New DA Bregman

Longtime political lightning rod Sam Bregman will be flashing his stuff as the new Bernalillo County District Attorney courtesy of a gubernatorial appointment from MLG, but his stint as DA will be relatively short-lived. The Governor said he will not seek election to the post in 2024 but finish out the two years remaining on the term of Raul Torrez who is now NM attorney general. 

Bregman's decision to take the job without the prospect of being elected in his own right was a saving grace for the bombastic trial attorney and former NM Democratic party chairman. His critics could carp over his appointment but were somewhat muted knowing he was not going to be around for the long haul. 

Still, some speculated that Bregman could use the DA job as a launching pad for a 2025 run for mayor of ABQ, a post he sought back in 1997 when he was serving his one term on the ABQ City Council from a NE Heights district. (He was defeated in '99 by Republican Brad Winter.)

That speculation was also muted when ABQ Mayor Tim Keller quickly issued  a statement of welcome to Bregman, a 59 year old native of DC who took his law degree at the UNM School of Law: 

That Keller lifted a GOP slogan in his nod to Bregman--"tough on crime"-- did not go unnoticed. The Democratic progressive mayor is not so progressive anymore as he swerves rightward on crime as his approval rating plummets below 40 percent. 

MLG was also tarred with the ABQ metro crime wave in her re-election last year and it's believed to have clipped her margin of victory. Now she has Bregman as her frontman to again try to prove her bona fides on the ongoing crime crisis that saw a record 120 murders in the Duke City in 2022.

APD watcher Dan Klein says Bregman "will shake things up. He is change and we need change."

Bregman's in your face style will be useful to her (and Keller and APD Chief Medina) as they try to convince the public that they are not softies. But Bregman brings with him a reputation for unpredictability and a love for the camera that could lead to parts unknown. 

As Dem chair in 2013 he was muzzled for a time due to an email scandal he became entangled in involving leaked emails of GOP Gov. Martinez.

He was labeled "Showboat Sam" back in '99 when the Republicans defeated him in his council re-election bid. 

Bregman turned progressive Dem heads when he signed up as a legal client one of the two ABQ police officers who killed homeless camper James Boyd in 2014. Long ago he made a play for state land commissioner, sporting a black cowboy hat in his TV ads that had him looking like a spokesman for a dude ranch. 

Yes, Bregman's path through La Politica has been lengthy, controversial and colorful. There could be more of that if he doesn't quickly resign his post as a Guv appointed member of the NM Racing Commission which he currently chairs. And then there are the lawsuits pending against the state by the noted defense attorney. Will those present a conflict of interest as he assumes his new role of prosecuting bad guys?

However loquacious or convincing the new district attorney is in his comfortable role in front of a camera, it will be results that matter. The crime wave will not be talked away with a finely tuned closing argument. 

The Bregman appointment was awkward for the Governor. He was on the first list of applicants for the position released by her office but then she mysteriously decided to reopen the application process and delayed the appointment until the new year. The cynics argue she solicited more names because she did not want to leave the impression that the job was "wired" for her ally Bregman.

Whatever the reason it was a lesson in how not to appoint the chief law enforcement of the state's largest county in the middle of a crime crisis.

Brian Moore

As Bregman premiered to mixed reviews, it was ditto for the three appointees to the new Public Regulation Commission (PRC) named by Gov. Lujan Grisham. The most mixed are over engineer Patrick O'Connell who has 28 years experience with New Mexico utilities. The problem? A chunk of that experience is with electric utility PNM, the regulation of which is the most important duty of the PRC.

That tie to PNM made his selection a jaw-dropper. After all, wasn't the old five member PRC abolished in favor of an appointed panel because it was seen as too pliable by industries it regulates? How does O'Connell give the state a fresh start? And what about him voting on the proposed merger of PNM with Spain-based multinational Avangrid? Can he even vote on it given his background? 

The Governor is supportive of that merger which in a gutsy move was shot down by the old PRC amid controversy over Avangrid's track record elsewhere. But she and the well-financed environmental lobby are determined to push that merger through because they believe it will advance clean energy goals (and there are golden parachutes at PNM to be opened and campaign contributions to be counted by the politicos).

The other PRC appointee that had the Alligators scratching their snouts was that of former GOP state Rep. Brian Moore of Clayton. The law requires that only two of the three commissions can be of the same political party. No sooner had Moore been given the nod than he said he was not really familiar with the key issues facing the PRC, including the high-profile PNM-Avangrid merger. Really? Again, wasn't the purpose of the new PRC to have individuals with in-depth knowledge of utilities and regulation? Moore owns a supermarket in Clayton which presumably uses a lot of electricity. But he offered no assurances that his expertise extended beyond that. 

The appointments require confirmation by the state senate, usually a formality, but one wonders if any legislators are curious about these matters and will address them when the time comes. Or is the bright light  thrown off by that glittery PNM-Avangrid merger blinding them?

Oh, the third appointment to the panel from MLG is Gabriel Aguilar who actually is knee-deep in utility experience and with no apparent conflicts of interest. He has worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) since 2007 as a senior policy advisor. 

Aguilera, a NMSU grad, has a Masters in Business from the University of Maryland. He probably doesn't know it but he has now signed up for the Ph.D program of La Politica. Congrats, Gabe. . . or something.