Lawmakers discuss housing authority scandal

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Sen. Mary Kay Papen and Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones appeared on the television show Report from Santa Fe with Lorene Mills this weekend to discuss the housing authority scandal and a reform bill making its way through the current legislative session. Senate Bill 20, sponsored by Papen, a Las Cruces Democrat, would expand reforms approved in 2007 to increase oversight and restructure the state’s affordable housing system. Arnold-Jones, an Albuquerque Republican, has been an equal partner in championing the reform, as has Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. Most of the system toppled in 2006 when the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed the state. Soon thereafter, the State Investment Council released a report that found widespread misuse of the bond money, which was supposed to be spent on houses. Continue Reading

CDR mystery deepens with Journal article

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“Don’t ask me.” That’s what Joe Gosline said he was told when he inquired in 2004 about how CDR Financial Services went from scoring in the lower half of a group of companies that bid on a lucrative state bond contract to being recommended for the job, according to a weekend article in the Albuquerque Journal. The claims of Gosline, a former controller and chief financial officer for the New Mexico Finance Authority, deepen the mystery about how the company won the contract — which is, of course, the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration. The grand jury is asking whether CDR received the state investment contract that paid almost $1.5 million in exchange for $110,000 in contributions to two of Gov. Bill Richardson’s political action committees and his 2006 gubernatorial re-election campaign. Gosline has a wrongful termination lawsuit pending against NMFA, the Journal reported. He was fired in 2007 for allegedly sending sexually explicit e-mail and visiting Internet dating sites while at work — allegations he denies. Continue Reading

Furloughs coming to several NM newspapers

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There’s more bad news about newspapers: MediaNews Group is making all employees at its nine New Mexico newspapers — including the Las Cruces Sun-News — take one week off without pay before March 31 in an attempt to avoid layoffs. “We tried everything to avoid this but we still thought that having one week of unpaid leave might alleviate the need for layoffs in the future,” Senior Vice President of Operations Tony Tierno was quoted by The Associated Press as saying. Employees were notified on Friday that they have to take the time off, and were also instructed to not talk with the media about it. In New Mexico, MediaNews owns the Ruidoso News and White Sands Missile Ranger. In addition to the Sun-News, it is the majority stakeholder in the Alamogordo Daily News, Carlsbad Current-Argus, Deming Headlight, Farmington Daily Times, the Four Corners Business Journal in Farmington and the Silver City Sun-News. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll want open conference committees

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said the New Mexico Legislature’s conference committees should be open to the public. Of 173 voters, 141, or 82 percent, said the meetings should be open, while 27, or 16 percent, said they should not, and five voters, 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

Land commissioner says Steinborn wants his job

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Responding to lawmakers’ reform bills, Lyons says ‘anti-growth’ agenda includes electing Steinborn as land commissioner in 2010 State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons says a trio of Doña Ana County lawmakers proposing to reform his office have an “anti-growth” agenda and a plan to carry it out that includes electing one of them to replace him next year. Lyons, a Republican who term limits prevent from seeking a third term in 2010, said in an interview that several people have told him Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, plans to run for land commissioner next year. Lyons said he believes the legislator plans to run, and the reform bills Steinborn is proposing along with Rep. Nate Cote, D-Organ, and Sen. Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces, are designed to help make that happen. “Part of it is Steinborn running for land commissioner; the other part is their anti-growth agenda,” Lyons said. The legislators, who introduced their reform package earlier this week, say it would improve accountability and transparency in the land office’s dealings. Continue Reading

Flores wins LCPS board race by two votes

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Maria Flores is the new District 3 board member for the Las Cruces Public Schools. She and Merrie Lee Soules split the two provisional ballots that were unsealed at today’s canvassing, County Clerk Lynn Ellins said. Before that, Flores had 527 votes to Soules’ 525 votes, so Flores finished with 528 and Soules finished with 526. Incumbent Gene Gant finished with 311 votes. Ellins said Soules has until Thursday to petition in district court for a recount. Continue Reading

House begins official audio webcasting

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The New Mexico House of Representatives began its official audio webcasts this morning. You can listen to the webcast by clicking here. In addition to the audio feed, the page contains the House’s agenda for the day and other information. It’s a basic but informative page. Legislative Council Service plans to upgrade it fairly quickly. Continue Reading

Kilmer says he’ll be governor — if he runs

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Val Kilmer says he believes the office of governor is his if he wants it. “If I run, I’m going to be the next governor,” he was quoted by The Associated Press as saying. Kilmer said he hasn’t decided whether to run. If he does, he said, he’ll benefit from being an actor because people will want to meet him. But, the news service’s Deborah Baker quoted Kilmer as saying, he isn’t thinking about running because of his fame. Continue Reading

