Thursday, January 05, 2023Lights, Camera, Sam! New DA Media Show Debuts; Sitcom Or Serious Drama? New BernCo District Attorney Sam Bregman proved one thing on his first day--his love affair with the camera is more ardent than ever and how he channels that passion will define whether he's the star of a ridiculed sitcom or a respected actor in a serious crime-fighting drama. Debuting the Sam Show Wednesday afternoon he pulled out all the stops with high powered guest stars that included ABQ Mayor Keller, the US Attorney, the APD Chief, the US Marshall, the Sheriff, the State Police Chief, the Attorney General and the head of the local FBI. (Full news conference here.) All of them had no trouble going along with Sam's script. And why not? It focused on how great a job they and all of their agencies are doing in battling the historic crime menace that continues to sweep across the ABQ metro. Never mind that if law enforcement (and the judiciary) were firing on all cylinders the crisis might be well in hand. But Sam had all of them hanging the moon or in the case of the US Marshal's office being "the best in the world." Really? So what will change to get better results? It turns out not much of anything, except perhaps the profile of the new DA, a veteran defense attorney who announced that henceforth he will personally go into the courtroom to prosecute criminal cases.
That's not unheard of but rare and usually in only the most notorious criminal cases. That's because being DA is a messy administrative post that includes juggling dozens of prosecutors, getting cases to trial, negotiating plea bargains, begging for funding and--if they're serious about the job--spending the rest of the day tearing their hair out. Bregman is not about to go down that rabbit hole so he's redefining the job to include what he likes best. Suddenly who he selects as Chief Deputy becomes even more critical as Bregman plays prosecutor and touts the results to the ubiquitous TV cameras and I-Phones. You're excused if that might sound like a set-up to present the DA as the city's crime fighting savior and more than fit for higher political office, even though that would not be DA. The appointment Bregman accepted from the Governor will last just two years. The nearly hour long media meet-up often had the feel of a camapign event with Sam joking, hand-shaking, backslapping and making wisecracks. You would hardly know there were 120 record setting murders in 2022 or that ABQ police shot and killed more people that year than any other, despite the US Justice Department overseeing the agency. When asked about the high death toll from police shootings Bregman became uncharacteristically hesitant and said that he didn't see the need for the DA to change how it reviews police shooting cases. Nothing more. He climbed aboard the popular pre-trial detention train saying he would lobby for the bill in the upcoming legislative session, but he did not call for a sweeping measure, instead saying he wants to see what gaps need to be filled. A bill that would be similar to last year's appears to be a nonstarter again this year despite the Governor's support. Bregman was careful not to lay down any markers to judge him by--like a reduced crime rate. But by immediately putting his outsized personality before the public in such a showy way he automatically raised expectations. That's a smart stance at a criminal trial but in the court of public opinion it comes with dangers equal to the rewards. Stay tuned to the Sam Show for either more episodes or an early cancellation. NEW PREZ The ABQ City Council has chosen their new leadership for the new year. From Mayor Keller: The City of Albuquerque released the following statement from Mayor Tim Keller after Albuquerque City Council elected Councilor Pat Davis as president of the council. Councilor Renée Grout will serve as vice president, and Councilor Brook Bassan will chair the Committee of the Whole:
“Congratulations to the new City Council leadership,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We look forward to working with Council President Davis to address crime, our housing and homeless issues, and working together to bring real solutions to the table.” Davis says he will not seek re-election to his SE Heights District 6 seat this year. He was first elected in 2015. This is his second stint as council president. Grout of NE District 9 was elected in 2021. Bassan, from NE Heights District 4, was first elected in 2019 and is expected to seek re-election this year. THE BOTTOM LINES  I will be doing an event at Collected Works bookstore in Santa Fe to mark the publication of my new book, Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi's Speakership 2005-2010. The book event will take place at 6 p.m. on January 10. With Speaker Pelosi's decision to step down from leadership at the end of the 117th Congress on January 3, the timing for the discussions on this book could not be more timely. I have been delighted by the strong reviews from distinguished scholars. . . Lawrence served eight years as chief of staff to Speaker Pelosi. . . ABQ restaurant Nick and Jimmy's, whose 90 year old owner Nick Kapinson is well-known in La Politica, has closed effective January 1. His family says things are "just not the same" since Nick retired last year and so Nick and Jimmy's 14 year run has ended. Other ABQ restaurants owned by Kapinson will remain open. This is the home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 Wednesday, January 04, 2023Mixed Reviews For Guv's New Appointments; Bregman To BernCo DA Post; Three Named To Public Regulation Commission
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: We are very optimistic about the appointment of Sam Bregman as District Attorney, his experience on City Council combined with his work with our team at APD bodes well for a tough on crime partnership to help make our streets safer. 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." IN YOUR FACE 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. AWKWARD APPOINTMENT 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. MIXED UP 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. This is the home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 Tuesday, January 03, 2023Take Two: MLG Begins Four More Years; Can She Shake The Fate Of Past Second Termers? Plus: The Inaugural Speech: Guv Takes Fresh Tack On Drug Epidemic, Talks Up Economy And Educators; We Have The Analysis
(Full speech here. Video here. AP coverage here.)
