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LCPS board to take time on superintendent search

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The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education plans to move quickly to find an interim superintendent to stabilize the district.It sounds as though the board will wait at least a year to begin the process of hiring a permanent superintendent.At Tuesday’s meeting, board members formally appointed Elizabeth Marrufo as administrator in charge until an interim superintendent is hired. She will make an annual salary of $130,000 as long as she is in that position.They also agreed that board members John Schwebke and Chuck Davis will draft a plan to find an interim superintendent. It will be brought to the full board at its meeting on Dec. 19 for approval.Schwebke suggested that the board look for an interim superintendent from New Mexico – someone who is a former superintendent, perhaps – and that the board form a committee made up of teachers, parents, other school employees and members of the public to aid in the process.He suggested the board move as quickly as possible to find an interim chief.“The sooner we get some stability, the better,” Schwebke said.Board members seemed to agree with that, and also with Schwebke’s suggestion that the board wait at least a year before beginning the process of finding a permanent superintendent.“We want to bring stability to this, and if we rush it, that’s not going to happen,” board Member Gene Gant said.Before finalizing its plan, the board asked administrators to get feedback from teachers, parents, classified staff and students at meetings scheduled to be held in December. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Schwebke won’t run again

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Las Cruces Public Schools board member John Schwebke announced at tonight’s meeting that he won’t seek re-election in February.Schwebke, who represents District 4, has served on the board since 2002, when he replaced Jeanette Dickerson, who was recalled.With tears in his eyes, Schwebke said his father-in-law died earlier this year and his parents are in assisted living in Phoenix and need his attention.“I can’t run for the board. I just can’t do it,” Schwebke said. “… My parents come first. Anybody who is in this situation knows what I’m talking about.”Dec. 19 is filing day for the Feb. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Senate finance chair retires

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Sen. Joseph Fidel, D-Grants and chair of the finance committee, has retired.The move puts into play the most powerful committee chairmanship in the Senate at a time when there’s also turmoil in the House over who will be the next speaker.Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and vice chair of the finance committee, called Fidel “a fine gentleman” who “brought a lot of wisdom to the Senate.”“I wish he’d been able to fulfill his term,” Smith said.Fidel was 84 and, though he had chaired the committee for the last two years, Smith did much of the chairmanship work. Fidel was the second-longest serving member of the Senate.Fidel had two years left on his current term, which will be filled by Gov. Bill Richardson. The governor’s office said a statement would be made shortly.Sen. Leonard “Lee” Rawson, R-Las Cruces and a member of the finance committee, said Fidel has done a good job.“I think most people would praise Joe as a gentleman, and I would echo that,” Rawson said.Smith is a possible replacement as finance chair. So is Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, who has seniority over Smith. He and Smith both sought the chairmanship the last time it came open.Sources told me Fidel has been planning this for months but wanted to wait until after the election. Continue Reading

UP Aerospace won’t launch again in 2006

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UP Aerospace won’t launch a second rocket from Spaceport America this year because it hasn’t yet figured out what went wrong with the first launch.The company had originally planned several launches before the end of 2006, but when the Sept. 25 launch went awry, those plans were put on hold. The company hasn’t yet figured out what happened, and won’t try another launch until it does.According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the company has doubled the number of launches it plans in 2008 to make up for this year’s delays.This is another setback for the company and the spaceport. State officials need the data collected from a successful launch to space before they can submit an application for an FAA license. They can’t spend the more than $100 million appropriated last year by the legislature until they have the license.Virgin Galactic isn’t likely to sign a lease until the project moves forward.At the same time, officials don’t want a second, failed launch. Continue Reading

Diaz’s attorney says she will appeal firing

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Contrary to a prior news report in the Connecticut Post, fired Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz will appeal her termination, her attorney, Larry White, told the Las Cruces Sun-News today.The Post quoted Diaz last week as saying she has “a lot of options” for what she’ll do next and she doesn’t plan to appeal her firing.In addition to saying she will appeal, White told the Sun-News he’s still awaiting formal notice from the district of Diaz’s firing. Once that is received, state law gives Diaz 20 days to appeal.The school board meets later today in closed session to begin discussing the appointment of an interim superintendent, but its members don’t expect to appoint one today, according to a separate article in the Sun-News. In the meantime, Elizabeth Marrufo remains the administrator in charge of the district.The public meeting of the school board begins at 6:30 p.m. at the administration building, 505 South Main Street. Continue Reading

