Quezada

Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, also an actor and comic, upstaged his fellow commissioners recently when he walked out of a commission meeting. We blogged about it and he responded:

 It's important to recognize that the U.S. Constitution protects the minority party's voice through the Bill of Rights, ensuring everyone can freely express their opinions. Although I am a Democrat and in the majority party on the Commission, my values of integrity and transparency seem to be in the minority. Additionally, the system of checks and balances in which our nation was founded on ensures that minority interests are considered in decision-making processes. 

Unfortunately, the interests of both (Republican) Commissioner Walter Benson, myself, and, most importantly, our constituents have been disregarded and silenced by Commissioners Barbara Baca, Eric Olivas, and Adriann Barboa. 

I walked out of the last Commission Meeting after proposing a compromise to allow each Commissioner to appoint someone to the County Manager selection committee. Regrettably, this compromise was defeated in a 3-2 vote. As an elected official, compromising hasn't always been politically easy for me, but it has always been the right thing to do. 

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government reported Commissioners Baca, Olivas, and Barboa to the New Mexico Department of Justice (Attorney general's office) for potentially violating the Open Meetings Act by conducting business outside of official public meetings in relation to the hiring of our new County Manager. 

And lastly, you’re correct I am not laughing. There's nothing humorous about the silencing of over 270,000 Bernalillo County residents' voices by three County Commissioners. It's particularly concerning and not funny when three out of the five Commissioners are under investigation by the NMDOJ.

MAYOR AND MEDINA PUSHBACK

Medina and Keller

The Tuesday blog regarding APD Chief Harold Medina's scheduled departure for the end of 2025 and an analysis of his record touched nerves at APD and the Mayor's office. First, the mayoral response

Interesting thesis on the Tuesday blog. Unfortunately half is factually way off. Medina saved reform at APD, taking the department from 38% DOJ compliance when he came in to 94% today. Homicides, auto thefts, burglaries and robberies are all down, and officer recruitment and retention are on the uptick. Of course, you wouldn’t know that based on media coverage, so no one can argue with your point about perception. 

Also, the Mayor has searched outside the state for a Chief multiple times, but City Council said Medina was the best candidate for the job and confirmed him 8-0. They basically reiterated this by not even considering the proposed no confidence vote a few weeks ago. 

Medina is the only chief who has taken on the decades old DWI scheme and working with the FBI to make sure anyone involved will never work for the City again. Through good times and challenges, Chief Medina is first and foremost a cop who cares most about serving the community. He speaks candidly and from the heart, and people appreciate that he is a local, authentic leader who responds the needs of residents and works hard day in and day out despite the vitriol and politics. 

The Chief's office came with this critique: 

--Crime continues to go down, following national trends. The one area that bucks the national trend – and the trend we have more control over – is solving homicide cases and arresting offenders.  So far this year, detectives have solved 21 of 26 cases, or 81%. Of those solved cases, 32 suspects have been arrested or are deceased. Our Investigative Support Unit and SWAT officers have also arrested all suspects; no suspect who has been charged is outstanding.  In addition, detectives this year have solved 8 cases from previous years and arrested 17 suspects. That’s a total of 40 solved cases and 49 murder suspects in 3 ½ months. We arrested 119 murder suspects in 2023 and 119 murder suspects in 2022. . .

--Police shootings – The DOJ commissioned an independent review of the spike in shootings in 2022. That review determined there was no pattern of unconstitutional, deadly use of force. Also, that vast majority of individuals shot and killed by police have been under the influence of meth, Fentanyl and very high blood-alcohol levels – likely altering their state of mind prior to the shootings. All six fatal shootings last year involved those drugs and/or alcohol. Also, nearly every shooting has in the past two years have involved individuals with guns, and suspects have shot police at least three times.

--The chief’s auto accident resulted from someone firing a handgun in the direction of his vehicle. We don’t know what that has to do with his temperament. 

--One city councilor continues to attack Chief Medina politically and not for cause. Interestingly, there have been no calls from the police union for a vote of no confidence. Just one councilor. 

--APD overtime? What abuse has happened during Chief Medina’s tenure as chief? 

--Ask again about the DWI scandal in a few weeks. We have said since the beginning this is more about a broken criminal justice system. Chief Medina took responsibility for getting to the bottom of APD’s problems and worked with the FBI to make that happen. 

