Judge’s case might reveal future of housing scandal

By |

The case the Judicial Standards Commission has built – or has been unable to build – against Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Theresa Gomez may be an indication of what’s to come in the larger scandal involving the state’s housing authorities. Earlier this month, the commission asked the state Supreme Court to reprimand Gomez and require her to pay $17,000 in back rent to the state. That’s because Gomez lived rent-free, for 20 months, in a home owned by the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority, an organization whose goal was to provide housing for low-income people. At the time, Gomez was making $93,000 per year. She also dismissed traffic citations and cancelled an arrest warrant for Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, the man who ran Region III at the time. Continue Reading

Democratic strategist to speak on women in politics

By |

A nationally known political strategist will be the next guest speaker in a series at New Mexico State University. Mary Hughes, co-founder and president of Staton Hughes, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and political consulting firm for Democratic candidates, will speak at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Creative Media Institute’s Digital Media Theatre in Milton Hall. Her talk, “Women in the ’08 Elections: Perception vs. Progress,” is open to the public. Hughes has directed campaigns and advised several elected officials, including: • Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to lead her party in Congress. Continue Reading

Ethics probe, guv’s future keep Senate race uncertain

By |

The dynamics of the 2008 race for the Senate seat held by GOP giant Pete Domenici remain uncertain as an ethics probe heats up and Gov. Bill Richardson’s comments don’t entirely rule out his entrance into the race. The Senate ethics committee has stepped up its probe of Domenici’s involvement in the U.S. attorney scandal, Truthout.org is reporting. In the past two weeks, the committee has interviewed potential witnesses, including staffers from the U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico, about Domenici’s October 2006 call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Iglesias alleges Domenici pressured him to speed indictments in a case involving high-ranking Democrats to sway voters in the November 2006 election. Iglesias was fired weeks later, he claims as a result of refusing the pressure. Continue Reading

Richardson to participate in televised forum tonight

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson and four other Democratic presidential candidates will take part tonight in a forum on health care and financial security that will be televised in New Mexico. The AARP/Iowa Public Television forum will be shown on New Mexico’s public television stations from 7-8:30 p.m. In Las Cruces, it will be on KRWG-TV, which is Comcast cable channel 2. In the Albuquerque television market, it will be shown on KNME-TV channel 5. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden will also attend, according to AARP. Continue Reading

Group stands by allegation even as Pearce disputes it

By |

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is standing by its assertion that U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., failed to report a financial transaction he was required to disclose even as Pearce’s spokesman says the claim is bogus. The allegation, made Tuesday when CREW released its list of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress, is that Pearce failed to report on a public financial disclosure form the fact that he sold the assets of Lea Fishing Tools, Inc. to Key Energy Services for more than 540,000 shares of stock in 2003. The group says Pearce was required to report the sale and his failure to do so likely violated the Ethics in Government Act. Though a Pearce campaign staffer told me this morning that a spokesman from Pearce’s government office would call to discuss the situation with me, it has not yet happened. The last official word I received from Pearce’s office is that it would make no comments to me until after Pearce’s response was published in the Albuquerque Journal. Continue Reading

Robles would be an excellent choice for high court

By |

It’s no secret that a number of judges from Doña Ana County have had ethical problems in recent years. Four have left their jobs and another has been disciplined as a result of ethical problems and allegations that included drug use, sexual harassment and mixing personal business with the elected position. When one district judge, two magistrate judges and two Las Cruces municipal judges were simultaneously embroiled in scandal a couple of years ago, a longtime politico from Santa Fe told me he would be tempted to believe the entire judiciary in Doña Ana County was corrupt, except for one thing: He knew Robert E. Robles, the chief judge of the county’s Third Judicial District Court, to be a man of integrity. Robles has applied for the vacancy on the state Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Pamela B. Minzner. He would be an excellent choice. Continue Reading

Guv touts strong fundraising, still stagnant in polls

By |

Gov. Bill Richardson says he will raise more than $6 million in the third quarter of 2007, even as his campaign has stagnated in the polls. In an interview with the Associated Press, the governor said he is making a “mad dash” at the end of the fundraising quarter that ends Sept. 30 and will raise between $6 million and $7 million – about what he raised in each of the first two quarters of the year. A look at his schedule reveals the shift from campaigning to fundraising. Though Richardson has spent much of the quarter in Iowa and New Hampshire at campaign events, he plans in the next nine days only one-day trips to each of those states to attend debates. Continue Reading

