Now that United States Senator Tom Udall has decided to retire, the New Mexico political scene has any number highly ambitious elected Democratic officials that will being eyeing to run to replace him.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1296100/udall-will-not-seek-a-third-term.html

For a brief history of Tom Udall’s service to New Mexico see the below postscript:

Following is a list of potential candidates where there is a good chance, they are thinking about running and would have a reasonable shot to organize a statewide race and raise the millions to run.

The list is by no means intended to be exhaustive and no doubt there are many others out there, but for now here is the initial list of potential candidates:

POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES

CONGRESSMAN BEN RAY LUJAN: Luján has served as the U.S. Representative for New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district since 2009, and became the Assistant House Speaker since 2019, appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was elected to be Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2014, and led the Democrats to win a majority in the US House in the 2018 elections. Luján previously served as a member of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission from 2005 to 2008. Lujan is extremely well liked within the Democratic party and no doubt would be able to run a state-wide campaign and raise the necessary money to run. All congressman usually have ambitions to become United States Senators, unless you rise to the top in a leadership position such as Lujan has done. Congressmen have to run every two years while a Senate seat is far more powerful and is for a six-year term. Lujan is no fan of Trump, and his vote in the Senate may be needed if there is ever an impeachment trial in the Senate. If Congressman Ben Ray Lujan does run, he will likely win.

SECRETARY OF STATE MAGGIE TOULOUSE OLIVER: Toulouse Oliver has always been considered an up and comer within the Democratic Party. First elected in 2016, Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver has focused on providing increased transparency in financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting, modernizing the online campaign finance system, encouraging New Mexicans to get registered and vote, and advocating for good government and stronger ethics legislation. A lifelong New Mexico resident, Toulouse Oliver previously served as Bernalillo County Clerk from 2007 to 2016. She attended Albuquerque Public Schools and earned both her BA and MA in Political Science from the University of New Mexico. Currently living in Santa Fe, the Secretary of State is the proud mother of two sons. The chances are she may be the only woman running for Senate and for that reason alone, she would be a top tier candidate given the wave of woman who are being elected to congress. She would be the first female elected to the United State Senate from New Mexico.

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE BRIAN EGOLF: Sources is Santa Fe have said that Egolf has talked more than once about running for the US Senate if Udall decided not to run. Egolf was considered a potential congressional candidate in the 2014 election. Speaker Egolf was elected Speaker of the House by acclamation and just completed one of the most productive sessions in state history and he has the right to be proud. Among his legislative successes, Speaker Egolf championed equal pay for equal work for the women of New Mexico, reduced government corruption through the creation of a statewide independent ethics commission, and passed legislation to penalize the distribution of sensitive images, such as child pornography. As a private practice attorney, Egolf filed suit in New Mexico district court on behalf of a gay couple that was denied a marriage license. The case helped turn the tide toward marriage equality in New Mexico and just a few months later, the state’s Supreme court ruled to legalize gay marriage, making New Mexico the 17th state to do so. Egolf has the progressive record and would have the ability to raise money, but the ability to organize a state-wide race would remain to be seen.

LT. GOVERNOR HOWIE MORALES: Morales is the 30th lieutenant governor of New Mexico, since January 1, 2019. He would not have to resign as Lt. Governor to run for Senate. Morales previously served as a member of the New Mexico Senate, representing the 28th District which includes Catron, Grant, and Socorro counties from 2008 to 2019. On January 9, 2008, Governor Bill Richardson appointed Morales to the Senate as the result of the death of New Mexico State Senator Ben D. Altamirano who died of a heart attack. In October 2013, Morales officially announced he would run for the office of Governor of New Mexico and in June, 2014 he lost the primary to state Attorney General Gary King. During his 11-year career in the New Mexico Senate, Morales held seats on the Legislative Finance Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, both dealing with state budget matters. He sponsored bills addressing public education, environment and universal health care. Having run two state wide races, Morales would be able to put together a viable campaign for the United States Senate, but fund raising may be problematic for him.

BERNALILLO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY RAUL TORREZ: Torrez is in his third year as Bernalillo County District Attorney and he will have to run for reelection in 2020 or he can run for US Seante. Torrez has had very mixed reviews from the New Mexico bar because of his severe criticism of Judges blaming them at one time for our high crime rates. Notwithstanding, Torrez is perceived by the public as doing a very good job and likely will get elected again in 2020 if he runs because of the extensive media coverage he gets. Torrez’s chances for reelection could all change overnight with the handling of high-profile cases such as the prosecution of the 9-year-old Victoria Martens Case, the child who was murdered and dismembered. Torrez may conclude that it may be easier to run a statewide race for United States Senate and not deal with the volatility of the District Attorney’s office and career ending cases. Two years ago, Torrez raised and spent $500,000 to run for District Attorney, which also included over $100,000 from George Soros.

BUSINESSMAN JEFF APODACA: Jeff Apodaca, son of a former New Mexico Governor Jerry Apodaca, is an Albuquerque businessman who ran for Governor in 2018. He secured 22% of the vote in the primary, which may reflect a base of support in a crowded US Senate field, possibly enough to win the nomination. Apodaca now works for New Mexico Democrats for Democracy, a political action committee that backed Apodaca for governor. Apodaca is a graduate of Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the University of New Mexico (UNM), where he graduated in 1986 with a B.A. in broadcast management. Apodaca has an impressive business resume with a 30-year career in media. After graduating from college, Apodaca joined CBS, eventually becoming a senior executive for the network’s Entertainment, Sports, and Olympics Division. Apodaca’s work includes two years at America Online, eight years as a Vice President at Univision, and 6 years at Entravision Communications. A major obstacle Apodaca will have is to overcome is the fact he was not gracious enough in defeat to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham who he criticized after the primary.

LAS CRUCES STATE SENATOR JOE CERVANTES: Democrat State Senator Cervantes is a highly respected trial attorney and capable legislator who ran for Governor last year, but came in third securing only 11% in the Democratic primary. Cervantes was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cervantes graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1979, and the University of New Mexico with a bachelor of arts in architecture in 1983. In 1985, Cervantes received a Master of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University. He was licensed as an architect by the State of California in 1987 and became an associate member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1991 Cervantes received a J.D. degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law and has always been in the private practice of law. What would make Cervantes a viable candidate is his wealth and the fact he just ran a statewide race. Senator Cervantes was reported to have spent $2 Million of his own money to run for Governor. Cervantes has also considered running for congress in the past and may decide his opportunity is now.

STATE AUDITOR BRIAN COLON: Colón is of Puerto Rican descent. He was born in New York City and came to Valencia County, New Mexico as a small child. Colon was the first in his family to attend college and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1998 and he then immediately entered the University of New Mexico School of Law and graduated in 2001. Colon is a former Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. In 2010, he ran for and lost his bid for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico. In 2017, he ran for Mayor of Albuquerque and raised close to $1 million to run. He has chaired Pope Joy Hall’s Board of Directors and has served with the Board of Trustees for the Albuquerque Community Foundation. On November 6, 2018, he defeated Republican Wayne Johnson in the general election to become New Mexico State Auditor. Brian Colon and Attorney General Hector Balderas are very close. If Balderas were to run for Senate, it is not likely that Colon would run. Notwithstanding, Colon is the consummate politician, enjoys running for office, has now run a statewide race and won and has the ability to raise large sums of money.

CONGRESSWOMAN DEBRA HAALAND: In 2018, Haaland was elected to her first term to Congress winning the nomination in June 2018, receiving 40.5% of the vote and winning every county in the district and winning the general election receiving 59.1% of the vote and winning three of the district’s five counties. She is the first native American ever elected in New Mexico to serve in the United States Congress and one of only 2 native Americans ever elected to the Congress. Haaland served as the state’s vote director for Native Americans in Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential reelection campaign. She was elected to a two-year term as the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico in April 2015. During her tenure, New Mexico Democrats regained control of the New Mexico House of Representatives. She ran for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico in 2014. Her ticket, headed by then Attorney General of New Mexico Gary King, the party’s nominee for Governor of New Mexico, lost to the Republican ticket of incumbent Republican Governor “She-Who-Must Not-Be-Name and Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez. Although Debra Haaland was just elected to congress, she may think the timing may just be right to become the first Native American female to ever be elected to the United States Senate.

