{"id":468055,"date":"2017-11-24T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T19:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=468055"},"modified":"2017-11-27T08:59:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:59:00","slug":"the-system-protected-michael-padilla-for-too-long-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/11\/the-system-protected-michael-padilla-for-too-long-no-more\/","title":{"rendered":"The system protected Michael Padilla for too long. No more."},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve known about state Sen. Michael Padilla\u2019s troubling history for years. When he was tasked with overhauling Albuquerque\u2019s 911 dispatch center a decade ago, before he was a senator, female employees accused him<\/a> of repeatedly asking for dates despite objections, making sex jokes, and saying women belonged at home, having babies and making tortillas.<\/p>\n

Padilla has always denied the accusations, saying he was \u201crailroaded.\u201d<\/a> But these aren\u2019t frivolous, unexamined claims.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

A City of Albuquerque investigation validated some allegations<\/a>. The city settled one lawsuit for $149,000. A jury sided with one of Padilla\u2019s accusers in a second lawsuit<\/a>, finding the city liable for subjecting the woman to a \u201csexually hostile work environment.\u201d The city paid $1,200 to the woman and more than $101,000 in legal fees.<\/p>\n

And a background check discovered Padilla faced \u201callegations of improper conduct and harassment\u201d before he worked for the city, a legal document<\/a> in one of those cases states.<\/p>\n

I never got around to writing about Padilla\u2019s troubling past during his successful Senate campaigns in 2012 and 2014, or when Senate Democrats elected him to their leadership team earlier this year, or when he announced his campaign for lieutenant governor months ago.<\/p>\n

This journalist did nothing. The system that protects men did just that, and I played my part.<\/p>\n

Then something astounding happened. A woman spoke up, and people listened.<\/p>\n

My girlfriend, Sarah Silva, didn\u2019t know about Padilla\u2019s history until I mentioned it months ago \u2013 while toying around with the idea, once again, of doing a story I\u2019d never get around to writing. Sarah complained on Facebook about Democrats allowing Padilla\u2019s ascent. Other women asked her about it. She sent them information.<\/p>\n

Sarah\u2019s most powerful post came on Nov. 16<\/a>. She said she wouldn\u2019t vote for a Democratic ticket that included Padilla and tagged the frontrunner for the party\u2019s gubernatorial nomination, Michelle Lujan Grisham. The Associated Press interviewed Sarah about the situation, and Lujan Grisham too.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham danced with Padilla<\/a> weeks earlier at his annual matanza. But the day after Sarah\u2019s Facebook post, she told the AP that Padilla should quit the lieutenant governor\u2019s race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Joseph Cervantes \u2013 one of Padilla\u2019s Senate colleagues \u2013 told the AP he believed Padilla\u2019s accusers. Though Padilla\u2019s history was known, Cervantes told Sarah on Facebook<\/a> that too many of his colleagues \u201cwere nonetheless accepting. Some of us were not.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Angelica Rubio<\/a> and Las Cruces City Councilor Kasandra Gandara<\/a> rescinded endorsements of Padilla in heartfelt Facebook posts. Gandara credited Sarah with making her aware of Padilla\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

Padilla remains in the race, but his days as a candidate are numbered<\/a>. He\u2019s also facing calls to resign<\/a> from the Senate.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re in a reckoning. Men have exploited power to harass and assault women without consequence for too long. Recent events suggest that may be changing. I hope so.<\/p>\n

To Sarah and other women who are speaking out: Thank you for your courage. I\u2019m sorry I never wrote the article I intended. I\u2019ll work to become a better journalist.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful that you\u2019re speaking, and that others are hearing you. I hear you. Please, keep it up.<\/p>\n

Heath Haussamen<\/a>\u00a0is NMPolitics.net\u2019s editor and publisher.\u00a0Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Men have exploited power to harass and assault women without consequence for too long. Recent events suggest that may be changing. I hope so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[3321,107,292],"class_list":["post-468055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-michael-padilla","tag-roundhouse","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468055","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=468055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}