{"id":40083,"date":"2012-05-21T10:25:18","date_gmt":"2012-05-21T16:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=40083"},"modified":"2012-05-21T10:26:48","modified_gmt":"2012-05-21T16:26:48","slug":"some-say-no-conflict-in-coss-holding-two-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/some-say-no-conflict-in-coss-holding-two-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Some say no conflict in Coss holding two jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"David<\/a>

David Coss<\/p><\/div>\n

Some disagree with the assertion that Santa Fe Mayor David Coss will have a conflict of interest if he is elected to the N.M. House.<\/h4>\n

In a recent article<\/a> published by NMPolitics.net, a political science professor was quoted as saying it would be \u201cfundamentally problematic\u201d for Santa Fe Mayor David Coss<\/a> to also serve as a state representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you balance the needs of the state over the needs of your city and your residents?\u201d UNM Political Science Professor Lonna Atkeson questioned. \u201cI don\u2019t see how you can balance that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others disagree and say there will be no conflict if Coss is elected to represent House District 46.<\/p>\n

In an unsolicited e-mail, Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, said there\u2019s no conflict. Here\u2019s the statement she sent:<\/p>\n

\u201cCommon Cause New Mexico doesn\u2019t see anything inherently wrong with someone serving as a part-time mayor and also a part-time, unpaid Legislator.\u00a0There is nothing in city or state law that prohibits someone from holding both offices, and our mission is to encourage all New Mexicans to become part of the political process.\u00a0We believe there is nothing unethical about following the laws in our state, and we will continue to encourage all citizens, of any party, to become active participants in government.\u00a0There are rules and ethical guidelines in place for all members of the Legislature, and the House and Senate ethics rules, ensure any conflicts of interest will be addressed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition, Coss\u2019 campaign sent a statement from Fred Harris, a former U.S. senator and current UNM professor emeritus of political science, saying \u201cof course not\u201d in response to the question of whether there would be a conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot according to New Mexico constitution and law. Not according to New Mexico history. (Jose Campos, Santa Rosa, is a recent example of successful and non-controversial service as both mayor and state legislator),\u201d Harris said. \u201cNot an improper \u2018conflict of interest\u2019 unless it would be improper to serve both as a legislator and, say, a federal lab or business employee, or even as a lawyer. Of course not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not when district voters themselves \u2013 they are the real deciders \u2013 know the facts and decide to elect a mayor as a state representative (because they think the person is best qualified and can best represent their interests),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Debate about debates<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, Coss is complaining that his Democratic primary opponent, Carl Trujillo<\/a>, has refused to debate him publicly. He issued this challenge Friday:<\/p>\n

\u201cTrujillo has asserted to the media that he will not participate in debates. He rejected an invitation from the Santa Fe County Democratic Party for a public debate, even though he\u2019s running to represent Democrats. He did however attend a privately organized debate hosted by and for the\u00a0New Mexico Realtors Association.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Carl<\/a>

Carl Trujillo<\/p><\/div>\n

Coss challenged Trujillo to accept an invitation to an upcoming debate proposed by The Santa Fe New Mexican. Trujillo\u2019s campaign manager, Faith McKenna, told NMPolitics.net the realtors\u2019 event was a \u201csmall community event, not a debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe received mayor Coss\u2019 challenge. As you probably know already, our policy is to not engage in gladiator-style \u2018debates\u2019 where politicians bicker with each other while the people watch, and we aren\u2019t yet seeing a way in which Mayor Coss\u2019 proposed event would be different or healthier for our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re interested in engaging with the community, and as such, we\u2019re happy to give this event some thought, as we always give thought and consideration to any opportunity to engage with the community (such as the realtors\u2019 forum, which was an honest, non-politically motivated forum and not a spectacle arranged to score political points.).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, the word \u2018challenge\u2019 in the title of Mayor Coss\u2019 press release is troubling, as it indicates that what Coss really wants isn\u2019t an honest dialogue of benefit to (and including) the people, but rather an adversarial situation designed to score political points for his campaign.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some disagree with the assertion that Santa Fe Mayor David Coss will have a conflict of interest if he is elected to the N.M. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[156,107,179],"class_list":["post-40083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2012-election","tag-roundhouse","tag-santa-fe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40083","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=40083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40083\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}