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House GOP wants to pick its committee members

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Republicans in the House plan to try to change the rules to create ranking minority members on committees and grant the minority leader, not speaker, the right to appoint minority members of committees. House Resolution 1 has already been introduced by Minority Whip Dan Foley, and would allow the minority leader to designate a minority member of each committee as its ranking member. Foley said a second resolution will soon be introduced that would grant authority to appoint minority members to committees to the minority leader. That power is currently given to the speaker. The proposals come after House Republicans were upset with committee assignments handed to the GOP by Speaker Ben Lujan. Continue Reading

Diaz alleges personal papers were stolen

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Former Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz, who is in the middle of an appeal of her November firing, is alleging that personal papers and files were stolen from her office after she was suspended last year and locked out of it. Diaz filed a police report last week claiming that financial information, birth and baptismal certificates, retirement plans from previous jobs and personal notes vanished from her office after she was placed on leave last year and her keys were taken, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. “When the board suspended her, they took her keys and basically locked her out of her office,” Diaz’s attorney, Larry White of Las Cruces, told the newspaper. “We asked permission to go in and retrieve her personal materials. When we went in and loaded the boxes into her car… Dr. Diaz said someone had been in there and taken her personal materials. Continue Reading

Las Cruces councilor won’t seek re-election

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Las Cruces City Councilor Steven Trowbridge has announced that he won’t seek re-election in November. The District 4 councilor was quoted by the Las Cruces Sun-News as saying only that the “time had come.” “My health is fine. My family is fine,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “Also, there’s nothing at City Hall driving me to leave. That’s all it is. Continue Reading

Anthony casino developers, opponents, react to Tigua tribe’s proposal to build a casino in Chaparral

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The company partnering with the Jemez Pueblo in a bid to build a casino in Anthony put out this news release about a proposal by the Tigua tribe of El Paso to build a casino in Chaparral. (You can read about The Tiguas by clicking here or scrolling down.) Jemez/Anthony casino responds to Tigua proposal The recent announcement by the Tigua tribe of El Paso to begin the process of seeking an off-reservation casino on trust land within the state of New Mexico faces overwhelming legal challenges before becoming a reality. Although the planners for the proposed Jemez/Anthony casino project wish them the best on this project, the Fifth Circuit Court has already previously ruled that the Tigua tribe can’t game, the state of Texas has said they can’t game, and the federal government has said they can’t game. Similar to the plan first announced by the Ft. Sill Apache tribe of Oklahoma in November 2004, the Tigua plan faces great challenges and is unlikely to meet with success. Continue Reading

School board can’t announce Diaz decision today

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The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education could not announce publicly its decision on former Superintendent Sonia Diaz’s appeal of her firing today because the district did not include a public vote in its notice of the meeting. According to the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, the board can only formally take action in a public meeting if its notice and agenda indicate that will happen. That is designed to give the public advance notice so people can attend. Because it could not act today, the board will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Monday to take formal action and make its decision public, according to district spokeswoman Jo Galvan. That allows three days of public notice for the special meeting, which is what’s required by the open meetings act. Continue Reading

Committee changes may reveal speaker’s genius

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Many I’ve spoken with since Tuesday believe Speaker of the House Ben Lujan revealed his political genius this week with changes in committee assignments that demoralized his detractors and divided those who threatened to shift the balance of power in the House. Those I’ve spoken with aren’t surprised. Lujan, who is from Santa Fe, has been a master politician for a long time. I’m writing, of course, about his demotion of Joseph Cervantes from chair to vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and his removal of Mary Helen Garcia from the Appropriations and Finance Committee. Many I’ve spoken with believe the changes were part of a brilliant scheme that not only scattered his opponents, but also divided the delegation from Doña Ana County. Continue Reading

Federal judge dismisses most claims of favoritism against former Sheriff Juan Hernandez

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A federal judge has tossed out most of the complaints stated in a lawsuit alleging that former Doña Ana County Sheriff Juan Hernandez and others rigged the hiring and promotion system to benefit his friends and punish his enemies. In tossing out all complaints made by former Undersheriff Frank Ruiz and most made by another former employee of the sheriff’s department, Annette Apodaca Jones, U.S. District Judge Bruce D. Black ruled that almost all the complaints in the case didn’t meet the legal standards required to proceed. He also dismissed a request to make the case a class-action lawsuit and allow other plaintiffs to join. All that remains is a breach-of-contract claim made by Jones. “The ruling speaks for itself, and now we move on to other important matters that demand the county’s attention,” county spokesman Jess Williams said. Continue Reading

