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Articles delve further into GRIPgate

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Several news articles from the last few days shed new light on the pay-to-play allegations swirling around Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. The first, from Bloomberg, reveals that the federal grand jury investigating the allegations issued a subpoena on Sept. 22 of last year to the governor’s office seeking communication between the governor’s office and companies tied to the investigation. It’s no surprise that the subpoena was issued. What is interesting is that it was done in September. Continue Reading

Voters in poll: domestic partner benefits will be OK’d

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site predicted that the New Mexico Legislature will approve a bill this year this year that would allow domestic partner benefits. Of 200 voters, 105, or 53 percent, predicted that will happen, while 84, or 42 percent, said it will not. Meanwhile, 11, or 6 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

Radio station to webcast audio from Legislature

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A radio station is planning a new public service to help increase access to the business of the New Mexico Legislature. Jim Williams, news director for KUNM 89.9-FM, says his station plans to begin webcasting audio from the Legislature on Tuesday. While the station will focus primarily on the Senate, it plans to switch to webcasting audio from the House floor “when there are important or contentious debates there,” Williams said. The plan, he said, is to webcast “as much as we can, potentially ‘round the clock.” KUNM didn’t seek or need to seek permission. Media outlets have access to audio feeds from the floors of the House and Senate that they can tap into at any time. Continue Reading

The conversation should be about the people

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In lieu of a written column, Bill McCamley, a regular contributor to this site, requested that this video from his final speech as a Doña Ana County commissioner be posted. McCamley left the commission at the end of December, and the speech was given at his last meeting earlier in that month. Because of technical issues, the video doesn’t start exactly where McCamley wanted it to. He requests that you begin watching 53 seconds into this eight-minute video. Here it is: Continue Reading

Roll up the sleeves and get to work

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© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.” – Colleen Barrett It was a worldwide event, the celebration of a new president and the passing of power from one leader to another. Many Americans stopped what they were doing and attended either in person or from some media. It was our human spirit of hope on display. Then the lights went down, the street sweepers bagged the confetti while the inauguration tents were folded. It then became time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Continue Reading

Dragging the Legislature into the 21st Century

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Rep. Arnold-Jones plans to revolt against legislative leaders by broadcasting her committee meetings online. State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones certainly isn’t the first lawmaker in New Mexico to push for webcasting of legislative proceedings, but she’s the one with the most original idea yet to make it happen. Arnold-Jones, an Albuquerque Republican, bought a webcam and set up her own Web site that will allow her to stream live video and audio over the Internet from the two committees on which she sits — Taxation and Revenue and Voters and Elections. You can visit the Web site by clicking here. She plans to begin broadcasting online when both committees meet for the first time — tax and revenue Monday at 1:30 p.m. and voters and elections Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. The only remaining question is whether legislative leaders, including House Speaker Ben Lujan, will try to stop her. Continue Reading

Close relative of two state lawmakers dies

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There’s a rosary this evening for George R. Garcia, who died Sunday following a lengthy illness, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. Garcia, the husband of state Rep. Mary Helen Garcia and uncle of Rep. Joseph Cervantes, was also himself an active politico. When John Edwards visited Mesilla as the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004, the party chose Garcia to meet Edwards and shake his hand in front of the media as Edwards stepped off an airplane at the Las Cruces International Airport. The rosary will be held at 7 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral in Las Cruces. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the cathedral and officiated by Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, head of the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces. Continue Reading

The road to pay to play, Richardson style

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By Jose Z. GarciaThere were two kinds of cautionary signals from the very beginning. One had to do with the governor’s bullying style — early rumors of highly aggressive behavior, a speech that Sen. Tim Jennings gave on the floor of the Senate complaining about the use of abusive language, the hardball targeting in 2004 of Democrats who had challenged the governor, and other signs of obvious displeasure against legislators or lobbyists who disagreed. The governor appeared to have mastered the advice Machiavelli gave to the prince: It is better to be feared than loved. The other signal had to do with money: The Richardson administration elevated fundraising to an art form, at an unprecedented level of prominence and glamour, and the dollar amounts broke all records. There were fundraisers in-state, out-of-state, big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones. Continue Reading

