Steve Terrell

Veteran political reporter Steve Terrell will leave the Santa Fe New Mexican later this year after 32 years of being a beloved ink-stained wretch of La Politica.

Terrell, who will turn 66 next month, is known for his wry sense of humor, a dash of cynicism and mostly for his depth and fairness. He announced on Facebook he will finish his newspaper career around Thanksgiving. One of his followers asked, "then what?" and he replied:

Not worry about daily deadlines. See more of my kids and grandkids. Watch TV. Yell at kids on my lawn. (First I gotta get a lawn).

Terrell's jovial presence has been a fixture at the Roundhouse and on the campaign trail for decades. Before joining the New Mexican he was a reporter for the ABQ Journal North. He is also well known in northern New Mexico for his weekly alternative music program on KSFR-FM.

Terrell is a consummate journalist, playing fair with both sides but not backing off when facing pressure. Both Democratic Governor Bill Richardson and Republican Susana Martinez sometimes showed their annoyance with him as he asked and reported the difficult questions and issues.

The days of a reporter being able to stay at the same paper for 30 plus years and developing valuable institutional memory are coming to a close in the new media age. Terrell made the most of the time given him. His many readers were the grateful beneficiaries.

Quite the run, Steve. Congrats. (And if this sounded like an obit, forgive us.)

DEFENDING BIG BILL

Speaking of Big Bill we blogged Monday of his reputational woes after being linked to the Epstein scandal by a woman who said she was directed to have sex with him when she was a young "sex slave" for Epstein. We implied that Richardson may be persona non grata at the national news networks he often frequents until this story blows over. The former two term governor has denied ever being with the woman as have the other high-profile men she named in a court deposition. Also in that Monday column, a Senior Alligator faulted both Richardson and Martinez, claiming the state hasn't had a governor who wasn't deeply flawed since Democrat Bruce King.

Longtime Dem consultant Chris Brown of Santa Fe thought all of that was a bridge too far and came with this critique:

"Richardson’s final fall.” What? Richardon’s Spaceport is now high and rising. Its high-tech, big-ticket missions could lift much of New Mexico. Do you seriously think that the national broadcast media will blacklist either him (North Korea expert, former U.N. ambassador and U.S. Energy secretary), or just as broadly accomplished Sen. George Mitchell, when they need a talking head to counter Trump nonsense? 

Trump's not only named in your link, but was often-photographed with Epstein over the decades. Are you also saying Trump's now toast in 2020? Holding up three-term Governor Bruce King as an aspirational model? He had half again more years in office to do something than the last three governors. What legacy did he leave us? I have no idea: refresh our memories. For much of 2016, former Mass. Gov. Bill Weld and “self-aggrandizing” ski-bum and triathlete Gary Johnson offered a credible alternative to the “political stink” and off-the-rails parties. Alone of any candidate before or since, he not only patronized but praised immigrants as America’s "best workers.” 

Joe, you've seen this movie before, In 1974, Albuquerque's Yellow Journalism rag tried to bury Jerry Apodaca’s gubernatorial candidacy by tying him to an imaginary Las Vegas mob-conspiracy to legalize slots here. Instead he hired UNM experts to streamline cumbersome and patronage-stuffed state government - reforms later undone by his successors. Hey, maybe that’s real grist for an informative column, not more innuendo and guilty until proven innocent screeds. Yes, unfortunately this saga will drag on, because it’s hard to disprove a reputation-tarnishing negative by documenting "I did not do it."

Sometimes they like to give it to us and the Gators right between the eyes. And that was just one of those times.

THE BOTTOM LINES

We had the age of retiring Santa Fe New Mexican political reporter Steve Terrell as 64 on the Tuesday blog. He will turn 66 next month. We thought he had us by a couple of years.

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