About that 10 percent raise the Guv is now proposing for new school teachers. Our read? Martinez may be suffering some from the chaotic public debate over teacher evaluation tests. The raise seems aimed at shoring up public support that could be waning.

The $30,000 a year starting pay for teachers has not been raised since we passed a Constitutional Amendment increasing teacher pay back in 2003.

The administration has not been showing any olive branches on the education front, but as we say  polling could be picking up discontent. That will get the olive branches waving--faster than the starting flag at the Indy 500....

Maybe another reason Martinez is waving a bone under the noses of potential teachers is the number we are losing. This education blog argues it is due in part because of the new teacher evaluation system.

Also on the education front....do you think we can do better than this?

. . . Many students in the Española School District do not have textbooks. The lack of books became the focus of a Española School Board meeting. . . .The discussion started during Superintendent Danny Trujillo’s report, when Board President Ralph Medina asked, “Where are we on the math books? Or any instructional material in the classroom?” “We’re still missing a few books,” Trujillo said. He said all the books the schools have ordered have come, but in some cases, there were not enough books for the class sizes. To fill this gap, schools were having to copy pages from textbooks. . . .

The kids have gone from copying one another's homework to having to copy entire books...

Meanwhile, the Legislative Finance Committee reports: 

New Mexico lawmakers in the last 10 years have increased spending on public schools by three-quarters of a billion dollars, or more than 42 percent. Even during the deep recession, public education was made a priority....

Maybe we might want to audit where all the book money goes?

THE APD PLIGHT

Events involving the ABQ police department continue to pound away at Mayor Berry in the early days of his second term. We recently blogged that his legacy is going to be defined in large part on how the many lawsuits against the department are settled and how he resolves the historic issues facing APD. Retired police Sergeant Dan Klein is back on the Berry/APD beat today:

Joe, KRQE-TV reported Thursday night that $900,000 has been paid out by APD in another shooting settlement.

The ABQ Journal reports the Police Academy director was or is the target of an internal affairs investigation but won't say why.

Word has it the current APD Academy has lost almost half of their cadets in just one month, down to 15 cadets and they still have 5 months to go.

And we may or may not have a contract for the APOA. Regardless, it will be too late to stop any officers who planned to retire at the end of the month....

Thanks, Dan. So Amid this havoc the Mayor awards his chief administrative officer a $33,000 a year pay raise--a 22% increase?

Maybe Mayor Berry, who prides himself on his private sector experience, has been in government so long he forgets how the private sector works--that employees are rewarded for success not failure.

This ongoing crisis at the police department--the subject of a federal civil rights investigation--is hurting our city's reputation and its economy.

We need strong leadership from City Hall. That means a new, confidence-restoring police chief who is not associated with the current contaminated culture, an aggressive posture in bringing our police force up to the needed number of officers and competent civilian oversight of APD from the mayor, the CAO and the police oversight panel.

We simply are not getting the results we are paying for. How many years do we have to wait?

PUT UP JOB?

Is Colonel Robert Cunningham--whose far right-wing rant against ABQ state Rep. Mimi Stewart we blogged on Thursday--a big put on? An ABQ Alligators has been doing some checking:

Google searches and sites show this whole Col. Robert F Cunningham thing to be weird. First of all, he apparently died in Puyallup, Washington on February 2, 2011. He has (had?) a daughter living in Albuquerque. He and/or his name is linked to all kinds of Tea Party/Patriot action, and really strange out-there stuff. One would be led to think that this person has some really serious mental issues. One site about Egypt and Thoth has a picture icon of him as a twentysomething black male! The whole "Col Robert F Cunningham" thing, whomever he may have been/is in real life, seems like a put-on.

You mean a put up job on the Internet? Shocking...truly shocking...

Sometimes you're better off doing nothing. And that appears to be the case with Governor Martinez's feeble effort to spin away a damaging profile of her and her chief political adviser Jay McCleksey in the nonpartisan National Journal magazine.