Martinez seeking support for Lujan ouster

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House Majority Leader Ken Martinez is seeking support for a bid to unseat Speaker Ben Lujan.Before I go any further, kudos to Joe Monahan for reporting this before me. We’ve both been talking with people about it for days, but he found sources before I did who were willing to be quoted, albeit anonymously.When House Democrats meet Dec. 18, Martinez will need 22 of 42 votes to unseat Lujan. Even then, there won’t be certainty. Technically, the entire House votes to elect a speaker on the first day of the session. Continue Reading

Missouri columnist touts Richardson for president

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A columnist in a small city in Missouri is giving a boost to the potential presidential campaign of N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson.Bill Clark, who writes a regular column for the Columbia Daily Tribune, wrote in his most recent column that Richardson, “more than any candidate in either party, is qualified to lead our nation for the next eight years.”Columbia, according to the census, is a little bigger than Las Cruces.Clark cites Richardson’s Mexican roots and years of diplomatic work, in addition to his tenures as energy secretary and New Mexico governor. All that, Clark wrote, adds up to much more than any other potential candidate brings to the table.“The Republicans have John McCain, followed by a cast of lightweights known only to their families and local bridge and poker clubs,” Clark wrote. “The Democrats are a bit better off. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is a rising star in the Democrat heavens but has little experience in many areas vital for a sound presidency. Hillary Clinton? Continue Reading

DA Martinez might be headed for higher office

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Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez might seek one of the state’s top two jobs in 2010.State Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh told the Albuquerque Tribune he believes the popular district attorney would make a good attorney general, lieutenant governor or governor. She was one of five rising stars in the party he named.Martinez told me she isn’t interested in attorney general, and said she was asked but refused to run for the office this year. When I told her that leaves the state’s top two jobs as options, she laughed.“My focus is going to be on running for re-election for district attorney in two years,” Martinez said. “That is my only focus right now; however, I’m not closing the door to any possibility beyond that.”Except attorney general, which Martinez said is not as “exciting” a job as district attorney. Regardless, her comments were exactly what you’d expect to hear from someone seriously considering a run for higher office.Martinez is a popular Republican in a Democratic county. Continue Reading

Reporter details FBI probe of government buildings

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Many New Mexico Democrats breathed sighs of relief last week when a report by KRQE-News 13 reporter Larry Barker about the FBI probe of government building construction in Bernalillo County didn’t name any current lawmakers.Watch Barker’s full report by clicking here.We’ve known for months that former Senate President Manny Aragon is a target of the investigation, but Barker provided the most thorough report yet on the scope of the investigation.“It could be one of the biggest public corruption scandals New Mexico has ever seen,” Barker said in his report. “Sources confirm bribes, kickbacks, extortion and fraud dogged (construction of Albuquerque’s metro court) from the very beginning.”Those Barker named as being involved in the probe are all “formers” – a former Albuquerque mayor, former metro court judge, former metro court administrator, former district judge. As the promos for Barker’s story ran in the Albuquerque area early last week, several politicos told me they expected a current Democratic legislator from the Albuquerque area to be named as a target of the investigation. That did not happen.Barker laid out details of a widespread plot to take what he said could be millions of dollars. He said Aragon called a meeting with former Metro Court Chief Judge Michael Kavanaugh, now a district judge, and former Metro Court Administrator Toby Martinez several years ago and agreed to support funding for the construction of the new facility.“But Aragon’s support had a price: Kickbacks, cash, under the table,” Barker said.He described “clandestine meetings” and “envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash that were handed over to Senator Aragon and others.”Martinez, Barker said, received thousands of dollars in kickbacks disguised as phony invoices. Continue Reading

Chavez might run for Senate, if Domenici doesn’t

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez will consider running for the Senate in 2008 if Pete Domenici doesn’t seek re-election.The mayor’s statement to the Albuquerque Tribune further fuels speculation about the 2008 race. Domenici has said he intends to seek re-election, but many analysts doubt the aging Republican senator will have much patience with being a member of the minority party.Chavez told the newspaper that, if Domenici runs again, he will focus on another run for mayor in 2009 or another run for governor in 2010. Chavez ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1998.He said he also might leave public office, and said will support Domenici if he runs again.“If he chooses not to run, that’s an open seat, and I’d have a look at it,” Chavez told the Tribune.He also said he would not consider running for the U.S. House because of the time it takes to gain seniority and because the two-year terms means constant fundraising. Continue Reading

