{"id":7567,"date":"2009-10-08T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2009-10-08T18:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=7567"},"modified":"2009-10-09T09:39:39","modified_gmt":"2009-10-09T15:39:39","slug":"arnold-jones-says-government-is-%e2%80%98a-public-trust%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/10\/arnold-jones-says-government-is-%e2%80%98a-public-trust%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"Arnold-Jones: Government is \u2018a public trust\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Arnold-Jones,

Arnold-Jones, shown here webcasting a legislative committee meeting earlier this year. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate says she has \u2018a view of how to solve a whole bunch of smaller issues that will make it much easier to solve the bigger ones\u2019<\/h4>\n

Many conservatives like to say government should be run like a business. Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a>, however, says that\u2019s not right at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment is not like any business that I know,\u201d she said in a recent interview in Las Cruces. \u201cGovernment is a public trust. It\u2019s very different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though business principles should be applied in government, Arnold-Jones said, the difference in government is that the interests of the public must always be first.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones, a state representative from Albuquerque, is probably best known outside her legislative district for forcing webcasting on her colleagues<\/a> earlier this year \u2013 an effort that earned her statewide media attention.<\/p>\n

Increasing government transparency \u2013 through webcasting and other means \u2013 is one of several aspects of Arnold-Jones\u2019 campaign platform that she said all fall under the umbrella of \u201cconnectivity.\u201d Those aspects include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Communication \u2013 Improving Internet and telephone access and emergency response capabilities throughout the state.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Transmission \u2013 New Mexico is energy rich, but has to figure out a better way to efficiently get that power to market.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Participation \u2013 This is where webcasting comes in. Arnold-Jones wants to focus on ways to help New Mexicans more easily access and participate in their government in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones has arguably had a lot of success with the last as a state lawmaker. She carried a laptop and webcam to her committee meetings and broadcast them on the Internet earlier this year, daring the powers-that-be to stop her. That sparked a debate that ultimately led to official webcasting from the House and Senate floors.<\/p>\n

Despite that success, Arnold-Jones said she\u2019s run up against the limitations of being a lawmaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the frustration of being a legislator is you know the right things to do but you don\u2019t have the venue the governor does. It takes a long time to do what\u2019s oftentimes the obvious,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe we\u2019re supposed to leave the state better. \u2026 I think I know how to take us there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition<\/h3>\n

Arnold-Jones is facing stiff competition in the GOP primary. The others who have entered the race are Do\u00f1a Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez<\/a>, public relations professional Doug Turner<\/a> and former state GOP Chairman Allen Weh<\/a>. Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a> still says she\u2019s considering running.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> is the only Democrat who has entered the 2010 gubernatorial race.<\/p>\n

Analysts have said it\u2019s difficult to gauge the others\u2019 chances<\/a> in the GOP primary until the heavyweight, Wilson, makes a decision.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones said when she considered running for Congress in 2007, she set a fundraising goal and focused almost entirely on that. When she didn\u2019t reach it, she decided against running<\/a>. In the process, she said, she \u201cforgot about the most important reason to run\u201d — the platform it gives her to discuss ideas on how to improve the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am raising money. Is it enough? No idea,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 But I am in this to stay. Throw me in the arena. That\u2019s exactly where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first campaign finance reports are due next week.<\/p>\n

The issues<\/h3>\n

In addition to issues related to connectivity, Arnold-Jones is talking a lot about education. She wants to set a goal of moving into the top five in math, science and engineering education by 2012. She acknowledges that\u2019s a high bar to set, but she said the current system is not working and must change.<\/p>\n

One of Arnold-Jones\u2019 ideas is revamping the way the state teaches teachers. She wants more subject-matter experts in the schools.<\/p>\n

But she said the biggest problem with education is cultural. For example, Arnold-Jones said parents in New Mexico often won\u2019t encourage their children to take certain courses because they don\u2019t know how to help their children in those courses. The state needs to connect parents with resources they can use to help their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to talk about all the things that are unseen,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a single-bullet type of resolution, but we have got to decide over the whole of the state that we can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones is also talking about taxes and business regulations. Fewer people in New Mexico are paying more taxes than when she first joined the Legislature in 2003. She said there are several tax credits in New Mexico that don\u2019t make sense, including the credit for the film industry.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not suggesting eliminating any tax credits now, saying at this point doing so would \u201cmean that opportunities will go away,\u201d but she doesn\u2019t believe many of them should have been implemented in the first place. Now that they\u2019re here, she wants to ensure they are sustainable — that they\u2019ll keep businesses in the state, not just attract them here in the short-term.<\/p>\n

Increasing transparency and accessibility<\/h3>\n

Arnold-Jones said that complex view of addressing government problems is one of her strengths. While she isn\u2019t tossing around flashy solutions to many of the state\u2019s larger problems, she said she has \u201ca view of how to solve a whole bunch of smaller issues that will make it much easier to solve the bigger ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cModern-day campaigns say you have to talk about three things only. I\u2019m here to tell you it\u2019s more complex than that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With Arnold-Jones, many conversations come back to creating an ethical and transparent government that can better focus on solving the state\u2019s problems. While she\u2019s big on transparency issues, she\u2019s not as excited about other ethics proposals such as the creation of an ethics commission.<\/p>\n

Creating an ethics commission, she said, would construct \u201cyet another bureaucracy\u201d with \u201cits own internal issues with ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hasn\u2019t totally closed the door on the idea of an ethics commission. But she noted that there are already other checks on ethical conduct in New Mexico, such as the attorney general and state auditor. Then she noted that those agencies are limited by budget constraints.<\/p>\n

So Arnold-Jones is not sure what the solution is. But she is certain of one thing: Voters have the power to hold her and other elected officials accountable for what they do. And the best way government can help them do that is through increasing transparency and accessibility.<\/p>\n

To that end, Arnold-Jones cited another example of a change that would help \u2013 the inclusion of Do\u00f1a Ana County in the Albuquerque media market. It\u2019s currently the only county in the state whose residents don\u2019t get Albuquerque television, and that contributes to a disconnect between them and state government.<\/p>\n

The Clovis area is in the Albuquerque and Amarillo media markets. Arnold-Jones sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year asking for a similar dual media market \u2013 El Paso and Albuquerque \u2013 in Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are cut off from your government,\u201d she said. \u201cThat needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many conservatives like to say government should be run like a business. Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones, however, says that\u2019s not right at all. \u201cGovernment is a public trust,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very different.\u201d<\/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-7567","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\/7567","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=7567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}