Government By Commission; Solving The Problems Or Kicking The Can? Plus: GOP Sen. Moores Draws Primary Challenge From La Politica Veteran

MLG and Bregman (Journal)

It may look good. It may sound good but it doesn't do much good. 

That's government by commission and apparently what we're in store for during the long grind that this second term of our peripatetic Governor appears to be becoming. 

CYFD is a hot mess where children slip into black holes of abuse and no-one is held accountable? Appoint a commission.

The housing crisis jumps across the state like wildfire causing an alarming rise in homelessness and unaffordable rents? Appoint a commission.

Finally ready to admit that operatives of the Mexican drug cartels have a firm foothold in the state as the fentanyl scourge of crime and addiction wreaks havoc? Appoint a commission.

What the Fourth Floor brainstorming did get right on what to do with the four additional years voters awarded them last November is the major policy challenges facing our state. But playing a game of kick the can with them is only going to make a dent in the can--not the problems.

Who wouldn't love to see BernCo District Attorney Sam Bregman and his black hat stop cold the cartel criminals as he heads up a newly resuscitated Governor's Organized Crime Commission? 

But we don't need him or a commission to tell us that state drug intervention is a job for the state police in coordination with the Feds. So why weren't ample additional resources doing exactly that set aside at the recent session of the Legislature? It's not as if there's a cash shortage. 

And how bizarre is it to hear the conservative state House GOP leader talk about the critical behavioral health aspect of the fentanyl crisis instead of the Democratic Governor?

"House Republicans are committed to using the interim to develop practical solutions that address the root causes of crime and the mental health issues plaguing our communities,” House Minority Leader Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, said. “We are concerned about creating yet another commission allowing politicians to take political victory laps but not provide real solutions."

Of course, Leader Lane and company would be hard-pressed to commit to a spending bill to rebuild the behavioral health system so that anyone seeking drug treatment at any time in any of the 33 counties would get it within hours of asking. 

The current Governor is not clueless about this need but she is too conservative and it's making her dismiss historic opportunities while trying to substitute can kicking for can do thinking and acting.  

(Sam, don't put that in the report)

As for the housing commission led by former Speaker Brian Egolf, the look is almost silly and Brian must know it. The Governor and Legislature opted to hoard billions of dollars in reserve as they wait for the sky to fall in the oil fields rather than commit funds to get more housing built (as well as the aforementioned behavioral health revamp).

Waiting for the sky to fall and state revenues to collapse instead of seeking imaginative solutions and welcoming risk at this most financially auspicious time is an enormous waste. Maybe the new commissions can take a vote on that? 

WIENER VS. MOORES?

Wiener

A perky Republican primary could be shaping up in ABQ state Senate District 21 as former state Senator Michael Wiener announces he will seek the party's nomination next year even if state Senator Mark Moores decides to seek re-election. 

Wiener, the only person to have served as a state Senator, an ABQ City Councilor and a Bernalillo County Commissioner, said in a statement that Moores has "told supporters he will not be seeking re-election."

Moores, however, has not made any public statement about his intentions when it comes to seeking  a fourth term next year.  

Wiener, 68, was last elected in 2008 when he won a term on the BernCo Commission. He was defeated in his 2012 re-election bid by Lonnie Talbert. He served one term in the Senate from BernCo ('93-'97) and did not seek re-election.

The Senate district is strong Republican and the winner of the primary stands an excellent chance of winning in the general election. 

Moores, 53, is the only Republican state Senator in ABQ. All other districts have fallen to the Dems in a city that has grown increasingly Blue the past decade. 

Wiener did not fire any volleys at Moores as he entered the race, saying:

I look forward to being a conservative voice in the State Senate, to support Second Amendment Rights and to stand up to our Governor who I spent two years sitting next to on the Bernalillo County Commission."  I want to insure that New Mexico moves forward!

Moores

District 21 contains some of the wealthier precincts in the state, including North ABQ Acres, Tanoan Country Club and High Desert. 

Moores made a bid for the ABQ congressional seat at a special election in June of 2021 losing by two dozen points to Dem Melanie Stansbury. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and was one of the first GOP lawmakers to endorse legal cannabis, making him a key player in its eventual legalization. 

Moores and his wife own a pathology lab in Roswell.

Wiener is one of the more colorful characters of La Politica. A retired real estate broker, he travels extensively as one of the nation's most avid license plate collectors.     

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023