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Harassment allegations catch up with PRC’s King

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A jury on Monday awarded $840,000 to a former state employee who claimed that Public Regulation Commissioner David King sexually harassed her. It’s the second time King has faced sexual harassment allegations. The state paid $305,000 in the early 1990s to settle sexual harassment allegations three women made against him when he was state treasurer. I think the situation pretty much speaks for itself. Though the Republican King was easily re-elected last year, he will have a difficult time if he runs for office in the future. Continue Reading

2nd District Democrats square off Wednesday in T or C

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Democratic candidates vying for the right to be their party’s nominee for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce will participate in their first forum Wednesday evening in Truth or Consequences. The forum, being put on by the Sierra County Democratic Party, will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the Sierra Grande Lodge, 501 McAdoo Street. State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, retired Presbyterian minister Al Kissling, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley and Roswell businessman and retired teacher Frank McKinnon have all confirmed that they will attend the forum. Former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague is unable to attend because of a prior commitment. Each candidate will give an introductory and closing statement. Continue Reading

Joy will seek to replace Miyagishima on city council

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Lawrence Joy became today the first person to formally announce his candidacy for the open District 6 seat on the Las Cruces City Council. An election will be held Jan. 15 to replace Ken Miyagishima, who was elected mayor earlier this month. Several others have said they’re considering running, but none have officially entered the race. Joy announced his candidacy today in a news release. Continue Reading

Richardson Senate petition is bogus, campaign says

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Someone is circulating petitions around Santa Fe seeking signatures for Gov. Bill Richardson to run for U.S. Senate, but Richardson’s presidential campaign says the petitions are bogus and the governor isn’t running for Senate. Still, the petitions have rekindled speculation that if or when Richardson loses the presidential race he will jump into the Senate race. It’s a scenario Richardson insists won’t happen, but some refuse to believe him. The petitions began floating around Santa Fe on Monday, and have been circulated in public places including at least one restaurant. “There is apparently some kind of petition floating around. Continue Reading

Time to change election code to increase democracy

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By Carol Miller The leadership of the New Mexico Legislature has finally caught itself in its web of changes to the election code, each designed to take choices away from the voters of the state. Every year at the Legislature, ballot access advocates have watched these changes with horror, observing New Mexico’s slide into the group of states with the worst ballot access and fewest voter choices. Now that Speaker Ben Lujan finds his son caught in this web, we might get some change, but let’s go for real change that increases democracy. Last year, the 2007 Legislature passed House Bill 1156, which states among its purposes, right at the top of the bill, “eliminating provisions allowing candidates who fail to receive preprimary convention designation to become a candidate.” The section lawmakers repealed used to allow a candidate to get on the ballot by going directly to voters, getting their signatures and submitting nominating petitions to the secretary of state. If candidates asked at the preprimary convention for a ballot spot but did not receive the votes of 20 percent of delegates, they could go back to the voters, collect additional signatures and submit the additional nominating petitions to the secretary of state. Continue Reading

Carraro to challenge White in U.S. House primary

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State Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, will formally announce Thursday that he is running for the First Congressional District seat being vacated by Heather Wilson. He informed supporters in an e-mail sent Monday evening that he will run, and that he will make the announcement at 4 p.m. Thursday at George O. Breace VFW Post 401 in Albuquerque. Carraro’s decision comes despite significant pressure from Washington GOP insiders to clear the way for Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White to become the party’s nominee for the seat. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio has sent White a $5,000 contribution – the maximum allowed – from his political action committee, The Freedom Project, to be used specifically in the primary. And the retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici plans to host an event for White in Washington next week. Continue Reading

Talk to focus on expectations for female candidates

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An expert on the different expectations women face when running for office will be the final speaker tonight at New Mexico State University’s “Women, Politics and the Media” course and a subsequent public symposium. Dan Kully, founder of the West Coast office of Laguens Hamburger Kully Klose in Seattle, will speak at 7 p.m. in the Creative Media Institute’s Digital Media Theatre in Milton Hall. His talk, “Television: Different Expectations for Women Candidates,” is open to the public. Kully, a producer, director, editor and cinematographer, has achieved renown for developing one of the most compelling and effective media consulting operations outside of Washington, D.C. In 2006, he was the lead partner on the team that helped elect Jon Tester to the U.S. Senate in Montana and Gov. Bill Ritter in Colorado and helped defeat the so-called property rights measures in Washington and Idaho. “I’ve worked with Dan and admire his expertise in helping candidates get their message across,” said Lt. Governor Diane Denish, co-teacher of the NMSU class. Continue Reading

