They're saying it's the state's warmest year in over a hundred years of record keeping, yet modern water conservation methods have been a major factor in keeping ABQ way ahead of the curve in providing enough of the precious stuff for nearly a million people who now live in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia counties. That's the good news. The bad news is the continued fretting over global warming. Does ABQ's 2012 heat wave have any long-term meaning in that regard?

Much of what is written about ABQ water seems to come from a perspective that water use will gobble up less and less supply and that shortages are inevitable. They aren't.

We've been reading the disaster scenarios since the early 70's and none has even come close to coming true Why? The aforementioned technological advances in saving and using water is one reason. Another is the great triumph of New Mexico politicians like Senator Clinton Anderson in getting us water via the San Juan Chama Diversion Project and having leaders like Senator Domenici and former ABQ Mayor Chavez seeing it through to fruition.

But there is pain. A byproduct of this unusually hot and dry spell has meant a near epic drought across a wide swath of our enchanted land, including dozens of cattle ranches, many of which are now struggling to survive as rain refuses to fall.

We spoke recently to the annual convention of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association and water was their #1 concern--and sadly the reason some of them are going out of business. Following us on the podium was a climatologist offering the none too soothing news that our long drought is not about to be washed away anytime soon.

In light of all this, the appointment of ABQ Congresswoman-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham to the House Agriculture Committee doesn't seem quite so odd or off the beaten path for what's important to her largely urban district. There is a lot of rural acreage in the district, including the ABQ South Valley and all of Torrance County. Maybe she can develop an interest in water--or the lack thereof--as she prepares to take the oath of office next week and begins her first term in the US House.

MORE TO COME IN '13?

The aftershocks from the ABQ housing bust are long-lasting. With home construction still in the doldrums and no major job creation in the metro, you have to wonder if this closing news of 2012 is a precursor of 2013

Leishman Interiors, an Albuquerque-based home furnishings store, is set to close its doors after being in business since 1974.According to a report in the Albuquerque Journal, owner Scott Leishman announced a going-out-of-business sale Dec. 26 because of the poor economy and worries about the cost of renewing his lease on the 24,000-square-foot store and warehouse at 5809 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE in the Mountain Run Shopping Center. “Today’s economy is not like it was five years ago,” Leishman told the Journal.

NO GROWTH IS GOOD?

Well, we can always look at the no-growth state economy in a different light. That's what reader Larry Gioannini of Las Cruces did when he read our Thursday blog about the state's stagnant population:

Considering the state's water shortage, air pollution, reliance on extractive industries and the federal dole in the form of defense dollars, the slow-down in growth should be hailed as a step in the right direction for the future of NM. It's both amusing and sad to hear what are likely Republicans criticize government for failing to continuously grow the economy enough to make them ever more well-off in the short term regardless of the long term harm...Never ending growth is not possible in a finite system. The sooner we adjust to that the less painful it will be. Are you noticing any climate change yet?

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What happened to the state motto: "It grows as it goes?" Suddenly and ominously we've stopped growing. The news:

New Mexico’s population grew by 6,864, or .33 percent, in the 12 months ending June 30, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The state’s population is 2,085,538.

That is yet another of a series of prescient reader predictions made here on the blog ever since the Great Recession locked us in its embrace three years ago and has refused to let go. Other predictions included the widespread loss of government jobs, anemic tax collections for ABQ, falling home prices, skyrocketing commercial vacancies, record home foreclosures etc. etc. etc...

Not that it's fun being right when the news is so dreary but realistic coverage of the New Mexican economy seems as sparse as snow in Tucumcari in July. But that's news as old as a day old newspaper. Let's get back to giving you more of the real action and turn it over to reader Phillip Leckman:

Joe, the US Census estimated population growth figures for 2012 show that while NM is still growing (barely), population increased by only 1/3 of one percent. This is good enough to put us at #35 nationally, right between New Jersey and Iowa. That's better than it could be, I suppose, but a far cry from the vigorous growth we experienced in the 2000's.

