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Vigil-Giron appointment on hold pending probe of $3 million shortfall at secretary of state’s office

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Gov. Bill Richardson has put on hold the appointment of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron to the position of New Mexico Film Museum executive director while the finance department looks into an apparent $3 million shortfall Vigil-Giron left along with her elected position at the end of 2006. Richardson’s office had previously said Vigil-Giron would start in the $85,000-per-year job on Monday. But the Albuquerque Journal reported today on the controversy surrounding Vigil-Giron’s request to the Legislature to approve an additional $3 million to keep the secretary of state’s office funded through the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Since leaving office, Vigil-Giron has been criticized by her successor Mary Herrera and Republican lawmakers for possible financial mismanagement, and Herrera has continued the request for the emergency funding. Republican senators asked Attorney General Gary King in a letter Thursday to investigate an allegation that Vigil-Giron spent $2.5 million more than was in the secretary of state’s operating budget for this fiscal year. Continue Reading

Richardson to visit Las Cruces again, may seek funding for cash-strapped Boys and Girls Club

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Gov. Bill Richardson will visit the cash-strapped Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces on Monday and will probably announce a proposal to help fund it. Richardson is scheduled to tour the Boys and Girls Club on West Las Cruces Avenue at 5 p.m. It will be his third visit to Doña Ana County since announcing on Jan. 21 that he’s running for president. The Boys and Girls Club announced earlier this week that it may soon have to close its doors if it can’t find additional funding. Telephones were shut off, and the club’s board president said the center doesn’t have any major donors left. Continue Reading

Poll: Richardson most likely second-tier Democratic candidate to become a serious 2008 contender

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A new poll finds that Democratic Party insiders think Gov. Bill Richardson is the second-tier presidential candidate from their party who is most likely to become a serious 2008 contender. The National Journal asked in a poll of 81 Democratic Party insiders which “long-shot presidential hopeful has the most potential to emerge as a serious contender for your party’s 2008 nomination.” The poll excluded Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama, the party’s frontrunners. Of the remaining candidates, 46 percent of party insiders said Richardson is most likely to emerge. Next was former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, with 25 percent, followed by Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd with 23 percent, retired general Wesley Clark with 4 percent, and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden with 2 percent. Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, the other Democratic candidates, received no votes. Continue Reading

Lujan’s proposed cell phone ban gets shelved

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A house committee has tabled a bill that would ban cell phone use while driving in New Mexico. House Bill 241, sponsored by Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces, was tabled Thursday by the House Transportation and Public Works Committee, a move that most likely kills the proposal, at least this year. Santa Fe has had for several years an ordinance that prohibits cell-phone use without a hands-free device, and Albuquerque adopted a similar ordinance this week. Lujan’s bill would have banned even the use of cell phones with hands free devices but, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, before tabling the bill the committee amended it to add a similar exemption. That was done despite the objections of Lujan, the newspaper reported. Continue Reading

House members seek compromise on proposals to open conference committees to the public

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Several House members have been actively seeking a way to get their colleagues to agree to open legislative conference committees to the public, and a new version of legislation will be unveiled later today. House Bill 297, sponsored by State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, would amend the New Mexico Open Meetings Act to open conference committees to the public. A similar bill in the Senate, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque – Senate Bill 288 – is also moving through committees. Feldman’s bill was approved last week on a 4-2 vote in the Rules Committee, and now moves to the Public Affairs Committee. Cervantes’ bill was approved last week unanimously by members of the Health and Governmental Affairs Committee, but was tabled by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday following a lengthy discussion. Continue Reading

Perhaps there’s reason for hope on ethics reform

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Perhaps there’s reason to hope New Mexico will take steps to clean up governmental ethics this year. Several of the reform bills introduced just over a week ago in the House have been endorsed by committees this week and are moving forward. Of the seven bills, four have been approved by committees this week. It’s notable that all bills have been assigned to two committees. Lawmakers generally believe that the speaker is attempting to slow or kill a bill when he gives it three committee assignments. Continue Reading

Richardson says he would restore America as the world’s leader through respect and cooperation

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Gov. Bill Richardson delivered a well-received speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday as he laid out his plans to deal with the world’s most pressing issues by restoring America’s respect for other nations and rebuilding U.S. leadership. You can watch the speech by clicking here. Using wit and quotable one-liners, Richardson was highly critical of the Bush Administration as he detailed what he said are the six trends that are transforming the world and his plan to address them. Those issues are: • “Fanatic Jihadism” • Growing criminal and terrorist enterprises • The rise of Asia • The reemergence of Russia • Globalization • Health and environmental issues that include global warming On these issues, Richardson said, the Bush Administration has been guided more by “wishful thinking than reality,” by “dogma” instead of “fact,” by “ideology” instead of “history.” As a result, Richardson said, “they’ve emboldened our enemies and isolated us from our friends. … They’ve confused our moral compass and compromised our national security.” That has happened, Richardson said, because the president has used threats instead of diplomacy, has disregarded the opinions of the international community and has isolated the United States. Continue Reading