In obvious reaction to that take down, the Guv had a glowing profile of her planted in the pages of the Washington Examiner. Her visage was recently seen peering out from news boxes across the national capital.

The problem? The Examiner is owned by billionaire conservative Phillip Anschutz and is an unabashed mouthpiece for the conservative movement. The buoyant profile of Martinez in the pages of the Examiner's magazine does nothing to offset the damage done to Martinez and McCleskey in the national media and political circles as a result of the the National Journal piece.

There was little chance for the Guv to get any push back to the National Journal in other mainstream media simply because it pretty much nailed what is happening in the New Mexican government---that Martinez is inordinately dependent on McCleskey to call her shots and that his influence--to use the National Journal's words--could be "her downfall."

Martinez insists that she is no puppet but yet she avoids any adversarial journalism to explore the point, even as she encourages stories about her possibility as a vice-presidential candidate. If she really wants to the play the game then--as we've said before--why not sit down with NM Politics with Joe Monahan for a statewide TV interview or appear on a national broadcast like "Meet the Press" and stand for no-holds-barred questioning?

Jay is pulling down a handsome income from the Guv's political entities. With commissions his firm receives receives for media buys, he is one of the better compensated consultants in the USA. Maybe he figured he had to do something to spin out of the hole he and the Guv have been placed in. But answering the National Journal with a piece in the biased Washington Examiner is like bringing a whiffle ball to a game of hardball. No one is going to watch that action or take it seriously.

TRICKLE DOWN

A reader in Santa Fe writes:

The trickle-down effect of Intel's lay-offs in Rio Rancho is another example of most of our state's political leaders--Democrats as well as Republicans--behaving like ostriches. Actually they give ostriches a bad rap. Your focus on what is really ailing our state and impeding its economic growth is spot on.

By the way, if the corporate tax cut was such a great example of "compromise" by the Democratic leadership in the state House, why did they not secure a commitment from the Governor on the minimum wage bill, or better yet, get her to compromise on a commitment of more permanent fund dollars to early childhood education? They got snookered, or are just poor leaders.

The legislature needs to be, what's the word? Oh yeah .. Bold--in its approach to creating jobs. This Jobs Council report simply re-states what most people already know: we are hemorrhaging jobs.

The question for the Jobs Council is why is their plan so anemic? But then it sure seems endemic of the weak approach of the guys in charge of the House.The mantra of New Mexicans, particularly of our youth, for the next several years will be a variation to an old hamburger advertising campaign: "Where's the jobs?"

CROSS YOUR FINGERS

The only real bull market going on in New Mexico these days is in the SE NM oil fields. Take a look and cross your fingers:

Oil and gas royalties earned $62.3 million in November 2013 – the second-highest month on record for oil and gas royalties at the State Land Office, surpassing October 2013 as the second-highest month, according to a report issued by the office.

The booming oil market is largely responsible for increased state revenue forecasts for the budget year that begins July 1, 2014.

BEST RANT

We run across all kinds of political rants in our line of work but this one from conservative ABQ Colonel Robert Cunningham may be the winner of "Best Rant of 2013."

First, we run the email sent to Cunningham byABQ Dem state Rep. Mimi Stewart and then the rant it drew from Cunningham in response.

Stewart: . . . .The Affordable Care Act is a boon to NM. Our health insurance exchange is working well and we have expanded Medicaid for our citizens living in poverty. The UNM Bureau of Economic Research says the ACA will bring $6 Billion into the state and create 8,000 jobs. Don't believe everything you hear or read. Those who want Pres. Obama to fail have spread lies about the ACA. The truth will come out in the end.

