The problems of a citizen legislature. The Center for Public Integrity reports ABQ GOP State Senator John Ryan made $240,000 as a Washington lobbyist last year, and...

Ryan is not registered to lobby in New Mexico, but he has voted on bills involving some of the same issues he lobbies for in Washington. Last year, he voted on a tax bond measure that funded dozens of projects across the state. One of items in the measure sent $278,000 to build a wastewater pipeline in Clovis, NM, which paid Ryan $40,000 last year. Ryan’s contract with Clovis cites a similar project on his to-do list. The same bond measure contained $210,000 for the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, which paid Ryan $80,000 last year, according to federal records. Over the past few years, Ryan voted on several other bills that either helped finance or otherwise affected his clients

Several other NM legislators were singled out in the Center's piece for possible conflicts of  interest. It's a perennial problem in Santa Fe. The part-time lawmakers get $154 a day for expenses, but no salary and can vote on anything they please. Some have suggested an ethics commission that could advise lawmakers to recuse themselves on certain votes. Senator Ryan has recused himself on several occasions...

BERRY'S PLAN

We blogged this week of how Mayor Berry's "ABQ: The Plan" is getting increasingly wary treatment from the city council. There will be no bonds for the plan on the October ballot but as reader Elaine Hebard explains "The Plan" will still get money:

At the City Council meeting March 4, the Council voted to delete these items from the GO Bond Program: River Amenities, Enhancements and Bosque Restoration, $2,250,000; Bosque Trail Development, $1,000,000  (General Obligation Bonds categorized by purpose must be approved by the voters in the municipal election Oct. 8).

…And then the Council transferred $2,892,000 from the City’s General Fund to the Parks & Recreation Capital Acquisition Fund: River Amenities, Enhancements and Bosque Restoration, and Bosque Trail Development, $2,892,000. These funds do not have to be voted on and will be available as soon as the Mayor signs the G.O. Bond Programming Resolution. While we should be wary of adding new commitments, what really happened is that the public okay was removed.

Yes, the public okay was removed from "ABQ: The Plan" and the Mayor still got cash for his pet projects, but going forward it is going to be more difficult for him--especially if the Dems become the majority party on the nine member panel.

ODIS ECHOLS

You don't become a legend of La Politica without a colorful personality, an outsized ego and an instinct for making the right move at the right time. Former State Senator and veteran lobbyist Odis Echols had all that and then some.

Odis, who died in ABQ Thursday at the age of 82 after several years of declining health, was a Clovis native who joked of growing up among "dirt farmers." His family was not among them. Odis's father--Pop Echols--was a radio station owner and concert promoter who helped along musicians like the legendary Buddy Holly. Odis learned the art of promotion and performance in those early years and later--as they say--took his act on the road.

The first act of his political life was getting elected in 1966 to the New Mexico Senate where he would serve ten years and rise to the position of Senate Majority Whip. A lifelong Democrat, he was a good ol' boy of the back slapping variety, rarely without a smile and a good political story--even if it did sometimes border on being a tall tale. His was the politics of joy and inclusion in a time when state politics was a much more personal playground, uninfected by the millions of dollars and the public vitriol that is standard today.

Echols was proud of being one of the originators of the bill that made job training funds available to employers and he wanted a larger stage for his second political act--the governorship. He came close, but in 1974 it was Jerry Apodaca who prevailed in the Dem primary and who was elected in November. It was a one-shot deal for Odis and the stars never aligned for him another run.

But his third act was not a curtain call. In the late 70's he began lobbying and is credited with popularizing the trend of taking on multiple clients. Before he was done, his client list was the length of your arm.

For many years, Odis partnered with me to deliver Election Night results on ABQ public radio station KANW 89.1 FM. He loved the game. When Governor King who, like Odis, boasted a savvy, rural  personality, lost his re-election bid for a fourth term in 1994, Echols turned to me and said: "Joe, you can only take so many bites out of the apple."

Odis knew and worked with every Governor from Cargo to Richardson. He was a lobbying powerhouse who paved the way for Indian gaming which became a billion dollar a year industry.

Longtime lobbyist Scott Scanland, who began with Echols as a business partner, said Echols will be remembered as "a dean of the New Mexico lobbying corp who paved the way for me and many others."

Retired newsman and politico Rodger Beimer added:

Odis “From Clovis” Echols was a broadcaster, a promoter, a politician and a legend.

