Rep. Garcia Richard

Watching for a big moment in Santa Fe is like waiting for a statue to bleed, but we've got our eyes out for you. Maybe some passion is starting to build as the session nears its final heartbeats. Three freshman Dem state reps--ABQ's Christine Trujillo and Liz Thomson and Stephanie Garcia Richard of Los Alamos split with their colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee and voted against the $5.9 billion state budget. They did so because of their opposition to starting up a merit based pay system for school teachers as favored by the Republican Governor.

They are being called tools of the teachers' unions, but as we've blogged before--anyone showing some fight--some passion in Santa Fe--on either the left or the right--gets our attention.

This has to be one of the more featureless sessions in recent memory.

Who would have thought it would be like this after the multi-million dollar nasty campaigns the Guv ran against so many legislators last November? It's like the Stockholm Syndrome where those taken hostage become grateful to their captors--in this case the Guv.

That state budget bill was approved Thursday on a 53-16 vote. 13 other Dems joined the three above to send a message to the old guard Dem leadership that they would like to tangle with the Fourth Floor.

(Speaking of the old guard, what's this we hear about freshman Rep. Garcia Richard getting an earful from the old guard during a lengthy House Democratic caucus meeting this week? Lighten up, old-timers. Remember when you also used to really care?)

Just how small potatoes is this session coming as it does in the middle of an historic downturn in the state economy? Folks, they're telling us a 1% pay raise for state employees is a major philosophical difference between Susana and the Dems. Do we look that dumb out here? Okay, don't answer that....

DAYS OF DOMENICI

The long ago sins of St. Pete heated up the water cooler conversations across the state (and nation) this week. Readers here were among them as they parsed the sensational news that Pete Domenici--the longest-serving NM Senator in the state's 100 year history--wasn't who he seemed to be.

Who the Republican legend seemed to be to his legion of loyal followers was a devoted family man, a faithful Catholic who was the father of eight (not nine).

Political insiders were aware of Pete's bawdy side, but even some of them expressed shock when it was learned that he kept secret the fact that the had impregnated the daughter of Senator Paul Laxalt and that the existence of their illegitimate son had been kept secret for nearly 35 years.

We end the week with a round-up of commentary and reader email on Pete's personal saga which now enters the long and colorful history of La Politica.

From a WaPo blog:

“I deeply regret this and am very sorry for my behavior,” Mr. Domenici said.  ”One night’s mistake led to pregnancy more than 30 years ago,” said the mother, who raised the child alone, by choice she said.  I don’t know about you, but these statements strike me as more than a little callous.  How does it make the child, now a grown man, feel?  Hopefully, he worked it out long ago, but it cannot have been easy and he probably wants few reminders.  His parents reacted like politicians, covering their own reputations and throwing their own son aside.  That’s the real transgression. 

A reader writes:

Joe , With St. Pete's peccadilloes outed, will the citizens now demand that his name be removed from the public buildings as has been done to other public structures named for politicians once some ridiculously bad behavior been discovered? What's next? (Former Governor) Richardson will be accused of consorting with a female lobbyist in Santa Fe? The horror, the horror!

Self described "liberal Democrat" JD Robertson writes:

What is this morbid interest in the sex life of public servants? Four hundred years ago Cardinal Richelieu of France opined: "If you will give me six lines written by the most honorable of men - I will find something in them to hang him." Truth be known I don't know anybody who is eligible to "cast the first stone."  Good God! Pete's indiscretion was three decades ago after which he lived the good life. And while I'm quoting--somebody said, "To err is human, to forgive divine!" I wasn't particularly interested in hearing about it in the first place and I most certainly don't want to hear about it now.

From an Esquire magazine blog:

True story--years ago, when my daughter was a baby and refused to take a nap, we would place her on the floor of the den and turn on the most boring thing we could think of on afternoon TV, which invariably was the US government as broadcast by CSPAN. I developed a little shorthand whereby I would say, "OK, let's see what our friend Pete Domenici is up to," since he was the sine qua non of boring politicians. "NO!" my daughter yelled one day. "No, Daddy, no Pete Domenici!"