Diaz says she won’t appeal firing

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Sonia Diaz, who was fired last week from her job as superintendent of the Las Cruces Public Schools, told the Connecticut Post she won’t appeal, though New Mexico law gives her 20 days to do that.“I’ve got a lot of options,” the newspaper quoted Diaz as saying. She added that she doesn’t know whether she’ll be entitled to a severance package.“I’m not thinking about that. I’m looking ahead,” she said.The newspaper reported on Diaz’s firing because she was a controversial leader of the Bridgeport schools in Connecticut until that district’s board let her go in 2004.Diaz, in the interview, called her firing “a difference of style and opinions.” She also told the newspaper that two men she brought to Las Cruces as part of a transition team, John Marsillio and Clarence Tolbert, won’t stay in Las Cruces.Diaz has refused to speak with me or other area journalists on-the-record about her firing, so her interview with the Connecticut newspaper is the first since the Las Cruces school board made the decision last week. Continue Reading

Martinez admits considering a run for speaker

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Amid widespread speculation that Ben Lujan’s days as speaker of the House may be numbered, Rep. Ken Martinez of Grants, the House majority leader, has admitted he may seek the position.“It’s too early to tell,” Martinez told the Albuquerque Tribune in explaining that he hasn’t ruled out a run against Lujan. “All of us are considering what would be appropriate in the House.”House Democrats will pick their leaders on Dec. 18.Lujan has lost some confidence since he made this statement to me a week ago: “My members are evidently satisfied with my leadership, and there will be no challenge,” he said.Lujan told the Tribune several days later that “no one has told me they are planning anything. … I’m pretty confident I have the necessary votes to continue.”Many House Democrats are upset with Lujan because of a $75 million appropriation for the settlement of water-rights lawsuits that he dropped into the capital outlay bill earlier this year without the knowledge of most legislators. They’re also upset about his possible ties to the state housing authority scandal. Continue Reading

Many are dissatisfied with Las Cruces school board

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Almost everyone who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the Las Cruces school board.Of 182 voters, 140, or 77 percent, said some or all members of the board should be removed. (Fifty-five, or 30 percent, said some should be removed, while 85, or 47 percent, said all should be removed.) Thirty-three voters, or 18 percent, said the board needs to improve the job it is doing, while nine voters, or 5 percent, said the board is doing a good job.Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Reasons to be thankful this holiday season

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I’m planning to unplug for the Thanksgiving break. I need some time to turn off my computer and recharge myself.I’ll be back on Monday. If anything major happens before then, I’ll try to post an update.I want to leave you with my list of the top five politically related things for which we should be thankful this Thanksgiving:5 – For the first time in recent memory, almost all agreed that this year’s election process in Doña Ana County had integrity and very few problems.4 – Voters gave partisanship a swift kick in the butt on Nov. 7. They booted a number of Republicans on the national level and restored balance in Washington. Continue Reading

Getting House Dems to discuss Lujan is difficult

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Democratic representatives from Doña Ana County appear to have mixed reactions to the question of whether Ben Lujan should continue as speaker of the House.I’ve been asking the question all week, following a Monday article in the Albuquerque Journal that reported that a top aide to Lujan has been living rent-free in a home owned by the Region III Housing Authority.It’s the first time Lujan has been publicly linked to the housing authority scandal, and one of many issues with Lujan’s leadership that has some House Democrats upset.When the legislature convenes in January, Doña Ana County will have seven Democratic members in the House – a significant group in the 70-member body.Rep. Mary Helen Garcia of Las Cruces refused to comment this week on whether she supports Lujan, but said she is “disappointed with the headlines about our speaker. We have to have trust in our speaker, and if any of this was taking place behind closed doors, I’m not alright with it.”Rep. Joni Gutierrez of Las Cruces, on the other hand, expressed support for Lujan.“I’m very satisfied with him. I’ve had no problems,” she said. “I’ve been there two years, and he’s all I know. He’s been fine. Continue Reading