NOT RUNNING

ALBUQUERQUE MAYOR TIM KELLER: Mayor Keller released a statement he will not be a candidate to replace Udall. Notwithstanding, Keller has successfully completed his first year as Albuquerque Mayor, he has done a respectful job but he has expressed more than once a desire to run for higher office and more than one source has said he has national ambitions. Keller has high positive name identity and strong support within the progressive wing of the Democratic party who got him elected Mayor. If he changes his mind and runs, he would be considered a top tier candidate.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HECTOR BALDERAS: On March 28, 2019, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that he will not be a candidate for the the United Sates Senate and will not run for the congressional seat of Congressman Ben Ray Lujan. Balderas was just elected to a second term as Attorney General and served two terms before as State Auditor for 8 full years and was a NM State Representative from Wagon Mound. Balderas ran against Senator Martin Heinrich 6 years ago and he still probably has aspirations to be a US Senator from New Mexico. Balderas announced he intends to finish his term as Attorney General which ends January 1, 2022.

POTENTIAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES

FORMER REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR “SHE-WHO-SHALL-NOT BE NAMED”: She was elected twice as the first Hispanic Female Governor succeeding Governor Bill Richardson. After 8 years, she left office with a 35% approval rating. During local TV exit interviews, she said “retiring was not an option” and like a moth to a flame she may decide to run having been offered nothing in the Donald Trump Administration.

FORMER Lt. GOVERNOR JOHN SANCHEZ: Since leaving office as Lt. Governor, John Sanchez has been a candidate looking for a new job. He talked about running for United States Senate before but soon realized his ties to former Republican Governor “She Who Must Not Be Named” was probably an obstacle too hard to overcome. Notwithstanding, Sanchez is still popular within the Republican party and would be a front runner for the Republican nomination, which may not be worth much in an increasingly blue state and he will be saddled with defending Trump when he runs.

STEVE PEARCE: Do not be surprised if former United States Congressman Steve Pearce jumps into the race for one last time. He has yet to run well state wide having run and lost to Tom Udall for Senate and ran and lost for Governor in 2018 to Michelle Lujan Grisham. He is now Chairman of the Republican Party, and there is still talk he may run again for his old congressional seat.

Other potential Republican candidates mulling the race are former Republican Roswell State Senator Rod Adair, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura and former Republican State Senator and City Councilor Janice Arnold Jones who ran for congress in 2018.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

All too often elected officials do not recognize they have overstayed their welcome and instead of moving on they lose an election trying to hold on for any number of years because they are intoxicated with the power they have had for so many years and cannot give it up.

Former United States Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman both knew when it was time to move on and retired.

Both US Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici after decades of service retired at the height of their game and you can now include Tom Udall.

Despite Udall’s statement last year that he would probably run again, no one should be really surprised that he is not.

Udall’s favorable rating has taken a hit in the last few years, is below 50%, and incumbency is still an advantage but no longer a sure thing.

Gone are the days where long serving Senators are elected by landslides.

At 70, after 40 years of public service, and given the national political conflicts in the age of Trump, Udall knows its time to move on.

The fact that the Mueller Investigation found no collusion by Trump with Russia to hand him the election probably means Trump will not be impeached and removed from office, so why should Udall stick around.

If one or more of the potential candidates listed holding office now do decide to run and are elected to the United States Senate it will result in a domino effect with people trying to replace them.

There is no doubt that Democrats will have a large field of candidates to choose from and it is more likely than not whoever is nominated will become the junior Senator of New Mexico.

The Republicans on the other hand will scramble to find a good candidate.

Heather Wilson was recently appointed President of University of Texas at El Paso, and the rumor is she is measuring for new drapes in a house just over the New Mexico border to run for the Senate a third time in case Steve Pearce tries to recruit her to run if he decides not to do so himself.

Get a hold of your odds maker, place your bets and stay tuned New Mexico!
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POSTSCRIPT

Now that United States Senator Tom Udall has announced that he will not be seeking a third term as United States Senator for New Mexico, his service to New Mexico should be noted.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/25/new-mexico-democratic-sen-tom-udall-will-not-run-for-re-election-in-2020.html

Senator Tom Udall is now 70 and has been around New Mexico politics for close to 40 years.

Udall was born in Tucson, Arizona, is the son of former Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall and he came to New Mexico to attend UNM law school.

Udall started his career in the United States Attorney’ Office for the District of New Mexico as an Assistant United States Attorney.

In 1982, Udall ran for Congress in the newly created 3rd district, based in Santa Fe, and most of north of the state and lost the Democratic primary to Bill Richardson.

In 1988, Udall ran for Congress again, this time in an election for the Albuquerque-based 1st district seat left open by retiring twenty-year incumbent Manuel Lujan, but lost to Bernalillo County District Attorney Steven Schiff.

In 1990 Udall ran for Attorney General of New Mexico, and served two full 4 years terms.

Udall ran for Congress again in 1998 in the 3rd district against conservative Republican incumbent Bill Redmond, who had been elected in a 1997 special election to replace Richardson and Udall defeated Redmond with 53% of the vote.

Udall was elected four more terms to congress with no substantive opposition including running unopposed in 2002.

In November 2007, then Congressman Tom Udall announced he would run for the Senate seat held by retiring six-term incumbent Republican Pete Domenici.

New Mexico’s other two members of the House, 1st and 2nd district’s Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, ran in the Republican primary.

Pearce won the Republican nomination, and lost to Udall, who won 61% of the vote.

Senator Udall won election to a second term to the Senate in 2014 and has now served in the US Senate for 10 years.

Less than two years ago, Udall was saying he wanted to return to New Mexico and run for New Mexico Governor, decided against it, and Michelle Lujan Grisham then announced for Governor.

On July 25, 2018, it was reported Senator Tom Udall had a 46% approval rating, a 30% disapproval rating, with 23% undecided.
You can review the poll at this link:

https://morningconsult.com/2018/07/25/americas-most-and-least-popular-senators-2/

Notwithstanding the poll, Udall was a heavy favorite for re election.

Thank you for your years of service to New Mexico Senator Tom Udall.

Two major gun control measures were enacted by the 2019 New Mexico Legislature, one requiring back ground checks on private sales of guns and the other requiring domestic violence abusers to surrender firearms.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

On March 8, 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 8 enacted by the 2019 New Mexico legislature which requires background checks for guns sold privately and at gun shows.

Private gun sales will have to go through a federal firearms licensee to do a federal instant background check.

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/gov-lujan-grisham-signs-gun-background-check-bill-into-law/1836222192

28 counties and municipalities in the state have passed “gun sanctuary resolutions” in defiance to the legislative gun control measures

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/03/22/nm-sec-state-rejects-gop-petition-put-gun-control-ballot/

It remains to be seen how law enforcement will know if buyers and sellers are even bothering to follow the law and if law enforcement agencies will make such investigations a priority and charge people for violating the law.

Law enforcement officials critical of the new law passed argue it will have to be based on a type of honor system that hopes people follow the law, then hope if a criminal is caught with a gun he admits as to who he got it from, and then proving the seller ignored the background check law.

Elected sheriff’s across New Mexico strenuously objected to the legislation and mounted a strong lobbying campaign to defeat passage to the point of appearing before the legislative committees in mass, fully uniformed and armed to make their point of disdain for the legislation.

On March 21, 2019, it was reported New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver rejected a proposal by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives calling for a statewide referendum on Senate Bill 8.

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/secretary-of-state-rejects-petition-seeking-gun-law-repeal/article_70f63fb1-3637-5e4e-b67f-75d5cc17164f.html

REQUIRING DOMESTIC ABUSERS TO SURRENDER FIREARMS

The 2019 New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 328 which prohibits gun possession by someone who’s subject to an order of protection under the Family Violence Protection Act.

The bill was jointly sponsored by Democratic Senators Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez of Albuquerque and Democratic Representative Deborah Armstrong of Albuquerque.

Under the enacted legislation domestic abusers must surrender their firearms to law enforcement.

The gun possession prohibition also applies to people convicted of other crimes such as battery on a household member.

Opponents of the Senate Bill 328 said people could lose their guns based on a false allegation, without adequate legal protections.

Supporters argued that the measure would help protect families.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1292493/lawmakers-pass-gun-restrictions-for-domestic-abusers.html

NEW MEXICO RANKS 10TH HIGHEST IN COUNTRY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

State Representative Debra Armstrong had this to say in support of the legislation:

“When a gun is present in a situation of domestic violence, it is five times more likely that a woman will be killed.”

Representative Armstrong was not exaggerating given New Mexico’s domestic violence crisis.

