Few have more practice of doling out the pork than Santa Fe solons, where epic budget surpluses over the past five years have given them literally billions to appropriate. Next year there will be a little less pork to feast on, according to state estimates. Is it the beginning of the end of the pork party? Well, nothing lasts forever, not even oil and gas surpluses. Our political intuition says while a day of reckoning may not be coming, a day of belt tightening very well could be. If so, it could make the 2010 Governor's race a much different affair than either Dems Diane Denish and Marty Chavez are anticipating, and should give the R's a reason to start thinking ahead. Keep an eye on the punch bowl.

MICKEY AND PAT SHOW ALL

Oh, what a tangled web we weave..ABQ lawyers Pat Rogers and Mickey Barnett are back under the bright glare of the US Senate klieg lights. It's the US attorney scandal, of course. These two, particularly lobbyist Barnett, have positioned themselves as Republican king makers. Barnett primaried fellow Republicans in '04 to get legislators to his liking, but he retains ties to the Democratic Governor by serving as the personal attorney to his most favored lobbyist, Butch Maki. It drives a whole lot of Republicans crazy and causes unending intrigue within the state GOP. The extent of the Barnett-Rogers influence with the White House has heretofore been a guessing game, but these unelected officials have been outed by the light of day. And as Martha Stewart might say, "It's a good thing."

PETE'S LATEST POLLS

In the first poll since his well publicized "break" with the White House on the course of the Iraq war, NM GOP Senator Pete Domenici comes in with a 55% approval rating, up from 51% in the previous survey. The poll was conducted July 13 thru 15. Its margin of error is plus or minus 4.1%, so it looks for now as if Pete has found a bottom. One suspects he got a minor bounce from the change in his Iraq position. But anything below 60% approval is historically low for our state's longest ever serving US senator. Has the incessant drum beat of bad Pete news--the war, the US attorney scandal and the immigration bill--created a ceiling on his popularity? Or can he recapture the glory of yesteryear? The Alligators continue to watch the numbers closely as do supporters of Big Bill who see him as a possible late entrant in the '08 race if Domenici is unable to recover. Please, please, don't say we didn't tell you!

THEN THERE WERE THREE

Former NM Assistant Attorney General Jon Adams of ABQ filed federal papers Thursday making him the third candidate to officially seek the Dem nomination for the ABQ congressional seat held by Republican Heather Wilson, according to TV news. Dems were not jumping up and down over the Adams entry which he announced several weeks ago. They said his biggest obstacle will be getting known and then getting 20% of the vote at the Dem party pre-primary nominating convention next spring. Adams, 32, must make that mark to win a place on the ballot. The other contenders, Martin Heinrich and Bryon Paez, are seen as having the organizational ability to hit the needed 20% mark.

OK, NOW WHAT?

We agree with you, Big Bill, that you should have more than one name to choose from when filling a judge vacancy. But tell us what you can do about it.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
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D.C. Dems may be finding their mojo, and that is bad news for ABQ GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson. After months of speculation on what the D's would do in regard to Wilson's role in the US Attorney scandal, they scored a significant public relations coup this week as they summoned Wilson's arch-nemesis, former US Attorney David Iglesias, to the capital and before leading members of the House ethics committee for a closed door Q and A. The dog and pony show had the desired impact, prompting stories on the blogs and the papers and putting the ethics yoke tightly around Wilson's neck. Combined with the no end-insight Iraq war, it is the double play the Dems hope could finally take her out of the ball game.

Speculation has been intense on whether the Dems would have the guts to go after Wilson in the House ethics committee. This week's questioning of Iglesias is not the full monte, but it indicates the chances of a full-fledged ethics probe are better than many thought and that the Dems, if they go for it, will make sure it is close to the election for full political impact.

Wilson was left flailing as the press pack moved in. Her isolation was palpable as she argued the House questioning of Iglesias wasn't actually an "investigation." Call it what you like, but whatever it was it brought back in high-definition the dreaded headlines of earlier this year when the scandal first broke. And that's the point. It's the political impact, not the legal impact, that matters to the Dems. Whether it is an official investigation or not at this point is irrelevant,. The black and white headlines telegraphed the desired anti-Wilson message.

