UPDATE: In a rare move, the state Senate Friday rejected the nomination of Matt Chandler to the UNM Board of Regents.

Balderas & Colon

For people acutely tuned to La Politica the big story of the week was a bolt out of the blue: The political team of Attorney General Hector Balderas and former NM Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón endorsed Republican Matt Chandler for a slot on the UNM Board of Regents. Their Dem tag team for Chandler was what you call a double eyebrow raiser.

Chandler is a longtime member of the Guv's political machine who served as treasurer of the PAC that scorched Democrats and helped bring the R's control of the House in last year's election. Colón is an attorney with the ABQ firm of Robles, Rael Anaya which does considerable contract work for governmental entities, including the state. He has been an effective fund-raiser for Gov. Richardson and Balderas and has nurtured Balderas' political career.

Senate Dems have stalled the Chandler nomination because of his ties to the Guv's machine which makes the Balderas and Colón endorsement all the more problematic with the Democratic base. This is one of the few times that Senate Dems have stood up to the Martinez operation. Of course, that always comes with a price. Dem ABQ Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, who vigorously questioned Chandler's machine ties at a Senate committee hearing, is now the target of machine radio ads in his swing district condemning him for his opposition to right-to-work legislation.

We asked Balderas, a prospective '18 Dem Guv contender, about the endorsement of Republican Chandler. He replied:

At the request of Mr. Chandler, I informed the Senate Rules Committee that I worked with him as State Auditor on two high-profile corruption cases which led to conviction and removal of office. I offered the letter of support to assist the Senate Rules Committee in their confirmation process, which I greatly respect.

That letter is here.

Plenty of Alligator email on the Balderas-Colón-Chandler team-up. This one was typical:

Chandler had support from Hector Balderas and Brian Colón, but that will be a problem for Balderas in the long term. Balderas did not anticipate the political consequences of supporting someone, who five months ago funneled a million dollars to (Guv political adviser) Jay McCleskey, and was used to defeat the House Democrats.

Chandler didn't exactly "funnel" money to the Advance NM PAC, but he was its treasurer.

Chandler is a former Clovis area district attorney who in 2010 was the GOP nominee for attorney general and was defeated by Dem Gary King. He abruptly resigned as DA in early 2014. He was appointed as a special prosecutor by Gov. Martinez in a judicial bribery case that touched Gov. Richardson, but the case crashed and burned.

Sidebar: Chandler's father, who is a former Clovis police chief and ran as a Democrat against GOP Congressman Joe Skeen back, in the 80's, has been named by Gov. Martinez to the Interstate Stream Commission. Well, at least one Chandler had smooth sailing.

DRIVEN TO DRINK

The editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican was arrested early Thursday on an aggravated DWI charge. Maybe he was drowning his sorrows over the lack of real news emanating from the Roundhouse this session. Or maybe he hit the bottle when Rep. Kenny Martinez said some rapes were the result of drunken college sex." Or it could have been over that photo of Rep. Stephanie Maez that Majority Leader Nate Gentry was caught scrawling sarcastic love notes on. Being forced to watch all of that unfold is enough to make any ink-stained wretch embark on a Lost Weekend.

Thanks for stopping by this week.

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Sens. Ingle & Smith

If there was ever a year to craft a compromise on the most divisive wedge issue of them all, this seems to be that year.

Dem Senator John Arthur Smith and Republican Stu Ingle have fashioned a bill to address the repeal of driver's licenses for undocumented workers. It is Gov. Martinez's premier campaign issue and it has faltered each year since she took office in 2011. But the Smith/Ingle compromise would solve the problem by giving the undocumented workers a driver's license that is good for driving but not for proving citizenship. Everyone else would get a regular license. The House has passed a bill that is a straight repeal of the licenses.

It's a compromise that even ardent defenders of the undocumented are agreeing to. Senate approval seems very possible.  The bill needs a push from the Governor--she says she is interested--and House Speaker Tripp to put it over the top and once and for all end the mantra of "driver's license forever." That is, if they really want to. . .

It has not gone noticed that liberal ABQ Dem state Senator Jerry Ortiz Y Pino has been assigned the heavy lifting by Senate Majority Leader Sanchez this session. Just about all the controversial wedge issues--including the driver's licenses--have been sent to Pino's public affairs committee where as chairman he will reliably lead the committee in voting them down. That includes third grade retention and right-to-work which the committee has already tabled. The driver's license compromise gets voted on today

Sanchez has needed a foot soldier who will not defect and will close ranks on the hot-button issues. So far Pino is doing just that. The 72 year old is in his third term and plans on seeking a fourth next year.

BERRY'S WORLD

ABQ Mayor RJ Berry found out just how lonely it can get for the leader of the state's largest city at a legislative session. The big city is never loved, but with its police department in chaos and bringing shame and ridicule upon itself across the nation, Berry's push to allow ABQ to reinstate so-called double dipping for police officers was greeted with extra skepticism.