On September 16, 2017, according to an annual study published by the Violence Policy Center, it was reported women are more likely to be killed by men in New Mexico than nearly any other state.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-s-rate-of-women-killed-by-men-among/article_eb7e4a2c-273d-5eb6-8007-e5936639b64f.html

The study found the state has the 10th-highest rate of women killed by men, marking the third straight year New Mexico had appeared toward the top of the list, while New Mexico’s overall homicide rate ranked lower.

A New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee study described New Mexico’s response to domestic violence as fragmented and uncoordinated.

The Legislative Finance Committee report also highlighted the judiciary’s inability to provide effective oversight of domestic violence offenders.

Battery on a household member is a misdemeanor but the magistrate courts and the metro court which handle misdemeanor cases have limited ability to monitor offenders serving probation for domestic violence.

The report found that New Mexico spends little on treatment programs for domestic violence offenders and has little evidence of the effectiveness of those programs.

The study counted 16 women killed by men in New Mexico during 2015, the most recent year for which data was are available at the time.

The rate of 1.52 victims per 100,000 women is higher than the national rate of 1.12.

Nearly all the woman killed were by someone they knew.

Most of the killings were not connected to any other felony.

Half followed arguments between the victim and her killer.

New Mexico has ranked among the top 10 states with the highest rates of women killed by men during the last decade.

The Violence Policy Center promotes gun control and found that each state at the top of the list of women killed by men have a high rate of firearm ownership which no doubt includes New Mexico’s gun culture.

Children exposed to domestic violence often come from broken homes and live in poverty.

Study after study reveal that domestic violence involving children usually results in the child growing up with mental health problems and become an abuser of their own children and spouse.
For more see the following links:

https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/domestic-violence/effects-domestic-violence-children

https://www.unicef.org/media/files/BehindClosedDoors.pdf

A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS IN FAVOR OF STRICTER GUN LAWS

A poll was taken before and after the mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand regarding Americans in favor of stricter gun laws.

According to a new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a majority of Americans favor stricter gun laws.

The poll found that most Americans believe places of worship and schools have become less safe over the last two decades.

The poll found that 67% of Americans support making United States gun laws stricter, while 22% say the gun laws should be left alone and 10% think they should be made less strict.

Overall, 6 in 10 Americans support a ban on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic weapons.

Roughly 8 in 10 Democrats, but just about 4 in 10 Republicans, support a ban on AR-15 rifles.

Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to think that making it harder to buy a gun would prevent mass shootings, 36% to 81%.

Overall, 58% of Americans think making it harder to buy a gun would prevent mass shootings.

The poll did reveal that some gun restrictions get wide support across party lines.

Wide percentages of both Democrats and Republicans support a universal background check requirement, support allowing courts to prevent some people from buying guns if they are considered dangerous to themselves or others, even if they have not committed crimes.

The poll showed a wide share of Americans say safety in churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship has worsened over the past 20 years with 61% saying religious houses have grown less safe over the last two decades.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans believe elementary and high schools have become less safe than they used to be with 57% saying the same about colleges and universities.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1295437/ap-norc-poll-majority-of-americans-favor-stricter-gun-laws.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

BACKGROUND CHECK LEGISLATION

Given all the mass shootings across the country and the general public’s demand for stricter gun control laws, it is very disappointing that so many elected County Sheriffs objected to the background check measures.

Governor Lujan Grisham at the time of signing the background check measure said:

“Even the sheriffs who [opposed the legislation] … are men and women who dedicate their lives to law enforcement, they [need to] follow the law. They will enforce this law, they will do their job and duty”.

What would be tragic is if the elected Sheriff’s just ignore the law making background checks mandatory and make absolutely no effort to enforce it and not set up policies and procedures to enforce it.

Elected Sheriff’s cannot pick and choose the laws they like but have an ethical obligation to honor their oaths of office and enforce the criminal laws as enacted by the New Mexico legislature as best they can in good faith.

The legislation requiring back ground checks on private sales of guns and at gun shows sends a very strong message that the New Mexico gun culture needs to accept a level of responsibility to ensure that they know who they are selling guns to and make sure their weapon is not placed in the wrong hands.

The 28 counties and municipalities in the state that have passed “gun sanctuary resolutions” in defiance to the legislative gun control measures are engaging in “feel good” legislation to merely make a political statement, with such legislation in all likelihood exceeding their authority that would probably set aside by the courts if ever challenged.

Such court challenges to the “gun sanctuary resolutions” could and should be mounted by the the elected District Attorneys or appointed county attorneys for the courts to pronounce the legislation null and void.

The opposing counties and municipalities would better serve their residents and constituencies if they were to promulgate and implement policy measures and provide funding to help the Sheriff’s and Police enforce the law regarding background checks and perhaps fund such services free of charge for their constituents.

REQUIRING DOMESTIC ABUSERS TO SURRENDER FIREARMS

Statics in Albuquerque show that after about the 10th or 11th time there is a call out of the Albuquerque Police Department to a home for domestic violence, it is usually to pick a woman up in a body bag.

Albuquerque’s dirty little secret is that domestic violence is the number-one reason why a woman is admitted to the emergency room of the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Given New Mexico’s ranking as the 10th-highest rate of women killed by men, this legislation is long overdue and will save lives.

Senate Bill 328 is an excellent example of responsible gun regulation that even Second Amendment advocates should not hesitate to support, but no, the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Advocates will say “people kill people” and not the guns they have a right to buy and carry.

No doubt the NRA will argue that fewer woman would be killed in New Mexico if only more woman wore sidearms to protect themselves from domestic violence inflicted upon them by their spouses, partners, or their children’s other parent.

New Mexico spends little on treatment programs for domestic violence offenders and this needs to change and such programs funded by the legislature.

Democratic Senators Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez of Albuquerque and Democratic Representative Deborah Armstrong of Albuquerque are commended for sponsoring and getting enacted one of the most meaningful bills passed during the 2019 session.

The 2019 Legislature that just ended March enacted a $7.6 billion state budget, the largest budget ever enacted in state history.

Financial stress over the budget was greatly reduced from years past because nearly $2 Billion in additional revenue generated by the Southern New Mexico oil boom and increased royalties filled the state coffers.

The legislature appropriated $933 million for infrastructure projects such as road and bridge repairs.

State agencies had submitted a total of $543.4 million in requests.

Requests for senior citizen facilities totaled $28.7 million, and requests higher education institutions, special and tribal schools totaled $125.6 million, for a grand total of $697.7 million to address statewide needs.

The approved budget includes $380 million allocated to lawmakers to spend in their individual districts at their discretion.

The New Mexico legislature consists of a total 70 representatives and 42 senators.

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have the largest delegation in the New Mexico Legislature.

In years past years, Albuquerque has not done very well when asking for funding for special projects for the city, especially during the last 8 years under former Republican Governor “SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED”.

ALBQUERQUE FARES WELL IN 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

With the election of Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham as well as Democrats seizing control of the New Mexico House or Representatives, the City did a lot better, especially having a Democratic Governor who use to represent the city in the United States Congress.

New Mexico’s budget surplus of $2 Billion no doubt also contributed to the funding of projects in Albuquerque.

During last year’s 2018 session, only $39 million was secured for city projects

This year, the Albuquerque and the Bernalillo county delegation to the legislature was able to secure $63.7 million in funding for Albuquerque projects or an impressive $24.7 million more than last year.

Approximately $54 million of the $63.7 million is earmarked for city government facilities, infrastructure and equipment.

The remaining $9.7 million is earmarked for items such as little league fields and museums in the Albuquerque area such as the Natural History Museum.

FUNDING BREAKDOWN

More than 100 projects in Albuquerque are included in the Legislature’s capital outlay bill.

Following is a small breakdown of the state funded earmarked projects for the city:

Upgrading the first responder communication network (911 Emergency Communications Center) : $16.8 million

Traffic mitigation efforts around Balloon Fiesta Park including a new ramp onto Interstate 25: $7.5 million

Albuquerque Rail Yards redevelopment: $7.5 million

Albuquerque Fire Rescue vehicles, protective gear and station upgrades: $5 million

West Side Albuquerque sports complex: $1.8 million

Funding for Albuquerque Police Department DNA testing and technology: $4 million

Funding for 14 different little league projects: $2 million

Construction funding for the city’s International District Library: $1.9 million

Funding to the Albuquerque Holocaust & Intolerance Museum: $823,898

Funding for the City/County “Tiny Home Village”: $595,000

Construction Funding for a “bocce court” at North Domingo Baca Park: $147,400

Funding for public murals: $135,000

Funding for a Sandia Vista dog park $70,000

Construction funding for a centralized, 24/7 homeless shelter: $985,000

The amount secured for the homeless shelter was disappointing seeing as the cost of the centralized, 24/7 homeless shelter is projected to be $28 million.