And he did it all with joie de vivre and a zest for the political life that you won't see matched anytime soon.

That's it for this week. Thanks for joining us. Reporting from Albuquerque and wishing you a Happy Easter, I'm Joe Monahan.

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ABQ Mayoral candidate Pete Dinelli says he "is comfortable" that his mayoral campaign will qualify for $362,000 in public financing, but if it doesn't he will continue his bid with private financing.

Dinelli has to collect 3,600 individual $5 donations from registered city voters. No small task and one that in the past has kept a number of candidates off the ballot. But he has had help from the Dem party organization, volunteers and his own paid consultants. He has to turn in the required donations on Monday.

Mayor Berry has opted out of public financing and has been busy raising private cash to fund his re-election bid.

A candidate also needs 3,000 individual petition signatures to get on the October ballot. Dinelli says he is well over that number.

If he does quality for the public money, Dinelli will be the only candidate to do so this cycle. Republican Paul Heh says he can get the petition signatures to make the ballot, but opted out of public financing. Ditto for Dem Margaret Chavez who is collecting petition signatures, but is not going to pursue public financing.

THE ECON BEAT

ABQ is still fighting the recession blues as evidenced by the econ news that continues to inform us that job creation is essentially nil in the metro. Attorney Jeff Baker comes with an idea he says might give the scene some spark:

New Orleans has Jazz Fest, which earns that city $300 million each year. Austin has South by Southwest, which generates $165 million each year. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta had a $117 million impact for our city in 2011. Can we pull off 2 major events each year? The State Fairgrounds, in the heart of Albuquerque, could be a great venue for a music festival showcasing regional and local musicians. Like the Balloon Fiesta, it can start small and grow. The State owns the Fairgrounds--does the Governor have someone in her Cabinet who can talk to New Mexico’s musicians and promoters and figure out what type of music is going to attract people from out of state?

Thanks, Jeff. Under Gov. Richardson we had a NM Music Commission, but it was disbanded under Governor Martinez. Still, there would seem to be plenty of other avenues in state government to explore your concept.

A NEW DUMPING GROUND?

UNM having a major management role at the Sandia National Laboratories? Someone throw up the red flags. UNM has become a political dumping ground of sorts for two successive administrations and has had its hands full managing its own athletic department. Now they want to manage Sandia with it's $2.4 billion annual budget. UNM says it means it could have more UNM people at the labs. That sounds more like a threat than a promise. Imagine the politicians who already wield enormous pressure over the UNM administration getting their hands on the job roster for the fabled federal labs. Washington, please save us from ourselves and kill this idea in its crib.

HAN CASE

The mysterious death of noted ABQ defense attorney Mary Han has caught the eye of the CBS News broadcast "48 Hours." A producer for the program has been making inquiries about the case which has raised a number of questions about police procedures as well as those of the Office of the Medical Investigator. Attorney General Gary King says his office will take a look at the case. He is also asking the US Department of Justice to investigate as part of its civil rights investigation of APD.

Han, 53 at the time of her death, was a high-profile civil rights attorney who handled a number of lawsuits against the police. She was found dead in her car in her garage in her ABQ home. Authorities ruled it a suicide but the family of Han is suing APD over the investigation and is not convinced she took her own life.  No word on whether 48 Hours will produce and air a report on the Han death, but a producer in New York confirms they are investigating.

EVEN MORE SESSION '13

Nicole Brady

Monahan & Dyson

It is rare for a legislative session to leave so much to analyze in its wake, but this one was a doozy, with the Dems divided and  the GOP Guv winning key legislation.

We sat down with KOB-TV news anchor Nicole Brady and veteran political reporter Stuart Dyson for last Sunday's Edition of "Eye on New Mexico" to give it a final treatment, as well as the first take on the '13 ABQ mayoral contest. (Video is here.)

Dyson and I were our usual irreverent selves, but Nicole did her duty and made us get serious and introduced a myriad of topics. However, not before Dyson said he appreciates the gesture, but will not take advantage of the Legislature's decision to allow restaurant patrons to begin drinking adult beverages at 10 a.m on Sunday morning, instead of noon. "I'm too old!" He declared.

Aah, the march of time...

