from Bixby that endorses his candidacy. Baca used to be land commissioner, and was succeeded in that office in 1993 by Ray Powell, his opponent in this year’s June primary election.Bixby knows Baca and Powell personally, as he worked under both in the land commissioner office. It’s that experience that prompted Bixby to support Baca.“Fundamentally, they are very different individuals,” Bixby wrote. “Baca is a reformer and a man of action. He is not afraid to shake things up. Continue Reading

Macias denied return to politics, Madrid under fire again, and Pearce Web site leaves readers hanging

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Remember Fernando Macias? The Mesilla resident was an influential state senator from 1985-2000 and Doña Ana County manager from 1997 to 2000.Then he left to take the prestigious job in Ciudad Juarez as general manager of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, and vanished from public sight in New Mexico for a few years.He’s been trying to get back into politics lately, but so far it isn’t working.Democrat Macias pondered a county commission run, a source tells me, but his consideration came at the last minute and Karen Perez had already mapped out a solid plan to run for the office.When the two Republican Mesilla trustees unexpectedly quit a month ago, Macias was one of 19 who put their names in the hat to join the board of trustees.Two weeks ago, Mayor Michael Cadena shunned Macias, appointing Les Williamson. He saved the other appointment until last night, when he appointed John Nelson – a selection that was immediately ratified by the board of trustees.Why wouldn’t Cadena want someone with Macias’ experience on the board? One source suggested the mayor wouldn’t want anyone more powerful than he is joining the local political game. Another suggested that Macias planned to use the office as a stepping stone and wouldn’t stick around.Trustee Nora Barraza expressed her own thoughts at last night’s meeting.“I read each of the letters (of interest in the trustee position) that were submitted. Continue Reading

Anthony casino talk quiets, but Peters facing other problems; plus, Baca’s new snafu

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Talk of the proposal to build an off-reservation casino in Anthony has died down significantly in recent months.The Abramoff scandal has led to several pieces of legislation that would more closely regulate the casino industry and turned the political tide away from more off-reservation casinos. Some federal legislators want to outlaw them altogether.The Jemez Pueblo from Northern New Mexico and Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters are proposing to build the casino in Anthony, located between Las Cruces and El Paso on Interstate 10.For those looking to jump into the casino business, it’s an ideal location. It’s close to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.Many in the Anthony area also view it as an ideal opportunity for them. Peters has promised to pay 100 percent of health insurance costs for workers in an area where such benefits are sorely needed.But many in the Peters camp are losing hope that the casino will ever be built, one source told me. In addition to the national politics, which might hinder federal approval, the casino must be approved by Gov. Bill Richardson. Continue Reading

America for Richardson

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A grassroots effort to elect Gov. Bill Richardson president in 2008 has already begun.Americaforricachardson.org is up and running, and its founders are building a network of blogs across the nation devoted to electing Richardson president. There are state blogs supporting Richardson in Texas, Missouri and Washington. You can read all about why the bloggers think Richardson should be our nation’s next leader.Last time around, Howard Dean had the lock on the Internet crowd, but he built it during the election. Richardson is way ahead of that. As a disclaimer, each blog states that “This is not an official Bill Richardson for President website.”***Many of you have asked me to add a feature that allows you to e-mail my blog postings to friends. Continue Reading