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Former LCPS Superintendent Diaz gets a new job

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Former Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz, who is still appealing her firing in district court, has been given a top job at one of the nation’s largest school districts. The Baltimore County Board of Education in Maryland approved Friday of the selection of Diaz to be the new associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Baltimore County Public Schools. She will direct the division of curriculum and instruction for the district’s 169 schools, which serve 106,000 students, according to a news release from the district, which is the 24th largest in the nation. “In adding Dr. Diaz to my administrative team, I am bringing to our school system an individual with more than 30 years experience in K-12 education,” Baltimore Superintendent Joe Hairston said in the release. “Dr. Diaz has demonstrated the capacity to address the types of challenges and opportunities we face in delivering quality curriculum to our children in Baltimore County.” Diaz will begin her job April 1. Continue Reading

In Iowa, Richardson continues pledge to focus on first four primary states and grassroots campaigning

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During a visit to Iowa this weekend, Gov. Bill Richardson said the first four primary contests will decide who becomes the Democratic Party’s 2008 nominee for president, the Associated Press is reporting. Those are contests held in January in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Richardson’s statements buck the thinking of many that other, larger states will be more important in the selection process. California, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and other states are considering moving their primaries all up to the same day in early February, and many campaigns are remaking their strategies to shift resources to those larger states that include more influential media markets. Richardson, who was instrumental in getting the Democratic National Committee to move up Nevada’s contest to January, says he’s sticking to his four-state strategy and a pledge to run a grassroots campaign win with fewer resources than the better-funded candidates. Continue Reading

Senate wants to limit governor’s veto time on budget

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The Senate, which has been playing hardball with Gov. Bill Richardson this session, approved the state budget in a surprise move on Friday night in what appears to be an attempt to limit the time the governor has to exercise his line-item veto authority. House Bill 2 was approved on a vote of 33-5, but significant changes mean it goes back to the House for concurrence before it can go to the governor. The bill provides for a $5.65-billion budget, with about $5 million in changes made by the Senate after the House approved it. The Senate also approved $106 million in tax cuts. Last year, the governor vetoed a number of projects, upsetting the Senate. Continue Reading

Bill to protect surface owners heads to governor

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A bill that would require oil and gas companies to pay landowners for damage to their property caused by drilling became this weekend the first House bill of the session to head to the governor for a signature. House Bill 827, sponsored by Rep. Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch, was approved Saturday by the Senate on a vote of 25-0. The bill was approved Wednesday by the House on a vote of 62-5, and moved through two Senate committees and the full Senate in three days. The proposal has been contentious for years, but compromises this year have earned it the endorsements of the oil and gas industry and ranchers. Under the compromise, the bill would protect landowners who don’t own the mineral rights below their land, which is common in New Mexico. Continue Reading

House conference committee bills to be heard today

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The House proposals to open legislative conference committees to the public, the last chance this session for such a change, are scheduled to be heard by a House committee today. House Bill 297, sponsored by State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, and House Concurrent Resolution 1, sponsored by Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, are scheduled to be heard by the Appropriations and Finance Committee this afternoon. If they’re approved there, the proposals go to the full House for a vote, and would then go to the Senate, which has twice killed similar proposals this session, each time by one vote. Cervantes’ proposal would amend the New Mexico Open Meetings Act to require that conference committees be open meetings, unless the House and Senate provide for exemptions in their joint rules. It specifically exempts caucus meetings and meetings of panels investigating ethical conduct of members. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say state government is corrupt

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site think state government in New Mexico is corrupt. Of 150 voters, 67, or 45 percent, said state government is very corrupt, while 47, or 31 percent, said it’s somewhat corrupt. That adds up to 76 percent of those who voted. Ten voters, or 7 percent, said state government is neither ethical nor corrupt, while 23 voters, or 15 percent, said it’s somewhat ethical, and three voters, or 2 percent, said it’s very ethical. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Committee tables housing authority overhaul bill after Lujan privately speaks to members during hearing

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A bill that would remake the state’s troubled affordable housing system was tabled by a House committee today, but a second bill that’s already been approved by the Senate remains alive. House Bill 997, sponsored by Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, was tabled by the House Business and Industry Committee on a vote of 6-5 this afternoon. Six Democrats voted to table. Four Republicans and Rep. Dona Irwin, D-Deming, voted against the motion. The bill’s demise came after Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, D-Nambé, entered the committee room during the hearing and spoke privately with the committee’s chair, Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Ohkay Owingeh, and freshman Rep. Thomas Garcia, D-Ocate, sources tell me. Continue Reading

