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Guv can redeem debate performance this week

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Gov. Bill Richardson has a busy schedule this week that includes an opportunity to redeem himself after a poor performance in the first democratic presidential candidate debate several weeks ago. Richardson will spend much of today in Boca Raton, Fla., attending fundraisers, according to a news release from his campaign. On Wednesday, he’ll make stops in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to attend fundraisers. He’ll spend Thursday in New Mexico and will attend a fundraiser in Santa Fe in the evening. On Friday, he’ll attend fundraisers in Gallup and Albuquerque. Continue Reading

Richardson needs to take LFC audit seriously

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When a new report finds nepotism and other problems with a state agency, I’d expect an ethical governor, or one who wants to be viewed as a reformer, to express concern and vow to implement change. Instead, Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday accused the Legislative Finance Committee, which conducted the audit of the state Personnel Office, of “nitpicking.” His response gives lawmakers another excuse to ignore his calls for ethics reform. The LFC on Thursday released an audit that said the Personnel Office deviated from hiring practices for several months in 2005 and 2006, practiced nepotism and violated the state procurement code and travel rules, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Serious findings. I’ve written recently about the weight a procurement code violation can carry. Continue Reading

Most voters in non-scientific poll unhappy with Wilson

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said they disapprove of the job U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., is doing. Of 163 voters, 104, or 64 percent, said they disapprove, while 52, or 32 percent, said they approve, and seven, or 4 percent, said they’re not sure. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Balderas keeping campaign promise to fight fraud

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State Auditor Hector Balderas is off to a quick start in his first six months on the job. Thus far, the Democrat has fulfilled his campaign pledge to focus on combating fraud and mismanagement in state government with several actions: • He’s creating a fraud hotline for callers who want to provide information about potential misuse of public money. He’s also increased constituent services, including hiring someone to deal with the media, in an effort to educate the public about what the office does. • He has secured money to hire two investigators to help fill in the gap that exists between an audit being completed and a case being ready for prosecution. The lack of an investigative unit to take audit findings and determine whether there was criminal activity behind them has allowed several audits in Doña Ana County to fall through the cracks in recent years. Continue Reading

Richardson names new higher education secretary

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Gov. Bill Richardson today announced his appointment of Reed Dasenbrock, who has spent most of his professional career at New Mexico State University, as the new secretary of higher education. He replaces Beverlee J. McClure, who is leaving to take the position of president and CEO of the Association of Commerce and Industry. “We’ve made great progress on our higher education agenda over the last four years,” Richardson said in a news release. “I’m confident Dr. Dasenbrock will keep driving that agenda forward.” Dasenbrock, who is currently provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico, said he will work with presidents and boards of regents from all of New Mexico’s universities and colleges to continue to implement a common agenda for higher education. “For New Mexico to have the vibrant, forward-looking economy that it needs to have in the 21st century, every aspect of the state educational institutions need to work together to promote student success, educational affordability and high-quality education and research programs,” Dasenbrock said. Continue Reading

Check out profile of undocumented immigrant

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Of all the sticky points in the nation’s immigration debate, the toughest issue is what to do about undocumented parents who have children who are citizens. Kate Nash of the Albuquerque Tribune has an excellent article today profiling a woman who is in such a situation. The article beautifully captures the complexities of the immigration debate. Read it by clicking here. Continue Reading

Longtime GOP leader dies after battle with cancer

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A longtime Republican Party leader in Doña Ana County has died after a protracted battle with cancer. Mike Laurance died Thursday in Las Cruces. He was 65. Laurance was a former chairman of the county’s Republican Party and former southern regional political director for the Republican Party of New Mexico. “Mike was a mentor to me and so many others,” said Ceil Levatino of Las Cruces, the state party’s 1st vice chair. Continue Reading

As acting guv, Denish appoints members to boards

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s staffers have repeatedly insisted that, even though he’s been out of the state most of the time since the Legislature quit working a couple of months ago, he’s still running the government. That’s why two news releases sent out by the office of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish late Thursday caught my attention. Acting Gov. Denish appointed Greg Fuller of Jal to the Lea County Board of Commissioners and Fred G. Mobley of Las Cruces to the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission. Through Monday, Richardson had been out of the state 71 days this year, including 28 of the last 36. But he was in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday, and he’s in the state today. Continue Reading