Governor Martinez and the state's other leaders like to blame our stagnation on President Obama, the gridlock in Washington, and the state of the national economy. But take a look at the ten states with the highest population growth rates overall and you'll find *all* of our neighbors: Texas is #3, Utah is #5, Colorado is #7, and Arizona is #8. We're lagging far behind our neighbors in the region and losing ground against the country as a whole.

The Governor offers nothing but excuses…she'd seemingly rather spend her political capital on score-settling and pursuing right-wing talking points than actually make an effort to reinvigorate the state's economy. Platitudes about the need for more private jobs aren't going to cut it in the absence of any real effort to bring good-paying jobs in. And dozens of important state jobs continue to go unfilled, essentially pulling those salaries right out of the local economy.

I have always been bullish on New Mexico's future but the Martinez administration's inertia and lack of any sort of economic vision for our state is rapidly destroying that optimism. The state's prosperity is drying up and blowing away and our citizens are following.

Mr. Leckman, we don't know what you do for a living, but we sure wish you were covering the Mayor or Governor of this state, or giving lessons on how to do it. You nailed it, dear reader.

HOW BAD? THIS BAD

Bill Croft writes to us to say "Joe, you've been telling it all along and the High Country News has picked up the story, in an online blog:

 ...Then there’s Albuquerque, New Mexico... It is not only near the bottom in the U.S., but at 282nd place it’s competing with Athens, Naples and Madrid as one of the worst performing economies in the world. It has lost employment, lost GDP and shows absolutely no signs of recovery, remaining in full recession. It’s true that New Mexico’s economy has never been the healthiest -- it has chronically high poverty rates, and the biggest gap in the nation between the rich and the poor (or between the people living on Santa Fe’s hillsides and those who commute into town to serve them in the snazzy restaurants). Now, however, the state’s economy not only seems to be staggering along far below that old, already low standard, but it isn’t even stumbling in that direction. New Mexico, it seems, has already fallen off the dreaded fiscal cliff...

Okay. We've got both Bill Croft and Phil Leckman covering this stuff for us like Pulitzer winners. If they can do it, why is it so hard for the state's political leadership to do it--and for our seemingly starstruck media to make a go of it?

NO SMELLING SALTS NEEDED

McClure

Not all of our economic leadership needs smelling salts to wake them up to read the economic tea leaves. A far-right think tank got her thinking all wrong so we want to clarify what Beverlee McClure, head of the Association of Commerce and Industry of NM, recently said. Better yet. Here is a direct news report on what she said:

"We are not ready yet to end” the state’s dependency on federal dollars because “the private sector isn’t strong enough,” McClure said. However, the effects of sequestration have already hit New Mexico because the government sector, which accounts for 24 percent of the state’s jobs, has shed more than 15,000 jobs over the past year, McClure added. 

In the upcoming 60-day legislative session, ACI will be supporting a variety of economic development legislation.. McClure said New Mexico needs to develop a state-wide economic development plan that identifies the jobs and industries it wants to attract. Once a plan is in place, lawmakers can work to pass tax and other bills to attract those industries, McClure said.

You mean a business leader who doesn't see the billions of federal money pouring in here as tainted by the "evil" hand of Washington? And one who agrees with our longstanding belief that rapidly shedding that federal funding would be a disaster--not a panacea for a private sector paradise?

Bless you, Bev, but good luck in Santa Fe. What passes for planning there is looking over an advance copy of the Rio Chama lunch menu.

THE BOTTOM LINES

A reader writes:

Joe, Your Holiday Greetings of Dec. 21 bring to mind a quote from the highly respected former U. S. Senator Everett Dirksen, who reportedly said, "If you want to get your B.A. in Politics, you need to come to my home state of Illinois.  If you want to get your Master's degree in Politics, you'd better go to Louisiana.  But if you want to get your Ph.D., you're gonna have to go to New Mexico!"

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What's that Susana's shooting at? And more to the point is the once proud carrier of a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum going to shoot her way into the new year or will she take a less confrontational path as she prepares for her '14 re-election bid?