Berry, who once served in the NM House, personally testified to a Senate committee that allowing cops to retire and then come back and work at full salary at APD was the way to stop the bleeding of personnel. But there are many other causes for police fleeing the department--not the least of which is the Justice Department's civil rights investigation because of the many fatal police shootings. The committee promptly sent Berry's plan to oblivion and sent him back to the drawing board. . .

Reader Alan Wagman writes of Berry and his APD woes:

Six officials have resigned in Ferguson, MO, including a judge, the county clerk, the city manager, the police chief and a police sergeant. How many have resigned in Albuquerque? Oh -- that's right, I forgot -- the mayor keeps assuring us that no one has done anything wrong.

In addition to the thorny APD problem, Berry's second term could be marked by strife among his base supporters--the business community. Folks are tired of losing money or not making anywhere near the profit margins that are common at businesses in neighboring states. The ABQ Innkeepers Association representing hotel owners in the city is the first to break rank, pounding the ABQ Convention and Visitors Bureau for what they say is its failure to stimulate business here. ACVB says it's trying, but the leader there has been in the slot for 11 years and the hotel owners want a fresh face. . .

If Berry could only run APD like the way they run the ABQ International Sunport we'd be on our way:

A top-10 list of the best U.S. airports for art lovers published in USA Today lists Albuquerque as having the second-best airport art in the country. The Albuquerque International Sunport finished second only to Denver International Airport in the listing, which was compiled based on polling of USA Today readers. ". . . Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) has a 113-piece art collection of paintings, sculptures, pottery and other items displayed inside and outside of the building and in the rental car facility. . . "

RICHARDSON'S PAPERS

To clarify a story: NM law mandates that a governor's public records be archived at the State Archives. So it will be for Richardson's papers but everything else is going to the University of Texas at Austin. By the way, retired Dem US Senator Jeff Bingaman donated his congressional papers to UNM and personal memorabilia to WNMU in Silver City,

SON TO FOLLOW FATHER?

It must be in the genes. Look what's happening up in Nevada:

RalstonReports.com writes that (Senate Minority Leader Harry) Reid is locked in a tight battle with two possible Republican challengers: Reid is in a tight race with either GOP Attorney General Adam Laxalt (Laxalt, 48-46) or ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (Krolicki, 46-45) ... So what does it mean if the poll is even close to true? What we already knew: Reid will be in a tight race against almost any Republican.

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What last minute tricks does state Senator John Arthur Smith have up his sleeve? The powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee was instrumental in engineering a big corporate tax cut in the final minutes of the 2013 session. Now the wall-leaners are looking for a possible gas tax increase movida from the Deming solon. One of them in the direct line of fire reports:

Senator Smith may try to pull another last minute hat trick. Watch for him to put a nickel increase in the state gasoline tax for road construction and repair onto a bill that Republicans would be hard-pressed to vote against. This session Smith is all about roads and paying for them with a higher gas tax and against Gov. Martinez's plan to finance the construction with a bond issue but no tax hike.

Smith has a lot of chips to play but getting any kind of tax boost through the GOP-controlled House would indeed be a hat trick. Sidebar: He's known as "Dr. No" so Smith's support of any tax hike is notable.

Readers continue to come with their take on the announcement from the state auditor that $4.5 billion is stashed in various state accounts and going unspent. This one wonders about Gov. Martinez's position on the matter:

You would think that the governor would be all over this. Isn't she for balancing budgets? Then why can't she balance that account? Even the Feds have rules for getting these unused funds off the books. Why does the auditor have to raise this point and why isn't her head of the Department of Finance all over it? She likes to talk the talk but not walk the walk. If she wants budget reform, capital outlay reform, etc., she ought to get in there and figure these things out, not leave it up to the state auditor (who has been in office 2 months) to alert her to her accounts being out of balance after she's had 4 years to figure that out.

There has been no comment from the Fourth Floor on the auditor's report but with that kind of money out there the story isn't going to away.

And then there's this from the January edition of the Legislative Finance Committee newsletter. It points out there is plenty of room for the Martinez administration to beef up the state's workforce but it isn't happening,

Here's one you'll enjoy. A possible Dem candidate for governor in '18 (you know him) had this to say about our Tuesday blog reporting on the latest speculation on that race:

I would prefer my name not be part of your early musings. Right now your early speculation is drawing only yawns, and in two years that field will look stale.

Hear that Hector, Tim, Michelle and Alan? They're waiting for you to look like day old bread and then they all jump.

Well, what's drawing even bigger yawns is Election '16. There will be no statewide offices on the ballot next year. All members of the state House and Senate are up for election but the R's are expected to hang on in the House and the Dems to keep control of the Senate, albeit, that is not written in cement. The presidential race could be exciting, but not here. We've become a blue state and even a lower turnout is highly unlikely to change that.