Cunningham: Madam Stewart, Are you aware that hell awaits the liar as much as it does the thief? Your bureaucratic poppycock qualifies in BOTH categories! The UN-affordable NON-healthcare TAX is a SOCIALIST LEGISLATED-ENSLAVEMENT ABOMINATION. The only 'jobs' it's going to 'create' are on government payroll and not one damned slot in the private sector. Isn't THAT why the Department of Homeland Security is buying 1,600,000,000 rounds of ammunition and 2,700-Plus "Mine Resistant Protected" MaxxPro MRAP vehicles for use on the streets of the United States? To be used against any and all citizens who dare to call COMMUNIST Bastards That Be--by their correct and traitorous names and titles?

Therefore, Madam, YOU are a knowing bald-faced liar of the first magnitude! When you send your KGB/Gestapa for me, LEAD THE PARADE YOURSELF! I await your reprisal. Expect mine in return.

Colonel Cunningham has the distinction of being the first person in the 10 year history of the blog to have all their "CAPS" not go edited. Hey, we want him on our side when the revolution comes...Now pass the ammunition....

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Another high-dollar GOP holiday fund-raiser is just around the corner and this one is of special interest to those gaming the odds of the R's staging a historic takeover of the state House in 2014.

Governor Susana will headline the event (surprise!) that asks donors to play Santa for House Minority Whip Nate Gentry. They're asking $3,000 for a table for eight and one seat at the Guv's table--or $500 for a single ticket.

Gentry's ABQ NE Heights district has changed a bit. In 2012 he received a credible Dem challenge, but that was a presidential election year. The lower turnout year of '14 doesn't present much jeopardy to Gentry, an ABQ attorney.

You might be right to assume that some of the cash raised at the Dec. 16 Rio Chama restaurant fund-raiser may find its way into the coffers of other GOP legislative candidates. That's because Gentry is heading up the campaign effort by the House R's next year.

But what will be raised at Rio Chama will only be a drop in the bucket. Already expert insiders are saying we could see $2 to $3 million spent by the GOP--from all sources--in the effort to win the House.

It will take more than money for the R's to make history--or even to pick up enough seats to form a coalition with conservative Dems and seize power. They will need a popular Governor Martinez at the top of the ticket. That was a no-brainer a month ago, but the environment now seems more uncertain.

WATCH LIST

Among the big political stories to watch as we inch closer to the election year: Can Governor Martinez maintain her polling strength in the face of more intense opposition and can the R's put together a roster of candidates who can genuinely position them for a run at the state House?

TOO BIPARTISAN?

The corridor chatter continues over the strategy of top NM Dems to play "bipartisan" ball with Governor Susana when it comes to the dreary state economy. Last session Legislative Dems did a bipartisan corporate tax cut that has many party loyalists up in arms. Now they've come with a "bipartisan" jobs council. Why, ask critics of that strategy, are the Dems not decrying the Martinez administration's economic record and setting the table for a run against it and her next year? A sample of the chatter from one of our Senior Alligators:

Joe, that "bipartisan" corporate tax cut and "bipartisan" jobs council could bite the Democrats on the ass next year. They are giving Susana cover for a lousy economy when they ought to be giving her full ownership of it. The R's are taking the economy away as an issue. That means we could get an election for Governor and the House that focuses on wedge issues like driver's license for undocumented workers and under performing schools. That puts the Dems on the defense, not the offense where they need to be to increase turnout among their base voters.

Dem House Speaker Kenny Martinez seems convinced that the bipartisan path is the way to go because the Governor is popular. Martinez, his pollsters and consultants can't seem to make the distinction between avoiding attacks on her likable public persona yet holding her to account for the worst economy in generations.

If the Speaker is having any second thoughts, he can make a mid-course correction when the Legislature convenes next month for it's final session before the November election.