FROM ETHICS TO POLITICS

Wilson last year used the ethics of her opponent as a cornerstone of her campaign, but only managed a less than 900 vote win. The approval ratings of GOP Senator Pete Domenici, also involved in the US attorney scandal, have plunged to 51% in the Survey USA poll. If legend Pete is at 51, where is Heather? Not good.

ABQ Democrats need all the help they can get from their D.C. brethren. They have two announced opponents, Martin Heinrich and Bryon Paez, but neither is well-known or with a lengthy public service record. Wilson will need to be the issue, and the US attorney scandal will need to be advanced. That means a full and formal investigation. They are not there yet, but this week's Iglesias appearance gave Wilson and the R's a taste of what may be coming.

Wilson has never served with the Democrats in the majority. Her encounters with the ABQ variety of the species have not been impressive, as she has dispatched most of them with ease. But we're not in Albuquerque anymore. The House is now led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, like Wilson, has a steely resolve and determination. The difference is Madame Pelosi has the power. How much of it she will use to try to unseat her Republican rival is the question we all await an answer to.

NO REST YET

Maybe Rep. Wilson can find respite from the D.C. political heat during the August congressional recess, but she will have to wait a day. A national anti Iraq war group plans to protest outside of the congresswoman's ABQ North Valley home today. Welcome back, Heather.

LANL 101

It's been one of the biggest news years ever for Los Alamos Labs, and that prompted this in-depth piece from the Santa Fe Reporter. One of the more engaging questions posed in the piece came from Española Mayor Maestas who wonders why, with a $2 billion budget, LANL has not had more of an economic impact on the poor communities surrounding it.

THOSE PIG EARS

Also on the fed beat, what about those calls to do away with "earmarks?" Those are the pork projects inserted into legislation usually having nothing to do with the pork. A little state like ours benefits from the ability of super-seniority Senators like Domenici and Bingaman to use their influence to get those earmarks. Don't you think big states like California and Texas would scoop up even more of the pork if there were no earmarks? Keep that pan hot and the bacon frying, Pete and Jeff. Our still impoverished state needs all the kitchen skills you can muster.

DEATH CLAIMS LEADER ALARID

Michael Alarid loved his politics, and he didn't shy away from going for the gold. He ran for a seat in Congress in '72, for lieutenant governor in the 60's and ABQ mayor in '74. He didn't win any of them but he did win many, many elections to the New Mexico Senate. That's where he made his political home for nearly 30 years, where he wielded power as majority leader for several of them and where ultimately he carved out a lasting political legacy.

Word came to us Wednesday that Alarid had been claimed by death. He was 88. Mass is set for Aug. 7 at Immaculate Conception Church in downtown ABQ.

Democrat Alarid started his climb up the long ladder of La Politica in 1964 by winning a House seat. In '68 he joined the senate and didn't leave it until 1992, having risen to majority leader. That was the power rung from which he played the game with three New Mexican Governors--Bruce King, Toney Anaya and Garrey Carruthers.

Alarid may have been as well-known for "Mike's Food Store" in ABQ's Barelas neighborhood as he was for being a powerful politician. He and his now late wife Stella ran it from 1952 to 1985, meeting and greeting half the city.

His legislative record is highlighted by his role in establishing the community college, TV-I, since renamed CNM. He also played an important part in reforming the state's school funding formula. As a senate leader, Alarid is remembered as even-tempered and a friend of the little guy, too, who fought for public employees and their bargaining rights.

It was the 1974 mayor's race when Senator Alarid first caught the attention of a cub radio reporter for KUNM-FM covering his very first election. One day I noticed that the Albuquerque Journal had strongly endorsed Mike Alarid for mayor out of a field of over 30 candidates, many of them respected leaders of their time. I thought there must be something special about that guy. There was. And in the years ahead all of New Mexico would come to know it.

I'm Joe Monahan, reporting to you from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Send your news and comments via the mail link from the top of the page.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
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Don Harris
The idea of having a special mail-in election for the recall of ABQ City Councilor Don Harris appears to have had a very short shelf life. City Council President Debbie O'Malley Tuesday checked in to tell us she would not be supporting a mail-in election and will vote next week to scheduled the Harris recall at the regular October 2nd city election. Insiders associated her with the the mail-in idea on Tuesday's blog, but she said she is not investigating such a plan and the October 2nd election will "provide the greatest opportunity" for the voters of Harris's far NE Heights council district to participate.