I herewith apologize to Pete Domenici for ever having thought him boring, and I also herewith apologize to my daughter for whatever damage may have been done by my exposing her to this bounder.

Reader Jeff Potter writes:

Joe, Re. the admission of Senator Domenici's secret son--you are right about questioning it in relation to the Clinton impeachment.  Then, there's further hypocrisy when Republicans went on a post-Clinton presidency binge re-naming of the US District courthouse in ABQ from Clinton to Domenici...Let's strip it from Senator Domenici and give it back to President Clinton.

REACHING THEM EARLY

Can any of Santa Fe's fiscal hawks be convinced to support a constitutional amendment that would devote some of the state's nearly $12 billion permanent fund to very early childhood education? Here's something for them to weigh:

Heckman and his coauthors started from the observation that those who received preschool in the Perry experiment ended up earning more money — and thus paying more taxes — as well as using fewer criminal justice system resources (because they committed fewer crimes) and receiving less in the way of welfare, food stamps and other transfer payments. He tried to determine the annual return on investment, using those cost reductions to society, and to the government in particular, as benefits and comparing them to the upfront $18,000 a year cost.

Another note: former PNM chief executive Jerry Geist--a Republican--says he supports the constitutional amendment that would go to the state's voters in 2014. He sees it as a necessary element in a very long march to resolver the state's generations-old social conditions crisis. The amendment is on a long journey. It passed the Senate Rules Committee this week. We'll keep you posted.

DON'T GO CHANGIN'

Finally, a reader writes to object to another reader's suggestion that the troubled ABQ police department--under investigation by the federal Department of Justice--drop its college credit requirement for new recruits:

I would like to respond to the statement from a previous reader that we should go back to the old standards. I personally believe having an officer with some college hours under his belt is a good thing. In addition to showing he has some experience with higher education, studies have shown that officers with college degrees tend to have fewer formal complaints filed against them, make better decisions, and also tend to think  before acting. This would have the impact of ensuring that the officers we do have do not incur 27 officer involved shootings within 2 years, and a more ethical and reasonable police force that is more professional, and in the end, much more effective in serving and protecting Albuquerque.

The turmoil in APD--one of the big stories of 2013 and being tracked here.

Thanks for your company this week. Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan

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Domenici and Laxalt

So you get back in the time machine and you go back to August 1978 and it's revealed that Senator Pete Domenici fathered a child out of wedlock with the daughter of a fellow Senator. And suddenly you have Senator Toney Anaya--not Pete Domenici.

We know now that Domenici dodged a bazooka-sized bullet that year and maybe New Mexico did as well. He went on to have the longest-ever New Mexico US Senate career, bringing literally billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the state. And if Anaya went on to the Senate he would never have run for Governor and won election in '82.

We covered the '78 race and always remembered it as the year of the state's first $1 million campaign. Now we'll always remember it for what we didn't know at the time.

Domenici was first elected in '72 and was finishing up that first term in August 1978 when his illegitimate son--Adam--was born to Michelle Laxalt, the then 24 year daughter of Nevada GOP Senator Paul Laxalt. Pete was 46. 1978 was his last serious campaign. He cleaned the clock in '84, '90, '96 and 2002.

He decided not to run in 2008. He said it was for medical reasons but he was under fire from the Senate Ethics Committee at the time for the US attorney scandal. And then there was the still-secret baby bombshell. Did it weigh on him when deciding whether to make another run?

And then there was 1988. Domenici was under serious consideration to become the vice-presidential running mate of the first Republican President Bush. Did the Laxalt affair head that off?

Domenici's sexual escapades now belong to history. But we know with certainty that his delay in reporting the truth of his life made possible one of the most consequential political lives in state history.

POKING PETE


The revelation that Domenici's illicit fatherhood was covered up for nearly 35 years was nearly as surprising as the revelation itself.

It reminded us of how former House Speaker Ben Lujan was able to keep his cancer diagnosis under wraps for several years--despite the millions of Facebook pages and Twitter accounts out there.

Domenici, now 80 and frail, came clean over his long ago transgression when it was about to break in the news. But it bothered a number of readers that in the apology for this errant ways, Domenici called the child he fathered "the son" not "my son." It seemed icy to them.