As for the shootings at Coronado Mall, Ask the management there why they chose to post another law enforcement agency there under the former Sheriff. 

The office also attached  "a list of accomplishments" and a rebuttal to Councilor Louie Sanchez's criticism of Chief Medina. Here is that list.

LIKE BOSTON? 

Reader Bruce Shah writes: 

More and more this city is looking like the Boston I left 30 years ago. One party rule sucks no matter which party it is. Nice summary on Medina/Keller and the AWOL Federal Monitor. Thank you!  

 SPECIAL SESSION

MLG initially gave a special legislative session an 80 percent chance of happening then upped it to 85 percent. Now it's 100 percent. A special session dealing with crime has been called for Thursday, July 18. It is anticipated that it will last several days. 

The Governor's announcement:

(The Governor) will call the New Mexico Legislature into a special session on Thursday, July 18 to take up additional public safety protections that New Mexicans demand. Gov. Lujan Grisham said she decided to convene a special session to allow lawmakers to finish what they started during the 30-day session. Based on discussions with legislative leadership, the governor anticipates that the special session will be completed within several days. “While we made some progress toward a safer New Mexico during the 30-day day session, we agree that we must do more,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “The special session in July will enable us to deliver additional statutory changes that reduce the danger and risk New Mexico communities face every day. The best proposals for making our state safer will be under consideration, and I welcome input from my colleagues in the legislature.” The July 2024 special session will be the fifth special session of the legislature during Gov. Lujan Grisham’s tenure as governor.

The state GOP reaction: 

When New Mexicans hear that Gov. Lujan Grisham is calling a special session to address public safety, a chill runs down their spines because her past actions prove that she is not interested in taking measures against criminals, but rather against law-abiding citizens. The Democrats are totally to blame for New Mexico's out-of-control crime. They need to explain why public safety wasn't their priority during the previous legislative session despite holding a majority in both chambers of the state legislature. During the last session, Republicans proposed several bills aimed at increasing penalties for multiple crimes, ending catch and release, and securing the border. Democrats killed every single one. Recently, the Governor expressed her intention not to take additional measures to secure New Mexico’s Southern border, even if she were to call a special session. She cannot claim to care about public safety while ignoring the numerous problems stemming from our open border, including the rampant influx of fentanyl, alarming prevalence of human trafficking, and criminal cartel activity. Despite this, the Governor is planning to spend hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans' tax dollars to convene an additional session that could result in another waste of time or in law-abiding citizens' rights being infringed upon. For the sake of New Mexicans, I hope that the Governor will engage in meaningful conversations with Republicans and heed their advice on addressing the criminal issues plaguing our state to ensure that this special session will be productive.

The Democratic legislative leadership reaction:

House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque), Majority Floor Leader Gail Chasey (D-Albuquerque), Majority Whip Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe), and Majority Caucus Chair Ray Lara (D-Chamberino) issued the following statement: 

We anticipated this announcement and we share the Governor’s commitment to ensuring all New Mexicans can feel safe in their homes and communities. We also want all of our neighbors to be able to get the help they need when they or a loved one are struggling with mental or behavioral health issues. In the coming weeks and months, it will be critical for us as elected leaders to work together with stakeholders and experts to develop meaningful solutions to these challenges. In order to be responsible public servants and stewards of taxpayer dollars, we must enter the special session with a set of achievable goals that will genuinely make our communities safer, improve access to healthcare and services, and protect the rights of New Mexicans. In recent sessions, we have made significant progress toward making our streets safer and addressing the root causes of crime. We look forward to building on that progress in this special session, as well as in the upcoming 60-day legislative session, which is just around the corner.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.   

E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com

Call it the battle of the Democratic titans. Because it is. But it's not necessarily the candidates on the ballot. MLG and House Speaker Javier Martinez have a pleasant enough relationship but behind the scenes this primary season they are in a toe-to-toe battle in a key northern Democratic House Primary that could impact future state policy. 

The latest finance reports show that MLG has pumped $8,000 from her campaign accounts into the coffers of progressive Dem Anita Gonzales as Gonzales tries for the third time to oust conservative Dem Rep. Ambrose Castellano in District 70 which covers most of San Miguel county and a part of Torrance.