Learning from Bush’s mistakes

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Obama might appear to be wholly different than the outgoing president, but W wasn’t always the divisive figure he became after 9/11. Bush’s transformation should serve as a warning to the new president.Just before George W. Bush boarded a helicopter on Tuesday and left behind the nation’s capital and the presidency, Barack Obama saw him off with a hug, a handshake and a smile. In stark contrast, moments later, countless Obama supporters who had just watched the inauguration mocked Bush by singing, “Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, goodbye,” as his helicopter circled for one last look at the White House. That’s sad. Understandable, but still sad. Continue Reading

Tremendous challenges, unmatched opportunity

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By U.S. Rep. Ben R. Luján In my first two weeks in Washington, there has been much excitement. I was sworn in on Jan. 6, voted on several pieces of legislation including a bill that could provide over 32,000 New Mexican children with health care coverage and settled into a small rental apartment. The importance of the work ahead has been clear, but this weekend — as visitors converged on Washington filled with hope and led by a desire to change the direction of our country — marked the true start of a new era of American government. Millions of Americans have taken a personal stake in the success of our next president, and they took to Washington in celebration of change and hope. Continue Reading

Kilmer sounds confident about 2010 chances

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Val Kilmer is sounding quite confident in his most recent comments about his potential run for governor of New Mexico, like he believes the job is his — if he decides he wants it.“There are a lot of actors who become politicians,” Kilmer said on Tuesday, citing Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger as examples. “And they always win, so I guess we’ll see.” Kilmer was speaking to the Boston Globe at an inauguration party in Washington. The actor, who lives on a ranch near Pecos, has been openly considering running for governor in 2010. He’s been registered but never voted in New Mexico, and only recently became a Democrat, but his entry into the 2010 primary would shift the dynamic that currently favors Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. On the Republican side, former U.S. Reps. Continue Reading

Obama moved quickly to halt guv’s nomination

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Nine hours. That’s how long it took Barack Obama’s transition team to ensure that Bill Richardson was stripped of the title of “commerce secretary-designate” once it became fully aware that a federal grand jury investigation into Richardson’s administration in New Mexico might be a problem, according to an article in the New York Times. “We saw the problem, understood it, Bill understood it wasn’t viable, and we stopped it,” John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama’s transition team, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Podesta refused to talk about how the decision to pull Richardson’s nomination was made. Obama and Richardson have both insisted that it was Richardson’s decision, but there’s been a dispute between their two camps about whether Richardson disclosed the seriousness of the investigation to Obama and his transition team before Obama decided to nominate the New Mexico governor for the job. Continue Reading

I survived the Purple Tunnel of Doom

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A slightly different inaugural story By Philip Zakahi Heath first asked me to write this column Monday afternoon. I accepted the offer, assuming I would be writing about my impression of the inauguration ceremony itself. Little did I know I would be a participant in the “Purple Ticket Fiasco,” spending just under five hours in the I-395 3rd Street Tunnel — “The Purple Tunnel of Doom” — a four lane, 0.75-mile tunnel traveling under the National Mall. I think I should preface this by noting that, unlike almost all of the people I was in the tunnel with, I got in to the ceremony. Having given up hope of getting in, and with only a few minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, I found myself among a few hundred purple ticket holders who, for no other reason than being in the right place at the right time, the Secret Service and capitol police saw fit to take pity on. Continue Reading

Inspiring us to make our world a little better

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By U.S. Rep. Martin HeinrichYou could hear them coming. By 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning, the revelers and enthusiasts were on the street outside the window of my Capitol Hill apartment. It was bitter cold outside but you couldn’t tell by the large number of people making their way to the inauguration at this early morning hour. By the time my wife Julie and I walked over to the Capitol building around 9:30 a.m., the crowds were everywhere. As members of Congress gathered on the House floor, Reps. Continue Reading