One of our longtime Dem readers--a Senior Alligator--took a poke at Pete for his behavior and also said they had an idea why the story was about to go public:

This was a Washington lobbyist protecting herself, her US Senator father and her lover--also a US Senator. The kid spends a life without a dad or even knowing who the dad is. The only Republican value in this story is that they didn't believe in contraceptives. Remember: Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. (And FYI: The person who was threatening to leak the story and and working to do it was a member of Pete's family) Chew on that one.

That Gator also included the name of the family member who they believe was about to go public on Pete. We won't release it but we'll consider this informed speculation. We note that that no news organization or blog has come forth to say it was about to break the story and had forced Domenici's hand. 

Of course, it was the hypocrisy angle that hurt Domenici the most in the aftermath of the initial reports even as many expressed apathy or sympathy for his plight. To the email:

What is galling to me is not so much that the Senator had the affair and child but that he then sat in judgment of then President Clinton for the same behavior. To vote for impeachment, knowing his child was walking the planet at the same time falls into the same category of hypocrisy as three times married Gingrich voting for the Defense of Marriage Act. It is not just Republicans, hello John Edwards, but the brazen moral attitude to judge others is the ultimate act of dishonesty.

Republican and longtime newsman Gerges Scott told us that the Domenici shocker was "only a 24 hour story." He's right, but Domenici is more worried about 24 years from now and his legacy. His place in state history has been unquestioned. His moral leadership through the Character Counts program and his recitation of "family values" over the years now put a tarnish on St. Pete's halo (St. Pete being the political nickname former NM journalist Kate Nelson gave to Pete a couple of decades ago because of his extreme popularity here).

No matter the disappointment in Domenici's personal failings, he will always be viewed as a political leader who preserved and enhanced the lives of New Mexicans by his unflinching devotion to bringing the bacon home. Domenici presided over our salad days. How they and he seem so long ago.

COMIC RELIEF

There's always a place for the jokesters when weird news hits. The Alligators have us covered:

Joe, I guess that rumor about Heather Wilson being Pete's daughter got mixed up. Now we know the real story.

Joe, I guess this takes Pete out of the race for the papacy.

Joe, heere's a headline for the blog:

"Pete The Cheat" or "Pete's Peter Principle Revealed."

Well, all in good fun there. And get ready for more because the question in politics is always: "Who's Next?"

MAINSTREAM OR NOT?

We blogged Wednesday that "the last two general elections has put ABQ Dem liberal State Rep. Mimi Stewart squarely in the mainstream in Bernalillo County and much of the rest of the state."

A number of Republicans howled over that, including frequent blog critic and Downs at ABQ head Darren White. He pointed out that an ABQ Journal poll last September showed 75% of the state's voters are in favor of the Governor's social promotion bill that Stewart, chair of the House Education Committee, was instrumental in killing this week.

Point taken, but in actual election results in Bernalillo County it is hard to argue that ABQ has not turned to more liberal politics as represented by Stewart. The bill calling for holding back third graders is a simple solution that appeals to voters across the board and isn't really any evidence that there is not a progressive/liberal tilt to the county. Ditto for the emotional wedge issue of driver;s licenses for undocumented immigrants. Stewart's overall politics are more in the mainstream in her home county now because of a number of reasons. For example:

The minimum wage increase passed overwhelmingly in November with 66% of ABQ voters approving. Not even close. In 2005, city voters narrowly rejected an increase in the minimum wage. Granted, the turnout in an general election like 2012 draws more Democrats than in the low turnout '05 election, but the huge swing over this issue indicates the trend.

Obama carried BernCo with 56% of the vote. Not as much as '08 but not even a competitive race for the Republicans. Dem Michelle Lujan Grisham hit nearly 60% of the vote in her '12 congressional race--a near landslide. The list gs on..

So how do Republicans manage to control the ABQ City Council and the Mayor's office for the first time in decades? Low turnout.

The blue voters that make up the majority of the city must come out to vote. Republicans and more conservative independents are reliable voters. When the Dems stay home, they represent a larger portion of the electorate. City elections don't even attract 40% of the voters anymore, leaving the GOP able to capitalize and win with conservative/moderate platforms. No so in general elections.

