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The big news of Monday was Susana Martinez
outlining new rules on how her administration will handle emails
.--- The bigger issue of how to make New Mexico a more open state continues, however.There are still many opponents to opening up government in the government. And it seems the desire to keep things secret comes in full force once someone is sworn in as governor.More news that the New Mexican broke today makes that even more evident.With that, on to the Word:
- Wow
- .
While Martinez described using personal emails as an occasional practice, a former Martinez Cabinet secretary, in a sworn affidavit last week, said she was at a Cabinet meeting in which the governor's chief of staff told employees to use private email whenever possible for the purpose of avoiding public records requests.
- I don't think that the New Mexican is very popular on the Fourth Floor of the Roundhouse these days. The governor's spokesman, Scott Darnell, hotly disputed the claim.
- As the Little Bear fire continues to burn, Steve Pearce continues
- to blame the U.S. Forest Service
- .
- Steve Terrell
- writes about the potential lawsuit
- (which NM Telegram
- wrote about last week
- ) against Phil Griego and the Albuquerque Journal over an ad by Griego that ran in the Journal North ahead of his successful attempt to beat back two challengers for his state Senate seat.
- All federal officeholders, and candidates for office, are now required to report on their mortgages and the Santa Fe New Mexican looked at the mortgages of U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich. Heinrich's opponent in the general election in November, Heather Wilson, was unable to provide her personal disclosure form.
- Bingaman is also getting some kudos from a conservation group. Bingaman was the recipient of the Stewart Udall Award from the Conservation Lands Foundation. Stewart Udall was the father of Bingaman's colleague in the Senate Tom Udall and was the Secretary of the Interior under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
- "Throughout his career, Senator Bingaman’s persistence and dedication have played an important role in protecting our natural and cultural heritage for future generations,” said Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior, and member of the board of the Conservation Lands Foundation. “His leadership in the Senate has resulted in the protection of millions of acres of pristine wilderness, scenic areas and historic treasures.”
- The state announced four more public meetings
- to discuss its controversial Medicaid revamp
- .
- Albuquerque's water bills may go up soon
- to help pay to replace aging infrastructure
- .
- Remember that breach of PERA data from yesterday's Word?
- It wasn't some high tech hacking
- . The data was on a laptop that was stolen out of a pickup truck. The good news is the laptop was probably wiped then resold, with the person who stole it not any the wiser of what he or she had in his or her possession.
- A judge refused to reduce the bond of former Sunland Park mayor-elect Daniel Salinas -- and
- more details on his alleged crime emerged
- .
According to [New Mexico State Police investigator Ricky] Herrera, former city spokesman Arturo Alba has said he was threatened at one point by Salinas for failing to act quickly enough in digging up unflattering information about Salinas' main challenger in the city's March 6 municipal election. The threat occurred in a Santa Fe hotel room, Herrera said. Herrera didn't specify a date for the Santa Fe incident, but he said Alba was afraid to cross Salinas.
- Every new revelation makes things look worse and worse for Salinas.
- Federal agents say a former Sandia Labs employee was
- giving sensitive information to China
- .
- More information on New Mexico In Depth, as Trip Jennings spoke to New Mexico In Focus' Gene Grant about the
- new news organization on Friday's edition of New Mexico In Focus
- .
- I missed this on Friday, with the big move and all. But apparently
- our rightful governor is Kenneth Gomez
- . Oh, he's President too.
He says he will free all prison inmates, end abortions and nullify any laws that have passed since the "impostors" -- Obama and Martinez I suppose -- took office.
- Gomez was a write-in candidate for governor in 2010 who received slightly more votes than you and I combined.
- End of an era...
I guess Geraldine Amato really did retire. Third consecutive city-county meeting without her.
— Dan McKay (@mckaydan) June 19, 2012
