![\"Dianna](\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Duran-Dianna-336x232.jpg\")
<\/a>Courtesy photo<\/p>
Dianna Duran<\/p><\/div>\n
The majority of those who commented on my recent column<\/a> explaining why I’m not calling for Duran’s resignation strongly disagreed with my assertion that she is entitled to due process.\u00a0Greg Lennes of Las Cruces, for example, called my opinion “laughable.”<\/a><\/p>\n “She owes it to New Mexicans to resign for her outrageous misbehavior,” Lennes wrote. “New Mexicans should feel no sympathy for her.”<\/p>\n And in response to my column, Bruce Malott of Albuquerque wrote, “You’re kidding, right?”<\/p>\n “How does she perform her duties amongst the distraction?” Malott asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cindy Madrid of Socorro pointed to\u00a0my own statement that I have “zero confidence” in Duran’s\u00a0ability to do the job New Mexicans have now twice given her.<\/p>\n “There is a confidence problem and, may I add, it is severe,” Madrid wrote<\/a>. “This is why she should not continue in the job. She is compromised even if she is proven to be innocent.”<\/p>\n Duran\u00a0is facing charges including\u00a0fraud, embezzlement, money laundering<\/a> and identity theft<\/a>\u00a0for allegedly\u00a0using campaign funds to keep her personal bank account in the black. There are two legal avenues that could lead to her removal from office: The Legislature is considering impeaching her<\/a>. And if she’s convicted of even one felony — she’s charged with dozens — she becomes ineligible to hold elected\u00a0office. Duran has pleaded not guilty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if Duran is acquitted in a court of law, we now know of donations others reported making to her campaigns that she never disclosed. The official charged with administering our state\u2019s campaign reporting system<\/a> \u2013 and enforcing violations \u2013 apparently wasn\u2019t reporting all of her own donations.<\/p>\n In other words, Duran is forever tainted, many said.<\/p>\n “Even a whiff of impropriety destroys the trust crucial to the execution of this office,” wrote Steve Duran Badal<\/a> of Santa Fe. “There should be no allowing for legalities or technicalities to play themselves out \u2013 the fact that she was engaged in anything resembling irresponsible actions destroys her credibility and ability to hold this position.”<\/p>\n “It is a trust issue for me. She needs to resign,” wrote Virginia Garcia<\/a> of Roswell.<\/p>\n Barbara Alvarez of Las Cruces agreed<\/a>. “She’s a state official in a high place and as such, she should be implicitly trusted by Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Alvarez wrote. “Her actions destroyed what trust we felt toward her (if any).”<\/p>\n “Sorry Heath, I can’t back you on this one,” wrote Joe Reynaud<\/a> of Las Cruces. “With major elections coming up there will be numerous complaints of voter fraud, which will have to be investigated, and findings rendered by her. How can we trust she will faithfully and without bias look into these complaints?”<\/p>\n Not all disagreed with my column.<\/p>\n “I think you’re spot on,” wrote Jim O’Donnell<\/a> of Taos. “I can’t stand her. But we are all due the due process.”<\/p>\n Some said they were torn on the issue of due process, but they still ended up believing\u00a0Duran should resign. That included Gail Wheeler of Las Cruces and Francisco Apodaca of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n “She is entitled to due process just like any other accused criminal, but I’m tired of politicians not being held to a higher standard than other citizens and in many cases being held to much lower standards,” Wheeler wrote<\/a>. “She is not able to perform her duties to the state and should resign.”<\/p>\n Apodaca called the issue “difficult.”<\/a><\/p>\n “I believe in due process so that both sides can be heard,” he wrote. “In this case, however, with the type of evidence against her, the public outcry mounting, and the cost to the public mounting, its time for her to resign and save what little face she has left.”<\/p>\n No one can force Duran to resign, and thus far she’s refusing calls to quit. The mechanisms\u00a0to remove a statewide elected official whose only boss is the electorate are impeachment or a felony conviction.<\/p>\n Duran’s criminal case won’t likely be resolved quickly. The next legal battle is over a motion to disqualify<\/a> Attorney General Hector Balderas from\u00a0prosecuting the case. A preliminary hearing has already been pushed back<\/a> from later this month to December.<\/p>\n Lawmakers investigating possible impeachment have set an expectation that their work will take months. But with the 2016 presidential election on the horizon, and Duran currently making preparations<\/a> to oversee it in New Mexico, some NMPolitics.net readers are hoping for speed.<\/p>\n “The message here seems to be that the Legislature should act quickly,” wrote Claudia Anderson<\/a> of Farmington. “I hope they get it.”<\/p>\n‘It is a trust issue’<\/h3>\n
Torn on the issue of\u00a0due process<\/h3>\n
‘The Legislature should act\u00a0quickly’<\/h3>\n