Domenici admits call but says there was no pressure

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici has admitted calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias “late last year” to ask about the status of a pending public corruption probe, but said he did not pressure him to speed indictments. Domenici released the statement after several days of refusing to comment on Iglesias’ allegations that two members of Congress called him shortly before the November 2006 election and tried to pressure him to speed indictments in order to sway voters. The case involves an alleged kickback scheme related to the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo County, and could implicate some high-level Democrats. “My call had been preceded by months of extensive media reports about acknowledged investigations into courthouse construction, including public comments from the FBI that it had completed its work months earlier, and a growing number of inquiries from constituents,” Domenici said. “I asked Mr. Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what timeframe we were looking at. Continue Reading

Madrid says Domenici and Wilson may have also interfered in probe of state treasurer scandal

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October 2006 was a rough month for U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. The situation was becoming desperate in her re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid, at the time the state’s attorney general. Following Madrid’s gains in the polls throughout September, on Oct. 4 the first of three polls by national companies found that Madrid had taken the lead in the race. The third came out on Oct. 17. Continue Reading

Governor signs controversial capital outlay bill

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Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill that would restore capital outlay money he vetoed in 2006. Senate Bill 710, sponsored by Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, provides $82 million for capital outlay projects around the state, including $27 million for Senate projects, $26 million for House projects and $29 million for the governor’s projects. The bill was controversial because it was an attempt by the Senate to overturn the governor’s veto without actually going through the formal process, making it more like a bargaining chip. Richardson said he would sign the bill once some of his proposals were approved, but his bills have moved more slowly than he wanted. On Thursday, he signed the bill anyway, the Associated Press reported. Continue Reading

Secret negotiations likely on minimum wage increase

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It’s likely that attempts to work out a compromise on the particulars of raising the state’s minimum wage will be made in secret. The House approved on Thursday a different version of the proposal than the one already approved by the Senate, which will be asked to concur with the House version. The Senate president says that’s not likely. If he’s right, the dispute will be debated in a secret conference committee – the same place where the proposal died last year. The bill in question is Senate Bill 324, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, but there are now two significantly different versions. Continue Reading

Judge swears in two new LCPS board members

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Two new members of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education were sworn in today. District 4 Board Member Bonnie Votaw and District 5 Member Connie Phillips will participate in their first meeting as board members on Tuesday. Votaw replaces John Schwebke, who did not seek re-election, and Phillips replaces Sharon Wooden, who she defeated in last month’s election. The two were sworn in by District Judge Robert E. Robles at the LCPS administration building. Before swearing them in, Robles told the new board members that “the work they begin is of the highest importance. Continue Reading

Senate committee chair delays ethics reform hearings

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A government watchdog is upset about a Senate committee head’s decision to delay hearings on two ethics reform bills earlier today. Senate Bill 931, which would place limits on gifts to public officials, has been on the Senate Rules Committee calendar for more than a week. Senate Bill 800, which would place limits on campaign contributions, has been on the calendar for at least four days. They’re both sponsored by members of the committee, and yet Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque and the committee’s chair, passed them up again today in favor of hearing other bills, said Matt Brix, Common Cause New Mexico executive director. At the end of the hearing, a quorum of members were willing to stay to hear the ethics bills, Brix said, but Lopez would not allow it. Continue Reading

Subpoenas issued in U.S. attorney investigation as Domenici and Wilson continue to dodge questions

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., are still refusing to talk about whether they had a hand in forcing out former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, even as a House subcommittee is issuing subpoenas in an attempt to find the truth. Meanwhile, the spokesman for a congresswoman leading the House investigation says any House members who pressured Iglesias to issue indictments in a public corruption scandal in order to affect the November 2006 elections might have committed ethics violations. Iglesias claims he was forced from his job by the Bush Administration because he refused pressure in October from two members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation to speed indictments in an ongoing investigation of alleged kickbacks related to the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo County. Though he has refused to name the members, three of the five – Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall and Republican Rep. Steve Pearce – were quick on Wednesday to say they didn’t do it. Domenici and Wilson, on the other hand, aren’t talking. Continue Reading