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In the city this Wednesday...There never was much buy-in for Mayor Berry's "ABQ: The Plan," a package of quality of life projects that include improvements around the Rio Grande. The City Council is starting to put a leash on the initiative that is near and dear to Berry. It's no wonder. It's competing for sorely needed funds for basic improvements in our aging city. Come October, voters will be asked to approve a bond package of only $115 million. That's down an alarming 30 percent from the $164 million ion bonds voters approved in 2011.

City Hall says property tax revenue that is used to pay off bonds was diverted in past years to finance general operations, leaving less bonding capacity. But another major contributor to the diminished capacity is the popping of the housing bubble. The value of many city homes are down considerably and that means less property tax revenue to back bonds.

It all goes back to jobs. We get more of them, we get more demand for housing and then we get the rising housing prices that will mean higher property taxes that will mean a healthier bond package. But the ABQ area is still fighting recessionary winds. The jobs are not coming:

The state gained 3,500 jobs in the 12-month period that ended Jan. 31, but the Albuquerque area lost 1,400 jobs for a negative 0.4 percent job growth rate, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions said...

In 2011 the city actually asked voters to approve $214 million in bonds. That included the now infamous $50 million in "Berry Bonds." They were proposed for repairing the Paseo del Norte/I-25 interchange as well as a hyper-controversial $25 million sportsplex. Because you could not vote against the sportsplex--part of Berry's "ABQ: The Plan,"--voters turned thumbs down on the entire $50 million. A bond featuring only the Paseo improvements was approved by voters last November.

No one is setting off alarm bells yet about the city not being able to afford vital repair projects, but the Republican-controlled city council's wariness of Berry's "The Plan" sends the signal that there is concern.

ROUNDABOUT

Round and round they go over the proposed roundabout for the intersection of Rio Grande and Candelaria in the ABQ North Valley. (Wasn't that pronounced dead recently?) ABQ Dem City Councilor Ike Benton who is running for election in the distinct that includes the roundabout, writes:

It was incorrectly reported in the ABQ Journal that I am in favor of the proposed roundabout at Rio Grande and Candelaria. The opponents of the roundabout have stated that they were not involved in the process of its inception, design and funding. I live in District 2, two blocks from Rio Grande Blvd. I use the intersection regularly, and was not involved in the process. It is apparent that the discussion needs to continue. I do not yet have a position on whether a roundabout is the best solution for the intersection. I do have great concerns about an abrupt 180 degree reversal and giving up $1M in traffic safety funds after years of effort....Computer modeling of the design needs to be presented to illustrate actual performance of the roundabout at peak hours, which can then be discussed publicly. My bill simply calls for a continuation of the discussion for one year.

GOING ROGUE

What more can we say that we and others here have not already said here over the course of several years and thousands of words? Rogue behavior in the ABQ police department is going to cost taxpayers millions and millions and millions:

The Bernalillo County Sheriff says APD Sergeant Adam Casaus will be charged with vehicular homicide (reckless), and great bodily injury by vehicle (reckless) in the Feb 10 car crash death of Ashley Browder. Casaus had said he had been dispatched to chase down a drunken driver when he ran a red light and crashed into a car carrying Browder, killing her.

One of the mayoral candidates told us he checked to see how much is currently in the self-insurance fund the city uses to pay settlements for police and other wrongdoing. He says he was told it was about $56 million. We've paid out nearly $50 million in recent years and we just  had a $10 million judgment against APD. The above-mentioned  case is going to cost millions more.

What could have all that lawsuit cash done to improve the city?

Will we use the entire $56 million and then some before all the lawsuits over APD are cleaned up? We add more cash to the fund each year, but if we run out the tab would go directly on the property tax bills of city taxpayers. There's blood in a $56 million pool and the sharks are circling.

CAMPAIGN CASH

We don't know if the city will be caught in a cash crunch because of the legal woes of the beleaguered APD, but it appears Mayor Berry won't have one when it comes to his efforts to get re-elected...

We blogged this week of the $1000 a pop fund-raising lunch Berry will have April 8. It's only one of many to come. In fact, Tuesday night our campaign Alligators report that Berry attended a $500 a pop fund-raising reception for his campaign at the Hotel Parq. Its sponsors included Garrett Hennessy, who worked for Berry at City Hall for a time as a governmental liaison, and Bob Eaton, an executive vice-president at NM Bank and Trust. 