A mail in election would cost thousands in postage, and is opposed by the backers of the Harris recall. Jim Lowe, heading up New Mexicans for Democracy and spearheading the Harris recall over ethics charges, said he was pleased to hear of O'Malley's support for having the recall at the October 2nd election. O'Malley said she was speaking for herself and could not say if a majority of Councilors supported the October 2 date for the recall. The council is slated to consider the election date at their Monday meeting. But an Oct. 2 recall appears to be where we are headed.

MARTY RECALL DROPPED

A not too serious effort to recall ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez has been dropped. The fellow seeking the recall, S. Pike, was upset about the anti-smoking rules for public places that Mayor Chavez recently announced.

HEATHER AND DAVID

Heather has not hired a lawyer. That word from the office of the ABQ GOP Congresswoman in reaction to the news that flashed over the Internet late Monday that ousted US Attorney David Iglesias will testify in a closed door session before key members of the House ethics committee today. The questioning of Iglesias, who accuses Wilson and NM GOP Senator Pete Domenici of pressuring him to speed up indictments of Democrats in the Bernalillo county courthouse construction scandal, does not constitute a "formal" investigation of Wilson. That takes an official complaint from a House member.

Some think that Iglesias's testimony is for appearances sake; others think it is a prelude to a full committee investigation of Wilson's involvement. The certainty is that someone must step up and make an official complaint if the probe is going to go further. Who, if anyone, might that be? Stay tuned.

CHENEY'S TRIP

In breaking the news that Vice-President Cheney would be speaking before a Marine group in ABQ Monday, we wondered if he would be doing any other politicking, such as fundraising. The answer is he will not. Politicking or not, the former Wyoming congressman probably welcomes the chance to escape the stifling August heat of D.C. and head to his native West.

SHOWING THE MONEY

In cse you missed it, Dem US Senate candidate Don Wiviott has put his money where his mouth is. Federal records show the Santa Fe real estate developer, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in the June '08 primary for the right to take on Republican Senator Pete Domenici, has loaned himself $400,000 and deposited it in his election account. When we broke the news of his candidacy Wiviott pledged his own $400,000. Now that he has come up with it, it will be interesting to see if and when he starts spending it.

Wiviott is one of three Dem unknowns seeking the nod. He is by far the best financed. The records also show that Wiviott raised $7,000 in donations other than the personal loan.

BILL'S LATEST

Big Bill is spending some more of his campaign cash on Iowa TV. He released a new "clean energy" ad Tuesday that will air there. The Guv has hit 13% in the ARG Iowa poll, putting him in fourth place in the first Dem prez caucus state. Obama is at 15% in that poll.

BILL AND FOLEY

When you are running for something, you don't want to make anyone mad. Take a look at Big Bill's comments to the Roswell Daily Record on the arrest on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges of his longtime GOP nemesis, Roswell State Representative and House minority whip Dan Foley: "My relationship with him has improved significantly. He deserves his due process," Richardson said.

Talk about a lay down. Do you suppose the Guv will roll over like that when Hillary comes calling on him to get out of the presidential race?

BARKING AT BARKER

Veteran KRQE-TV investigative reporter Larry Barker is making some news instead of reporting it. He's the subject of a lawsuit over a recent story he produced. A Santa Fe building contractor says his reputation was defamed last year when Barker aired a story called "The House from Hell.'' The station is standing by its story.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
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O'Malley
The delicate political question of when to schedule the recall election of ABQ City Councilor Don Harris was the subject of chatter coming out of city hall Monday. One idea said to be floating was to have a mail-in election, with no in-person voting for the recall. Some argued the City Charter states that a recall is a "special election" and can't be scheduled in tandem with the regular city election set for October 2nd. Council President Debbie O'Malley told me she will not be supporting the mail-in option and believes the recall election should be held at the same time as the regular city election--October 2nd.

Backers of the Harris recall argue it should be held October 2nd because it is convenient to all voters and would spare the city the expense of conducting a separate election. Politically, a recall held the same day of the regular city election would benefit their cause, observers say, because the higher the turnout the more likely the recall would reach the required number of votes necessary to oust Harris.

The mail-in election for voters in Harris' far NE Heights district should cost about $25,000, according to some city officials, but the recall backers say it would cost more. A stand-alone in-person election on the recall question has apparently been ruled out. That would cost $100,000 and it would have been the best political option for Harris as it would have attracted the fewest number of voters.