The lesson in all of this is that if the Dems want to take back the mayor's office, they can't split their votes among multiple candidates and they must boost turnout among Democrats.

APD WOES

The cowboy culture at the ABQ Police Department is costing taxpayers dearly--dearly indeed. The latest:

A stunner of a story broke Wednesday that former NM GOP US Senator Pete Domenici fathered a son outside of his marriage. The son was born in 1978--toward the end of Domenici's first US Senate term. The mother is Michelle Laxalt, a GOP consultant and daughter of former GOP Nevada US Senator Paul Laxlat. She was 24 at the time of her affair with Domenici. He was 46. More here. Domenici did not seek-re-election in 2008.

Glad to have you aboard this Wednesday. Let's check out the political scene....

When Dem State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia of Las Cruces cast the key vote Tuesday in killing a proposed state constitutional amendment that would increase New Mexico's minimum wage for inflation she started the Alligators biting--especial the ones of the labor variety.

They question why Garcia, chair of the House Voters and Elections Committee where the measure was buried, is not being reined in by Speaker Martinez.

Rep. Garcia was also the main and loud sponsor of Guv Martinez's "social promotion" bill that House Education Committee Chair Mimi Stewart made sure was killed this week. Was she extracting revenge by killing the minimum wage measure? Duh.

Garcia was known for giving headaches to former Speaker Ben Lujan. Looks like Kenny has inherited them. Mary Helen, a retired school principal, has been in the Legislature since 1997...

The aforementioned Rep. Stewart is not known as one of the more likable reps in the Roundhouse and after years in which she seem somewhat sidelined, the veteran rep is now back in her element and making waves. An unapologetic liberal, the tide of blue that washed over the state in the last two general elections has put Stewart squarely in the mainstream in Bernalillo County and much of the rest of the state.

When she led her committee Tuesday in spiking the Governor's favored social promotion bill, she was hit hard by the Guv's office and other supporters who called her a tool of the teachers' unions. But she hit back equally hard, giving the Dems an example of the backbone that party observers here say has been sorely missing. In the game since '95, Stewart has the political wind at her back and is standing toe-to-toe against the Guv. In Santa Fe these days, that's news...

P.S. The death of the minimum wage and the social promotion bill again reveal the Dem dilemma--they have the votes to scuttle legislation not to their liking, but not to advance their own major bills because of Blue Dog Dems like Garcia in the House and the conservative Dem-GOP coalition in the Senate.

THE BLUE WAVE

As we said, Rep. Stewart's hand has been strengthened by the blue tide. Perhaps she is more aware of that than other Democrats. It's surprising exactly how blue the state's largest city has gotten in the past several years. Veteran Dem pollster and analyst Harry Pavlides compiled data from all 393 city precincts for us. He reports:

290 precincts or 73.8% of all precincts are now over 50% Democratic performance. 192 precincts or 48.9% of the precincts are now 60% or more Democratic performing and 102 precincts or 36.2% of the total are now 70% Democratic performing...

If Dems can get high voter turnout in those precincts it becomes very difficult for Republicans to make up those votes elsewhere in the state. The R's have a shot at the conservative Dems here are fewer of them. In other words, "liberal" is hardly a dirty word for the Dems in the big Duke City. That's why some of our Dem analysts and Alligators have been pounding the table for a more activist Dem economic agenda in Santa Fe that outlines clear differences with the Republican Governor.

US ATTORNEY TALK

Could this finally be the time for Santa Fe attorney and Dem political activist John Pound? His name has surfaced again as a possible US attorney for New Mexico. He would replace Ken Gonzales who awaits Senate confirmation for a federal judgeship.

Pound, who was a co-chair of the Obama campaign here, applied for the post when it last opened up, but then-Senator Bingaman pushed Gonzales who used to work in Bingaman's office. Now it's Senator Tom Udall who is the go-to guy for the White House in naming the next US attorney for the state. Udall is accepting applications..in case you're interested...

MAKE IT PRIVATE?

