It's Christmas 2009. Thousands of our neighbors have been hammered by the economic downturn, our state budget is in chaos and the future looks mighty uncertain, but the season of hope has a momentum all its own and its arrival promises to soothe the soul and calm the nerves. It also helps to know that those taking a hit in our state are never far from a helping hand.

We ran into our old friend Jeremy Reynalds the other day. He's the longtime director of the ABQ homeless shelter Joy Junction which come rain or shine or Christmas Day is on the front lines in providing assistance to anyone who needs it. He passed this along:

Joy Junction Homeless Shelter’s Lifeline of Hope Mobile Food Wagon will be touring the streets of Albuquerque and the surrounding area on Christmas Eve...the wagon will make stops at locations where the homeless are known to congregate. Reynalds and his crew will distribute a variety of items, including hot soup, stew, coffee, juice and coats...

And the shelter will have its 24rd annual traditional Christmas dinner at Joy Junction's 4500 Second Street Southwest facility from 2 p.m. through 6 p.m. Dec. 25. Call Jeremy at (505) 400-7145 for more information.

CHRISTMAS CHEER

Thanks for coming by here for another year. It's a privilege to have you. Here's our annual Christmas card for you, your friends and family. And here's some swingin' Christmas cheer from Frank.

Merry Christmas, New Mexico!



(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Cargo & Denish
We didn't quite get the cell phone camera to focus how we wanted, but we can't pass up bringing you this photo of former NM Republican Governor Dave Cargo and Lt. Governor Diane Denish who hopes to hold the position Dave had from '67 thru '70.

We caught up with the pair at a Christmas party at the ABQ home of Clara Apodaca, NM first lady from '75 to '79, and it reminded us that bipartisanship is not a ship that all have abandoned--or at least that's the hope this holiday season.

Denish, 60, and Cargo, still going strong at 80, are both tough political actors of their respective times but both have shown a willingness to work with a diverse cast of political characters. New Mexico is like that. We are so diverse that gubernatorial success is usually a bridge over the middle. Cargo is urging his fellow R's seeking to beat Denish to get on that bridge in 2010 or get buried. Denish will seek not to loose her footing in the middle as both left and right start pushing her harder in the year ahead.

DI'S ETHICS OFFENSE

Denish said Tuesday she will follow her past policy and not solicit campaign funds during the legislative session that kicks off next month, even though the law allows a lieutenant governor to do so. The law prohibits legislators and the Governor from fund-raising beginning January 1st, continuing through the session and another 20 days after that for the Guv. It makes sense for Di to refrain because she is involved in lawmaking as the presiding officer of the state Senate and is called upon to vote in the event of a tie. The law allowing a light guv to go on fund-raising during the session seems too light.

She also said she will continue to voluntarily release a campaign finance report every three months, even though that's not required. We previously pointed out that her voluntary October report lumped her paid campaign staff under a payroll company, so the names and salaries of the staff were not readily available to the voters. But that info is now released on that report, although a clerical error has the staff listed as being from 2005. Her next report will come in January and her campaign says it will have full disclosure of all donations and expenditures, including staff. The next required state report isn't due until mid-March.

Denish could be scoring political points for releasing financial reports more often than required. The R candidates, all vociferously attacking Denish on ethics, seem behind the curve. Where, the Denish crowd crows, are the voluntary finance reports from Allen Weh, Susana Martinez, Doug Turner and Janice Arnold-Jones? Where indeed?

HOLIDAY ZINGER

ABQ State Rep. and GOP Guv candidate Janice Arnold-Jones is prohibited by law from raising any campaign money starting January 1 and not ending until the Legislature adjourns, but that isn't stopping some of the snipers in another campaign from taking a shot at her. They say if Janice was really serious about becoming Guv, she would resign her legislative seat and campaign full-time for Guv, including raising money. That way, sniped the sniper, there would be no question that she is fully committed to the campaign and not planning to fall back on a run for her state House seat should her Guv effort falter.

A friend of Janice's reminds the holiday politics watchers that she's the only GOP Guv candidate with legislative experience and huffs that the candidate will give up her House seat when she's elected Governor.

MORE RICHARDSON 59

We've revealed a total of 19 of the 59 political appointees who are being let go by the Guv to help balance the state budget. We've done it with our Alligators who have a stellar record, but one got by them and us. Rick Silva of the property tax division of the NM Taxation and Revenue Department was apparently targeted for a pink slip, as our Gators reported in our first blog draft Tuesday, but he has since been given a reprieve. He is still on the job which we personally confirmed. Also, former ABQ State Rep. Delano Garcia was working with the NM National Guard as a legislative liaison, not the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs as we first blogged.