NEW CITY NEWS

It has been over five years since the ABQ Tribune closed its doors after an 86 year run. The paper is missed by many who liked the competition and balance the afternoon daily provided to the morning ABQ Journal. One of them is ABQ's V.B. Price, one of the state's leading liberals. For many years he authored a Tribune column about local issues. Now he says he has launched an endeavor to provide more coverage of vital city and state issues. It's called New Mexico Mercury and is promoted as a "regional meeting of the minds." A number of contributors from a variety of backgrounds have joined with Price to produce the news outlet.

ON THE SCENE

Maybe we shouldn't have been, but we were surprised by the quality of the production of Madame Butterfly that closed out the Opera Southwest season last week. The company brought in several notable singers from New York and they had the crowd cheering thunderously at the Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

ABQ's Opera Southwest marked its 40th anniversary this year. Congrats....

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When the housing bubble burst here, down went construction--so far down that employment levels hit multi-decade lows. And it's still not over? Not yet, says the state:

In January, construction continued its downtrend and has yet to hit its trough after six years of consecutive negative job growth. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities had no change in employment level....

LOBOMANIA

A reader writes of the UNM basketball Lobos and the end of their season when they were defeated by Harvard at the opening round of the NCAA tournament:

With all the bad news about jobs, the economy, and education, and any hope of recovery or success rapidly disappearing from the horizon, we still had the Lobos to take our mind off it all. It was our great escape.

The team seemed to be one of the few things left breathing life into Albuquerque and New Mexico. Now, it’s like all the oxygen has left the room. It was amazing to observe how consumed and dependent so many of us had become on the success of the Lobos. We were so desperate for good news that we were willing to dismiss bad business deals, accept poor judgment, and even silence our critical thoughts because we were so fortunate to have at least something to not only hope for, but rely on. This was finally the year that fan’s demands would be met that the Lobos were going to win big in the NCAA Tournament, and we were willing to give up control to those who would bring us that success.

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How big will Berry's spending be? That question is fundamental to the 2013 ABQ Mayor's race as incumbent GOP Mayor Berry has decided not to go the public financing route. Instead, he will raise private cash for his re-election bid.

One of his first major fund-raisers will be held April 8 and asks for a contribution of either $1000 or $500. It's being hosted by longtime ABQ GOP businessman Sherman McCorkle and Hong Hou, head of ABQ-based technology firm Emcore. (We've posted the invite here.)

Berry will need to raise over $362,000 to justify his rejection of public financing. That's the amount a candidate gets when he meets the rigorous qualifications for the money. Our campaign watchers say a conservative estimate is that Berry raises $500,000.

The mayor has signed up DC fund-raiser Anne Ekern. Her past clients include former ABQ GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson.

Democrat Pete Dinelli is the only mayoral contender with any chance to qualify for the public financing He has only this week left to collect $5 donations from some 3,600 registered city voters. If he doesn't, he will join Berry in raising private cash.

Then there's the issue of the Super PACs. Anyone can set one up and flood the campaign with money--and none of it is very open to public scrutiny. The only real rule is that the Super PAC not coordinate its activities (such as TV ads) with those of an official mayoral campaign. The odds are high that we will see the Super's playing in the  mayoral contest which ends in October. We will get our first idea on how Berry's fund-raising is going when he files a city financial report April 15.

CRIME WATCH

One of Berry's early re-election problems is his 2009 campaign promise to lower the city's rate of  property crime. He ran a hard-hitting TV spot on the issue, attacking the record of then-Mayor Marty Chavez and saying property crime here was much higher than neighboring cities. The attack helped him win, but like previous mayors Berry has found the problem sticky. Here he is today trying to get ahead of the campaign curve.

...Berry rolled out a new package of initiatives aimed at tackling property crime. He wants to cooperate with businesses to access their live video feeds, highlight repeat offenders using the city website and other media, and pass new legislation making it harder to sell stolen copper. Berry said city crime rates hit a 20-year low before climbing slightly. “Although these statistics show a slight increase in property crime, it still shows that APD has been successful at making this city a bad place to be a criminal,” Berry said...

Berry's approval ratings are high, so he will be subjected to a vigorous negative campaign with perhaps an argument over the crime stats being a key element.

DINELLI DEMS

While Berry was moving to fill in the hole in his record on property crime, Dinelli continued to roll out endorsements from prominent Dems, including from State Auditor Hector Balderas and ABQ State Rep, Moe Maestas, the House majority whip.

Dinelli will work to consolidate the Democratic base early. He has extra work to do with liberals who shunned Dem Mayor Chavez and who attorney Dinelli worked for as public safety director.