TV blogging

Reader Bill Hume now with some reaction to our thoughts that the city and state economic development departments have fallen behind the curve and it;s time to consider letting the private sector take them over:

In response to your comment that perhaps the business community should privatize economic development in Albuquerque, perhaps they already have--and perhaps they are as much a failure as government. I refer to Albuquerque Economic Development, the private nonprofit entity still in operation here, though I haven't seen them in the news for some time. They used to at least make news--and I think make economic activity--back in the days when Bob Hoffman was their executive director. He died in 2011. I don't know that this is an exact parallel to taking over the city's operation, but if it is believed that private initiative could do the job where the public entity has failed, an examination of AED might be appropriate.

Reader Jim McClure also came with comments:

I'm glad you mentioned privatizing economic development and hope the idea gains traction. I became a big fan of public-private partnerships in the 1980s, when I served on the board of the Oak Park Development Corporation  in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. The group was sponsored by local banks and businesses (who made annual contributions) and operated under a contract for services from the municipal government.

OPDC had a slender staff and active board:  The bank presidents attended the meetings instead of sending subordinates. One of the group's most successful initiatives was a business loan program in which the banks leveraged federal community development grants 3:1 to write and service below-market-rate loans. OPDC also was effective in working with local government to recommend business-friendly legislation and fast-track new business permits. The development corporation measured its results in terms of tax revenues gained and jobs created. Something like this could work in Albuquerque if local businesses, especially the banks, participate actively and have skin in the game. 

Thanks, Jim. This being a mayoral election year, maybe one of the candidates will pick up our spear on this one.

THE BOTTOM LINES

On Tuesday we picked up from the Journal's John Robertson the categories the bills introduced in this year's Legislature fall under. A reader says we left out a key category from that report:

Taxation is another biggie: I see roughly 130 bills falling into that category. Education is always on the minds of New Mexico legislators. More than half the state budget deals with education funding, and there are more than 100 separate bills on education issues as well.”
 
Our reader also reports that the total number of bills introduced is much smaller than usual for a 60 day session, according to ABQ Dem Rep. Rep. Rick Miera, He told a legislative forum: “New Mexico lawmakers have introduced roughly 1,300 bills and as of Monday morning had passed and sent to Gov. Susana Martinez a grand total of two.”

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The 2013 New Mexico legislative session hasn't exactly grabbed Mr. and Mrs. New Mexico by their collars and screamed: "Look at us!" No, it's pretty much more of the same what is coming out of Santa Fe.

The narrative driven by the conservative coalition in the state Senate and embodied by its leader--State Senator John Arthur Smith--says we have little money and there's not a whole lot we can do about the systemic problems facing this enchanted land. He has the money line--literally--on this 60 day session:

God only knows, I know about the need out there. … (But) somebody’s got to try and watch the purse strings.”

For many of us in the bleacher seats, the legislative session effectively ended on its first day. That's when the battle for Senate leadership was won by the conservative coalition of Republicans and nominal Democrat Smith and his handful of allies, including Mary Kay Papen who was chosen Senate President Pro Tem over Pete Campos. Campos was the choice of the Dem caucus which is supposedly the majority party in the 42 member Senate.,

Ever since it has been baby steps. A little bit of gun control, a little bit of driver's licenses and that's about it. To use a well-worn phrase where's the "bold change"in the face of the economic retrenchment and ongoing (and apparently worsening) social conditions crisis the state faces?

Our "majority-minority" state is each year rapidly adding more and more minorities. Are our politics at this 60 day legislative session seriously addressing why they are failing to advance educationally and economically?

God only knows, we know about the need out there.

NO VOTES

Speaker Martinez

When you are the state's majority party but have been couped by the conservatives in your own party in the state Senate, here's the kind of stuff you say to try to explain why you can't get any major legislation passed. From the House Democrats:
 
Democrats are committed to compromise, and will continue to work across the aisle to find solutions to the serious challenges facing New Mexico. New Mexicans do not want to see their legislators in Santa Fe act like those in Washington D.C., only focused on scoring political points. They want to see their elected officials come together and get things done. 

Hey, sending the Governor legislation that she doesn't agree with is not just "scoring political points." It is laying down important differences in policy on the future direction of this state. Isn't that what the Dems are supposed to be doing since they claim to so urgently disagree with the Republican Governor?