RECALL POLITICS

How would a mail-in election play politically? ABQ's prior experience shows they attract many more voters than in-person elections, with as many as 40% of voters sending back absentee ballots. While they recall supporters may be concerned about the cost of the mail-in, it could actually aid their campaign against the first term Republican lawmaker.

Mayor Chavez, citing fiscal reasons, is calling for the recall to be held at the regularly scheduled city election October 2nd.

It is an open secret that Chavez is not supportive of Harris who has sometimes joined with five other councilors to form a block against Chavez on the nine member body. If Harris becomes the first councilor to ever be recalled, the mayor, according to the City Charter, would get to appoint his replacement.

With the council set to meet August 6th and expected to shy away from a special in-person recall election, Harris, who faces a variety of ethics related charges, has longer odds in his fight for survival. As much as his colleagues may like to help him, spending $100,000 to give him a better chance at victory in a stand-alone special election would inflict political damage on the councilors voting in favor.

CHENEY TO CHEER MARINES

The Alligators checked in here late Monday night with official confirmation that Vice-President Dick Cheney heads to ABQ Monday to keynote the national Marine Corps League meeting in convention at the Marriott Hotel. No word on whether the VP will engage in any politicking or fund-raising while here which have been popular pastimes for him on earlier NM visits. Cheney's boss (does he have one?) also known as President of the USA, will also be in ABQ soon. Bush has a late August fundraiser set with Senator Pete Domenici.

THE PETE BEAT
Domenici
The US attorney scandal has burst anew into the headlines and that has renewed the guessing game over whether the US Senate Ethics Committee will launch a full-scale probe into the affair and the role of NM GOP Senator Pete Domenici. The issue was on the mind of the state's senior senator on a recent visit to Farmington where he made rare, specific comments about the scandal to the Farmington Daily Times.

"I've been advised, and I think it's right...not to talk about my side of the story," he said, until the Senate Ethics Committee decides whether to take up the issue. If three of the six committee members vote to consider it, they will conduct a hearing in closed session. If not, "all that stuff that we've heard, that's gone, done."

The committee is equally divided between three R's and three D's. One of the Democrats is Colorado Senator Ken Salazar. Domenici recently signed up in support of Salazar's Iraq war legislation which doesn't set a deadline for troop withdrawal, but aims to create conditions that could allow for a drawdown of forces by March 2008.

A full-blown ethics committee probe coming before Domenici's 2008 re-elect bid is a hovering dark cloud, even though R's express confidence that he would have no trouble dispatching any of the three Dem candidates announced against him.

If the ethics committee conducted hearings and they were closed, as Domenici said they would be, it would spare him the embarrassment and video footage of testifying in public before the TV cameras.

Former New Mexico U.S. attorney David Iglesias said Domenici pressured him to bring a corruption case against Democrats before the November 2006 elections. Whether the Senate Ethics Committee will expand what it is calling a "preliminary" probe into the real deal is one of the major questions surrounding Pete's quest for a seventh term.

LATE BREAKING: WILSON ETHICS HEARING
Iglesias
As it approached Midnight Tuesday the Gators were working me hard with breaking news. (This is one long blog) One of them dropped the semi-stunner that fired GOP US Attorney David Iglesias has been scheduled to appear before a closed-door session of the House ethics committee on Wednesday to talk about the phone call he said Wilson made last year, allegedly to pressure him to speed up indictments in the courthouse scandal case. The Web site "Truthout" reports the House committee has opened a "preliminary" investigation of Wilson.

"David Iglesias, the former US attorney for New Mexico who was fired last year along with eight other federal prosecutors, will testify Wednesday before the House Ethics Committee about a phone call he received from Representative Heather Wilson (R-New Mexico), who queried Iglesias about the status of public corruption cases he was pursuing in the state.

In a brief interview Monday, Iglesias said he will testify in a closed-door session of the Ethics Committee about the call he received from Wilson last October. The committee has opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that Wilson violated House ethics rules by calling Iglesias to find out about corruption cases involving Democrats weeks before last year's midterm elections. Wilson faced a tough reelection campaign last fall.

It takes a formal complaint by a fellow House member for an ethics committee probe to begin. The article does not make mention of such a formal complaint being filed. Perhaps that's why it is being called a "preliminary" investigation. Still, it is major news and could have a big impact on Campaign '08. Further details as they break.

