Guv to be in Las Cruces on Wednesday

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson will be in Las Cruces on Wednesday as part of a statewide tour to promote his legislative agenda in advance of the 60-day session that starts next week.Richardson will detail some of his public safety initiatives at a news conference at his satellite office, located at 505 S. Main Street, at 12:30 p.m., according to a news release. Richardson will also be in Farmington and Roswell on Wednesday. He will make public appearances in Hobbs, Clovis and Tucumcari on Thursday. Continue Reading

A new delegation, a new chance for wilderness

By |

Democrats Bingaman, Udall and Teague work toward permanent protection of land in Doña Ana County A bill U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman sponsored on Sunday that would set aside land in nine states as wilderness doesn’t include the Organ Mountains or other land in Doña Ana County, but the senator’s office says he plans to introduce legislation to extend wilderness protection to land in the county in the coming months. In the meantime, the bill the New Mexico Democrat sponsored over the weekend does include one proposal sought by many in the Las Cruces area: the creation of a 5,367-acre national monument in the Robledo Mountains to protect fossilized prehistoric animal tracks there. That proposed monument is important to conservation groups in the area, but it’s only a part of the larger battle over how to protect land in Doña Ana County — and how much land should be protected — that has raged for years as a coalition led by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance has sparred with a group led by some ranchers and four-wheeling enthusiasts. The wilderness coalition wants to designate about 300,000 acres in the county as wilderness and another 96,000 as a national conservation area. The ranchers’ group wants no wilderness at all and proposes new, less-restrictive designations for the land, in addition to requiring the sale of 65,000 acres of the land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Continue Reading

Guv, lawmakers propose budget cuts

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson proposed today more than $700 million in budget cuts but no tax increases as he announced a plan to help the state weather the current economic crisis.“My budget plan does not increase taxes, leaves essential services for New Mexicans intact and keeps substantial and responsible cash reserves to protect us against further shortfalls,” Richardson said in a news release. The governor’s news release didn’t say how much, if any, money would be cut from public schools. The plan also includes a strong effort to increase revenue through improved tax collections. The state has to address a current fiscal-year deficit and a projected deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1 that are approaching a combined $1 billion. The current state budget is about $6 billion. Continue Reading

NYT explores guv’s dealings, NM’s lack of ethics laws

By |

“This is the Wild West,” state Sen. Dede Feldman says about New Mexico being one of only a handful of states without campaign contribution limits and an ethics commission.Thus begins an in-depth look at New Mexico’s lack of ethics laws that ran in today’s New York Times. It comes in the face of a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of pay-to-play in Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. You can read the article by clicking here. “Since taking office in 2003, Mr. Richardson has been dogged by accusations that big contributors to his campaign received favors from the state — patronage jobs, infrastructure projects, contracts, approvals from state boards. Those accusations, never proved, have not hurt Mr. Richardson’s popularity,” the article states. Continue Reading

Ouch! Obama makes joke at guv’s expense

By |

He may not have intended it, but President-elect Barack Obama, who at times has been known to make comments that could be interpreted as insensitive, made a joke at Bill Richardson’s expense on Sunday.Obama was asked on ABC News’ “This Week” about his family’s search for a dog. “They seem to have narrowed it down to a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound,” Obama said. “… Medium-sized dog, and so, we’re now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up.” “So, you’re closing in on it?” host George Stephanopoulos asked. “We’re closing in on it. This has been tougher than finding a commerce secretary,” Obama replied with a smile. Continue Reading

Yates is the new state GOP chairman

By |

As many expected, Harvey E. Yates Jr. was elected to be the new chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico on Saturday.Yates, an oilman from Albuquerque, will lead the party for the next two years and replaces Allen Weh, who has served since 2004. Yates defeated Allen McCulloch of Farmington and Michael J. Meyer of Albuquerque for the leadership position after securing the backing of many high-profile party leaders. “I’m very honored New Mexico Republicans are entrusting this great party to my leadership as we head into the next election cycle,” Yates, 66, was quoted by the Albuquerque Journal as saying. Also Saturday, former congressional candidate Bill Redmond of Los Alamos was elected treasurer of the party, defeating former Bernalillo County GOP chairman Fernando C de Baca, who resigned from that position last fall after making racially charged comments that offended many. Nina Martinez, the party’s former secretary, was selected to be first vice chair, and Rod Montoya was selected as second vice chair. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll see truth in GRIPgate allegations