THIS CRAZY WORLD
Only in the crazy, upside down world of a government bureaucrat would you get this conclusion. From Dona Ana County Manager Julia Brown:

"Notwithstanding revenue shortfalls, vacant positions in some departments, and our recent discussions regarding the need to upgrade employee compensation, and possibly implement a gross receipts tax, the state of Dona Ana County is positive." Brown also mentioned Dona Ana County Treasurer David Gutierrez. A county employee said Gutierrez offered her $1,000 in exchange for sex, an allegation Gutierrez did not dispute.

So you don't have enough money and will probably have to raise taxes, haven't filled jobs that need filling  and the county treasurer who offered an employee $1,000 to screw him won't resign. But, hey, everything is fine in Dona Ana County government. Well, Julia has taken the power of positive thinking to an all new level. . .

We've heard very few positive comments about the decision of former NM Governor Richardson to donate his papers to the University of Texas at Austin instead of keeping them in the state. Readers here scorched the decision but this emailer defends Bill:

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Keller & Balderas

It's the start of a very long slog but the positioning for the 2018 Dem Guv nomination is starting to take shape. Attorney General Hector Balderas, State Auditor Tim Keller and ABQ Dem Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham are in the top tier, with '14 contender Alan Webber in the second. Both Keller and Balderas have very active press shops as they seek to keep their names and work before the public. Webber is sending periodic email updates to supporters. Grisham has also stepped up her communications since securing her second term. . .

The early possibles all have something in common: none of them are taking it directly to Republican Gov. Martinez. Independent analyst Greg Payne believes that may need to change if one of them is going to break free from the pack and excite the Democratic base. "They will need to do more than posturing and start doing something that really upsets this Governor."

Payne argues that Lt. Gov. John Sanchez is the likely '18 GOP nominee and if Martinez retains her popularity--her approval rating is in the mid 50's--Sanchez could inherit it. "It's like 1988 when Bush was elected. It was really like giving Reagan a third term."

Payne added that the GOP has reason to be nervous if either Balderas or Keller learn how to play hardball. "They have the investigatory powers and that is the threat. So far, it is an idle one."

Meanwhile, at the do-nothing 2015 legislative session conditions deteriorated even further as former Dem House Speaker Ken Martinez was assailed for saying that some cases of rape are "drunken college sex.". That was seized on by GOP Rep. Kelly Fajardo who demanded an apology. None was forthcoming.

And then there was this headline from House Dems:

(Dem) Rep. Stephanie Maez Demands Apology from (GOP) Rep. Nate Gentry; Rep. Gentry uses photo of Rep. Stephanie Maez to bully a member of his Caucus.

All of this muck signals that it's time for the 112 merrymakers to get out of Dodge.

The New Mexican's Steve Terrell understatedly says this is "a bitterly partisan legislative session." His colleague Milan Simonich, a frequent target of the Guv's political machine, opines:

Less than two weeks remain in New Mexico’s 60-day legislative session, one that’s been short on accomplishments and long on attacks. More than anything, it’s been a relentless spin cycle on one issue.

Of course, that one issue Simonich references is the House approved right-to-work bill which will be voted on and killed in the Senate Public Affairs Committee today.

CONVINCING OR NOT?

Larrañaga

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Larry Larranga (R-ABQ) tried to spin it away by saying: “Funds are not always used in the same year they’re authorized.” Dem Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith argued: "From a practical standpoint, a lot of that money you can’t put your hands on right away for operational purposes,

Okay, Chairman Larranga, can we find out how much money has not been used for more than one year and may never be used? And Chairman Smith, how long is "right away?" How do we get at this cash for operational purposes, since your statement indicates it is not a matter of access, but time?

Because much of the extra cash (over $1 billion) is dedicated to capital outlay projects (many of them dormant) that are the pet projects of state lawmakers--many of whom are not even in office anymore-- maybe Smith and Larranaga fear rocking that sensitive boat, but someone needs to put to the test these shaky arguments from the state's leading austerity hawks.

CANCEL THE COMEBACK

Well, you can forget about any New Mexico comeback. Former Governor Big Bill Richardson--who served in Congress and as the US ambassador to the UN--is donating his political and personal papers not to the University of New Mexico (he said they didn't ask) but to the University of Texas at Austin. Let the scorching begin.

Now New Mexicans know how Bill Clinton felt after appointing Richardson as U.N. Ambassador and cabinet secretary and he turned around and endorsed Obama over Hillary.

What an insult! Maybe he was afraid New Mexico universities are too near to people who know what he did and there would be research for examples of his corrupt practices.