PEARCE AND THE DEMS

Dem Party executive director finalist Art Terrazas, Jr. says the sources who reported here Monday that Terrazas headed up a Democrats for Pearce group in 2006 have got it wrong. Terrazas says he had nothing to do with any group supporting Steve Pearce, southern NM's Republican congressman.

"I take exception to the unfounded allegation that I was heading up a Democrats for Pearce group in 2006. This statement is completely false. I was never part of such an organization. From February 2006 to March 2007, I was living in Albuquerque and serving as the local Director of Communities United, a non-partisan non-profit organization...and did not, take part in any partisan activities...If Pearce had recruited a former member of the Democratic State Executive Committee why wasn’t this more public?” Terrazas declared.

The sources linking Terrazas, 27, to Pearce were well-known Democrats. I asked Terrazas if the sources had mistaken his personal support for Pearce for a group effort. He replied that he did not support Pearce's re-election personally or in a group effort. He added that he has had an official relationship with Pearce's office as an employee of the Anthony-Berino Economic Development Corporation. "We apply for funding from the federal government, and as a result I have had contact with his office." He explained.

Terrazas is one of a handful of finalists for the Dem ED position which is expected to be filled by party chair Brian Colón sometime in August.

OUT OF THE CELLAR

What has been the most significant positive social development in New Mexico in the past thirty years? If pressed, we would probably vote for the dramatic reduction in the number of folks without jobs. The state reports that New Mexico has hit an all time record low unemployment rate. In June the unemployment rate fell to 3.2 percent. The previous record of 3.5 percent was set in February 2007.

Ironically, the news comes just as Intel is laying off over 1,000 workers at its Rio Rancho facility, and as the US Congress takes up a budget that could shave the number of employees at Los Alamos labs where 9,000 permanent employees draw paychecks.

But many remember the long-standing double-digit unemployment rates of the 70's and 80s that persisted into the 90's. An unemployment rate of 15% in many counties was considered normal. Today there is no county in the state with double digit unemployment and the complaining is about how undocumented workers are needed to fill many jobs.

The state has a long way to go in creating high-paying jobs, but the unemployment story provides a ray of hope that New Mexico's bevy of other stubborn social ills can some day give way to progress.

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We're starting to get the first rumblings of possible challengers to legislative incumbents in Primary '08. The most prominent so far is the northern NM seat held by Democratic Rep. Thomas Garcia. He was appointed by the Governor last year when Hector Balderas left the Roundhouse to become State Auditor. Now, a Garcia vs. Garcia primary appears to be shaping up. Word comes from the Mora area that Dem Paula Garcia, president of the NM Acequia Association, is a likely challenger.

The seat includes five counties. When Balderas left some of the five county commissions recommended to the Governor that Paula Garcia be appointed and several went with Thomas Garcia, then a top aide to Dem US Rep. Tom Udall. Big Bill went with Thomas, leaving Paula and her supporters in the environmental community perhaps a bit put out. If Paula takes the plunge this could be an interesting race for the D's come next June. It will be decided then, too. The district is solid D and no R's need apply.

DEM DIRECTOR UPDATE

The list of contenders for executive director of the NM Democratic Party has shrunk further with attorney Laura Sanchez checking in with the news that she is taking her name off of the finalist list. Sanchez, who was treasurer of Chairman Brian Colón's campaign for the party's top job, says she's decided to "take a different career path."

The Sanchez withdrawal has increased the chances that political operative Art Terrazas, Jr. of Anthony, NM could be named ED and that has some of the Alligators stirring. They are dissing Terrazas, son of a former controversial Dona Ana County commissioner, for heading up a Democrats for Pearce group in 2006. Pearce, of course, is Steve Pearce, the Republican congressman for the southern congressional district. They are also again pointing out that Terrazas was helpful to Colon in getting him elected party chair and wonder if giving Terrazas the ED position would be payback. Would it also signal that Colon is nurturing his own political ambitions for the 2010 Dem nomination for lieutenant governor?

Colón could quiet the waters by selecting a candidate from California who remains on the finalist list. GOP state Chairman Allen Weh went out of state this year when faced with an ED vacancy. Of course, Allen Weh isn't running for anything.