By |

The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said there is truth to the allegations of pay-to-play that derailed Bill Richardson’s nomination to be commerce secretary. Of 297 voters, 232, or 78 percent, said there is truth to the allegations, while 65, or 22 percent, said there is no truth to the allegations. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

AG, guv will push ethics reform during session

By |

Gary King announced today that he will support several ethics reform proposals in the upcoming legislative session, and Gov. Bill Richardson, whose administration is the subject of a federal pay-to-play investigation, promptly did the same.King, in a news release, announced what he is calling an “ambitious legislative agenda” that includes enacting campaign contribution limits, creating a state ethics commission, enacting a whistleblower protection law, giving the AG jurisdiction to prosecute public corruption, expanding the state governmental and conduct acts to apply to local governments, and prohibiting legislators from becoming lobbyists for one year after they leave office. Perhaps referring to the current climate of scandal — in addition to the federal grand jury probe of the Richardson administration, King is about to take the drawn-out criminal investigation into the state’s housing authority system before a grand jury — King said he’s ready to move forward with the reforms. “I know this is an ambitious package of ethics proposals, but I sense there is keen interest among many legislators to move forward aggressively this year with major new ethics legislation,” King said in the release. “I certainly intend to work hard to help ensure their success, and I believe these bills will enjoy broad public support.” Several hours after King put out his news release earlier today, Richardson sent out his own news release stating that he “welcomes” King’s support of the reform proposals. “I look forward to working with the attorney general and lawmakers to once and for all pass a comprehensive ethics reform package,” Richardson said in the release. “I’ve proudly signed the ethics bills that have made it to my desk in recent years. Continue Reading

Denish, Papen propose new housing reforms

By |

Lt. Gov Diane Denish announced today that she will back comprehensive reform of the state’s regional housing authorities in the upcoming legislative session.Denish said she will support a bill sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, that would build on the reforms approved in 2007 following a scandal that toppled most of the state’s housing authority system. “I will do everything in my power to protect New Mexicans and to be sure we meet affordable housing demands where they are greatest, especially in rural areas where resources are thin,” Denish said in a news release. Word of the reform proposal adds to the current flurry of activity in the housing authority scandal. On Thursday, The Associated Press reported that the attorney general plans to take the drawn-out criminal investigation of the scandal before a grand jury early next month. And the state auditor plans to release next week the results of an in-depth audit he’s been conducting in the aftermath of the collapse of the system. Continue Reading

Grand jury to consider housing authority case

By |

Witnesses have been subpoenaed to appear in early February before a grand jury in the drawn-out investigation of scandal in the state’s housing authority system, The Associated Press is reporting. The probe has been ongoing since before Gary King took office in early 2007, and many had begun to wonder whether it would ever lead to criminal charges. Many have been shocked at the egregious nature of the scandal, which began in mid-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. Instead, almost $600,000 went to former Region III Director Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos as salary and benefits. Continue Reading

Yates announces candidacy for GOP chairman

By |

Harvey E. Yates Jr. has formally announced his candidacy for chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. The oil giant’s candidacy had been previously known, but he formally announced it Wednesday in a letter to members of the party’s state central committee, who will select new officers at a meeting on Saturday in Albuquerque. “You will remember that Ronald Reagan once said, ‘…man is not free unless government is limited.’ That is true, and it is also true that the transfer of more and more power to government enhances the opportunity to engage in corrupt ‘Pay to Play’ activities by those who have no integrity,” Yates wrote in the letter. “Yet, today, we are faced with an increased liberal majority in our state legislature whose orientation is toward increasing the power of government and diminishing the rights of individuals,” Yates wrote. “To defeat them we are faced with daunting challenges. Continue Reading