Tiguas propose off-reservation casino in Chaparral

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The Tigua Indian tribe of El Paso, whose casino in Texas closed in 2002, has proposed building a new facility on 10 acres near Chaparral in New Mexico. News of the project, reported today by the Albuquerque Journal, further complicates the debate over off-reservation casinos. It’s the second such proposal for Doña Ana County and the third in Southern New Mexico. But it’s also possible that the move by the Tiguas is a political ploy to try to pressure Texas to allow it to reopen a casino there. The Jemez Pueblo and Santa Fe art deal Gerald Peters want to build a casino in Anthony. Continue Reading

Spaceport meeting to be broadcast tonight

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Monday’s joint meeting of three county commissions, which was held to discuss the development of Spaceport America, will be televised tonight and this weekend on Comcast Channel 20 in the Las Cruces area. The meeting of the Doña Ana, Otero and Sierra county commissions explored questions about the controversial project and the proposal to raise local gross receipts taxes in the three communities to help fund its development. In April, an election will likely be held in Doña Ana County on whether to raise the tax by 1/4 percent. The meeting will air tonight at 7 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. It’s being broadcast courtesy of Comcast Cable and the City of Las Cruces’ Public Information Office, which operates the channel as a public access channel. Continue Reading

U.S. attorney controversy spreads beyond N.M.

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It turns out that outgoing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico was one of several across the nation forced to resign following the November election, and the process of replacing them is creating a controversy in the nation’s capitol. When lawmakers reauthorized the Patriot Act last year, they also approved a little-known provision that changed the rules on appointing U.S. attorneys. Previously, an interim attorney would be appointed by the U.S. district court in the area, and would serve until a nominee of the president was confirmed by the Senate. The Republican-controlled Congress and White House changed that. Now, interim appointments are made by the U.S. attorney general, and can serve until the end of the tenure of that administration. Continue Reading

Las Cruces council extends manager’s contract

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The Las Cruces City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to grant a three-year contract extension and a five-percent raise to City Manager Terrence Moore. The decision came at the end of a performance evaluation held because Moore has completed his second year as city manager, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. The council will formalize its decision at its Feb. 5 regular meeting. “I am extremely impressed with city council’s unanimous support of Mr. Moore as city manager,” Mayor Bill Mattiace was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Continue Reading

LCPS interim superintendent search gets underway; so does hearing on Diaz firing appeal

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The search for an interim superintendent of the Las Cruces Public Schools has officially begun, while former Superintendent Sonia Diaz’s hearing to appeal her firing is scheduled to be held today and tomorrow. The school board, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News, decided Tuesday night to set in motion a search that should have an interim superintendent in place by the end of February. Advertising will begin immediately, the newspaper reported. The board is seeking a candidate who has previous superintendent experience in New Mexico, has a current or renewable license and has been involved in the education system within the past two years. With the timeline selected, the board plans to announce its decision on Feb. Continue Reading

Lujan says moving Cervantes wasn’t retaliation

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Speaker of the House Ben Lujan told the Albuquerque Journal that his move to replace Rep. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces as chair of the Judiciary Committee had nothing to do with last year’s battle over who would lead the House. Cervantes supported Ken Martinez’s failed bid to become speaker. Lujan told the Journal the same thing he told Cervantes: His decision had to do with Cervantes’ bid for majority leader. “To me, it seemed (Cervantes) wasn’t happy or satisfied being judiciary chair,” Lujan said. The message here seems to be that Lujan controls everything. Continue Reading

Cervantes doesn’t believe reason speaker gave for removing him from judiciary chairmanship

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Rep. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces doesn’t believe the reason Speaker of the House Ben Lujan gave for removing him from the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Cervantes said he met with Lujan for 20-30 minutes earlier today, and Lujan told him he was replacing him as chair of the committee with Al Park of Albuquerque because Cervantes had sought the position of majority leader. When Majority Leader Ken Martinez announced he would challenge Lujan for speaker, Cervantes said he would seek majority leader if Martinez did not. Cervantes later withdrew when Martinez’s speaker bid failed and he was nominated to continue as majority leader. In today’s meeting, Cervantes said, Lujan “was generous with praise. Continue Reading