THE GORILLA AND THE SHEEP
Big Bill
It's not easy weighing in on the side of arguably the most powerful governor ever in his latest showdown with the Legislature, but we find ourselves with little sympathy for lawmakers who are beside themselves over Big Bill's line item veto of an education appropriation for the state's universities. They seem to be trying to turn it into a Constitutional crisis. In fact, if they take their (weak?) case to the Supremes they could lose, empowering future chief executives at the expense of the Legislature. That would weaken the Constitution (and legislative power) they claim to be defending.

Lawmakers argue that the Guv's veto of language directing repairs at the universities altered the Legislature's "intent" and it is they, not him, who have the power to authorize public spending. But couldn't they say that about any veto? The Legislature has plenty of tools to rein in a power hungry governor. They can override his vetoes while in session or they can call themselves into extraordinary session to override a veto as they did in the final year of Governor Johnson's term. They can also force compromise by refusing to pass bills the Governor sends them.

It appears the Legislature is finally waking up and realizing that what began as a 400 pound gorilla has been allowed, with their acquiescence, to grow into an 800 pound gorilla. But that's not all the gorilla's fault. The blame belongs to those who have been feeding him. Both Democrats and Republicans have been sucking up mountains of pork barrel projects funded by billions in state surplus while shivering at the mere thought that the Governor could take it away from them. Rather than mount significant opposition, they sold out for the money and find the chief executive taking advantage because he has amassed power at their expense.

The Legislature has ceded ground to a wily and hyper-ambitious Governor during this unprecedented period of prosperity in our state's history. Future Governors are unlikely to have such leverage, so why risk giving it to them by creating a needless and pseudo Constitutional crisis and running to the courts? How about legislators standing up and confronting the Governor on the field of political battle, instead of protecting their pork? Or do they need a lawyer for that, too?

THE FINAL THREE

One thing is becoming clear--the final three years of Big Bill's governorship are not going to be as easy as the first five. The Legislature's warning shot over the education money will likely be the first of many challenges as his lame-duck status takes hold and lawmakers finally muster the courage to take him on without fearing retribution at the ballot box. The election process can work to make even the faint-hearted brave. It's yet another ingenious example of those "checks and balances."

HERE SHE COMES?

We've been watching Heather Wilson like a hawk to see when she might become more like a dove when it comes to the no-end-in-sight Iraq war. Sunday we saw this news item.

"Settling Sunni-Shiite rivalries over who occupies what street in Baghdad is not in the vital interest of the United States," said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who said she is considering her options. "And we should only have Americans in harms' way where there are U.S. interests at stake."

The ABQ GOP Congresswoman, along with other under fire GOP US Reps, are going to try to reposition themselves on the unpopular war in time for the '08 election. Whether she will go far enough to satisfy an increasingly anti-war electorate remains to be seen.

CRIME WAVE COVERAGE
Kepler
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss earned some kudos for finally acknowledging in his recent state of the city address the seriousness of his city's crime wave, but his critics, citing more alarming headlines from the City Different, say he has a long way to go. Former city manger Asenath Kepler, who was ousted by Coss and the council, is among those now firing arrows from outside the tent. They are hitting the target.

We don't know what the real population is of Santa Fe because a large number of undocumented immigrants who live here aren't in any census. I have heard estimates of +/- 20,000. This impacts our staffing numbers for police...The mayor and councilors won't talk about it and have refused to have a public hearing on the crime problem.

If SF wants to be a "sanctuary city" it is going to have to pay for the services of those who come here and stop pretending we don't have any additional needs--just talk to some of the non-profit health providers in town to see how many undocumented people they are trying to serve for humanitarian reasons and how it is straining their resources...

These elected officials are living in fantasyland up here if they think they do not have to take a long hard look at the roots of the problem, not just the symptoms, and plan accordingly.

Kepler may have an ax to grind, but that doesn't mean her questions lack merit. Santa Fe blogger and science author George Johnson is also tracking the issue and sees it much as Kepler does.

"It's been almost a year now since the Council passed a $1.5 million property tax--half of what the mayor asked--to strengthen the police and fire departments. While the firefighters seem to have rebounded, there has been no real progress on the police staffing situation. For every officer hired another takes early retirement." Writes Johnson.

Mayor Coss has started to talk the talk, but will he and his city council walk the walk? Stay tuned.

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