The City officials say $14 million is needed to complete at least the shelter’s first phase and the city intends to seek funding for the shelter in the November general obligation bond request that must be approved by voters.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1293951/state-pumps-money-into-albuquerque-projects.html

NOVEMBER 2019 CITY GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND ELECTION

The next city general obligation bond cycle up for voter approval is on November 5, 2019.

A total of $127 million in projects will be on the November ballot for voter approval.

The $63.7 million in funding allocated by the 2019 New Mexico legislature for Albuquerque capital projects will allow the city considerable leeway in what voters will be asked to fund with general obligation bonds on November 5, 2019.

A few of the largest Keller Administration projects in the latest bond proposal include:

$13 million toward the historic Rail Yards property through 2029. (NOTE: The legislature funded $7.5 million for the rail yards.)

$11 million for various projects at the Albuquerque Museum over the next decade.

$7 million to a new APD southeast substation at Kathryn and San Mateo.

$7 million for a year-round homeless facility. (NOTE: the legislature funded $985,000)

$5.5 million for the International District Library. (NOTE: The legislature funded $1.9 million for the library.)

$5 million in funding for Family & Community Services Section 8 Affordable Housing.

$2.8 million for Community, Health, Social Services Centers.

$2.5 million for a new exit off I-25 to Balloon Fiesta Park. (NOTE: The legislature funded $7.5 million for the new ramp onto Interstate 25)

Links to related stories:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1289355/mayor-city-council-have-different-capital-project-priorities.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/city-councilors-raise-questions-concerns-over-mayor-keller-s-project-list/1766843701

COUNCIL’S SUBSTITUTE VERSION

A substitute version of the Keller Administration November, 2019 bond package was introduced by the city council containing a number of major changes.

The City Council’s major changes include:

1.The Council slashed the Keller Administration’s request of $7 million for a permanent homeless shelter by $4 million and allotted $3 million A substitute version of the bond package introduced by City Council budget chair Trudy Jones raised it to $14 million.

2. The Council eliminated the $2.5 million for a new exit off I-25 to Balloon Fiesta Park but the 2019 legislature funded $7.5 million for the new ramp onto Interstate 25.

3. The council plan designates $7.8 million for a pair of storm drainage and pump station projects compared with Keller’s $2.8 million.

4. The council plan quadruples the line item for Albuquerque Fire Rescue vehicles to $4 million. The 2019 New Mexico legislature allocated $5 million for Albuquerque Fire Rescue vehicles, protective gear and station upgrades

5. The council plan proposes $9 million for projects not on the Keller Administration proposed bond package including:

$1.7 million for a North Domingo Baca swimming pool
$1.5 million for a Westside Indoor Sports Complex
$1 million Cibola Loop library and
$1 million a West Central Visitor Center

https://www.abqjournal.com/1289355/mayor-city-council-have-different-capital-project-priorities.html

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

As the saying goes, Albuquerque is the economic engine for the State of New Mexico.

Concentration on capital improvement projects and infra structure needs are always a major need of a growing city and an investment in the entire state economy.

State investment in city projects and city general obligation bond funded capital projects need to always enhance each other in order to get a better return on investment and stretched resources.

The ultimate decision as to what will be placed on the November General Obligation Bond ballot rests exclusively with the Albuquerque City Council.

Hearings and meetings will be held by the Albuquerque Council’s “Committee of the Whole”, comprised of all 9 City Councilor’s, to negotiate a compromise between the council’s version and the Mayor’s version of the capital outlay program to be submitted to voters for approval.

No doubt the city council must now consider the $63.7 million in additional funding from the 2019 New Mexico legislature for Albuquerque projects and make changes to the General Obligation bond ballot measures.

The City Council and the Mayor would be wise to approach individual State Representatives and Senators and discuss what capital projects in their districts they may be willing to help fund with their allotment of the $380 million given to lawmakers to spend in their individual districts at their discretion.

The City Council should recognize and thank Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham as well as the 2019 New Mexico Legislature for their help and financing of major Albuquerque capital projects.

Terri Sanchez and James Stewart, the mother and father of a seven year old girl have been charge by the Attorney General Hector Balderas with serious child abuse allegations.

James Stewart, 37, is facing charges including human trafficking, promoting prostitution, child abuse and criminal sexual contact of a minor.

Stewart’s wife, Teri Sanchez, is accused of child abuse.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1216785/state-seeks-dna-sample-from-man-accused-of-trafficking-7-year-old.html

The AG’s Office launched its investigation in April, 2018 after a school nurse reported that she thought the girl was exhibiting signs of trafficking and sexual assault.

Other school employees described seeing “hickies” on the child’s neck and chest.

In an April safe house interview, the child said Stewart made her touch other adults inappropriately.

One of the 7-year-old girl’s teachers found the girl’s underwear had caked blood on it, the child smelled of feces and urine.

The teacher called the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) to report suspected child abuse.

On November 14, 2017 a child welfare check was made at the hotel the child was residing with her parents and the girl’s teacher was interviewed at her school.

Last month, James Stewart’s case went to trial and the child testified against her defendant father James Stewart.

The District Court Judge was force to declare a mistrial in the jury trial after witnesses gave testimony about a topic that was prohibited.

A second trial will now have to be held and the child will have to testify again against her father.

LAPEL CAMERA VIDEOS RELEASED

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) released three (3) lapel videos and recordings of the 911 calls of APD officers going to the hotel for the well fare check and the elementary school to interview the child’s teacher.

A November 14, 2017 lapel camera video of an APD Officer and a Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) investigator was released of the 7-year old’s teacher being interviewed.

In the video, the teacher describes how she took the child to a bathroom located in the classroom to have her cleaned up and provide the child with clean clothing.

The teacher tells the APD Officer and the CYFD investigator she was “gagging because it smelled of feces and of urine”.

When the teacher took the child’s clothing and went to put it in a bag, she discovered the child’s underwear had caked blood on it with dried feces.

The teacher told the officers that the blood was not at all normal for a child of 7 who was not old enough to be menstruating.

The teacher told the police officer and the CYFD investigator it was not the first time she had to give the 7-year-old child clean cloths and it was an ongoing problem.

The teacher took the child’s clothing, bagged it, and saved it for police.

The teacher reported that she left the bag of the child’s clothing in a locked classroom bathroom and then left the classroom.

The teacher testified in a detention hearing that when the police officer came to the school the following day, the APD officer said they could not use the underwear as evidence.

She said the APD officer told her the underwear had not been kept in a secure location.

The police officer also said to the teacher “they’re going to have a field day if this ever went to court.”

Instead of taking and tagging the child’s underwear into evidence, the APD officer threw it into a school dumpster, saying it was not useful as evidence.

After the officer’s finish talking to the teacher, the APD Officer and the CYFD investigator had a discussion on what to do with the child’s clothing collected by the teacher.

The APD officer actually asks the question “Do you think it is a good idea to collect them?”

The CYFD investigator then tells the officer “That’s up to you guys. That ain’t my department.”

The APD officer attempted to call the APD Crimes Against Children Unit to get guidance on what to do with the clothing and apparently never received a response.

APD officers did not arrest the mother or father and the child was never taken into protective custody following the November 2018 interviews.

APD STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

APD’s Standard Operating Procedures provide in part as follows:

“2-73 SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE, CONFISCATED PROPERTY, AND FOUND ITEMS 2-73-1
…
2.73.2 Rules
A. … Officers will tag all found, safekeeping and evidence items using the Officer Input Module (OIM) evidence accounting tracking system. …
B. Items to be Tagged
1. …
2. All articles of evidence, safekeeping, and found items will be tagged/entered into evidence … Only a supervisor due to exigent or unusual circumstances can authorize exceptions to this; however, the evidence must be placed in a secure setting within a police building such as a safe or a locker or cabinet that can be secured under the direct control of the supervisor. … [T]he tagging officer will seal all evidence tagged either in plastic or paper bags. The officer will ensure that sealed evidence bag has the officer’s initials and date across the seal, using a permanent type marker, before placing the evidence in a locker. … The officer will ensure that sealed evidence bag has the officer’s initials and date across the seal, using a permanent type marker, before placing the evidence in a locker. …

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/2-73-submission-of-evidence-cofiscated-property-and-found-items.pdf

KELLER’S FIRST SONG AND DANCE: “STAND BY YOUR MEN!”

