Heinrich raises $250K in first quarter of year

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First-quarter fundraising reports for members of Congress are due by Wednesday, and freshman Rep. Martin Heinrich is the first from New Mexico to file his report. The result: He raised almost $250,000 during his first three months as an elected official. Heinrich, a Democrat, raised $248,221.77 from January to March, according to his report on the Federal Election Commission Web site. Almost $137,000 came from political action committees. He spent about $72,000 and had $201,200.02 on hand at the end of the quarter. Continue Reading

Homeland security head coming to El Paso, Columbus

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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will visit El Paso and Columbus, N.M. on Wednesday as her agency works with local law enforcement to attempt to combat arms and cash smuggling and illegal immigration. The visit was announced in a news release from the White House. Napolitano, formerly the Arizona governor, will attend a news conference at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso at noon. She will tour the Columbus port of entry at 2 p.m. and will tour the port of entry in Nogales, Ariz., at 4:45 p.m. New Mexico time (an hour earlier Arizona time). Continue Reading

Obama organization kicks off NM work in Las Cruces

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President Barack Obama’s new political action committee Organizing for America has hired a director to work in New Mexico, and the organization is kicking off its activity in the state with the first of several listening-tour events today in Las Cruces. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Doña Ana County. The group, according to Wikipedia, is run by the Democratic National Committee and “seeks to mobilize Obama supporters to elect other political candidates and support President Obama’s legislative agenda.” The group uses the contact information of the 13 million Americans who signed up to receive information from Obama in 2008 during the presidential campaign. “At Listening Tour meetings, you’ll get a chance to meet new state staff members, hear about some lessons learned during the general election, and offer your thoughts on how we can organize New Mexico going forward,” Luis Hernandez, the group’s state director, wrote in an e-mail to that list of people. “Your ideas will be used to write a New Mexico-specific plan for Organizing for America in 2009 and beyond.” He wrote that the campaign “brought an unprecedented number of new voices into the process — we need to make sure those voices remain at the center of the debate as the President and Congress work on providing solutions for our economy.” Continue Reading

‘Tea parties’ come to New Mexico this week

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Protests and rallies will be held across the state to express frustration with the nation’s economic policies Elwood Baas of Las Cruces says he is “fed up with the out-of-control spending of Congress” that includes a national debt of more than $11 trillion, massive corporate bailouts and unfunded liabilities of tens of trillions of dollars in other programs including Medicaid. “This is simply unsustainable, and would eventually reduce America to a banana republic,” Baas said. “I am concerned about my children and grandchildren.” Baas plans to voice his frustration publicly this week at one of at least 16 “tea parties” that will be held in communities across the state. The protests and rallies were born out of a recent suggestion made during a rant by a TV journalist on national television, which has sparked a nationwide movement. The rallies, in cities including Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Clovis, Hobbs, Taos, Farmington, Silver City and even Mayhill, will be held on Wednesday, the deadline for filing personal income tax returns. Continue Reading

Teague wins last week’s non-scientific poll

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Southern New Mexico’s Harry Teague won last week’s non-scientific poll on this site asking which freshman U.S. representative from New Mexico is doing the best job thus far. Of 374 voters, 156, or 42 percent, picked Teague, while 146, or 39 percent, picked Martin Heinrich and 72, or 19 percent, picked Ben Ray Luján. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Madrid went after those who hid from the light

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The head of the N.M. Foundation for Open Government claims AG King has been more aggressive than his predecessor in enforcing sunshine laws. Here’s why he’s wrong. I was surprised this week to see Leonard DeLayo, executive director of the N.M. Foundation for Open Government, quoted in an article as saying that current state Attorney General Gary King is a stronger believer in the state’s sunshine laws than his predecessor, Patricia Madrid. But that’s exactly what he said: “I think the King administration is a lot more aggressive than the Madrid administration was in dealing with matters,” DeLayo was quoted by the Santa Fe Reporter as saying. “Gary does seem to believe in (the Inspection of Public Records and Open Meetings acts) far more than Patsy did…” While I think it’s difficult to say either believes in the sunshine laws more than the other, I certainly disagree with the assertion that King has been “more aggressive” than Madrid “in dealing with matters.” It’s simply not true. Continue Reading

Claim by Herrera’s spokesman may be false

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As far as elections and elected officials go, Herrera hasn’t come close to issuing more administrative rules than past secretaries of state In an article I published earlier today, I quoted Secretary of State spokesman James Flores as saying his boss, Mary Herrera, has “issued more administrative rules and procedures than any past administration.” That may not be true, at least as far as the administrative rules go. Check out the New Mexico Administrative Code’s section on elections and elected officials on the code’s official Web site. In there you’ll find a list of rules. Near the top, each one indicates the year it was put in place, and that can be used to determine which secretary of state enacted it. Herrera has, thus far in her tenure, brought forth two new rules related to elections and elected officials. Continue Reading

