{"id":7257,"date":"2009-10-05T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=7257"},"modified":"2009-10-05T23:24:53","modified_gmt":"2009-10-06T05:24:53","slug":"rael-wants-to-expand-lieutenant-governor%e2%80%99s-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/10\/rael-wants-to-expand-lieutenant-governor%e2%80%99s-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Rael wants to expand lieutenant guv\u2019s role"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rael,

Rael, shown during last week\u2019s interview in Las Cruces (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Democratic candidate says he \u2018can manage programs and projects in a manner that lieutenant governors haven\u2019t done in the past\u2019<\/h4>\n

The lieutenant governor hasn\u2019t historically been too involved in managing state government. Lawrence Rael<\/a> thinks that should change.<\/p>\n

The Democratic lieutenant governor candidate says he\u2019s running because his experience as an administrator in a number of different government jobs gives him the knowledge to expand the lieutenant governor\u2019s role in the administration of the executive branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can be an asset in this system,\u201d Rael said in an interview last week in Las Cruces. \u201cI can manage programs and projects in a manner that lieutenant governors haven\u2019t done in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rael, currently the executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments<\/a> in the Albuquerque area, is a former deputy secretary of transportation, former aide to Sen. Jeff Bingaman and former chief administrative officer for the City of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

In his current job, he runs an organization that assists in a variety of planning services ranging from transportation and land-use to workforce and economic development.<\/p>\n

In that capacity, Rael has become a sort of troubleshooter who handles complex issues. When much of the state\u2019s regional housing authority system crumbled in scandal<\/a> in 2006, Gov. Bill Richardson asked Rael to clean up the mess.<\/p>\n

And when the governor and lawmakers began talking several years ago about a proposal to create a commuter rail system<\/a> in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area, there was no obvious government agency to put in charge of it. Rael made the case that his agency could handle it, and so the council of governments was given the task.<\/p>\n

Several years later, the Rail Runner has had more than 2 million riders, and the vast majority of them say they like it<\/a>. Now there\u2019s talk of creating a similar commuter rail system in the Las Cruces-El Paso region.<\/p>\n

Rael thinks it\u2019s a good idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thrilled that people are talking about expanding the commuter rail system,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I think the Las Cruces-to-El Paso corridor offers a lot of value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rael said the Las Cruces area is fascinating and more challenging than other quickly growing areas around the state because it\u2019s part of a region that crosses into Texas and Mexico. It\u2019s becoming a much more important region in a state that\u2019s often been dominated by the north, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth that\u2019s happened here is pretty amazing, and I think it\u2019s really important that this part of the state be more engaged and that the north be more engaged with them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018A progression that is pretty logical\u2019<\/h3>\n

One of the ways Rael said the state can work to improve lives is through encouraging regional cooperation. He cited the various agencies that came together on the Rail Runner project as an example, and said something similar could happen in the Las Cruces-El Paso area.<\/p>\n

There may not be anyone in the state with more experience at making such regional projects happen. With his vision for the job of the lieutenant governor, Rael said he is trying to make \u201ca progression that is pretty logical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he can get there, or even to the general election, Rael is facing a lot of competition in the Democratic primary. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano<\/a>, state Sens. Linda Lopez<\/a> and Gerald Ortiz y Pino<\/a> of Albuquerque, State Rep. Jose Campos<\/a> of Santa Rosa and former state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Col\u00f3n<\/a> are all running.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tim Eichenberg<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, has also been making rumblings about running or considering running, but he has not formally declared his candidacy.<\/p>\n

Rael said his experience places him above the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have an individual with the experience and knowledge I have, I think I can make that position even more influential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Expanding on what Denish has done<\/h3>\n

How would he do it? Rael cited examples from his time running the council of governments, including the Rail Runner project. He will simply make the case that he knows what it takes to get things done and ask for the responsibility to do it.<\/p>\n

With that attitude, and the mindset that the lieutenant governor is \u201can extension of the governor\u2019s office to help manage state government,\u201d Rael said he could help make sure things get done on some important projects.<\/p>\n

Running the state is ultimately the governor\u2019s job, but Rael said the governor has little time to be involved in day-to-day management. And the governor\u2019s chief of staff, he said, \u201chas very limited oversight over department heads,\u201d which leaves department secretaries to \u201creally run the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unless Rael has his way. He said New Mexico, in the current economic climate, \u201ccan\u2019t afford\u201d a lieutenant governor who presides over a 30- or 60-day session of the Senate but has no plan about what to do when it ends.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, has \u201celevated that job\u201d more than has been done in the past through her involvement in the New Mexico Children\u2019s Cabinet<\/a> and in other ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking to expand on what she\u2019s created,\u201d Rael said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lieutenant governor hasn\u2019t historically been too involved in managing state government. Lawrence Rael thinks that should change.<\/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":[108,107],"class_list":["post-7257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7257","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=7257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}