Richardson ended his Guv term with an approval rating in the low 30's. In recent months he's made some tentative moves to rehabilitate his image here. The bitterness between him and Gov. Martinez is palpable. Maybe he didn't want her sneaking over to Zimmerman Library to dig up dirt on him.

(Richardson explained his decision to the ABQ Journal's DC correspondent.)

READER SCORED

Las Cruces reader Greg Lennes wrote this week of the robo call he received from a political advocacy group urgin him to contact his state senator to vote for right-to-work legislation, but Jason Heffley says he got some things wrong:

Good to see Greg Lennes still doesn't let facts get in the way of the story he is trying to tell. GOAL Advocacy is not a PAC (501c4), is not associated with Cogressman Steve Pearce and does not employee me. (I moved back home to Illinois in December/January to be closer to my family.) However, I do still read Monahan every day, do believe GOAL is a great organization and do think everyone should contact their senator in support of right-to-work.

Thanks for the shout-out, Jason. Sorry, Greg, ten lashes with the wet noodle for you.

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You would think the politicians would be salivating over the news that there's some $4.5 billion in unspent money just sitting around at hundreds of state agencies. State Auditor Tim Keller says over $2 billion of that cash is not restricted in the way it can be spent (Complete state report is here).

Why is no one looking to round-up that money and use it to spark economic activity? (Never mind how it was permitted to accumulate). Heck, forget about a constitutional amendment to tap the state's nearly $15 billion Permanent Fund for very early childhood programs. You could reallocate $100 million of the unspent money for ten years and still have another billion left. And a reader writes of the news:

It is utterly amazing that a state as poor as NM is sitting on a pile of cash this large (not to mention the additional $15 billion plus in various other permanent funds and the like) and is doing nothing to put that money to work solving a few of our problems. How does our Governor explain asking the legislature to issue $60 million a year in new road construction bonds while the state sits on this hoard of cash? Inexplicable.

The state budget hole caused by the bear market in energy suddenly doesn't look so threatening, if this cash can be accessed. It's strange to behold--like a plate of red meat in front of a pack of pit bulls but none of them takes a bite, and as the puppies (the citizens) scramble for scraps.

Come on Governor and Legislature. Over $1 billion of the unspent money is for construction projects you guys approved but haven't happened. Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur "Dr. No" Smith says much of the money can't be accessed because it is restricted. Understood. But Auditor Keller says there's some $2 billion that can be and therein lies the issue for Smith and his austerity hawk cohorts. We  need a full-blown debate over this cash and we need it now. We might add--if you're a candidate for governor this is more than a 48 hour story, it is a four year story.

DEATH WATCH

So when is a corpse a corpse? That's the question about right-to-work (RTW). The bill passed the House but suffered what appeared to be a death blow when Republican Senators failed to bypass the committee system and "blast" the bill to the floor for a vote. Still, if somehow the R's could get RTW to the floor it would pass--with support from some of the Martinez Democrats. They've promised to honor the committee system, but not oppose the measure if it somehow otherwise made it to the floor.

Those who still insist there is a faint pulse left in RTW say the House could take a Senate approved bill, attach a RTW amendment to it and send it back to the Senate in a last ditch effort to carry the day.

RTW as the Lazarus of Session '15 seems a stretch but as we've said repeatedly, with the Senate's Martinez Democrats ready to waffle at a moment's notice Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez is not a man who should be be taking any naps.

Las Cruces reader Greg Lennes notes there is outside pressure being placed on state senators when it comes to RTW:

I received a phone call last week from Goal Advocacy PAC to contact my senator to support RTW.  Goal Advocacy was formed to promote conservative policies such as those of GOP southern Congressman Steve Pearce. Jason Heffley, executive director of GOAL Advocacy, is a former member of Pearce’s congressional staff.

STEALTH LAYOFFS?

What happened to 600 workers at Intel in Rio Rancho? It looks like they're out. The giant chipmaker in late 2013 announced 400 layoffs that, according to Intel's estimate, would take employment down to 2,900. No additional layoffs have been publicly announced since, but now we get this eyebrow raising news:

Kirby Jefferson, site manager for Intel’s Rio Rancho location, presented a slideshow highlighting company’s history with the city. Since breaking ground in 1980, Jefferson said the company has contributed funds for projects like NM 528 and Rio Rancho Public Schools; in 1995, Intel contributed $30 million toward the building of Rio Rancho High School. Jefferson said Intel currently employs 2,300 workers and is the largest private industrial employer in the state.

Seems Intel has some 'spalinin to do over the missing 600. It may be the largest "private industrial employer in the state" but since 2005 it has taken its workforce down from 5,300 to 2,300. How low can you go?

Like so many things during this Great Recession in New Mexico, life-changing economic news is greeted with a shrug.

GROWTH STRATEGY

Conservative Jim McClure comes with thoughts for a NM growth strategy:


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