Well, Susana proved herself a perfect shot when, in 2011, she took her gun exam with a .38 caliber handgun, but when it comes to her record on the shooting range of La Politica her score is far from perfect.

2012 was the year Susana targeted the world...well..the world of La Poltica anyway...and she mostly fired blanks. It started with her second legislative session in which she again could not persuade the lawmakers to give her a big game trophy by repealing the law that allows undocumented immigrants to get a state driver's license. Then the Republican Governor aimed squarely at Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez in the November election but that was a hunt that also ended without a score. He beat Susana's candidate by a whopping 11 points.Will she try to make Michael forgive and forget come the January 2013 session or is that important political relationship shot through with holes that can never be repaired?

Susana and her political guru Jay McCleskey also took aim at the State House with ammo clips filled with millions of campaign dollars, but again the bullets failed to fire. The Dems picked up two seats in the 70 member chamber and since then the Dems have anointed State Rep. Kenny Martinez, a liberal, as Speaker. They hold a 38 to 32 edge.

Susana did manage a bullseye when it came to Dem Senate President President Pro Tem Tim Jennings of Roswell, ending his political life by fielding an unknown 27 year old farmer against the formidable Jennings but backing it up with constant machine gun fire. But guess what? With the conservative Jennings gone, Susana probably faces an even less friendly Senate--one even more liberal

Hey, be careful what you aim at in 2013, Guv. You don't need to bag any more big game like that.

TOUGHER ON GUV?

Former ABQ Mayor and blogger Jim Baca has a question he is mulling over during the holidays. The lifetime Dem and onetime journalist wants to know if the media will start to get tougher--or at least more inquisitive in 2013--about the leadership of the state and city 2013?

Governor Martinez and Mayor Berry sit in the shadows chuckling that we have such a lame news media. The state and city economies are mired in a swamp. That is reported by the media.  But they never seem to go get comments from these two political leaders about what they are doing to help us get unstuck. Cops and robbers all the way.  A reporter recently interviewed the Governor on some inane story.  She didn't even throw in a question about the economy.  Maybe the Governor only does these interviews with the understanding that no tough questions are allowed.  Well, maybe there would be no opportunity to air the answers anyway because 911 tapes and dash cam cop videos demand too much time.

And the Governor and Mayor just love that...

THEY SAID IT

KOB-TV's Stuart Dyson on the passing last week of longtime NM state House Speaker Ben Lujan:

Lujan was a tough little guy from Pojaque with a Conway Twitty haircut and a firm grip on the political hardball. the old iron worker did have an iron fist when he served as speaker for 12 years, including Bill Richardson's two terms as governor. The two Democrats were close allies.  

Lujan will be replaced by State Rep. Kenny Martinez of Grants who tried to oust Lujan in 2006 but then became a firm ally of Lujan's. The speaker died only several days after the House Dem caucus chose Martinez as Lujan's replacement.  

Outgoing Dem State Senator and Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings on the loss of his Roswell area seat in the November election as told to Lorene Mills of Santa Fe's Report from Santa Fe:

“Now we have all these outside groups that come in, that spend ungodly amounts of money spewing nothing but hate. A democracy can’t survive in hate and I refuse to participate in that. You know, my own race all by itself, I didn’t really lose. It was stolen from me by outsiders and I am sure the governor doesn’t feel that way, but you know there is life beyond this thing. You know a prosecutor’s theory is always as long you can get a conviction it is okay... I don’t think anyone can ever accuse me of not working for the best interest of the state. It has been a wonderful ride… because we have done it together as friends…That’s the way I believe democracy was when it started.”

THE BOTTOM LINES 

Alex Wirth is 19, a native of Santa Fe and wants a presidential youth council. He writes:

I Chair the Campaign for a Presidential Youth Council and wanted to write and pass along this press release.  Both of New Mexico's senators recently announced their support for a Presidential Youth Council....

Alex wrote more about it at the Huffington Post.

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