Grand jury probing Domenici, news outlet says

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Talking Points Memo says investigation centers on whether the former senator and others improperly pressured the former U.S. attorney to speed a criminal investigation; Domenici disputes report A federal grand jury is investigating former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s role in the Bush administration’s U.S. attorney scandal, according to an Internet news site that won a prestigious journalism award in 2008 for its coverage of the scandal. The criminal investigation, according to an exclusive report by Talking Points Memo, is focused on “whether Domenici and other political figures attempted to improperly press (former U.S. Attorney David) Iglesias to bring a criminal prosecution against New Mexico Democrats just prior to the 2006 congressional midterm elections,” which, if it happened, might amount to obstruction of justice. Investigators are scrutinizing Iglesias’ allegation that he was fired because “Domenici and others believed that he would not manipulate the timing of prosecutions to help Republicans,” the article states.According to the Albuquerque Journal, Domenici and his attorney dispute the report. “I don’t believe that’s right,” the Journal quoted Domenici as saying. “The suggestion in their story that there is an investigation under way that is focusing on Sen. Domenici is false,” Domenici’s attorney, Lee Blalack, was quoted as saying, but he also said he’s “not privy to everything the U.S. government does.”Talking Points Memo’s article states that the focus on Domenici was confirmed by “a federal law enforcement official, two witnesses who have been recently been asked to answer questions from investigators, and an attorney representing a former Justice Department official who has been told that investigators want to question his client.” Domenici and former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson both called Iglesias in October 2006 to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation weeks before the November 2006 election, in which Wilson was facing a tough re-election battle that she ended up narrowly winning. Continue Reading

Lawmakers propose land office reforms

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In response to a controversy involving the State Land Office and a Las Cruces developer, three Doña Ana County lawmakers are proposing reforms that would increase transparency and accountability in the land commissioner’s dealings. The proposals follow Attorney General Gary King’s finding fault last year with Land Commissioner Pat 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 agrees to compensate Philippou for other project costs and 40 percent of the change in value of the land as a result of the improvements. The first bill in the package proposed by Reps. Continue Reading

Kilmer visits Roundhouse, doesn’t meet with guv

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Actor and potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate Val Kilmer visited the Roundhouse today, but a staffer for the governor says Kilmer didn’t meet with Bill Richardson. Eric Witt, the governor’s legislative liaison and film and media industry adviser, said he, not Richardson, met with Kilmer. “Val did not come to see the governor,” Witt said. “He came to see me, actually, and we were just talking about the state of the film industry in New Mexico… and some projects he’s thinking about doing here. That was the extent of it.” Kilmer, who owns a ranch outside Pecos, has been openly considering running for governor in 2010, which would pit him against Lt. Gov. Diane Denish in the Democratic primary. Continue Reading

Martinez: House wants video webcasting

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House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, says he believes there’s a strong chance video webcasting of House proceedings will begin no later than the 2010 legislative session. “I feel confident the overwhelming majority of the members of the House want to get us to a professional, reliable video webcast as soon as possible, and hopefully in time for our next legislative session,” Martinez said in an interview. The House unanimously approved on Tuesday official audio webcasts from the floor and some committee meetings that should begin within days. The legislation, House Resolution 2, sponsored by Martinez, also allows committee chairs to decide whether to allow webcasting from their committees’ meetings. The House didn’t make any formal commitment to expand the webcasting to include video, but what Martinez says is true: Most House leaders and many other members have stated their support for video webcasting and their intention to make it happen by the 2010 legislative session. Continue Reading

State agency won’t release GRIPgate records

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New Mexico Finance Authority rejects requests for subpoenas and the records sought by those subpoenas Though at least two other state agencies have publicly released similar documents, the New Mexico Finance Authority is refusing to hand over subpoenas it has been issued in the federal investigation into allegations of pay-to-play in the Richardson administration. The finance authority is also refusing to release the documents sought by such subpoenas. I and Trip Jennings, a colleague at the New Mexico Independent, sought the records in two separate requests made under the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. The first, a narrow request, sought only subpoenas that have been issued in the federal investigation. The second, broad request sought all subpoenas related to any federal investigation received by the finance authority, and all documents requested in those subpoenas. Continue Reading

Anti-incumbent mood appears to color LCPS election

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This article has been updated. It appears that the 2009 Las Cruces school board election may be remembered for an anti-incumbent mood. Leonel Briseño and Gene Gant, who have been LCPS board members for eight years, appeared on their way to losing late Tuesday, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. In the District 2 race, Serena Shoop led Briseño with 226 votes to his 123, with two precincts’ votes yet to be counted. And in the District 3 race, Gant was in third in a close race, winning 225 votes to 283 votes for Merrie Lee Soules and 288 votes for Maria Flores. Continue Reading

House approves audio webcasting

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With a unanimous voice vote, the New Mexico House of Representatives approved audio webcasting of its proceedings today, which means that such webcasting should begin within days. Absent from House Resolution 2 was any formal commitment to expand the webcasting to include video. But most House leaders and other members have stated their support for video webcasting and their intention to make it happen by the 2010 legislative session. In the meantime, Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones is webcasting audio and video from her committee meetings. There has been an intentional effort on the part of House leaders to move the legislation quickly and get audio webcasting started as soon as possible. Continue Reading