Why wait for a good thing? It's the first edition of the new year of Vox Populi where the readers take over the blog.

There are only a few rules--you have to be pretty smart to make it on. Otherwise, what's the point? Also, only limited profanity is allowed. Here we go. . .

Reader Tom Miles comments on the conventional political wisdom that 2018 could be a 'no-brainer" when it comes to the Dems taking the governorship:

I hope the Dems do not take this election as a no-brainer, even if it may be, almost. The Dems simply have to sharpen their electoral ground and messaging games to the max because lazy-ass running in the past has led to lazy-ass governing in the now.

Lazy-ass running allows the party to “Party” as opposed to rigorously examining and formulating plans and actions that will actually work and produce desirable results for our state and its citizens, e.g., no more RailRunner fantasies. And, this leads to …

Lazy-ass governing which allows the “Party” to move to the Fourth Floor in Santa Fe and play at the serious business of governance while our state continues to grow its reputation as the most poverty stricken in the union and a retirement haven for a variety of criminals.

APD STILL BETTER

Reader and retired APD Seargent Dan Klein comments on reader Bruce Shah's concern that a big increase in the hiring of federal border agents will hamper recruiting efforts for the understaffed ABQ police department:

Comparing Border Patrol hiring with APD is comparing apples to oranges. The Feds may offer some better benefits (APD / PERA is still better at 25 years and retired at any age) but the bigger difference is the job. 

When the Border Patrol tried to increase their numbers 10 years ago they had trouble hiring because who wants to live in New Mexico’s boot heel? Or in the Big Bend country of Texas? Or the Tohono Reservation in Arizona? And there is the difference. It is easier to recruit for a job in a metro area than in a remote part of the country. So I don’t think we have to worry about Border Patrol recruiting or taking officers. 

FURIOUS LOBBYING

Mayor Keller is being subjected to furious lobbying over his pick to head the ABQ Animal Welfare Department, with over 3,100 persons signing an online petition asking the Mayor to look outside the department for a new leader. This reader is one of them:

We haven’t heard a thing about who the Mayor is planning on appointing as AWD director. We hold out hope he is listening. In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Mayor Keller asking him to please do a nationwide search for a director. Joel Craig and Jim Ludwick would like the position but are toxic and bitter about the progress we have made to be a “no kill” shelter. Both Ludwick and Craig did not score high enough to be considered for the position of Associate Director in 2016. That hardly qualifies them for director. Certainly it would be an embarrassment for this administration to lose our city’s no kill status after we have been able to hold it for the past two years.

We don't have a dog in this fight, so to speak, but have been pulled in by the passionate arguments on both sides and published both. We're sure there's more to come.

SEASON OF SOLICITATIONS

Former Dem Lt. Governor Diane Denish writes on Facebook of the relentless push for money by state political candidates during the Xmas season:

. . . As someone who has been a candidate who had to raise money constantly, I was still struck by the number of political solicitations I received. Everyone was facing a critical deadline! Everyone had just a few more bucks to go to make their goal! Everyone was going to be the most anti-Trump person ever elected!. . . Very few, if any, talked about what they needed to do to be a part of a winning agenda for Democrats. 

No one encouraged giving to your local charity to feed the homeless, house the infirm, fight a disease. My hope in 2018 is that these candidates will try and persuade me and others to contribute to them with concrete policy ideas that will improve the lives of New Mexicans or just stop it! 

Not every Trump tweet is breaking news. Not every deadline is the most urgent, Every opponent is not a monster, and no, I am not giving you money if you don't have an opponent (other candidates will need it more).

SHAMELESS PLUG

Here's longtime reader Michael Corwin with a self-described "shameless plug":

It saddens me to read in your column that people are becoming shut-ins as a result of our crime problem. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, not to hunker down in fear. 

I started Personal Safety Education, LLC, along with two close friends, to provide the tools that people need to live and enjoy life safely. We provide fun and easy to apply training in situational awareness, de-escalation techniques and self-defense basics to businesses, religious institutions, families, and individuals, at their locations. 

THE BOTTOM LINES

More information came in and we adjusted the Jeff Apodaca holiday TV buy on broadcast stations upwards from around $13,000 to $19,000. He also spent $13K on cable. . . The link we had up wishing good riddance to 2017 was broken. Here it is.

And the first name of former GOP lieutenant governor candidate Kellie Zuni came out as "Keller" Tuesday. Well, she might have been better off with that moniker considering the name of the new ABQ mayor.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018