On May 18, 2018, in a TV interview, Mayor Tim Keller stood by APDs claims that no one violated any policies or procedures, including when an APD officer tossed out the blood-stained underwear of the 7-year-old child rather than tagging it into evidence.

Mayor Keller showed an obvious ignorance of the law when he used a clever law enforcement catch phrase and said:

“There are rules of what you can take, there are laws against what you can take. … This is one of things we’re proactively doing is revisiting our evidence collection policies and we want to get as far to ‘bag it and tag it’ as we can under the law.”

The officer would not have violated the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure had he collected the child’s underwear and tagged it into evidence.

A Channel 7 news report can be viewed here:

http://www.koat.com/article/mayor-defends-apds-handling-of-evidence-in-abuse-case/20737601

Both Mayor Keller and APD Chief Geier initially said no one with APD violated any policies or procedures even when an APD officer tossed out the evidence.

APD Chief Michael Geier in an interview did not say exactly what the officer did with the underwear, but he defended the officer’s investigation.

Both Keller and Geier doubled down and said that officers and detectives did everything they could with the information they had at the time.

Mayor Keller and Chief Geier saying APD did everything they could with the information they had rang extremely hollow when you’re dealing with a seven-year-old child and a teacher trying to do the right thing by reporting potential child abuse.

After Keller and Geier doubled down, it was reported that when two APD officers and two detectives with APD’s Crimes Against Children Unit looked into an allegation that the 7-year-old child had blood on her underwear someone from APD in fact accessed the states Children Youth and Families (CYFD) law enforcement portal and reviewed the family history of CYFD contacts.

It turns out that APD’s Real Time Crime Center had issued a policy directive months before to APD officers that they were to check and review the state’s CYFD law enforcement portal to review family history of CYFD contacts when investigating child abuse cases.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1177634/apd-was-likely-aware-of-cyfd-contacts-in-case.html

KELLER’S SECOND SONG AND DANCE: “SINGING IN THE RAIN”

On May 18, 2018 Mayor Keller called on APD to examine how they investigate possible child abuse or children’s safety issues in the wake of the case and the accusation of suspected sex trafficking of the girl by her parents with whom police had prior contacts.

Mayor Tim Keller ordered APD to undertake the following steps:

1. Review child abuse cases for patterns that raise red flags.
2. Work on trauma-informed interviewing techniques.
3. Use the Real Time Crime Center to identify people with repeat interactions with law enforcement or child welfare agencies.
4. Work with a state Children, Youth and Families Department task force to review prior cases.
5. Prioritize recruitment and funding for civilian and sworn positions that work on children’s cases.
6. Reach out to other law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, the courts, CYFD and child advocates to coordinate crimes against children cases.
7. Evaluate policies on evidence collection.

In a press release announcing what action he wanted APD to take, Mayor Keller said:

“We’re going to do everything we can to try to prevent this from happening [ever again]. It’s going to take all of us – law enforcement agencies, child advocates, prosecutors and the courts. … Today we’re stepping up ourselves, and we’re reaching out to all these partners to address coordination for cases impacting children’s safety. We’re asking all of these partners to review how they interact on child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking cases, including the handling of evidence. We’ve got to figure out a way to build a system that protects our kids.”

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/21/better-a-great-millstone-were-hung-around-his-neck-and-he-were-thrown-into-the-sea/

KELLER’S THIRD SONG AND DANCE: “YOU CAN’T HIDE THEIR LYIN EYES”

On May 29, 2018, Mayor Tim Keller and APD Chief Geier held a press conference to announce an Internal Affairs Investigation regarding the evidence gathering in the case.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1177857/apd-launches-internal-affairs-probe-of-child-sex-trafficking-case.html

During the press conference, Mayor Tim Keller made the stunning admission that he and Chief Geier were not initially given the full story of the police department’s handling of the case when he said:

“This administration will admit to mistakes that it makes. … We will admit we must improve, and we are now drawing a line in the sand and saying that the weaknesses in the system that let our kids down are not acceptable anymore”.

Keller said the Internal Affairs investigation will produce a report detailing “the handling or mishandling of this case.”

Keller order APD to launched an Internal Affairs investigation to provide a more complete accounting of the department’s interactions related to the incident involving the parents and the child.

Mayor Keller declared at the time of ordering the IA investigation that:

“If we find protocol was violated, where they did any procedure was wrong, we will absolutely hold them accountable. … If there is nothing that an officer did wrong, I’m not going to discipline them just because people are angry.”

Mayor Tim Keller’s’ bold pronouncement of “drawing a line in the sand” and Chief Geier saying “we started digging” was a remarkable admission that both Mayor Keller and APD Chief Geier had their heads in the sand, or elsewhere, defending the actions of APD.

KELLER’S FOURTH SONG AND DANCE: “WIPE OUT”

After a week of intensive media coverage on the evidence gathering in the case, Mayor Keller went into damage control and made a trip to the Journal Center to talk with the Albuquerque Journal editors.

You always know when a Mayor has taken a very serious public relations hit whenever they make a special trip to the Albuquerque Journal Center and subject themselves to a wide-ranging interview with the Journal Editors and its reporters on a single topic.

On June 2, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal published a front-page story on Mayor Tim Keller’s interview entitled:

“Keller walks back defense of APD in child abuse case; Mayor: ‘Bunker mentality’ stalls reform in department”.

Mayor Keller is quoted in the article as saying:

“It was premature to go out with those kinds of statements [that no one with APD violated any policies or procedures and that officers and detectives did everything they could with the information they had at the time] … We should have waited. … What we learned is that you can’t make a few phone calls and say you have the entire picture, and we’re not going to do it again. I think we learned a lot through this. … ”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1179756/keller-walks-back-defense-of-apd-in-abuse-case.html

Mayor Keller’s admissions were pathetic both in scope and substance.

Keller’s mistakes made in his dealing with APD at the time could be explained then by his short time in office, lack of experience with police management and no understanding of law enforcement procedures and police culture.

KELLER’S FIFTH SONG AND DANCE: “ROLL OUT THE POLICY BARREL”

On June 6, 2018 Mayor Tim Keller and APD Police Chief Michael Geier announced major policy changes for the Albuquerque Police Department.

The goal of the “new policies” was to stop child abuse and neglect cases from being mishandled as was the case with the 7-year-old girl who was allegedly prostituted out by her family members.

During the press conference, Keller had this to say:

“We are taking action today to address shortcomings in old APD crimes against children policies. These special orders will help build a better system to protect kids in our city and help officers with guidance. We’re ending the confusion about the collection of potential evidence and making it clear that previous case information must be accessed. While the investigation into the specifics of the Stewart case is ongoing, we wanted to act now to make some commonsense changes to give officers clear guidance.”

https://www.abqreport.com/home/author/Dennis-Domrzalski

The Special Orders issued were to apply to the entire Police Department.

All officers and new cadets were to get training on the policy changes to ensure they were successfully implemented.

The policy changes involved gathering evidence in potential criminal cases, accessing the New Mexico Children, Youth and Family Services Department’s child abuse database and the retention of lapel camera videos when officers are called out on child abuse and neglect cases.

The biggest change was that all officers who go out on child abuse and neglect cases would have to collect evidence if there if there is a reasonable suspicion of a crime, and regardless of whether the incident is a crime scene or a crime has been reported.

KELLER’S SIXTH SONG AND DANCE: “YOUR CHEATIN HEART INTERNAL AFFAIRS INVESTIGATION”

On March 18, 2019, Channel 7 Investigative Reports reported that it had secured a copy of a 492-page Internal Affairs Investigation in the case ordered by Mayor Keller.

The APD Internal Affairs Investigation determined that the APD police officers did nothing wrong when they failed to collect the blood-soaked underwear belonging to the 7-year-old child after her teacher called to report suspected abuse.

The Internal Affairs Investigation found that the officers did nothing wrong when they did not tag the underwear into evidence nor arrest the parents.

According to the Channel 7 report:

“The internal investigation did find some wrongdoing, including:
• While waiting to speak with the teacher, an officer had a conversation with a CYFD case worker. The officers on body camera was recording when the officer told the investigator, “she’s kind of high up there, huh?” That statement by the officer about the teacher got him a reprimand for being unprofessional.
• A dispatcher received counseling for not giving officers more information when they were called by the teacher.
• Another patrol officer who responded to a prior call was disciplined for not properly storing his lapel camera footage.
• Two officers in some of those prior calls with the family got verbal reprimands for not following through.
Ultimately, the APD investigator concluded he “did not find that there was widespread incompetence or negligence.”