Note to Speaker Kenny Martinez whose instincts for compromise are honorable and if he can get something tangible, sign us up. But the Governor just got done trying to beat the snot out of you and your brethern in the November election. You won. Remember? She needs to look like the agent of compromise to get re-elected. You don't. What is your candidate for Governor supposed to campaign on? How about your own Democratic representatives? What do they say they stand for? All the stuff that they are not going to vote on? 

Let's be blunt. If the Democratic Party in Santa Fe wants to lay down unifying principles and seriously pursue legislation that codifies those principles, it needs to do so. Then it needs to slap the back sides of Democratic Blue Dog Senators John Arthur Smith, John Sapien, George Munoz, Clemente Sanchez and Mary Kay Papen when they don't go along. That's how you build power, a party and enthusiasm for change.

There was an election in which Obama, Heinrich and Lujan Grisham won here by landslide margins and you picked up seats in the state House. That's a mandate. You need forceful, aggressive leadership to carry it out in the face of a small, but disciplined Republican Party and a handful of Senate renegades.

Speaker Martinez is between that proverbial rock and a hard place. He wants to show progress in moving the state forward, but he has to be careful not to give away the store in the process.

He has to keep in mind that for two years the Fourth Floor has treated compromise like leprosy. If they want it now, he deserves to get some compromise from them on legislation that matters to him and his party. As one of our Alligators wrote in frustration here recently, so far all the talk of compromise has been on legislation that the Governor wants. 

Go ahead and work for the deal but be careful, Kenny. Jay and the boys could "compromise" you right out of your Speaker's chair in 2014.

EATING THE CLOCK

Newsman Steve Terrell comes with what has to be an annual lament about Santa Fe:

The Legislature should drastically restrict the number of memorials and resolutions, which take up way too much time in both the Senate and the House.

And newsman John Robertson comes with the nuts and bolts update:

Here is a rough breakdown of bill subjects as the Legislature plods toward its usual frantic finish. (All counts are approximate): Alcohol and drugs: roughly 61 bills; children and families, 50; crime and penalties, 75; economic development and tourism, 29; elections, 35; energy and natural resources, 30; environment, 20; licensure, 27; mental health and disabilities; 20; motor vehicles, nearly 100; Native American affairs, 37; water and water rights, 50.

TWO WORLDS

A sign of the times:

On Monday ABQ Route 66 Malt Shop owner Eric Szeman was featured in a front-pager on how the city is working to change zoning rules so he can put up a neon sign at his Nob Hill restaurant that he previously used to attract business at his former location. At the same time, TV news was carrying a report of how Szeman is refusing to comply with the new minimum wage for restaurant workers that was approved by 66% of the voters in the November election. The city says the employees will have to sue if they want the wages they are entitled to under the law. The change in the neon sign regulations will have to be approved by the City Council.

THE SPECIAL

Reader Alex Curtas writes of the Republican opposition heard here to the proposal to change the percentage of votes a candidate for Mayor of ABQ must achieve to avoid a run-off election:

It's interesting to note that the Bernalillo County GOP doesn't actually want to engage with the issue at hand--i.e. changing the City Charter to better reflect the will of ABQ residents in municipal elections.

Only in passing (in their email) do they mention what the election is actually about. Presumably this is because they don't want people thinking too hard about whether 50% of the vote should be required in order to win an election. That's the issue at hand: Should public officials continue to be elected with 40% of the vote or should it be raised to 50%? Most people are likely to say (and of course the  GOP knows this): "I think whoever wins in a municipal election should actually be elected by a majority of the people." Thus, the BernCo GOP are actually the ones who want "a select few...to control who wins city elections in Albuquerque" (though the irony of this is not something they're likely to recognize).

The whole point of changing the City Charter in this manner is that a select few should not be the ones deciding elections--a majority of the voting population should be the ones doing that. It's called democracy.

It's hard to see how requiring 50% of the vote be achieved in order to win an election is "an obvious ploy by AFSCME and their liberal allies to take over city government." Changing the charter in this way will be more reflective of the will of the people, not less.

The city is conducting a mail-in election on the measure. The results will be announced March 11.

