{"id":1982,"date":"2007-07-16T15:41:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-16T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/its-too-early-to-condemn-reps-foley-or-vigil\/"},"modified":"2007-07-16T15:41:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-16T21:41:00","slug":"its-too-early-to-condemn-reps-foley-or-vigil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/its-too-early-to-condemn-reps-foley-or-vigil\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s too early to condemn Reps. Foley or Vigil"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a lot of controversy swirling lately around state Reps. Dan Foley<\/a> and Richard Vigil<\/a>. It\u2019s important to remember that neither has been convicted of doing anything wrong. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

In fact, at this point Vigil isn\u2019t even formally accused of anything.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But let\u2019s start with Foley. The GOP representative from Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is scheduled to go to trial next month on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and resisting arrest in a few weeks. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The charges against Foley stem from a fight between two teens at a basketball tournament in Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> last month. Foley ran onto the court after his son was knocked over by the opposing coach. Police say Foley pushed his way past one officer and spit tobacco on him before having to be forcibly taken to the ground by two other officers. Foley says he remained calm throughout the event and does not chew tobacco.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Foley, who is scheduled to go on trial on Aug. 2, has pleaded not guilty. He faces a maximum fine of $784 and 20 days in jail.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Foley\u2019s case is \u2013 and should be \u2013 getting quite a bit of media attention. Any time a public official stands accused, public scrutiny is a vital part of the process, both to ensure the official is treated fairly and so the public can decide what the allegations mean for the politician\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s too soon to judge Foley. A number of lawyers I\u2019ve spoken with who are following the case think there are several weaknesses. One is that Foley says the officers were wearing T-shirts and shorts that, on the front \u2013 the side of their uniforms facing Foley during the incident \u2013 don\u2019t identify them as officers. In addition, Foley says the officers didn\u2019t verbally identify themselves.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s some question about whether charges of obstructing an officer and resisting arrest will stand if Foley didn\u2019t have reason to know the men approaching him were officers.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In addition, Foley insists he doesn\u2019t chew tobacco and didn\u2019t spit it at the officer. A number of members of the House and others who know Foley \u2013 both Democrats and Republicans \u2013 have told me they have never seen Foley chewing tobacco. Asking how the brown stain got on his shirt during the incident is a valid question, but the appearance could be misleading. Then again, it might not. It\u2019s too soon to tell.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Such issues haven\u2019t been thoroughly explored by the Roswell Daily Record<\/a>. The newspaper instead ran a non-scientific poll on its Web site asking if Foley, \u201cas a result of his actions leading to his arrest,\u201d should resign as a state representative, resign as House minority whip, take anger management classes or be left alone. Some 59 percent picked one of the three negative answers, leaving 41 percent to defend Foley.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine. I run non-scientific polls on this site all the time. But I don\u2019t quote them in articles as proof of anything.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

The Record did. In an article<\/a> last week, it cited the poll. Though doing so was certainly the prerogative of the newspaper, I thought it was irresponsible and suggested the poll had credibility when it does not. Such polls are easily manipulated. I post them for curiosity and fun.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Vigil isn\u2019t facing charges<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On to Vigil, the Democrat from Ribera. His wife used to run the bilingual education program for the West Las Vegas<\/st1:place> schools. In that job she held an annual, invitation only party \u2013 one that took place late at night and included an expensive band \u2013 under the guise of a staff training event.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She did it with public money secured through the capital outlay process by her husband.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Now Vigil\u2019s wife and three others are indicted on a number of felony counts that could send them to prison for quite some stemming, in part, from the party Vigil funded.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all. The funding Vigil got his wife also helped pay for a number of plush items for the program, including a 42-inch plasma screen television \u2013 a TV that was picked up from Sears, according to the receipt, by Vigil, and has since vanished.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

First the obvious: Vigil\u2019s actions do create an appearance of impropriety, and the situation is egregious. Why was someone who wasn\u2019t an employee of the district picking up equipment for the district? Shouldn\u2019t Vigil have known the party he was funding was inappropriate? Should he have been seeking funding for his wife\u2019s program in the first place?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So, as is the case with the allegations against Foley, there are some serious questions here that need thorough examination. But, again, the issue isn\u2019t black and white, and the current evidence against Vigil isn\u2019t damning.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He has voluntarily stepped down from his position as vice chair of the House Education Committee \u2013 a move that was wise, considering the circumstances, and one for which he should be commended.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The attorney general\u2019s investigation is ongoing, and the office won\u2019t say whether Vigil is a target. But, at this point, there\u2019s no reason to assume any sort of criminal guilt on his part simply because there is strong evidence against his wife and the others who have been charged.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The point is this: Both men, who their colleagues have generally characterized to me as hard workers, have become entangled in serious situations that require additional scrutiny. That process is ongoing. In the meantime, the public doesn\u2019t have enough facts about the situations to condemn either.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t plan to give either lawmaker the benefit of the doubt. I\u2019m just going to wait a bit and see how things shake out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a lot of controversy swirling lately around state Reps. Dan Foley and Richard Vigil. It\u2019s important to remember that neither has been convicted of doing anything wrong. In fact, at this point Vigil isn\u2019t even formally accused of anything. But let\u2019s start with Foley. The GOP representative from Roswell is scheduled to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}