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-cops-did-nothing-wrong-when-they-didnt-collect-girls-bloody-underwear/26861496

KELLER’S SEVENTH SONG AND DANCE: “IA FOOLS ON THE HILL TRASHING AG INVESTIGATION”

The APD Internal Affairs investigation is highly critical of the Attorney General’s Office which conducted the separate criminal case against James Stewart and Terri Sanchez.

An APD detective in describing the attorney general’s investigation uses words such as “troubling”, “inconsistent”, “conflicting”, and “exaggerated”.

The APD also called the teacher’s credibility as a witness as “questionable”, even though she testified at length in the detention hearing of the defendants.

According to prominent Defense Attorney John Day, interviewed by Channel 7:

“This is … basically an attack on the credibility of the attorney general’s office investigation they put together and they don’t mince words at least APD doesn’t mince words … They didn’t have to necessarily go there, but they did and the fact that this did means that the [James] Stewart defense team in the trial is going to have a lot of ammunition on their side [to attack the A.G.’s case].”

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-cops-did-nothing-wrong-when-they-didnt-collect-girls-bloody-underwear/26861496

APD Chief Geier declined to be interviewed by Channel 7 on the Internal Affairs report.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Seven-year-old children do not have menstrual cycles.

The fact that a trained APD officer could not decide to take the blood-stained underwear of a 7-year-old child secured by a teacher who was trying to report child abuse and tag it into evidence is absolutely astonishing and heartbreaking.

There should have been absolutely no uncertainty about what to do with the girl’s blood-stained underwear, which was to take it and tag it into evidence.

The police offense report mentions the bloodstained underwear.

If the blood stain underwear merited mentioning in the written offense report, the cop had the obligation to take it from the child’s teacher and tagged it into evidence for further examination by APD’s forensic lab.

The lapel camera videos revealed that the teacher reported the child went to school unkempt and smelling of urine.

When the teacher helped the child change into clean clothes, the teacher saw the child had dried, caked blood on the crotch of her underwear.

A police officer telling a potential witness in a case “they’re going to have a field day if this ever went to court” and then “tossing evidence” is totally inappropriate and is a violation of APD standard policy and procedures.

It is a judge and not a cop that decides if tagged evidence is admitted as evidence in a court of law.

There was a violation of standard operating procedure of not tagging into evidence an item given to an officer by a witness to a crime.

The requirement of keeping evidence in a “extreme-secure location” applies only to evidence collected by law enforcement to ensure “chain of custody”.

There is no such requirement of “extreme-secure location” placed on victims or witnesses to crimes who turn over evidence to law enforcement, which is what the teacher was doing with the child’s blood-stained underwear.

The IA report is astonishing and very disappointing on many levels.

The fact that APD Internal Affairs (IA) wrote a 492-page report is clear evidence that IA broke its back bending over to find the officers did nothing wrong in not collecting the bloody underwear of a female 7-year-old the child.

The IA findings of wrongdoing were down played to such an extent that only minor disciplinary action was taken.

The Internal Affairs Investigation (IA) report reflects that nothing has really changed with APD and APD is incapable of policing themselves.

Chief Geier and Mayor Keller lost significant credibility when this case first broke over a year ago when they both said the cops did nothing wrong by not collecting the underwear, then they back tracked in double time, apologized to the public and media, announced new policies and ordered an Internal Affairs Investigation with the Mayor making a pilgrimage to the Albuquerque Journal to explain himself and what happened.

A year ago, you could attribute Keller’s ineptness and gullibility to the fact he was in office only a few months, but not anymore.

APD is now Mayor Keller’s department and he should have learned something by now: it is way too difficult for Internal Affairs detectives not to spin things in the most favorable way to help another fellow police officer they in all likely know and may have even worked with in the past.

Internal Affairs now makes the same finding as the Mayor Keller and Chief Geier initially did a year ago: that there was no violation of any policies or procedures when an APD officer tossed out the blood-stained underwear of an innocent 7-year-old child rather than tagging it into evidence and arguing APD did all it could do at the time.

Geier lost credibility by refusing to be interviewed but instead had an APD spokesman claim all sorts of policy changes have been made.

What happened with the physical evidence in this case makes one wonder what the hell are they teaching at the APD police academy when it comes to standard operating procedure policy and evidence collection.

The child’s school teacher knew more about the law of evidence using her common sense than the cop who investigated the case and wrote the report.

It is very tragic that an innocent seven-year-old child may have been victimized and perhaps sold as a sex object.

Since 2001, in New Mexico, no less than 22 children, ranging from ages of 5 weeks old to 3, 4, 5 months old to 3, 4, 5, and 11 years old, have been killed as a result of child physical and sexual abuse. (Re: August 31, 2016 Albuquerque Journal Editorial Guest column by Allen Sanchez.)

All too often, our elected officials express outrage over what happens in horrific child abuse cases, making promises to change policies such as what Keller did on May 18, 2018 in announcing changes in APD policy.

All too often people do not hear, or for that matter do not want to hear or even care about the horrific details of crimes against children.

What will be unconscionable is if the offenders are not brought to justice all because a police officer failed to understand APD standard operating procedures, declined to take evidence from a victim and a witness in a case and unilaterally made the decision to trash the evidence of a crime.

APD Internal Affairs takes things to an all-time new low by criticizing the Attorney General’s case to such an extent that it now results in offenders not being brought to justice and charges dismissed.

The SOP is pretty straight forward and APD failed this child while her own parents victimized her.

We have seen too much of this in New Mexico and it has to stop.

No doubt Keller wants to do a good job and portray a positive image, but a smile on your face and a grin in your voice all the time can only get you so far when it comes to a para-military department and law enforcement.

Mayor Keller needs to get far more aggressive in getting APD in line, including Internal Affairs under control, and if he has to fire people, including command staff he has hired, so be it.

Keller needs to be far more aggressive in getting a handle on the Internal Affairs Department and demand objective investigations designed to find the truth and not blame other law enforcement agencies.

The last song and dance we may be hearing is Jim Bowe’s singing “put on your dancing shoes and let’s dance” when Mayor Tim Keller and Chief Geier accept the findings of Internal Affairs and decide not to take any further personnel action.

______________________________________________

POSTSCRIPT

Following are links to other blog articles containing news items on the story:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/30/a-line-in-the-sand-a-stunning-admission-of-head-in-the-sand/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/18/stand-by-you-man-song-and-dance-by-mayor-keller/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/21/better-a-great-millstone-were-hung-around-his-neck-and-he-were-thrown-into-the-sea/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/06/abq-reports-mayor-keller-chief-geier-announce-apd-policy-changes/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/06/02/maybe-just-maybe-a-valuable-lesson-learned-the-hard-way/

On November 5, 2018, New Mexico voters overwhelmingly voted with a three-quarters majority for a constitutional amendment to establish an independent statewide ethics commission with subpoena power. It was left up to the New Mexico Legislature to determine the details of how the seven-member commission would operate.

On March 15, 2019, with only hours left to go in the 60-day legislative session, state lawmakers reached a compromise on creating a new, independent ethics commission. During the 60-day session, the legislation underwent multiple rewrites and changes.

The state House and Senate approved compromise was negotiated by a coalition of lawmakers, including Representative Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, Representatives Greg Nibert, R-Roswell, and Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque. The final House vote was an impressive 66-0 vote in favor of passage. The State Senate voted to accept the final version sending the bill to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for signature.

DETAILS OF THE ETHICS COMMISSION

The enacted legislation creates an ethics commission that will oversee state public officials, including state lawmakers, state employees and constitutionally elected officials, including the governor. It is a seven-member commission that is empowered to fine public officials if they are found by the commission to have violated civil provisions of state laws.

Anyone who files a complaint will have to secure a notary public and attest to the truth of the allegations in the complaint under penalty of perjury.

An attorney will be appointed as “general counsel” by the seven-member commission and the general counsel will serve as an investigator and prosecutor. The commission’s general counsel will determine whether a complaint warrants investigation and if so, the general counsel will investigate the allegations made.

Ethics Commission “hearing officers” will be appointed to adjudicate the cases where evidence suggests there is an ethical violation. The hearing officers will use the legal standard of “preponderance of evidence” to make the determination if there was an ethical violation and made specific findings.

The legal term “preponderance of the evidence” means the greater weight of the evidence required for the trier of fact, the hearing officer, to decide in favor of one side or the other. “Preponderance of the evidence” is based on the more convincing evidence and its probable truth or accuracy, and not on the amount of evidence.