Certainly she has an opportunity to defy that gloomy future given the massive budget surplus. But the past shows the public's patience with the incumbent grows short in the second four years. Previous flaws glossed over become magnified. Kind of like a long marriage. For Republican Gary Johnson (1995-'03) it was his reputation as a Dr. No that did him in. Seen as an admirable outsider casting a record number of vetoes and fighting the legislature and even his own party, Johnson went into the dumpster in the second term. That's when his negativity overwhelmed the state. After winning reelection with 54.5 percent of the vote, he finished his second term with an approval rating in the low 40's. That wasn't too bad when compared to Democrat Bill Richardson (2003-'11). Big Bill had one of the more successful first terms in state history, made possible by a bromance with legislators and a charm that the public found irresistible. He was reelected in an historic landslide, garnering 69 percent of the vote. But in the second term his avarice for campaign funds to fuel a presidential run led to several scandals and sent him packing with his approval ending in the low 30's. Republican Susana Martinez (2011-'18) was celebrated in her first term as the nation's first Hispanic female Governor, touted for national office and delighted the public with her tough on everything stands. Hubris and moral failings did her in, culminating with an infamous holiday pizza party and cash settlements caused by her behavior with her state police bodyguards. And her heels in the sand positions on key issues grew tiresome as the state stalled under the weight of the Great Recession. She finished with an approval rating in the low 30's. MLG has the most similarity to Johnson, a dictatorial side that came to the fore during Covid and that made her run for a second term closer than observers thought it should have been. The pandemic is gone and if she can continue a generally productive relationship with the legislature, perhaps she can escape the destiny of her predecessors. Perhaps, but don't bet your next state tax rebate check on it. THE SPEECH  We will approach opioid addiction as the epidemic it is, fighting tooth and nail to provide life-saving services to victims and families who have been torn apart by this horrific disease. We must approach the expansion of behavioral health care – including substance abuse treatment – as an urgent moral priority. Every New Mexican is entitled to achieve freedom from addiction and mental illness. . .I will be asking the Legislature to create the New Mexico Health Care Authority, a comprehensive entity that will expand access to services. . . Whether more bureaucracy is necessary to push back against the behavioral health crisis will be up to the legislature to determine. But if the administration is serious about a long overdue expansion of the overwhelmed system the money is there to fight. SCHOOL DAZE MLG and the Dem dominated legislature have yet to find the Holy Grail for upgrading the chronically poor performance of most of the state's public schools. But if making life easier for educators is part of the puzzle, MLG is on board. After ushering in large pay raises that made teacher salaries among the best in the region, she now proposes to pay their health insurance premiums. That should help attract and keep good teachers but. . . The administration's first-term foot-dragging implementing the historic Yazzie lawsuit settlement wasted valuable time. It is the advancement of at-risk students--mainly of color--that will turn the tide in the state's perennially low rankings. Those rankings were not mentioned in the speech but are the goal post that the public is eyeing as the money gusher pours over the Roundhouse. ECON BEAT On the economic front the Governor pointed to the unusually low unemployment rate as a measure of her first term success: We are, right now, a New Mexico that offers incredible economic opportunity to workers and students across diverse industries in every single community – with unemployment at its lowest point since before the Great Recession, with dozens more businesses starting up each year, and with job-creation numbers that would make any state in the country jealous. The low jobless rate is indeed gratifying but it masks serious and ongoing structural deterioration in the state's economy that began to tighten its grip during the Great Recession.
And while the unemployment rate is exceedingly low, the labor participation rate is among the worst in the nation at only 56 percent. That signals a population still afflicted by a lack of skills, disabilities, social ills such as the aforementioned drug epidemic and youth benefiting from higher education here but going elsewhere. This is a problem the Governor and legislature are addressing via free child care, opportunity scholarships, tax relief for lower income households and a robust effort to improve early childhood education begun in term one. It's a very long game that now includes a behavioral health revamp. SO? So where to now? Studies tell us that most big lottery winners end up losing their newfound fortunes. New Mexico is now that lottery winner with seemingly endless billions being generated from the oil boom. Can the state effectively deploy that wealth to break the mold of the past, start anew and finally rid itself from the shackles of generational distress? That's the difficult challenge facing the entire state in the infancy of this second gubernatorial term. No one said it would be easy. THE BOTTOM LINES Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez says he remains district attorney until a replacement is named by the Governor, even though he was sworn in as state attorney general January 1. He has named an interim DA to run the office until the appointment. Perhaps the dubious constitutional standing of that decision led to this news release blooper announcing Torrez's swearing in: Raúl Torrez to be sworn in as New Mexico's 32nd Attorney General on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2032 at State Capitol Building 2032? Hey, can the Guv appoint Brian Colón as "interim AG" until then? (Asking for a friend.)
This is the home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 |
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