There's going to be a mistake or two along the line when you try to bust the government for a lack of transparency in how they spend your money, especially when it refuses to release the names of those in question. Traditional journalistic tools may or may not get the info for us when reams of records are released later. That's where our senior sources come in. We're still trying to compile names so email us with any fresh info.

Other questions about the Richardson 59 for the watchdogs to watch for: How many of those being let go are double-dippers, already drawing a retirement check plus their full-time government salary? And will any of The Richardson 59 be rehired in other government positions? Stay with us...

THE KANGAROO COMMISSION?

We just got done blogging above about the need for full disclosure from the Guv candidates, but that doesn't mean we are going to buy hook, line and sinker anything with "ethics" stamped on it. Some things are just a bad buy this holiday season. Like this....

The more we hear about the proposed state ethics commission, the more we fear it will end up resembling a Kangaroo court. New Mexico politics is crazy enough without unleashing the politicians to look at each other's dirty laundry, but that's what this commission--or carnival--would appear to do if given life in the January legislative session. Look at the proposed membership as described by assistant attorney general Stuart Bluestone:

It provides for 11 members, with two appointed by the House Democratic Caucus, two by the House Republican Caucus, two by the Senate Democratic Caucus, two by the Senate Republican Caucus, and the governor appoints three members--a Democrat, a Republican and someone who is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. The 11 members can only act if there is a quorum of eight, and at least eight of the 11 members must agree on every action the commission takes.

This thing is looking as unwieldy as Tiger Woods' date book. Hey, Stu. Why not throw in eight maids a milking and a couple of partridges in a pear tree?

Call us naive, but we happen to think Attorney General Gary King, State Auditor Hector Balderas, US Attorney Fouratt (and his successor) are more than capable of performing their ethical watchdog roles if given proper funding and if pushed hard to do so by the press and public. (Haven't the feds in recent years put behind bars two state treasurers and the former leader of the state Senate? Isn't a former secretary of state under indictment?)

But this is New Mexico where we like to complicate the uncomplicated. And don't forget those nice, juicy staff jobs for the ethics commission. That matter could be the first case before the new panel--the hiring of cronies to administer the new ethics commission!

WHERE'S THE WATER?

Tucumcari reader Catherine Bugg wanted to use our blog to send a message to the state engineer who presides over all things water. But it wasn't a Christmas card Catherine wanted to convey:

We have worked with our board of directors and discovered some illegal diversions upstream on the Canadian River. We, landowners, board members and the Executive Director Franklin McCasland have made attempts to contact the State Engineer's office, our local state representative, the governor and anyone else we can think of to no avail.

One of our questions is if there is a 250% snow pack and yet there is no run-off into Conchas, what is the problem? We would like some help with publicity in this matter, to get our message across the state.

You've got our help, Catherine. John D'Antonio is the state engineer. Tis' the season, John, so why not give Catherine a ring?

This is the home of New Mexico politics.Email your news and comments.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Checking the list
We're making a list and we're checking it twice, but it's not the one we're sending to Santa. This list reveals one of the best kept secrets in New Mexico--but fast becoming one of the worst kept: Who are the 59 political appointees Big Bill let go as part of the state's effort to balance the deficit choked budget? The Guv has refused to release the names saying it would not be dignified to do so. Media efforts to get the names released have been met with a legal stiff arm, but our reliable readers and Alligators have so far pegged 15 of the 59. We asked them to keep the names coming (email in any you have) and they delivered. Here's the latest from our exclusive list:

One of the highest paid exempts to be given the axe is Stephen Easley. He earns about $95,000 a year as the chief information officer for the Department of Public Safety. One Republican legislator told us on background that Easley's departure is a "big loss." This legislator also complained that most of the exempt employees they are hearing about losing their jobs are mid-level state workers, not the big kahunas making over $85,000 a year and whose jobs are not "mission" critical.

Attorney Pilar Vaile, deputy director of the Public Employee Relations Board, is another exempt losing their job. She made about $62,000 a year. Our insider says Vaile has been an independent director and wonders if the Guv's list targets exempt employees who have not been as loyal to him and his minions as he would like. It's reasonable speculation because by not releasing the list, the Guv is acting as if the state has something to hide.

Shanon Riley makes the hit list. She's is a lawyer for the NM National Guard, paid about $70,000 a year. Riley is a former prosecutor in the Bernalillo County District Attorney's office. She didn't have much longevity in her current post which may have made her vulnerable to the axe.

Darla Aiken an administrative assistant in the ABQ office of the NM Commission on the Status of Women is another of the exempt employees who will receive their last paycheck at the end of the month. She was making about $39,000 a year.