Housing authority bond default could lead to lawsuit

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The State Investment Council has hired a law firm in preparation for a potential lawsuit to try to recover some or all of the $5 million in bond money lost when the Region III Housing Authority defaulted on payment last year. The council signed a contract Wednesday with Robles, Rael and Anaya, which partnered with the firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck to do the work, according to the Associated Press. In its request for proposals, the council sought a firm to review the actions that led to the default and also determine whether a lawsuit should be filed and who should be sued. Charles Wollmann, spokesman for the investment council, said the firms will “identify what potential claims we might have and who the defendants might be.” “We’re looking at all the principles who were involved one way or another with the default,” he said. “They’re going to look at the facts, and we’ll make a decision then.” He said that would happen in the next few months. Continue Reading

Iglesias walking a fine line between amplifying and contradicting previous testimony before Congress

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In a new interview, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias comes close to contradicting testimony he gave before a Senate committee in March that has led to an ethics inquiry into the actions of Sen. Pete Domenici. In an interview published today in the weekly Alibi in Albuquerque, Iglesias said he doubts Domenici intended to interfere in the federal investigation into construction of the Bernalillo Metro Courthouse, which has since resulted in the indictments of four, including former state Senate President Manny Aragon, and plea bargains for three others. “Could his phone call to me (concerning the timing of charges in the courthouse corruption investigation) constitute a criminal offense? I’m not sure. I suspect ethics charges are more likely than criminal charges as I doubt he called me to interfere with the courthouse cases,” the Alibi quoted him as saying. Continue Reading

ACLU sues Adair, alleges he barred man from hearing

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The American Civil Liberties Union is suing state Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, for allegedly barring a man from the legislative committee meeting in violation of his First Amendment rights. Virgil Beagles, a Roswell man who has been a vocal critic of Adair, alleges he was barred from the meeting on Feb. 16. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of Beagles on Wednesday in federal court “Adair verbally accosted Beagles as he sat in a hallway of the Capitol building, yelling and pointing his finger at Beagles and demanding that Beagles exit the building,” an ACLU news release states. “At Adair’s insistence, Senate security prohibited Beagles from entering the Senate side of the Roundhouse and from attending committee hearings on bills that were of special interest to him.” Bad blood between the two apparently stems in part from an event that took place last year. Continue Reading

Support for Domenici drops once again

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s approval rating has fallen once again. The most recent SurveyUSA poll, conducted May 11-13, found that 52 percent of New Mexicans approve and 42 percent disapprove of the job the republican is doing. It’s the lowest approval rating for the senator since at least May 2005. The survey of 600 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent. By comparison, those surveyed gave U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., a 63 percent approval rating. Continue Reading

Vigil situation proves the need for ethics commission

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I’d like to thank a West Las Vegas School District employee and her lawmaker husband for making the case for creation of a state ethics commission. We already knew that, last year, Roberta Vigil spent almost $10,000 in taxpayer money secured with the help of her husband, Rep. Rep. Richard Vigil, D-Ribera, on a private, invitation-only party billed as a workshop for employees of the district’s bilingual education program, which she directed at the time. In addition, Richard Vigil got his wife more than $40,000 to buy furniture, a refrigerator, a big-screen television and other items for her office. Roberta Vigil has been demoted to an elementary teacher since the allegations surfaced. An article in today’s Albuquerque Journal gives us more information. Continue Reading

Why earned citizenship – which isn’t amnesty – is fair

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By Carter Bundy I’m unhappy any time we ignore our laws. Well, maybe not speeding laws. But the Senate’s new immigration proposal rewards illegal behavior, and that’s generally bad. Immigration is complicated, and I’ve come to believe in some kind of earned citizenship. (“Amnesty” would be a lot quicker, easier and surer. Continue Reading

Former DOJ official testifies on U.S. attorney firings

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Former Department of Justice staffer Monica Goodling, who was involved in the firings of eight former U.S. attorneys last year, shed no new light on why David Iglesias and others were ousted, but made a number of tantalizing statements that are sure to ramp up the controversy. Goodling, who was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony after she originally refused to appear before a House Judiciary subcommittee because she didn’t want to incriminate herself, said she had limited involvement in the firings and could shed little light on why the attorneys were fired, according to the Associated Press. She did, however, tell the committee that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty knew more than he told Congress about the extent of White House involvement in the firings, and said he falsely accused her of withholding details from him before he gave incorrect testimony before Congress several weeks ago. “I believe the deputy was not fully candid,” Goodling said, according to the news service. “… I didn’t withhold information from the deputy.” McNulty disputed that. Continue Reading