Official 2007 school board election results

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The official results from the three school board elections in Doña Ana County are in. Officials canvassed the election and tallied provisional ballots this morning. In the Gadsden District 2 race, the only race that was decided by provisionals, incumbent Jennifer Viramontes held off challenger Rodolfo Franco by eight votes. Here are all the results from Tuesday’s election: Las Cruces Public Schools District 4 * Bonnie Votaw: 769 votes, 82.6 percent Larry Garcia: 162 votes, 17.4 percent District 5 * Connie Phillips: 737 votes, 82.3 percent David Morgan: 121 votes, 13.5 percent Sharon Wooden (i): 38 votes, 4.2 percent Gadsden Independent School District District 1 * Manuela Huerta (i): 304 votes, 56.4 percent Luz Vargas-Troncoso: 235 votes, 43.6 percent District 2 * Jennifer Viramontes (i): 176 votes, 51.2 percent Rodolfo Franco: 168 votes, 48.8 percent District 3 * Maria Saenz (i): 51 votes, 100 percent District 4 * Daniel Castillo (i): 120 votes, 61.5 percent Elva Flores: 75 votes, 38.5 percent District 5 * Craig Ford: 80 votes, 43.7 percent Charles Gonnell (i): 71 votes, 38.8 percent Robert Zinsmaster: 32 votes, 17.5 percent Hatch Valley Public Schools District 2 * Douglas Scott Adams (i): 11 votes, 100 percent District 3 * David Franzoy (i): 43 votes, 63.2 percent Dencil Duane Gillis: 25 votes, 36.8 percent District 5 * Donald Hackey (i): Six votes, 100 percent Continue Reading

Richardson under fire for Vigil-Giron appointment

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When former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron disregarded a practice of her office last year that required signed, notarized letters from candidates wanting to withdraw from races, several politicos predicted in conversations with me that she would get a nice job this year in the administration of Gov. Bill Richardson. She did, we learned on Wednesday. I’ll let you decide what that means. Here’s the quick back story. Former state auditor candidate Jeff Armijo was plagued during his campaign by allegations of making inappropriate sexual advances – allegations that were being reviewed by Bernalillo County’s district attorney that have strangely vanished since Armijo was taken off the ballot. Continue Reading

Ellins made permanent county elections supervisor

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In the midst of running his second successful election in Doña Ana County, Lynn Ellins has been hired as the permanent elections supervisor. He previously held the job on an interim basis. Ellins, 70, will make $35,194 annually, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting. “I love the job,” the Sun-News quoted Ellins as saying. “It’s fun, and I love the responsibility.” Clerk Rita Torres offered Ellins the job last week. Continue Reading

Richardson in D.C. today, N.H. next week

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Gov. Bill Richardson is in Washington, D.C. today to propose stopping new U.S. nuclear weapons development as part of a plan to halt nuclear programs in North Korea, Iran and elsewhere. Richardson will make the comments at the Center for Strategic and International Studies as part of a speech on “his vision for a renewed and strong American foreign policy,” according to the Albuquerque Journal. Richardson will also head to New Hampshire late next week to campaign in the early primary state. On Feb. 16, beginning at 5:30 p.m., state Sen. Kathy Sgambati will host a house party for Richardson in the town of Tilton, located north of Concord. Continue Reading

Senate approves cockfighting ban

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The New Mexico Senate has voted 31-11 to outlaw cockfighting. The vote on Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, occurred moments ago after hours of debate. “It was awesome,” Garcia told me. “I’m so excited.” The final version of the bill passed by the Senate makes a first offense a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. A second offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison, and further offenses are fourth-degree felonies punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Continue Reading

AG says Richardson’s presidential fundraising is OK

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New Mexico Attorney General Gary King issued a formal opinion today stating that Gov. Bill Richardson’s fundraising for a White House run during the legislative session does not violate state law. King made the announcement in a four-page letter issued this afternoon, which you can read by clicking here. State law is superseded by federal law in this instance, King’s office found, based on a prior federal court ruling to that effect and the wording of state and federal campaign laws. King issued the opinion within days of a request from Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, who asked in a Jan. 30 letter whether a state law that prohibits the governor and lawmakers from raising money during legislative sessions applies to federal campaigns. Continue Reading

House members seek affordable housing overhaul

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A group of House members introduced today a bill similar to one being considered in the Senate that would overhaul the state’s affordable housing system. House Bill 997 (it’s not yet up on the Web for a link) has a number of sponsors, including Democrats Joseph Cervantes, Mary Helen Garcia and Antonio Lujan of Las Cruces and Andy Nuñez of Hatch. Also among the sponsors is House Majority Leader Ken Martinez of Grants. It is the same as Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, which would, over a period of several months, shut down the state’s scandal-plagued regional housing authorities and replace them with an affordable housing system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. The bill would also provide for audits of each of the seven housing authority regions to determine the extent of the mismanagement first revealed last year when Frances Williams, a member of the Las Cruces-based Region VII board, complained about problems. Several weeks after she went public, the Region III authority, based in Albuquerque, defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed to the state. Continue Reading

Cockfighting being debated on Senate floor

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The state Senate is currently debating a proposed ban on cockfighting. Kate Nash of the Albuquerque Tribune is blogging live from the hearing, giving us a way to keep up with the action despite the fact that funding that was approved last year to Webcast legislative action hasn’t led to such debates actually being broadcast on the Internet. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, has been subject over the course of several hours today to a multitude of attempts to kill or neuter it. The only proposed amendment that has been approved is one that makes cockfighting a petty misdemeanor on a first offense. The bill previously made it a misdemeanor, with a maximum prison sentence of 364 days. Continue Reading