We blogged Monday that former ABQ State Rep. Delano Garcia was one of those taken out, but we did not know his position. Now we do. Garcia was a $61,000 a year military liaison with the NM National Guard.

Who are the "Richardson 59?" That's become the question du jour as a battle breaks out between the press and the Guv's office over releasing the names of 59 political appointees who have been given their walking papers as part of the state's effort to balance the budget.

Bill's office says it would not be "dignified" to release the names; the press says it has a right to know, and the Alligators say: Why wait? Let's get those names.

Two have previously been revealed, former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron lost her job at Workforce Solutions and Bruce Kohl was given the axe from his post as head of the state's securities division.

Now the Gators come with this exclusive list of more politicals dismissed from Workforce Solutions--the old Labor Department. But keep in mind some of those heading for the exits are retiring or have agreed to move up their retirement dates to January. That will lessen the sting for them. Here's the Workforce Solutions list:

Lloyd Garley of the fiscal division, Francis Ray, Priscilla Martinez, who once was secretary to NM House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, Jim Moran in the workers comp division, Nick Nieto and Randy Romero, brother of political heavyweight Ed Romero.

Former ABQ State Rep. Delano Garcia is also one of the Richardson 59, but we're unclear what agency he worked for.

At NM Expo the hit list, according to our Senior Alligators, includes:

Attorney Nasha Torrez, who took maternity leave and will not return, former ABQ State Rep Al Otero who only recently came to Expo from another state agency, Bob Cooper, who was with the art department, Leo Pacheco, Harry Pavlides who did special projects and is also a longtime NM pollster, and John Hooker, a former mayor of Los Ranchos and an architect who was involved with Expo construction.

So we now appear to know 15 of the 59. The papers should have all of them when they get a chance to look at payroll records early next year, but if reliable readers will email names from other state agencies, we'll release them to the public. Don't worry, Guv. It will be "dignified."

US ATTORNEY: CONTINUING COVERAGE

There's fall out from that little bomb Republican US Attorney Greg Fouratt dropped last week. He indicated a new US Attorney has finally been picked by the Democratic White House and that he and New Mexicans generally would be pleased with the pick. But sources here and in Washington insist there has been no one selected yet for the high-profile post.

It's interesting to note that the ABQ Journal picked up on Fouratt's declaration about a new US Attorney and published a report on its Web site. However, the paper did not put anything in its print editions about the speech or the US Attorney prediction Fouratt made before the ABQ Economic Forum.

The selection of a new US Attorney has been shrouded in even more secrecy than usual because Fouratt's investigations into Big Bill and other Dems has made the White House and NM senior Senator Jeff Bingaman, who has a major say in who will get the job, sensitive to allegations that they would want to remove Fouratt to lower the heat on fellow Dems.

DEEP BACKGROUND FOR YOU

We are told the major contenders for the post have been interviewed by Bingaman and Senator Udall and that there is a short list of five names. My Legal Beagles inform that several of them will be flown to Washington for interviews with representatives from the White House and Justice Department. A final choice will be forwarded to Attorney General Holder. He will interview that person and then give his recommendation to the President. The President decides, with the input of Bingaman, who announces the selection. The US Senate then confirms or rejects the choice.

Insiders say that the short list includes a couple of names that Fouratt likes, including one current assistant US Attorney. If no final selection has indeed been made, was Fouratt, by speaking out, putting pressure on the White House to come with one of his favorites? And if he doesn't actually know who the choice is, was the implication that he would publicly object if it was not a name to his liking? Or does Fouratt actually have it right and the deal for a new US Attorney is done and he is happy as a clam because he is getting someone he wants?

Insiders say Fouratt is likely to stay on with the office when the new US Attorney is named and that means he would also likely be continuing his role as the prosecutor in the corruption cases. Fouratt was a prosecutor with the office before being named to the top job. There is also talk in elite legal circles that Fouratt might be angling for the position of 1st assistant US Attorney, a position akin to a chief deputy.

How much influence, if any, will Fouratt have under the new and presumably Democratic US Attorney? That's the question that Fouratt, the White House and Bingaman appear to be gaming out as this intriguing power play unfolds.

LIGHT GUV DOINGS

It's unlikely that all the Dem candidates for Lt. Governor will be around for the June 1 primary, and it appears ABQ State Senator Linda Lopez could be one to falter early. First, she finished in fifth place at a recent Democratic Party straw poll in Sandoval County, and now she is taking heat for appearing to have had political strings pulled on her behalf to get a part-time job with benefits with Bernalillo County.

All won't be lost, however, if Lopez does indeed retreat from the light guv battle. She remains chair of the powerful state Senate Rules Committee.

This is the home of New Mexico politics. Email your news and comments.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009
Not for reproduction without permission of the author