HEAT ON NM COMPETES

NM Dem Party Chairman Sam Bregman hasn't had much to say about that widely read National Journal article on Guv political adviser Jay McCleskey  which included information on Governor Martinez's campaign finances. But Tuesday he opened up and requested an IRS probe of the dark money group New Mexico Competes which is run by close political associates of Martinez and McCleskey, including a former Martinez deputy cabinet secretary:

I request that the IRS investigate whether New Mexico Competes, Inc., a non-profit corporation formed in Washington, DC and registered in New Mexico. . .which operates as a 501 (c)(4) is illegally coordinating with and attempting to conceal campaign contributions on behalf of Governor Susana Martinez with the intent of violating New Mexico law limiting campaign contributions to candidates.

According to an article appearing in the National Journal on November 21, Andrea Goff, the former finance director of Martinez's campaign and of Susana PAC, said that Governor Martinez, "specifically told her that (Guv political adviser Jay) McCleskey was launching" New Mexico Competes, Inc.

McCleskey runs both Governor Martinez's re-election campaign and her political action committee. Any involvement. . . would violate rules prohibiting coordination. In addition, New Mexico Competes, Inc. has refused to disclose its donors, the amounts they have donated, and whether those individuals or businesses have also donated to Susana Martinez's re-election committee, which under New Mexico law may only receive a maximum of $5,200 from an individual, business, or political action committee each for the primary and general election cycle.

 . . . Any coordination between them that involved expenditures on her behalf would be required to be treated as contributions and likely in excess of the caps set by New Mexico law. In addition, contributions from individuals, businesses, and political committees in excess of New Mexico law that were donated through New Mexico Competes, Inc. may have violated both federal and state law.

I ask that you undertake an extensive investigation of these activities as quickly and expeditiously as possible.

McCleskey has said there is no coordination between the Guv's campaign and NM Competes.

There are also a number of dark money progressive groups operating in the state, but they have not been accused of illegally coordinating with a candidate's committee.

YOU AND THE ECONOMY

Reader reaction now to our ongoing coverage of the NM economy. Reader Susan Johnson writes:

I am so grateful to you for hammering on this downward spiral that is Albuquerque's economy these days. I have written letters to the editor and had many conversations with people about this over the last year. Our political leaders are deniers of the worst sort: they can clearly see the problem (anyone who lives here can) but it serves them personally not to acknowledge it and therefore not to deal with it. Thank you for using your bully pulpit to generate awareness and concern. If the leaders are going to play their fiddles, the citizenry will have to address the fire.

Conservative Jim McClure worries that New Mexicans aren't committed to education reform as stated by the Martinez administration:

Joe, your assessment of New Mexico’s drain-circling economy is right on target. As a relative newcomer to New Mexico, I am puzzled by the passion with which our citizens defend an unsatisfactory status quo. Even my home state of Illinois--hardly a paragon of political and fiscal responsibility--had the political will to begin reforming Chicago’s failing schools. Yet New Mexicans appear likely to elect a new governor based on widespread opposition to education reform.

Reader Paul Donisthorpe writes:

Joe, you wrote that, "If a way to reverse the trend is not found, the state will be a no-growth zone for years to come (or even decline in population), looking more like an Iowa or South Dakota--not a promising and prosperous Sunbelt state where young people can carve out a future."

Well, five  minutes of research would lead me to counsel young people to choose either of those states over New Mexico to carve out a future, weather notwithstanding...but that's just grumpy old me on a Monday morning. Maybe things will be better after a chicharrone burrito at Barelas Coffee House for lunch.

Thanks, Paul. Things always look better after a properly prescribed dose of chicharrones.

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Don't have any New Year's Eve plans yet? How about ushering in 2014 with Governor Susana and an assortment of high rolling friends?

It will set you back $1,500 a couple, but heck your company just got a corporate tax cut from Susana, didn't it?

The four hour fundraising reception is being hosted by Leland Gould, a native of Hobbs and the longtime director of governmental affairs for Western Refining, Inc.

The invite doesn't say what kind of champagne and hors d' oeuvres will be served, but we're pretty sure they'll be  high end. As I recall, a few years ago we accompanied the late lobbyist Bob McBride to lunch at the Rio Chama in Santa Fe and Gould joined us. He either picked up the tab or offered to. And with oil holding above $90 bucks a barrel, why hold back? Get that Dom Pérignon chilled, Leland.