THE BOTTOM LINES

In a first draft Monday, we blogged that Adam Feldman had managed the 2009 campaign of Mayor Berry. Actually, it was Feldman's wife--Dana Feldman--who was Berry's campaign manager.

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Mayor Berry

A nice guy public personality, a quiescent city council and a very friendly press have taken ABQ Mayor Richard Berry a long way up the public opinion rankings, but there are so many storm clouds hovering over his administration it's hard to see how he doesn't at least get wet in the campaign for re-election that he officially started Saturday.

That being said, that friendly press did a big stretch to put a positive spin on the Republican Mayor's tenure, saying in their story of his announcement:

 . . .The. . . economy in ABQ. . . doesn't seem to be enjoying the same level of recovery experienced by some cities in the West...

What "recovery?" We're bleeding jobs at a level not seen in the lifetimes of most folks who hang their hats around here:

The Albuquerque metropolitan area lost 2,300 jobs in the 12 months that ended Dec. 31, marking 13 consecutive months of year-over-year negative job growth rates, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions said.

That's not a recovery. That's a recession. More facts:

The four-county area (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia and Torrance) has been in near-constant recession for four years and now has as many jobs as it did in 2004, according to the department’s monthly newsletter...

And then there's the news that really hit everyone in the gut--that NM ranks in the top five places people are moving away from.

These will be two key emotional triggers that will give life to the coming campaign. (The third being the epic mess at the police department which is under federal investigation as well as the dispute over the city's crime rate under Berry).

These are developments that are changing the fundamental nature of our city and a warm smile and a nice write-up on the front-page can only keep them at bay for so long.

THE OPTICS

What the kids these days call "the optics" were a mixed bag for Berry's announcement. He put up a well-produced 60 second spot and his web site is attractive and easy to use. They use a picture of Berry from '09 with the Sandia Mountains as the backdrop. The campaign slogan is "Common Sense Leadership for ABQ."

The Mayor, a good conversationalist, also did a series of sit down media interviews at a local restaurant. They were of the mild-mannered variety as they often are when a singular reporter faces a political figure. Things can get tougher and riskier in a news conference format.

But you can't control reality. On the very day Berry made his announcement the front page of the paper splashed the news of a city cop who was involved in a an accident that claimed the life of a 21 year old woman. There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the tragedy and the story was accompanied by an editorial questioning the handling of the incident.

It was one in a long series of police mishaps that will haunt Berry in the campaign--even after Chief Ray Schultz departs as he is expected to.

It calls into question the competency of that easy-going personality that Berry presented on the opening day of his campaign. Is it too easy going? You can say you love the city, but you still have to lead it.

THE ELEPHANT

Berry & McCleskey

The elephant in the room in the 2013 mayoral race started moving over the weekend and soon the mainstream media will be chasing after it. It is Berry's decision to privately finance his campaign rather than try to qualify for public financing for his bid.

Our analysts say that opens the door to big money coming in for this mayoral campaign--money like we've never seen before.

They expect Berry's campaign to raise a decent amount of cash--certainly more than the $362,000 he would get if he publicly financed--but they say the big money will likely come in as it did in the recent legislative races--via a Super PAC.

Jay McCleskey, who is the main political operative for both Governor Martinez and Mayor Berry, ran the legislative Super PAC Reform NM Now against the Dems, spending some $2 million. Expect him to do the same in the mayoral race.

The wife of Jay buddy and political consultant Adam Feldman held the title of campaign manager for Berry's 2009 run. If Adam manages the campaign this time, you have Feldman handling the mayor's campaign money and Jay running the Super PAC. The law says a Super PAC can't coordinate its messaging or spending with a campaign (Hey, stop laughing...).

Donors can give as much as they like to a Super PAC. One selling point McCleskey could use in raising money for Berry--if you give to the mayor you are also helping the Governor, so pony it up. It gores without saying that all this would mean another big payday for McCleskey.

(Oh, go ahead Jay. Start shopping to the press and public again that bizarre list of alleged infractions of bias and faulty analysis we've committed over the years. Don't worry. We'll get it all right for you when we become Governor Martinez's press secretary--even if we do have to replace Heath Haussamen. Anyone remember him?).