Media intensifies scrutiny of Richardson, CDR

By |

Bill Richardson spent some time dodging and not really answering reporters’ questions today as the media continued to increase the scrutiny on the governor in the face of a criminal investigation into allegations of pay-to-play in his administration.The New Mexico Independent’s Trip Jennings has the story on Richardson’s attempt to give the media the slip earlier today during the first and second of three public appearances that weren’t related to the federal grand jury investigation: “The story is a little convoluted, so I’ll hit the highlights,” Jennings wrote. “The governor makes promises at the day’s first stop to take questions at the day’s second stop, which takes place in an auditorium that unbeknownst to reporters has a side door that the guv and his entourage then use to dodge the pesky scribes who chase the governor but who are left in the dust of his black SUV as it squeals away before a question is shouted out.” Perhaps there’s a good reason Richardson didn’t want to talk: As I’ve reported, earlier in the day, Bloomberg.com identified Richardson’s former chief of staff, Dave Contarino, as a key subject of the investigation. Richardson, as his spokesman did in a statement to me earlier in the day, finally expressed his support for Contarino at the third public stop and gave a few additional comments to those pesky scribes. The Bloomberg.com article wasn’t the only investigative report being widely discussed today. Steve Terrell of The Santa Fe New Mexican came out with an article detailing a second federal investigation of a project involving the company at the center of the alleged pay-to-play scandal, CDR Financial Products. Continue Reading

Guv is ‘fully supportive’ of Contarino

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson says he is confident that former Chief of Staff Dave Contarino, who is under investigation in a federal probe of pay-to-play allegations, did nothing improper.“The Governor is fully supportive of Dave Contarino and is confident that he always acted ethically and appropriately during his time as chief of staff,” Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos wrote in an e-mail. “Dave was a key part of the progress in New Mexico under Governor Richardson’s leadership.” Richardson withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary on Sunday because of the federal grand jury investigation that has cast suspicion on his administration. As I reported earlier today, a Bloomberg.com article has revealed that federal prosecutors are asking whether Contarino was involved in the alleged pay-to-play scheme. CDR Financial Products was paid almost $1.5 million in 2004 advising the finance authority on interest-rate swaps and restructuring escrow funds for $1.6 billion in bonds related to the transportation project dubbed GRIP, or Governor Richardson’s Investment Partnership. Meanwhile, in 2003 and 2004, the company gave $75,000 to Richardson’s political action committee Si Se Puede!, and the company’s head, David Rubin, gave $25,000 to Moving America Forward, another Richardson PAC. Continue Reading

Feds looking at guv’s ‘most senior and trusted aide’

By |

David Contarino says he is confident that investigation will prove he acted appropriatelyFederal prosecutors are asking whether David Contarino, a man Bill Richardson once described as the “strategic mind” of his administration and “my most senior and trusted aide,” was involved in the alleged pay-to-play scheme that derailed the governor’s nomination to be commerce secretary days ago, Bloomberg.com is reporting. One unnamed witness who testified before the federal grand jury investigating the allegations was quoted by the news organization as saying he was asked if Contarino, Richardson’s former chief of staff, ordered officials with the New Mexico Finance Authority to hire CDR Financial Products for a lucrative state contract. And “another personal familiar with the investigation” was quoted as saying that Contarino “is a subject of the inquiry and that prosecutors are looking at whether he solicited contributions from firms that worked on finance authority bond deals.” The Bloomberg.com report threatens to increase the level of scandal surrounding Richardson, who has leaned heavily on Contarino to develop policy and manage his political and governmental staffs. In addition to leading Richardson’s state government office for three years, Contarino ran both of Richardson’s campaigns for governor and his unsuccessful run for president last year. It was when Contarino left the chief of staff job in 2006 to work on Richardson’s re-election campaign that Richardson called him his most trusted aide. Continue Reading