Veteran’s activist many not run for Congress after all

By |

A prominent Vietnam veteran who said in July he was running against U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is having second thoughts. Rick Bolaños said today he is undecided about whether he wants to join two other Democrats in the race because he’s having a hard time lining up the support he needs. “We’ll probably know in the next 10 days,” Bolaños said. Bolaños told me in mid-July that he was “absolutely” running and would officially declare his candidacy within days, but it never happened. Since then, Bolaños has not attended a number of Democratic Party events, including the recent Labor Day breakfast in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

City election forum to be televised live

By |

A forum involving candidates running in the Nov. 6 Las Cruces municipal election will be televised live. The League of Women Voters of Greater Las Cruces forum will be held on Oct. 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 200 N. Church St. It will also be broadcast live on Comcast cable channel 20, the city’s government access channel, the first time in Las Cruces that such a forum will be televised live. Continue Reading

Watchdog group lists Pearce, Domenici and Wilson among the 22 most corrupt members of Congress

By |

A Washington-based watchdog group released today its list of the 22 most corrupt members of the United States Congress. New Mexico’s three Republicans all made the list. It was no surprise to see U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson on the list, which was compiled by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The group filed formal complaints against Domenici and Wilson in March over their involvement in the U.S. attorney scandal. But the complaint against U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce involves allegations that have been previously unknown to the general public, and at least one of the allegations could be serious. Continue Reading

Congress must act on immigration reform

By |

The American Civil Liberties Union wants us to believe that it is entirely inappropriate and irresponsible for sheriff’s deputies in Doña Ana and Otero counties to assist the federal government in policing immigrant neighborhoods. And the Otero County sheriff wants us to believe his office is being unfairly criticized and there’s nothing wrong with state deputies detaining violators of federal immigration law when they come across them. Both oversimplify a complicated problem created by a Congress that is in dereliction of its duty by failing to invest the time and effort necessary to reach a compromise and approve comprehensive immigration reform. What has happened is this: A federal grant is being provided to some local law enforcement agencies along the border to help them deal with the increase in crime that comes from having high numbers of undocumented immigrants living in hiding. It’s true that such immigrants are often victims of robbery, false imprisonment, domestic violence and, in some cases, even more serious crimes such as rape. Continue Reading

Cop involved in Victoria’s citation arrested for DWI

By |

One of two police officers involved in issuing a citation in May to a bar owned by Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia was arrested on Saturday for drunken driving – the second time he’s faced DWI charges. Sgt. Conrad Chavira, a supervisor in the Special Investigations Division, has been placed on administrative duty after being arrested in Ruidoso on Saturday. He was not on duty when, according to police, he was on his motorcycle and tried to avoid a DWI checkpoint. Chavira, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13. Continue Reading

Pearce fundraiser co-host raises some GOP eyebrows

By |

A fundraiser being held for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. on Friday in Roswell is drawing raised eyebrows from some Republicans who live in the eastern part of the state. Among those hosting the event are GOP activists Diane and Dick Taylor, according to the event invitation. Dick Taylor is a Chaves County Commissioner. His wife is currently in a pre-prosecutorial diversion program after admitting to voter fraud earlier this year. You might recall Pearce helping arrange last fall for a House committee to hold a meeting on voter identification and fraud in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

Judge Robles applies for Supreme Court vacancy

By |

Robert E. Robles, who has been chief judge of the Third Judicial District Court in Doña Ana County for eight years, wants to be the first person from the southern part of the state to be appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court since 1975. Robles, 57, has applied for the vacancy created last month by the death of Justice Pamela B. Minzner. “Representing the State of New Mexico as a justice on the Supreme Court would be the culmination of a lifelong dream,” Robles wrote in his application. The deadline to apply for the appointment is 5 p.m. today. A judicial selection committee will meet in Santa Fe on Sept. Continue Reading

Approving ethics reform is the right thing to do

By |

I didn’t realize that 88 percent of New Mexico’s Democrats are members of the media and special interest groups. But that’s apparently what state Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, believes. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Sanchez said during Friday’s meeting of the legislative Ethics Subcommittee that only special interest groups and the media are pushing certain ethics reform proposals. A recent Albuquerque Journal poll, however, found that 88 percent of members of Sanchez’s political party in New Mexico want ethics reform. And they didn’t just vaguely agree to the general concept: Those 88 percent answered “yes” when asked specifically if they want reforms including campaign contribution limits, new restrictions on lobbyists and creation of a state ethics commission. Continue Reading