Morning Word
Parts of New Mexico, including Albuquerque, got a much-needed rain shower on Thursday night.
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It won't be enough to break the drought, no one rain could ever be, but it was a nice respite from the constant dry heat that seems to have been around forever.
Sure our swamp coolers didn't work at peak efficiency last night, but at least we got the rain that we so clearly needed.
And it was completely worth the run through the rain.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Heather Wilson could face a fine for not filing her financial disclosure form that is required for all federal candidates. Wilson said that she did not file because she did not know she had to. In a one-page letter to the secretary of the U.S. Senate dated Monday, Wilson said she did not receive a letter, instructions and forms from the Senate ethics committee requesting this year's disclosure statement. Then, referring to the general counsel of the Senate ethics committee, with whom she spoke Monday morning, the candidate said, "He will check with the staff to determine why I did not receive forms from the committee before any penalty is assessed." Wilson provided the form to the New Mexican and it showed that Wilson has eight mortgages, not including her personal residence.
The Republican Party of New Mexico says that it has an email scandal of its own, saying that a number of Democrats have used government emails for political purposes and is asking Attorney General Gary King to investigate. The Susana Martinez email scandal involved using political emails (Susana PAC and other personal email addresses) for public business.
The Republican Party's information seems less like new news but more of an expansion of the improper use of government funds by a union president in Albuquerque that broke earlier this year. Arencon was suspended for the offense.
By waiting until now to ask for an Attorney General investigation, the Republican Party of New Mexico seems to be making sure that it happens closer to election time.
Four Democrats want to replace New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Patricio Serna. While Martinez will appoint a replacement for Serna when he steps down at the end of August, the appointee will have to run for the seat in November. The Democratic Party State Central Committee will choose the Democratic candidate for November.
The American Federation of Teachers, no friend of Martinez, weighed in on Martinez's email scandal.
“It is evident that government resources including computers and staff were utilized to pull lists of educational employees for SusanaPAC,” said AFT NM President Stephanie Ly. “Using government resources to develop a targeted list for political purposes is a potential ethical violation.”
And the Rio Grande Sun's R. Braiden Trapp is cynical about Martinez's executive order that says employees should only use state emails to do public work. She’s technically correct that there is no state law forcing her and her staff to conduct state business using their state email accounts. Private accounts are used just to get around the Inspection of Public Records Act. State attorney Jessica Hernandez said the governor’s folks use private email accounts only for discussions they considered to be “transitory” in nature. The state’s administrative code’s guidance on records retention allows this to a certain extent. Hernandez said these private emails fit within the attorney general’s Act exception for personal notes and drafts.
More info on efforts to address flooding in burned areas of New Mexico.
Because of a fight over funding for furnishings, the move into the $60 million district courthouse in Santa Fe will likely be delayed. The state Board of Finance agreed Thursday to an $87,000 loan to the First Judicial District Court for security equipment for the courthouse, but it didn't provide $739,788 requested for new furniture and computer equipment. The governor and the district court do not agree on whether or not the state is required to pay for furnishing the courthouse. Martinez line-item vetoed funding for the furnishings after this year's legislative session.
The Democratic members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are not fans of a Republican piece of legislation that would relax environmental laws within 100 miles of the border with Mexico. Only Rep. Steve Pearce, the lone Republican among the current delegation, likes the proposal.
Even though Bob Wooley and Dennis Kintigh ran a clean campaign in the Republican primary for state House district 66, which was redrawn in a way that made it so the two friends and incumbent Republicans would have to face each other, Wooley said that his relationship with Kintigh may never be the same.
Martinez has been invited to speak at the Mountain West CPAC event in Denver just ahead of election day.
The State Board of Pharmacy will strengthen rules tracking prescription drugs in an attempt to stem the epidemic of prescription drug abuse in New Mexico.
Jehovah's Witness conventions are an economic boom to Rio Rancho. The Santa Fe Reporter says that there have been 9 Jehovah's Witness conventions at the Santa Ana Star Center since 2007.
Which is a good thing since the Star Center has been a financial albatross to the city of Rio Rancho since it opened its doors in 2006. A 2011 New York Times piece said that the arena was taking up 7 percent of Rio Rancho's entire budget.
PERA, which runs the pensions of public employees in New Mexico, is considering cutting the pensions of current enrollees, a drastic change to the pension plan that would affect tens of thousands of government workers. The change is in an attempt to keep the fund solvent.
There could be a change in the law in the making after a judge said that a prostitution website run by former UNM President F. Chris Garcia was legal.
Comcast is raising their rates. Hope this doesn't mean that I'll have to get rid of the sports package...
An affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn't like New Mexico's colleges.
