Thursday, March 05, 2009GOP Leader Not Of Mind To Oppose Koch Nomination, But UNM Opposition Spreads, Plus: Darren's Bad Luck, And: A NM President in D.C.
Sen. Ingle
![]() Senate Rules Committee Chairman Linda Lopez has promised tough questions for Koch. A hearing has yet to be scheduled. The full Senate would vote on the nomination after it comes out of committee. If the political earth is going to shake more on this one, it seems it willl be up to the South Valley lawmaker or a Governor who reverses course. STUDENTS TAKE ON JAMIE ![]() Koch, as his style, has pushed back against his critics, getting a favorable editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican and penning an op-ed piece for the Journal, but he can't escape the media heat. V.B. Price, a UNM watcher of 45 years standing and one of the state's leading liberal writers, continued the drumbeat on Koch and company calling on the Governor to make things right: ...I’ve supported the governor...and think he’s done a lot of good..But he has made a terrible mess of the University of New Mexico, appointing regents who apparently know nothing about the operation of a university and have no sympathy for any part of its primary mission, and depositing in the president’s office two people who’ve earned the enmity of the university community. It’s time for him to make things right, to...weed out the ineffective and the arrogantly incompetent... Complicating this matter politically is Koch's service as the finance co-chair for Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish's Dem guv campaign. Big Bill is already being roasted for politicizing the university with the appointment of his old friend Koch and others. If Jamie is still on the board and Di becomes Governor, the hot potato will be hers. What does she think of all this? HE'S NOT THERE? Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White's luck hasn't improved much since he was landlslided by Dem Martin Henrich for the ABQ congressional seat. Darren and his SWAT team staked out a house for over eight hours Tuesday where they believed a killer was holed up only to figure out at 1 in the morning that no one was there. Kind of like what happened to the sheriff Election Night... Heinrich, earlier elected president of his freshman House class, has, his office confirms, also added this to his duties: "Rep. Heinrich is a Regional Whip for Region 6 which includes the Representatives in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. From Region 6, Rep. Heinrich focuses on the Members from New Mexico and Arizona. In his spare time he reads nuclear power blueprints. GONE FISHING Lenton Malry ![]() And for those wondering why the budget for Bernalillo County is not feeling as much as pain as the city of ABQ's, there is a simple explanation. The city gets most of its tax money from the gross receipts tax which fluctuates with consumer activity. The county gets much of its revenues from the much more stable and predictable property tax. One other thing. City Councilor Sanchez, who we interviewed on the city budget on the Wednesday blog, agrees with our Alligators that the recent hiring of a city "transportation czar" at a salary of $102,000 was over the top considering the times we are in. Not that he still doesn't love you, Mayor. PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION Kelly-Renae Edwards ![]() This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments, anonymously if you wish. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009 Not for reproduction without permission of the author |
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