{"id":219,"date":"2006-05-09T23:09:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-10T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/05\/media-conscious-zamora-traveling-the-state-plus-ag-candidates-weigh-in-on-prison-overcrowding\/"},"modified":"2006-05-09T23:09:00","modified_gmt":"2006-05-10T05:09:00","slug":"media-conscious-zamora-traveling-the-state-plus-ag-candidates-weigh-in-on-prison-overcrowding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/05\/media-conscious-zamora-traveling-the-state-plus-ag-candidates-weigh-in-on-prison-overcrowding\/","title":{"rendered":"Media-conscious Zamora traveling the state; plus, AG candidates weigh in on prison overcrowding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Geno Zamora is very conscious of the media.<\/p>\n

After spending years around the media-obsessed Gov. Bill Richardson, how could he not be? The Democrat, one of three seeking his party\u2019s spot on the November ballot in the attorney general race, has been Richardson\u2019s chief legal counsel and a member of two of the governor\u2019s boards.<\/p>\n

When I surprised Zamora by showing up a few minutes early for an appointment at his Las Cruces office last week, he was reading Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the disclaimer: I\u2019m writing about Zamora because he took the time to come to Las Cruces and asked to meet with me while here. I\u2019ll meet with any candidate for a statewide race who wants to chat when he or she is in town.<\/p>\n

Zamora chooses his words carefully. He tries to speak quotably. He is concerned with his image.<\/p>\n

An example: In announcing the opening of his Las Cruces office a few months ago, Zamora called this the third largest city in the state, when it\u2019s in fact the second largest. Though the mistake was a campaign staffer\u2019s, Zamora wanted to talk about it with me. After we discussed it, he gave me a new quote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt it was important to have a campaign office in the second largest city in the state,\u201d he said, emphasizing the word \u201csecond.\u201d He wanted the right quote out there.<\/p>\n

Zamora, as his campaign finance report revealed Monday, is clearly using his ties to the governor to raise money. He was in Las Cruces for a fundraiser at the home of Richardson supporters Emma Johnson Ortiz and her husband.<\/p>\n

A year ago, few delegates at the Democratic Party preprimary convention knew Zamora\u2019s name. This year, he easily won the party\u2019s endorsement for attorney general.<\/p>\n

I can understand winning over hundreds of the most involved Democrats when you\u2019re the favored candidate of Richardson, but what about the voters? Polls have shown Gary King far ahead of Zamora and Lemuel Martinez in the primary race.<\/p>\n

Zamora said he will win because he has visited every county in the state. He is out to prove he will be the attorney general of the entire state, not just Santa Fe and Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

Zamora has backed up those words by opening the Las Cruces campaign office. He\u2019s not the only candidate to say the attorney general should have an office here, but he\u2019s the only one to set the example with his campaign money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided I needed to put my money where my mouth was,\u201d Zamora told me.<\/p>\n

He has all sorts of proposals that sound pretty good. You can read about his plan to clean up state ethics by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One promise that stuck with me was his pledge to send attorneys to every county and hold trainings for public officials on laws regarding public meetings, inspection of public records and other issues.<\/p>\n

After they are trained, Zamora promised me, he will prosecute violators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe further you get from Santa Fe, the less our counties understand the laws, and I have to be the attorney general for the entire state,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cIt\u2019s really affected me, traveling my entire state.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Zamora and I also spoke about the overcrowding of state prisons. Though the attorney general doesn\u2019t directly deal with that issue, I recently inquired about the candidates\u2019 thoughts on the situation as a way to learn more about their philosophies on law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a delicate balance, because the public wants strict enforcement of our laws, yet the public doesn\u2019t want new prisons,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cThe governor and the legislature need to develop appropriate systems for housing criminal offenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said we need more alternative programs, \u201csuch as separate DWI detention facilities and treatment for DWI and drug abuse that will prevent criminals from violating a second, third, or 15th time. \u2026 Treatment is good law enforcement because you\u2019re stopping the criminal behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, Zamora\u2019s original quote included the words \u201ctreatment for DWI.\u201d The media-minded candidate asked me a moment later to amend it to read \u201ctreatment for DWI and drug abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I asked the prison question by e-mail a couple of weeks ago. Zamora came to town to answer it. I\u2019m still waiting to hear from Martinez and Republican Jim Bibb, but King responded by e-mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that we should focus on keeping violent offenders in prison for the maximum time available under their sentences. We should not be releasing these offenders early, and if that means building more cells, we should do so,\u201d King said. \u201cI also believe that the state should not depend on private facilities to provide new capacity. If we need new facilities, we should be planning for their construction by the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

King also spoke of a need for alternative treatment programs for non-violent offenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese might include community service, halfway houses, increased fines, work-release, intensive probation, etc. for crimes where appropriate. I also think we need to have programs that will reduce recidivism. These would include substance abuse treatment, vocational training and family counseling. The programs could be paid for by savings from the incarceration costs deferred by diverting these non-violent offenders from long-term sentences to more effective and less costly alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let you know when Martinez and Bibb respond.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Many candidates had a hard time filing their campaign reports online this week. Some republicans have pointed fingers at the secretary of state for not implementing a good system in time for the primary, but some Democrats and Republicans told me the blame lies with the legislature and the governor, who failed to provide enough funding for the secretary of state to get the job done. Apparently, the House passed legislation that would have provided more funding, but it died in the Senate.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all for today. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geno Zamora is very conscious of the media. After spending years around the media-obsessed Gov. Bill Richardson, how could he not be? The Democrat, one of three seeking his party\u2019s spot on the November ballot in the attorney general race, has been Richardson\u2019s chief legal counsel and a member of two of the governor\u2019s boards. […]<\/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-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","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=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}