The latest addition to MLG's cabinet is Emily Kaltenbach, a top promoter of legalized marijuana for New Mexico during her role as director of the NM Drug Policy Alliance. 

She's the new Secretary of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, but let's hope that turns out better than the state's pot party that she helped author. 

Investigative reporter Larry Barker reports the latest:

Despite stringent laws and regulations a dark cloud hangs over the cannabis industry plagued by a thriving black market, flagrant criminal activity, and hundreds of millions of dollars. . .  “It sounds like complete lawlessness but the reality is, it’s more true than not,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO of Ultra Health, the largest licensed cannabis operation in New Mexico. “The industry is running amok,” said Will Glaspy, Executive Director of New Mexico HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas). “We gave a storefront to the drug cartel when we passed recreational marijuana,” state Rep. Bill Rehm said. 

. . .There are so many cannabis-related violations, that regulators at New Mexico’s Cannabis Control Division are powerless to curb the illicit activity. “It’s horrible. It’s not the idea that I have for New Mexico,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Cervantes said. “We know there’s crime, massive crime worth millions of dollars right under our nose and we’re not willing to do anything about it."

The Guv and Kaltenbach were repeatedly warned about the downside of legalizing weed, but those expressing concerns were dismissed and they responded that the industry would be an economic game-changer. 

Well, they were right--but in all the wrong ways. 

In any event Kaltenbach's gubernatorial reward is a $200,000 annual salary. 

Congrats on your appointment, Emily. . . or something.

Reader Freddie Lopez writes this on the drug topic:

Joe, Everyone seems to be expressing the same sentiment that drugs are the leading cause of the crime, specially in Albuquerque. If the Legislature and the Governor truly care about addressing this, there would be funding for addiction treatment programs and bills introduced to get people who are struggling with the help they need. But as you mentioned, local law enforcement and the city council have a responsibility to address this first and foremost. Fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics are coming through our Southern Border which is a crisis. If the Governor declared an emergency and the Legislature came together just on that issue, crime would come down significantly. There should be more treatment for drug users and more punishment for drug dealers. 

REPAIRING DOWNTOWN 

Terry Brunner, director of ABQ's Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency spearheading downtown revival efforts, disagrees with the view expressed here that the plan to pump $200 million into the downtown over the next 20 years would take money from other neighborhoods: 

 Joe, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) areas do not “shift revenue from other neighborhoods” as some have claimed. Whatever revenue the City has been earning from a (TIF) area continues to come into general funds when that TIF is established. The city has the option to collect up to 75% of gross receipts and property tax revenue growth above that baseline amount and reinvest it in the area it came from. 25% or more of the any revenue growth goes into the City coffers to be spent city-wide. 

For instance, if the base revenue received currently in a TIF area is $1,000 and it grows by $100 to $1100 over the course of a year, $75 is reinvested into that TIF area and $1,025 is spent City-wide. If the TIF is successful in increasing private sector growth Downtown, collections into the City’s general fund will increase over time and benefit the entire city. 

NELLA'S DIVE

A Dem political operative responds to our Wednesday blog detailing why Republican Nella Domenici's campaign to unseat Sen. Martin Heinrich has stalled out:

A big reason she’s failed to gain traction is that her advertising strategy has been all over the place. From a content standpoint, you’re right that her early ads missed the mark and did little-to-nothing to help define her. She’s also failed to pick up steam because of her lack of investment in a sound ad strategy. She rarely lets her ads accumulate enough frequency for them to have a high impact and her campaign vacillates between running them at very low levels over long stretches of time or putting them up and then pulling them down. Nothing has stuck. I think she’s out of gas and doesn’t want to spend any (more) of her own money. Can’t say I blame her. It seems like amateur hour over there.

PROPERTY TAX CUT

Damian Lara

Who says taxes don't go down? 

It's just a smidgen of a reduction but Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara reports property tax bills for homeowners in 2024 will drop from $1,627 per $100,000 of assessed value to $1,608.67. Says Lara:

The office staff been working diligently to make sure that every property is assessed fairly and equitably. When the assessments are accurate, everyone shares in the tax burden equally and this year that means a small decrease.

Lara, a Democrat serving his first term, is not up for re-election until 2026. 

He adds that the state has approved a mill rate of $1,838 per $100,000 of assessed value for commercial real estate, a reduction from $1,843 per $100,000.

That residential tax break translates into about $55 bucks a year on a home with an assessed value of $300,000. As they say, don't spend it all in one place.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.

E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com