Martinez's last finance report shows she had already banked about $3.3 million for '14. That's sure to more than double before the campaign is over. The trick when raising that kind of money is to show a good chunk of it is not coming from Texas and other out-of-state interests. The New Year's bash at Gould's ABQ North Valley outpost should advance that goal.

FESTIVE ATTIRE

The invite for the New Year's Eve bash calls for festive attire. The gals get it, but it sounds confusing for the guys. So before you fork over your $1,500 for you and the Mrs. here's what that means:

It means attire that is not so casual as t-shirt and jeans, but does not have to be formal or semi-formal. Basically, the host does not want guests that look like they are dressed to go to a work or a wedding. They should add custom touches that give their outfits character and personality.

However for First gentleman Chuck Franco it means simply getting the blue jeans pressed at the dry cleaners and Guv political adviser Jay McCleskey will have to forgo his customary baseball cap.
Otherwise, it's party on.

NUKE IRAN

A reader in Washington, D.C. writes:

I know you do not usually cover international issues, but I thought you would appreciate just how far to the right the Republican Party has drifted. At least one Republican in Congress thinks we should nuke Iran to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon.

That' not to the right, that's over the ledge.

THE PRC MOVIDA

Becenti-Aguilar

A number of readers have commented on that recent and controversial decision from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) that allows the state's utilities to reduce the amount of energy they generate from renewable resources. That includes sources like solar and geothermal. Reader Evan Byers has the inside La Politica on the 3 to 2 decision that is likely to end up in court:

Not only does their decision have the potential to stymie the continued growth of the state’s solar industry, but it smacks of  self-interest. For example, the swing vote that helped pass the decision was cast by Commissioner Theresa Becenti-Aguilar, a Democrat who represents the northwest part of the state.

Originally appointed to the PRC in 2010 by Gov. Richardson, she once worked for then-Congressman Udall as his constituent services representative for tribal relations (according to her bio on the PRC website she is, “a proud member of the Navajo Nation.”).

One would think she supports renewable energy industry in NM. But, as you may have noticed a few weeks ago, this article appeared in the New Mexican: “Navajo Nation signs documents to acquire coal mine."They bought the mine near Farmington “…which produces up to 8.5 million tons of coal annually. It is the sole provider of coal to the nearby Four Corners Power Plant…”

As the solar industry continues to grow in the state, perhaps that hits a little too close to home for Commissioner Becenti-Aguilar?

It should also be noted that  the only industry that the PRC's renewable decision doesn’t impact is NM’s wind industry. It just so happens that about 80% of NM’s wind installations are located in Republican Commissioner Patrick Lyon’s district That’s a heckuva coincidence. So, not only does the utility industry win with this PRC decision, but so, too, does the Navajo Nation and the wind energy industry primarily located in Commissioner Lyon’s district. That's "Movida" at its best.

Good blogging there, Evan. The Sierra Club says it is looking at all its options to overturn the PRC ruling.

NOW THEY TELL US



25 THINGS

Dazzle your holiday guests with this: "25 Food Things Only A New Mexican Would Understand."

Of course you know that shredded iceberg lettuce and tomato are compulsory garnishes and that green chile is hotter than red chile. But did you know that the best beef jerky is purchased on the side of the road? As for that green chile cheeseburger at McDonald's, it's only acceptable during a genuine chile emergency. But what about Blake's?.....

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Governor Martinez likes nothing better than to run against Bill Richardson. She's been doing it since 2010 and it has served her well. She rode antipathy toward him into the Guv's office in 2010 and now that he has pronounced her beatable in 2014, Martinez is happy to bring him into the fray. This is what she says in her most recent fund-raising appeal:

Did you see what Bill Richardson said in today’s paper"...He sees the governor’s race as winnable for Democrats and praised their candidates. Of course he praised them--they are running to return to his failed policies. That’s why I am asking you to stand up against Bill Richardson and his candidates for governor by contributing today.. . .The race is shaping up to be about whether we want to take New Mexico back to the failed Richardson-era policies, or whether we continue moving our state forward.