DAYS OF DI

There's really only one other big shoe to drop in this '13 mayoral race. Will former Lt. Governor Diane Denish get in? Newsman Peter St. Cyr reports that if she does take the plunge she will follow Berry in bypassing the city's public finance system and raise money privately. She is also a Democratic candidate--perhaps the only one--who could see a Super PAC formed on her behalf to combat the one we anticipate for Berry.

(Could Dem consultants Dave Contarino and Amanda Cooper --the "anti-Jays" who performed well against him in the 2012 legislative races--be back again? )

THE FIRST CASUALTY

The first casualty of the mayoral campaign is the aforementioned public finance system. It is too restrictive and perhaps an anachronism in the era of the Super PACs which were let loose by a controversial US Supreme Court ruling.

Even attorney Jason Marks, a longtime advocate for publicly financed campaigns, says ABQ's system is broken. He agrees that requiring over 3,600 individual $5 donations to qualify for public financing is too onerous:

Joe, Your analysis that the number of $5 qualifying contributions needed to get public financing for the Albuquerque Mayor's race is "a very high hurdle" is correct.  On a proportional basis, it takes far fewer $5 contributions for campaigns run pursuant to the state's publicly financed election statute. 

Public Regulation Commission races take approximately 280 contributions and statewide judicial races took 1,166 in 2012.  Also, the state allows a much longer period to collect the contributions... It's time to reduce the Albuquerque municipal requirements to a more reasonable level.  The current excessive requirements are preventing otherwise viable candidacies for both Mayor and council.  You could cut Albuquerque's requirements in half and still have a tough threshold that would keep frivolous candidates out. And give them another couple of months to collect their contributions.  

Think you pretty much nailed it, Jason.

Candidates have an easier time of making the ballot than qualifying for public financing. They have until April 28 to get 3,000 petition signatures from registered voters to be placed on the ballot, but only until Apri1 to get the 3,600 $5 donations necessary to win public financing.

OTHER CANDIDATES

Margaret Aragon de Chavez

Berry announcing over the weekend sucked up most of the media oxygen, but previously announced candidates Democrat Pete Dinelli and Republican and retired APD Seargent Paul Heh picked up their petition packages and both said they will try to climb that steep mountain to qualify for public financing which would get their campaigns $362,000.

Dinelli released the first paid media of the campaign, a radio spot that  goes on the attack against Berry:

During a 20 month period, Albuquerque had 27 police officer involved shootings with 17 fatalities.  The Albuquerque police department is now being investigated by the Department of Justice. Albuquerque had a zero job growth for the last 3 years, and unemployment amongst Hispanics was twelve percent. We need a new direction and we can do better.

Former ABQ first lady Margaret Argon de Chavez picked up petitions and tells us she will see if she can create some momentum for a serious run. She is the ex-wife of former three term ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez who Berry beat in 2009. She works for the state's Children Youth and Families Department as a development trainer and has been there eight years. She has worked in real estate and says the city is dead when it comes to business development.

Because Margaret is thus far the only woman and Hispanic surnamed candidate in the race, her progress will be closely monitored by potential supporters of Denish.

Jay Flowers is a 30 year old who works in office support for a law firm. He also picked up petitions at the city clerk's office Saturday.

CALL THE COURT

Someone get Sam Bregman on the phone. There's a court case waiting for him. A real humdinger. The ABQ City Clerk says so far over 13 percent of the ballots in the city's special March 11 mail-in election have been disqualified. You read it right--a whopping 13% of voters are being disenfranchised only because they forgot to sign the envelope.

The clerk says she has no plans to try to rectify the situation, other than responding to voters who call in to check to see if they signed their ballots.

Mayor Berry and the asleep-at-the-wheel city council need to protect the rights of everyone to cast a ballot. If they don't, that's why we have lawyers like Bregman and the like. (Bregman is currently running for chairman of the state Dem party).

The election is over a measure that would increase the percentage of votes needs to elect the Mayor and city councilors without a run-off from 40% to 50%. Berry and the Republicans are against it. The Dem Party is for it.

Can't we have a fair fight, Mr. Mayor? How about getting those ballots counted and avoid running up a big city legal tab to fight against our own citizens whose precious right to vote is being taken away from them on a technicality.

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