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Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday Clippings From My Newsroom Floor; Block Booked & Teen Spirit In Rio Rancho 

Jerome Block, Jr.
Here's something you don't see everyday--a jail booking photo of an incumbent NM Public Regulation Commissioner. One of our Santa Fe Alligators provided this booking shot of Jerome Block, Jr., along with this note:

Here is Jerome Block Jr.'s booking photo. He was quietly booked into jail Thursday and released yesterday with the hopes no one would ever know. This was on the grand jury indictment from the Attorney General's Office.

As the AP reported in April:

Block Jr. has been indicted by a grand jury on eight felony counts related to his alleged misuse of public campaign funds in last year's election. His father, Jerome Block, also was indicted, on four felony counts. The younger Block, a Democrat elected to the commission in November from a northern New Mexico district, got in trouble with the secretary of state and paid $21,700 in penalties last year for lying on a campaign finance report and misusing public funds.

Jerome Block, Sr. was also booked on charges at the Santa Fe jail on May 19.

It's about time we got some young blood into the state political scene and thanks to President Obama's recent visit to Rio Rancho High School we got some. Both Democrats and Republicans can agree that these (unidentified) young ladies of Rio Rancho High who volunteered to help with the Prez's visit add some pizazz to the political scene. Now, if we can just get one or two of them to run for office. Since they ar all volunteers, at least we don't have to worry about pay to play allegations.

SPANISH IS FINE, BILL


It wasn't that long ago that Big Bill might have been brushing up on Mandarin and headed for a faraway, but very prestigious posting, but a neighboring Governor gets the honor. A Senior Alligator told us before Richardson's nomination for Commerce Secretary crashed and burned that ambassador to China and Secretary of State were two of the jobs on his wish list. Now he just wishes the federal grand jury would go away and he might get a chance to glue back together the shards of his political career that lay broken along the Santa Fe Trail....

FROM THE SOUTH


The NM GOP announces that Pamela Wolfe of Dona Ana County is the party's new southern field director. She'll serve as the liaison between the GOP’s state office and county parties in the south and lead regional efforts to increase voter registration and expand conservative grassroots initiatives. Pam is a go-getter who we got to know while doing PR work down south.

Former GOP Sate Chairman Allen Weh, exploring a bid for the 2010 Guv nod, has brought aboard Christopher Sanchez as press secretary for his exploratory committee. Sanchez, a University of New Mexico grad, served as the editor the New Mexico Daily Lobo at the University of New Mexico and has also written for Albuquerque Journal and Denver Post.

MARY AND THE PREZ
Mary Herrera
Several NM names are being pushed for that open seat on the US Supreme Court created by the resignation of David Souter. NM Secretary of State Mary Herrera is one of those getting in on the act. During the President's recent Rio Rancho visit and in her capacity as President of Latino Appointed and elected Officials {NALEO], Mary hand delivered to a presidential aide a copy of a New York Times letter she wrote. In it she touted native New Mexican Anna Durand Kaus, who graduated from Rio Grande High, the University of New Mexico was second in her class at Stanford Law School and practices law in D.C. Mary also touted Laura Gómez, a law professor at UNM Law School. Laura holds degrees from Harvard and Stanford Law School. She graduated from ABQ's Valley High. NM US District Judge Martha Vasquez is another New Mexico Hispanic lawyer who has had her name dropped for the high court.

Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza says she is considering a 2010 June primary challenge for the SOS job held by Mary. If Valerie had a law degree, maybe Mary would have put her on the list to the president.

WELL, THAT'S NICE

Indulge us in a favorable review from reader Peter Baston:

As a quality assurance auditor of many years experience, I know that the water cooler crowd knows more about what's happening to companies than the PR BS...You do something that none of the tightly-controlled publication crowd whose business is dying do--you are a good writer that pulls NO punches with lots of credibility developed over the years all the way from Lobo land. Your blog is right behind the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on my browser tabs and I have never even felt like moving it. If anyone wants to know what's really happening on the NM political scene JM is the man and his Alligators have the FULL plan. Well done, Joe, and keep it up...

Much thanks, Peter. You are going to make us work harder to live up to that review.

THE BOTTOM LINES

Jay Leno: "Hey, President Obama has found a way to quickly close Guantanamo Bay. He's going to turn it into a Pontiac dealership."

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009
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