County to consider precedent-setting subsidy today

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By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners has on its agenda for today’s meeting a momentous decision. It has to do with a scheme proposed by an El Paso developer who owns most of the prime land in the Santa Teresa area. I first wrote about this situation a couple of weeks ago. If approved, the proposal would dedicate future county and state gross-receipts-tax revenue from this area to pay for the development of a large residential-commercial subdivision and two industrial parks. In essence, the developer would get a subsidy of $113 million to cover development costs, many of which should be part of the normal price of doing business. Continue Reading

Wilson to stop in Las Cruces on Tuesday

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U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson is kicking off her Senate campaign with a tour of the state that will bring her to Las Cruces on Tuesday. She will be holding a public forum from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces, on Tuesday. The GOP representative’s “statewide listening tour” follows a similar tour by GOP U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who is also running for Senate. New Mexico’s third representative, Democrat Tom Udall, is also running for the Senate seat and plans a similar tour in the near future. Wilson’s tour began Sunday in Santa Rosa. Continue Reading

The real meaning of our Thanksgiving

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© 2007 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. We are confronted with controversy about Thanksgiving. Growing up in the 1950s I thought Thanksgiving was a simple celebration of our gratitude. And it was celebrated that way in my house. But there are people among us who wish to change the true meaning of Thanksgiving into something political and sinister. I am tired of this politically correct crap. Continue Reading

Lawmaker seeks AG opinion on spaceport tax delay

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A state representative has asked the attorney general to weigh in on whether Doña Ana County can delay collection of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax to help fund construction of Spaceport America. The county commission has voted to delay collection, currently scheduled to start on Jan. 1, until at least July because voters in Sierra and Otero counties haven’t yet decided whether to implement the tax. The move is backed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, but the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department says the county’s vote to delay the tax isn’t valid because it can only be delayed by amending or repealing the ordinance that allowed the April tax election. There’s not time to do that before the tax takes effect. Continue Reading

Tinsley, Cornelius make congressional runs official

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Republicans Ed Tinsley and Bob Cornelius both made official last week their candidacies for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce. They’re the first Republicans to enter the race. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, retired Presbyterian minister Al Kissling, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, Roswell businessman and retired teacher Frank McKinnon and former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague are all running. Tinsley, a rancher and restaurant-chain owner, ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002. He said in a news release last week that he has “waited for the right time and circumstances to make a run for this congressional seat,” and the time is now. Continue Reading

Chávez hits Udall over proposed lab funding cuts

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez is hitting U.S. Rep. Tom Udall hard as the two battle for the Democratic Party nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. In a weekend news release, Chávez announced that he is meeting in Los Alamos today with employees of the national lab located there. A pending and controversial bill that Udall supported would cut about $400 million from the budget for the state’s two labs compared to the previous fiscal year. “Numerous members of the LANL community have been in touch with us about this devastating blow,” Chávez said in the release. “(Today) I’ll be taking the message up to the hill to Los Alamos that New Mexicans must send a senator to Washington who will stand up for them, not someone who supports job cuts at our state’s national laboratories.” Then the attack, from Chávez campaign manager Mark Fleisher: “Tom Udall now has the dubious distinction of being the only member of Congress from New Mexico in history to vote in favor of decreased funding and cutting jobs at LANL and Sandia,” he said. Continue Reading

Wiviott files paperwork to run for Udall’s House seat

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Santa Fe green builder Don Wiviott made official last week his run for the Third Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, and he pledged to spend at least $325,000 of his own money to win. Wiviott was already running for Senate when Pete Domenici announced his coming retirement in October. After Udall said he would vacate his House seat to run for Senate, Wiviott said he would instead run for Udall’s seat. Last week, he filed the paperwork to make his House run official. “This summer, I announced my intention to run for the U.S. Senate because I believed that New Mexico needed another strong, progressive voice representing us,” Wiviott said last week in a news release. Continue Reading