Actually, the race is going to be about the incumbent's record as Governor. She's going to do her best to spruce it up with a campaign kitty north of $7 million and more gobs of dough from third party groups.

Richardson still sports approval ratings in the 30's, but as time goes by such numbers often improve. Still, don't expect to see Bill weighing in much more on the '14 Guv race. He knows that the Dem Guv nominee doesn't need any baggage from him to tote around on the campaign trail.

NUH UH

Meanwhile, Martinez continues to squelch talk of running for vice-president in 2016 and forming a ticket with NJ Governor Chris Christie. "Nuh uh," she uttered to an inquiring reporter. (We think that's a "no.")

Martinez will be smart to concentrate her firepower in New Mexico for the next 11 months as an economy that continues to spiral downward could make her more vulnerable than thought. And that  National Journal

SUSANA'S DARK CURTAIN

Martinez still sports high poll numbers, but her very long honeymoon with many segments of the NM media is finally over. And no wonder. After pledging the most transparent administration ever, the media now sees that it has been played. From the editorial page of the Las Cruces Sun-News on the AP's lawsuits seeking official records from the Guv:

One lawsuit seeks expense documents regarding overtime pay for security officers--information that was available to the public during the administration of Bill Richardson. The second lawsuit claims the governor's office violated open records laws by refusing to provide actual copies of her work calendars, including travel for purposes other than government business, and removing numbers of cell phone calls by the governor and her staff from state logs.

Her spokesman responded by claiming that things like personal and campaign calendars have "nothing to do with state business."

To suggest that the public only has the right to know about the governor's out-of-state travel when it involves official state business is preposterous. Each time the governor leaves the state, the lieutenant governor is in charge. We have a right to know when she is on the job, when she is not, and why.

Perhaps most troubling is that the governor has asserted executive privilege in denying the records requests, something she specifically stated she would not do in her first State of the State address.

It's pretty obvious to any Alligator worth feeding that the Guv does not want to confirm through an official records disclosure what the National Journal revealed--that we have an ongoing political operation--if not running state government--certainly dominating it. To borrow a word from the Sun-News, it is "preposterous" to believe otherwise.

And where is the attorney general and the state auditor in helping the AP get these records?

THE SPIRAL DOWNWARD


About that spiraling state economy, it just got worse:

New Mexico’s economy nosedived between May and October, shedding thousands of jobs. . . And the state’s labor force participation rate, a measure of how many working-age residents are employed or looking for work, was the fourth-worst in the nation in October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In other words this ugly and long-lived bear market continues to trash the state. Take a look:

Between April and October, the state lost 20,382 jobs, or 2.4 percent, and nearly 24,000 labor force participants, according to BLS. The 860,300 total jobs the state had in October was slightly above the 859,616 job low point the state had in October 2010. The state’s job count peaked at 910,039 in February 2008. 

And look at ABQ. It's like watching a car crashing in slow motion:

Between April and October, the four-county Albuquerque metropolitan region lost 9,328 jobs, for a 2.5 percent job loss rate. The area’s labor force shrank by 9,273, or 2.4 percent.. . .

Near panic is starting to take hold among key business leaders while Mayor Berry basks in a "see no evil, hear no evil" re-election win. Among other things, we are getting killed by Federal spending cuts which in turn is hammering local businesses that depend on that spending.

New Mexico saw 15,228 people leave the state in 2012. . .Said Beverlee McClure, president and CEO of the Association of Commerce and Industry: “We are seeing a brain drain of COOs and CEOs and we have to address it. We have to stop this brain drain and this jobs drain. I think folks are beginning to realize that we can’t keep ignoring this issue.”