Guv signs land office competitive bidding bill

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Gov. Bill Richardson has signed legislation that will require competitive bidding on all State Land Office development leases. Senate Bill 540, sponsored by Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces, came in response to a development controversy in Las Cruces, and was the only bill in a package proposed by three Las Cruces lawmakers that was endorsed by Land Commissioner Pat Lyons — and the only one that passed the Legislature this year. The proposals followed Attorney General Gary King’s finding fault last year with Lyons’ leasing of land on Las Cruces’ East Mesa to Philip Philippou so it could be developed. The AG’s formal opinion on The Vistas at Presidio land deal states that the lease agreement’s method of compensating Philippou’s company for developing the land is “not comprehended by and in conflict with” a statute that allows developers who improve land for the state to be compensated only for the appraised value of the improvements. In the lease, the land office also agreed to compensate Philippou for other project costs and 40 percent of the change in value of the land as a result of the improvements. Continue Reading

An interesting disclosure in the double-dipping debate

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The New Mexico Independent discloses an interesting fact today in the debate over whether Gov. Bill Richardson should sign a bill designed to rein in what is called “double dipping” by public employees. Some 13 employees at the AG’s office, including several high-ranking officials, are what are called “returning retirees” — those who earn an annual salary and draw a retirement pension at the same time. The AG’s office says a bill that seeks to place severe restrictions on that — such as capping the salary returning retirees can make at $30,000 — may be unconstitutional. But, according to NMI, the AG’s office won’t tell the public why it thinks that about House Bill 616, sponsored by Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, citing attorney-client privilege between the AG and governor. Interesting… According to The Associated Press, 2,200 retirees have gone back to work in public jobs in New Mexico. Continue Reading

Clerk may challenge Herrera in 2010 primary

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‘Mismanagement’ has Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinosa and others frustrated, so Espinosa may try to unseat the first-term secretary of state Frustration with Mary Herrera’s management of the secretary of state’s office has Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinosa saying she is seriously considering challenging Herrera in the Democratic primary next year. Espinosa’s is a frustration shared by a number of county clerks throughout the state. “The mismanagement in that office has reached historic proportions,” Espinosa said in an interview. “There are no contracts for voting machine maintenance. Online campaign reporting is an abysmal failure. Continue Reading

House members put earmark requests online

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U.S. House members were required to post information about their earmark requests for the 2010 fiscal year online by April 3, and all three from New Mexico did that, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. The earmark requirement is a new rule designed to bring greater transparency to the appropriations process. Want to see the lists? Click here for Rep. Harry Teague’s requests, here for Rep. Martin Heinrich’s and here for Rep. Ben Ray Luján’s. Senators don’t face the same requirement to disclose earmark requests online. Continue Reading

Yates: Want less scandal? Vote GOP

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The chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico says the indictment of Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr., a Democrat, is another reminder of the importance of a strong two-party system. “Jerome Block’s indictment serves as yet another example of how the Democrat grip on the state of New Mexico has eroded trust in public officials,” said GOP Chairman Harvey E. Yates Jr. “Citizens of this state deserve elected officials who are honest and promote transparency, not officials who abuse their position for personal gain.” “Superficial changes to the political establishment in this state will not resolve the underlying issue,” he said. “What we need is a true two-party system which will bring checks and balances to our government.” Republican officials have complained for years that Democrats have controlled state government for several decades, and said that unchecked power is the primary reason for corruption scandals that have recently plagued the state and Democratic Party. Continue Reading

PRC chairman isn’t seeking Block’s resignation

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Public Regulation Commission Chairman Sandy Jones says indicted Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. has done a good job in his first few months in office, and Jones isn’t calling on Block to resign. “I can tell you, since he’s been here he’s been pretty solid,” Jones said in an interview. “… He comes to work early every morning, he’s done a good job at the Legislature, he’s working hard.” Jones, who like Block is a Democrat, said he’s “not particularly surprised” that Block was indicted today because he knew there was a grand jury. “Seldom do grand juries convene without issuing indictments,” Jones said, “but by the same token not everyone that gets indicted is convicted.” “I wouldn’t call on him to resign right now,” Jones said. Block has said he won’t resign. Continue Reading

Grand Jury indicts PRC’s Block and his father

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Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. and his father were indicted today on election-related charges. Both were charged with violating the elections code, conspiring to violate the elections code, tampering with evidence and conspiring to tamper with evidence. The charges against the younger Jerome Block also include embezzlement of between $500 and $2,500. Block Jr. was indicted on eight felony counts. Block Sr., a former member of the PRC, was indicted on four felonies. Continue Reading

Bingaman uses the Internet to reach out

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New Mexico’s senior U.S. senator is now actively using Facebook, YouTube and iTunes to reach out to constituents and others. Democrat Jeff Bingaman has unveiled a newly updated Facebook page and a YouTube channel. On YouTube you’ll find his podcasts and “policycasts,” which are also available on iTunes. According to Bingaman’s Facebook page, you can e-mail a policy question to webcomments@bingaman.senate.gov, “and I might answer it in a future segment.” “Digital media is constantly changing, and I look forward to experimenting with it more in the future,” Bingaman wrote in a note on his government Web site. “I’ll keep you posted here and on my other homes on the web.” This is a great way to reach out, especially to younger generations. Continue Reading