BREGMAN VS. LARA

Bregman

Lara

The race is on. So say our Dem insiders closely watching the battle for the chairmanship of the state Democratic Party being waged between ABQ attorney Sam Bregman and attorney and former Eddy County Commissioner Roxanne Lara.

The assessment comes in the aftermath of the Bernalillo County Dem convention Saturday. Bregman's forces said they were going for a blow-out win in Bregman's home county. But it didn't happen and now the race is seen as more competitive.

Four years ago Bregman lost the chair battle by only a few votes to Javier Gonzales. He started this bid as the clear front-runner, but Lara, 36, has done well outside of her native south, scoring in Santa Fe County and now insiders say she appears to have held her own in big BernCo. Bregman, however, saw a surge of support at the Sandoval County weekend Dem meeting.

(A third candidate, Cornelia Lange, is also running, but is not seen as a player in this one).

Only about 400 Dem state central committee delegates will vote in late April to decide the race. About 125 of them will come from BernCo.

There is much spinning going on by both sides. Delegates can change their minds right up until the final vote so arm-twisting will be the order of the day for the next month.

The new chair will set the tone for the Dems going into the 2014 cycle when Governor Martinez seeks re-election and control of the state House will again be contested.

Also at the BernCo Dem meeting, Ana Canales was re-elected county chair, defeating challenger Victor Raigoza.

SANCHEZ & THE SENATE

Sens. Smith & Sanchez (Journal)

To the state Senate now--and we don't mean to the public gallery. We mean deep into the Senate--on the floor and up-close for the exclusive insights you can get only here.

We've run much analysis of the legislative leadership--both pro and con--during and after the recent 60 day legislative session. Today the analysis comes from an insider who wanted Majority Leader Michael Sanchez to take a more activist role in opposing the Governor and also make changes to the Senate status quo. We think you'll find it compelling and controversial:

Joe, Your analysis of the legislative session was very insightful. However, some legislative observers believe that you were too harsh on House Speaker Ken Martinez and too easy on Senate Majority Floor Leader Michael Sanchez. It wasn’t just the corporate income tax cut on which Michael caved:

For example, Michael sponsored the constitutional amendment to increase funding for early childhood education, but assigned it three committees (Senate Rules, Judiciary and Finance)--clearly he did not want his own constitutional amendment to pass the legislature and go to the voters. The amendment died in committee without a hearing.

Additionally, the “close the gun-show loophole” bill  passed its final Senate committee on the Thursday night before Saturday adjournment, meaning it could have been heard in the Friday floor session. But Michael, who controls the floor calendar, waited until the final minutes of the session on Saturday to bring it up, making it an easy target for a filibuster.

Does Michael’s real agenda have little to do with Democratic Party values or even defeating Governor Martinez in 2014? Or is it about maintaining his enormous power base in the Senate? Is that why Michael shunned the bid of Senator Campos to become President Pro-Tem? 

Michael doesn’t want any rivals and wants to remain the unquestioned leader of the Senate Democrats. Majority Whip Tim Keller and President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen are ideal from his standpoint because they were selected by a conservative coalition and, therefore, don’t pose a threat to his leadership of the Democratic caucus.

You assume that Michael surrendered and the agenda is about pushing Democratic Party principles and defeating Governor Martinez in 2014. That is naive. Anyone who has carefully watched the Senate  knows that it is about one thing and one thing only: maintaining Michael’s insecure grasp on power. But your main thesis is correct~the Governor has been given a free ride by Democrats....

Interesting. The Alligators have previously said that Sanchez had one of the great political opportunities in state history when he won re-election by beating the Governor's political machine last November. He could have made the play for control of both the Majority Leader position and the Pro Tem post and busted the Senate's conservative coalition. He could have then advanced an agenda that would have forced the Governor to compromise on a more Dem oriented agenda. But it never happened.

That's why we differ with our insider who asserts Sanchez was protecting his "enormous power" this session. His power is not what we would term "enormous." It is based on an accommodation with the fiscally conservative politics of Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith and a handful of Martinez Democrats who agree with much of the Republican Governor's agenda.

One of our Senior Alligators says the lengthy personal friendships in the Senate between Sanchez, Smith and other players may have made a difference in Sanchez's decision to lay back. He said:

"Sometimes these friendships can trump policy decisions, or in this case even the decision to take the power that is there for the taking."

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