{"id":4699,"date":"2009-06-30T22:41:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-01T04:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/should-ben-lujan-remain-speaker-of-the-house\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:46:15","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:46:15","slug":"should-ben-lujan-remain-speaker-of-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/should-ben-lujan-remain-speaker-of-the-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Ben Lujan remain speaker of the House?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The fact that Lujan is still the state\u2019s most powerful lawmaker despite the appearance of impropriety that surrounds him taints House Democrats<\/span><\/p>\n

Does the value of property increase when a highway interchange is built near it?<\/p>\n

Of course it does. So the fact that the state Department of Transportation abruptly moved the site of a proposed interchange to four-tenths of a mile from land owned by House Speaker Ben Lujan<\/a>, D-Nambe, in 2007 should raise eyebrows.<\/p>\n

Of course, Lujan has been doing things for years that should raise the eyebrows of anyone who cares about honest and ethical government, so perhaps the revelations contained in Sunday\u2019s Albuquerque Journal<\/a> article about the DOT project shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, in the context of the cloud of scandal that has descended upon state government in recent years, it\u2019s simply embarrassing that House Democrats continue to make Lujan the most powerful lawmaker in New Mexico despite the appearance of impropriety that surrounds him.<\/p>\n

Consider the most eye-popping situations involving Lujan in recent years:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Housing scandal:<\/span> In 2006 we learned that a top aide to Lujan was living rent-free in a home owned by the scandal-plagued<\/a> Region III Housing Authority, even though she was earning more than $71,000 per year. The agency was supposed to be providing housing for low-income New Mexicans.<\/p>\n

Lujan was a close friend of then-Region III Director Vincent \u201cSmiley\u201d Gallegos, a former legislator who, after he left that job and became a lobbyist, spent a lot of time in Lujan\u2019s office during legislative sessions. The aide, Lujan\u2019s office manager, says that\u2019s how she and Gallegos came to work out a deal for the house, and claims she and her boyfriend were \u201cdefrauded and victimized\u201d<\/a> by the housing authority.<\/p>\n

During the 2007 legislative session, Lujan was accused by many of trying to kill reform<\/a> to help his friend, an allegation Lujan has always denied<\/a>. The reform was approved anyway<\/a>. Gallegos and others were recently indicted<\/a> in the case.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The tirade:<\/span> Then there was a situation earlier this year that ended with Lujan losing his cool and publicly accusing Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming, in front of journalists, of being \u201cfull of shit\u201d and \u201ca racist S.O.B.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to that, the House twice voted down a Lujan proposal to help pay for a project at the Santa Fe Railyard that a developer wanted. Lujan responded by slipping the proposal into a completely unrelated bill during a committee meeting. After twice failing the test of public scrutiny, the proposal quietly sailed through the House on the third try.<\/p>\n

It was after Smith opened a conference committee<\/a> on the bill to the public and thwarted Lujan\u2019s final attempt to help the developer that Lujan went on his public tirade against the senator.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The secret $75 million appropriation:<\/span> Lujan has done such things before. Three years ago, the Legislature shot down a proposal to appropriate $75 million for water lawsuit settlements. Lujan responded by secretly slipping it by them<\/a> in another bill. That act was so egregious that his best friend at the Capitol — Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> — used his authority to line-item veto the provision out of the bill.<\/p>\n

Reason for interchange move is unclear<\/span><\/p>\n

But back to the road project. According to the Journal, officials plan to build the $7.8 million interchange \u201cjust up the hill\u201d from the property owned by Lujan and his wife, even though \u201cthere\u2019s no intersection, stoplight or even a side street at the proposed interchange site, which is on Pojoaque Pueblo\u2019s northern boundary. The scene is just rolling hills, gullies, and acres and acres of undeveloped land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original plan was to build the interchange at the intersection of U.S. 84\/285 and La Puebla Road<\/a> — a site selected, according to the Journal, \u201cbecause of its congestion and concerns about safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the DOT in late 2007 abruptly relocated the proposed interchange to about four-tenths of a mile from Lujan\u2019s property — a move the powerful Santa Fe Democrat insists he had nothing to do with and says won\u2019t benefit him,\u201d the Journal article states.<\/p>\n

Why that was done is \u201cunclear,\u201d according to the Journal.<\/p>\n

(Eyebrows raised, please.)<\/p>\n

The state is in the process of condemning .41 acres<\/a> of Lujan\u2019s property for the project, ostensibly against his will, and he\u2019ll be paid for it. That will leave Lujan with more than two acres, according to the Journal.<\/p>\n

The state is also building a new frontage road that will connect Lujan\u2019s property to the interchange.<\/p>\n

Lujan told the newspaper that, because the state is condemning part of his property, it is \u201cridiculous\u201d to think he would benefit from the interchange being located near his land. But Santa Fe County Assessor Domingo Martinez told the Journal that an interchange near property used for business (Lujan\u2019s land is zoned for residential and commercial uses) does tend to increase its value because of increased traffic.<\/p>\n

Integrity has not been restored<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2006, in part because of concerns about the housing authority scandal and the $75 million secret appropriation, some House Democrats pushed for a challenge to Lujan\u2019s leadership. Ultimately, Majority Leader Ken Martinez<\/a> of Grants stepped up, but he wasn\u2019t successful.<\/p>\n

At the time, one of Lujan\u2019s key supporters in the speaker battle, Luciano \u201cLucky\u201d Varela<\/a> of Santa Fe, said his support was conditional: He wanted the House Democratic caucus to display more integrity<\/a> than it had in the past and to assert more independence from the governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told (Lujan) that I would be emphatic about restoring the integrity of the Legislature and emphatic about the separation of powers of government,\u201d Varela said.<\/p>\n

Integrity hasn\u2019t been restored. The fact that House Democrats continue to keep Lujan as the speaker<\/a> means they\u2019re tainted along with him.<\/p>\n

Many House Democrats stood up to Lujan this year on key votes, helping twice kill the Railyard proposal and also twice killing a controversial tax plan<\/a> to fund an Albuquerque development. Clearly, there\u2019s dissent.<\/p>\n

And yet, Lujan remains the speaker. Why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fact that Lujan is still the state\u2019s most powerful lawmaker despite the appearance of impropriety that surrounds him taints House Democrats Does the value of property increase when a highway interchange is built near it? Of course it does. So the fact that the state Department of Transportation abruptly moved the site of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699","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=4699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}