The Ethics Commission through its general counsel is empowered to petition a state judge to issue subpoenas for documents and other materials as part of its work and with a judge designated to issue and grant the subpoenas on behalf of the commission itself. A public official who disputes a hearing judge’s finding will be able to appeal the ruling to the seven-member ethics commission.

In the final version of the bill passed, ethics complaints will be made public 30 days after probable cause is found to proceed with an investigation. The ethics commission will be prohibited from revealing ethics complaints that have been deemed frivolous or unsubstantiated, but the accuser or accused can publicly disclose the complaints.

The ethics commission is not empowered to investigate violations of legislative policies by legislators, such as sexual harassment policies, unless the Legislature works out an agreement for the ethics commission to investigate such complaints. Even then, if the ethics commission determines that a legislator has violated legislative policy, the ethics commission would be required to turn over its findings to the Legislature, which would then in turn determine the legislator’s punishment.

A very significant provision added to the bill was to include statewide public officials such as the governor, the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, public land commissioner and state auditor, or candidates for those offices, to those prohibited from soliciting campaign contributions from January 1 through the end of each year’s legislative session. The ethics commission will have no authority over school board members and local officials such elected Mayors or City Councilors.

The enforcement of the state’s Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act is left to the attorney general, and such enforcement is not made part of the duties of the Ethics Commission. State legislators are already prohibited from soliciting campaign contributions from January 1 through the end of each year’s legislative session.

The legislature funded the ethics commission with $500,000 in the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2019. The budget for the ethics commission will in all likely have to be increased significantly during the 2020 legislative session once a general counsel, staff and hearing officers are hired and the commission is fully operational and begins its work in earnest.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New Mexico is 1 of 6 states without a statewide ethics commission. Enactment of the legislation creating an Ethics Commission is exactly how the New Mexico Legislature is supposed to work!

New Mexico has had more than its share of public corruption scandals over the years. A rogue’s gallery of unethical conduct, fraud, theft and abuse of power and influence in New Mexico politics includes Former Democrat State Senator Manny Aragon, two former Democrat State Treasurers, Michael Montoya and Robert Vigil, former Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran, former Democrat State Senator Phil Griego, former Republican State Senator Monica Youngblood and most recently former Republican New Mexico Taxation, and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla.

Unproven allegations of “pay to play” plagued the 8-year tenure of Democrat Governor Bill Richardson with a federal grand jury investigation resulting in no indictments and no finding of “pay to play”. Former Republican United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico Gregg Forate, with an obvious strong Republican partisan bias, released a scathing letter of condemnation that accused the Richardson administration of “corrupting” the government contract award process.

During the 8-year tenure of former Republican Governor “She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, allegations of unethical conduct and undue influence with the award of the billion-dollar, 20-year Downs Race Track Lease, dubbed the “Dirty Downs Deal”, occurred. What also occurred was a federal grand jury investigation of the Republican Governor’s number one political consultant and campaign manager relating to misuse of her inauguration funding.

A statewide ethics commission will help rebuild trust in a state government that has experienced way too much corruption through the years, but only if it is empowered with real authority and only if actually does something. One area that merits consideration by the legislature is empower the ethics commission to be able to seek and secure civil injunction relief for suspension or even temporary removal from office elected officials who have been found to have engaged in nefarious or unethical conduct. Such action could be the foundation for impeachment or removal proceedings. The Ethics Commission should be given authority over local elected officials such as Mayors and City Councilors.

Kudos are in order for Representative Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, Representatives Greg Nibert, R-Roswell, and Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque for negotiating a compromise bill in the remaining hours of the 2019 Legislative session.

The Ethics Commission will go down as a major legacy that all three legislators will be able to point to with great pride.
_________________________________________________________

POSTCRIPT:

Following are links to news coverage:

http://nmindepth.com/2019/03/16/legislature-nears-deal-on-independent-ethics-commission/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1292774/lawmakers-move-toward-ethics-agreement.html

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-overwhelmingly-backs-ethics-commission/article_54cd9aca-e4c3-56c8-8bf0-6968fd5018ea.html

On March 15, 2019, 12:00 noon, Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham finished her very first 60-day Legislative session as Governor.

By all accounts, it was one of the most productive sessions in a long time where the legislature and the Governor came together and got things done.

Following is a summary listing of major enacted legislation.

Legislative failures are also noted followed by Commentary and Analysis and a POSTSCRIPT with media source links for review.

BUDGET ENACTMENT

Financial stress over the budget process was greatly reduced from years past by a nearly $2 Billion in additional revenue generated by the Southern New Mexico oil boom and increased royalties filling the state coffers. The 2019 Legislature enacted over a $7 billion state budget, the largest budget ever enacted in state history. The legislature appropriated $933 million for infrastructure projects such as road and bridge repairs. State agencies had submitted a total of $543.4 million in requests, requests for senior citizen facilities totaled $28.7 million, and higher education institutions, special and tribal schools totaled $125.6 million, for a grand total of $697.7 million to address statewide needs. $380 million this year has been allocated to lawmakers to spend in their individual districts at their discretion. After years of very meager pay raises state employees will be given a 4% pay increase.

PUBLIC EDUCATION INFUSION OF CASH

The total education budget is a whopping $3.2 Billion, 16% over last years budget, out of the total budget of $7 Billion. Included in the budget is a $500 million in additional funding for K-12 education and increases in teacher pay. The massive infusion of funding to public education is the result of a District Court ruling that ruled the state of New Mexico is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education. The District Court found that many New Mexico students are not receiving the basic education in reading, writing and math they should be receiving in our public-school system. Early childhood programs will be given a major increase in funding. Under the enacted 2019-2020 budget, every public-school district will be allocated significantly more funding. Teachers and school administrators will be given 6% pay raises or more with more money to hire more teachers.

DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

A new “Early Childhood Department” was created starting in January 2020. This was a major priority of the Governor Lujan Grisham. The new department will focus state resources on children from birth to 5 years of age. A major goal of the new department, coupled with other investments, will be more New Mexico children growing up to secure gainful employment as adults who don’t require government services.

TAXATION AND FEES

The Legislature enacted and sent to Governor Lujan Grisham the first package of tax hikes in over a decade. The tax increases will raise a combined $70 million for the state’s general fund through a personal income tax rate hike for the state’s higher earners, internet consumer sales and vehicle sales. The legislature increased the personal income tax for single filers making over $210,000 and for married couples filing jointly making over $315,000. The personal income tax increases take effect only if state revenues in the fiscal year that begins July 1 do not grow more than 5% over the current budget and will only take effect in 2022 if state revenues stay flat which is not anticipate because of oil and gas production. The oil and gas industry and many economist are predicting the oil and gas boom in Permian Basin will continue for some years as a result of reserves discovered in New Mexico and Texas. The working families tax credit is expanded. Internet sales will now also be subject to taxation as a result of a United States Supreme Court ruling and will result in a new tax revenue source. For the first time since 2009, the state will have the power to fine and assess fees under the New Mexico Oil and Gas Act something the oil and gas industry lobbied heavily against during the session.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1292807/lawmakers-pass-tax-package-just-before-adjournment.html

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

The 2019 legislature raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 an hour in increments and will rise to $12 an hour in 2022. Tip levels will remain the same when it comes reporting and taxation.

STATE PENSION PLANS

Over the last year, it has been reported that the state’s two major pension funds Educational Retirement Board (ERB) and the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) are in serious financial trouble because of long term liabilities of benefits to paid retirees that will exceed by the billions that are available. Despite changes enacted in 2013, PERA’s estimated unfunded liability which is the gap between future retirement benefits owed and expected future assets on hand, has increased over the past four years to $4.8 billion from $4.6 billion. Decreases in the ERB’s expected investment returns and inflation calculations have caused the system’s unfunded liability to rise to $7.4 billion, an increase of more than $1 billion since 2014 and its funded ratio to drop to 61.5 percent. The budget seeks to shore up New Mexico’s two major pension funds by increasing how much the state pays into workers’ retirement accounts with an approximate amount of $13.7 million. The solvency of the pension plans is a looming financial crisis that will have to be address in future years, sooner rather than later

GUN REGISTRATION LEGISLATION

The 2019 Legislative session enacted nearly universal background checks for all gun sales. During her years in the United States Congress, the Governor advocated responsible gun control measures to curtail gun violence. The background check legislation was strongly opposed by elected Sherriff’s and other law enforcement agencies throughout the state as being unenforceable and ineffective. In response to the universal background checks on all gun sales, a petition drive has been initiated by Second Amendment Advocates to repeal the legislation with a public vote.

The New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 328 which prohibits gun possession by someone who’s subject to an order of protection under the Family Violence Protection Act. The legislation makes it a misdemeanor for people who have restraining orders in domestic violence cases who surrender their guns to law enforcement. Under the enacted legislation domestic abusers must surrender their firearms to law enforcement. The gun possession prohibition also applies to people convicted of other crimes such as battery on a household member.

ETHICS COMMISSION CREATED

On November 5, 2018, New Mexico voters overwhelmingly voted with a three-quarters majority for a constitutional amendment to establish an independent statewide ethics commission with subpoena power and other authority. It was left up to the New Mexico Legislature to determine the details of how the seven-member commission would operate.

On March 15, 2019, with only hours left to go in the 60-day session 2019 New Mexico Legislative session, state lawmakers reached a compromise on creating a new, independent ethics commission setting powers and procedures of the commission. The enacted legislation creates an ethics commission that will oversee state public officials, including state lawmakers, state employees and constitutionally elected officials, including the governor, lt. governor, secretary of state and the attorney general. The seven-member commission is empowered to fine public officials if they are found by the commission to have violated civil provisions of state laws.

EXPUNGING OF CRIMINAL RECORDS

Under enacted legislation, defendants will be allowed to seek court approved orders to expunge or “wipe out” an arrest or a conviction from their records. Employers will be prohibited from asking job seekers about criminal history on an initial job application. The legislature also expanded pre prosecution diversion programs making such programs available to more.

FILM TAX CREDIT CAP DOUBLED

During her opening remarks to the 2019 legislative session, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham called for removing the annual $50 million cap on tax rebate payouts to eligible production companies that film in the state. The legislature, instead of abolishing the cap, increased the film tax credit cap from $50 million to $110 million. An appropriation of $225 million was made to pay off a backlog of film tax credits owed to production entities. The legislation also offers another 5% in tax rebates for productions that shoot in New Mexico rural areas.

https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/03/16/bill-raising-film-tax-rebate-cap-goes-to-governor/

CAMPAIGN AND LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REFORM

State lawmakers passed legislation that overhauls campaign finance regulations and require more disclosure from those who make “independent expenditures” in political campaigns. A measure was also passed that closed a loophole that exempted lobbyist spending from public disclosure. Lobbyists will be required to report their cumulative spending on individuals’ meals or entertainment items that cost less than $100.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

The ambitious “Energy Transition Act”, a renewable energy bill, was enacted by the 2019 New Mexico Legislature. The legislation requires that 80% of the state’s power from large utilities must come from “renewable energy” sources by the year 2040 and be 100% carbon free by 2045. The renewable energy bill makes New Mexico competitive with the most ambitious states transitioning to green power. Critics argue the 20 to 25-year deadlines are unrealistic and simply not enough time to transition to renewable energy.

MARIJUANA “DECRIMINALIZATION”

The legislature at the last-minute enacted Senate Bill 323 sponsored by State Senator Joseph Cervantes OF Las Cruces that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill falls very short from the complete legalization of recreational marijuana that was attempted by the House and 3 Republican Senators. Legislation was enacted allowing “medical marijuana” at school and making other changes to the medical cannabis program.

VOTER REGISTRATION AND DRIVERS LICENSE REFORM

The state “two-tiered driver’s license system” created by the previous Republican Governor’s Administration was amended to make it easier for undocumented workers to get drivers’ licenses. New Mexicans will also be able to register the same day they want to vote and people will automatically be registered when getting their drivers’ licenses.

ANIMAL RIGHTS AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION

The legislature placed a ban on all coyote killing contests in the state. The Albuquerque City Council enacted such a ban last year. An Office of Outdoor Recreation was created along with legislation identifying wildlife corridors for state protection.

NOTABLE 2019 LEGISLATIVE DEFEATS

Probably the biggest failure or disappointment for progressive Democrats was the legalization, regulation, taxation and sale of recreational marijuana by state run facilities. The measure was defeated and tabled by the Senate Finance committee after it had passed the New Mexico House. What also failed was legislation making possession of “all types of drugs” a misdemeanor and not a felony.

Another disappointment was the failure to repeal the 1969 law that criminalizes abortion, except in cases in rape. The law criminalizing abortion is not enforceable as a result of the United State Supreme Court ruling in Rowe vs Wade that legalized abortions. “Right to choose” advocates are concerned that the United States Supreme Court will reverse the Roe vs. Wade decision now that conservatives control the court.

The legislature voted against revising the “three strikes and you’re out” law mandating the imposition of a life sentence be imposed when a person is convicted a third felony. Also failing was legislation amending the criminal code eliminating the statute of limitations for second degree murder.

The legislature failed to enact legislation allowing “terminally” ill patients to secure a physician’s help for “end of life” measures.

The proposal to tapping into the “Land Grant Permanent Fund” for early childhood care failed after a full year of intense discussion during the 2018 election cycle

Increasing the gasoline tax rate by 10 cents per gallon for road repairs and maintenance failed.

Allowing cities, such as Hobbs, in the oil patch to impose a 5% “tenancy tax” on long term renters failed.

The legislature refused to cap interest rates for “payday loans” at 36%. New Mexico in essence has no “usury laws” prohibiting exorbitant interest charged on loans. Payday loans are considered by many as predatory loans on the poor.

Allowing courts to order the temporary taking guns from people found by the court to be an immediate threat to life and safety failed. Also failing was creating a criminal offense and penalties for failing to properly secure firearms around children. Parents or guardians who did not properly secure firearms resulting in a child being shot would have been subject to criminal charges.

Imposing a four-year moratorium on “fracking” for oil and gas production failed. This should not come as any surprise given the oil and gas boom going on in Southern New Mexico in large part because of fracking that has resulted in a $2 Billion surplus to New Mexico.

A proposal requiring lobbyists to disclose the bills they substantially work on during a legislative session was rejected and killed.

An “Open primary” system allowing registered independents to vote in party nominating primaries failed.

A measure that would require lawmakers make public how they allocate the funding they are given for infrastructure money for their districts died on the Senate floor after lawmakers expressed fears that such information would become politicized when they run for reelection. About $380 million this year has been allocated to lawmakers to spend in their individual districts at their discretion.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The accomplishments and legislation enacted during the 2019 New Mexico legislative session is a striking departure from the previous 8 years of downsizing government to avoid any and all tax increases at all cost even if they were necessary by a Republican Governor.

Downsizing and budget cuts and suppressing government employee wage increases resulted in a major impact on essential services and resulted in a failed public education system.

Gone is Republican Governor “SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED” that for the full 8 years she was in office was vindictive, mean spirited and condescending to legislators.

Republican Governor “SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED” lacked all ability and had no background to work with the New Mexico legislature to get things done and soon lost credibility with her zealous use of the veto pen, even on legislation that would pass overwhelmingly with bi partisan support.

Gone was the “all crime, all the time” legislative session where the former Republican Governor demanded changes in New Mexico’s criminal laws, including reinstatement of the death penalty and repeatedly seeking to toughen criminal sentences for a host of offenses without even attempting to address the root causes of crime: poverty, drug abuse intervention, poor education, unemployment and social intervention.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the 2019 Democratic control legislature can take great pride and credit for a very consequential session.

The accomplishments of the 2019 Legislative session was a reflection of government elected officials who understand how government is supposed to work with compromise and communication and not confrontation.

More importantly, the accomplishments are a reflection of elected officials who understand the needs of the people of New Mexico and who are fully committed to getting things done.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham accomplished more in 60 days than Republican Governor “She Who Shall Not Be Named” did in her two terms and 8 years as Governor.

Governor Lujan Grisham is already thinking about future legislative sessions saying she will probably champion some of the failed measures in 2020 legislative session.

This is what you call governing which we have not been seen in New Mexico state government for the past 8 years.
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POSTSCRIPT

Following are links to media coverage:

http://nmindepth.com/2019/03/16/governor-and-democrats-bask-in-session-successes/

http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/03/17/sine-die-legislature-adjourns/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1292871/lujan-grisham-lawmakers-reflect-on-her-first-session.html

http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/03/17/sine-die-legislature-adjourns/

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/the-2019-legislative-session-ends-democrats-cheer-republicans-to-regroup/1854611208

https://www.koat.com/article/should-columbus-day-be-renamed-indigenous-peoples-day/26845209

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Budget A Dawn Of A New Day