As seen at the top of this post, the Guv is hosting a fund-raiser for Gonzales tonight in Santa Fe that tops out at $2,500 a pop. 

Speaker Martinez is right behind her plowing $5,500 from his personal account and $500 in in-kind donations from his Speaker Fund into Castellano's effort.  

Castellano report here. Gonzales report here.

The heated money race has drawn an ethics complaint from former state Rep. Daymon Ely alleging that Castellano "violated state law by paying for personal expenses from his campaign account--for everyday expenses like gas reimbursements, regularly eating out, hotel stays in Albuquerque. . . 

Castellano's said of the complaint filed with the State Ethics Commission: "I welcome a fair and legal process but believe my campaign is in compliance with laws and regulations."

 You might wonder why Martinez, a progressive, is supporting Castellano. Well, a check of our exclusive April 10 blog making known that Martinez is backing all Democratic House incumbents--no matter their ideological bent--answers that question. 

And Castellano was all eyes when that blog hit, saying on social media:

In a recent insightful article by Joe Monahan, the dedication of our Speaker in steadfastly supporting his members has been highlighted. It is heartening to see such unity and strength within our leadership, particularly in times that call for solidarity and resolve. I extend my sincere gratitude to the Speaker for his unwavering commitment and support. His leadership exemplifies the values we hold dear and underscores the importance of standing together.

Thanks for the acknowledgment, Ambrose, but flattery will get you nowhere around here. However, a down to the wire, scrappy primary contest in the heart of the North does do the trick.

WHAT A RACE

Castellano shrugs off MLG's endorsement of Gonzales, claiming it would have no effect. But any impact at all could be enough in a race that could be as tight as the lug nuts on one of those '56 Chevy's gracing the front yards of Vegas.  

MLG is not a down the line progressive but Castellano's pro-life and pro-guns stances combined with his unabashed backing by the oil and gas industry is enough to move her to the front of the line for Gonzales. 

Speaker Martinez endorsement

The Guv's donations to Gonzales amount to nearly 26 percent of what she received in the October thru April period when she raised a total of $31,000 and reported $25,000 in cash on hand for the final two months of her duel with Castellano, a general contractor and rancher who was first elected in 2020.

That year he beat Gonzales in the Dem primary by the razor thin margin of 62 votes or 41.1 percent to 39.9. The remainder went to a third candidate

They had a rematch in the '22 primary and it was another nail-biter with Castellano prevailing 51% to 49 or just 78 votes. 

Money has been a problem for Gonzales, 44, who has been heavily outspent by Castellano. Apart from the Governor's big give, her major donations are on the small side and from individuals not corporations. But compared to her previous primaries with Castellano her financial condition is improved and that gubernatorial fund-raiser tonight will help.

Meanwhile, Castellano reports raising $85,000 in the recent six month period, not an overwhelming advantage over his foe. But the oil boys made the difference. Marathon Oil and Occidental each donated $5,000 and Exxon came with $3,000. As of April 1, Castellano had $65,000 in cash on hand.

Big oil's involvement gives added significance to this race for impact on state policy in addition to the battle between House progressives and Dem conservatives for more of the Roundhouse power pie (not that MLG or the Speaker have turned down oil donations).

Gonzales is not waving her progressive flag too high in the district where moderate Hispanics dominate and where a Hispanic woman trying to take down a Hispanic man still has electoral implications. Both factors probably played a role in her earlier defeats. 

THE PERSONALITIES

On the campaign websites its jobs and inflation for her, not guns or choice. Castellano has been talking rural New Mexico values, small business and economic growth. The communities are well aware of their split on the social issues from previous encounters.

Rep. Castellano

This is also a battle of personalities. Castellano's is big enough to fill two ten gallon cowboy hats. His voters are loyalists even as critics charge he plays too much footsie with lobbyists.

Gonzales, an MBA who is the Deputy Director for New Mexico Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (NM MESA), is rooted deep in the community, a native of Las Vegas with a list of community involvements that would take a separate blog to list. She takes hits for being too liberal for the region.

MLG has taken Gonzales under her wing but she is not running for re-election and is free to roam about the campaign trail in any direction she chooses. 

Speaker Martinez has made the shrewd move of backing all his House Democrats whose votes he will need to retain his post, but it leaves the progressives in the cold and perhaps eyeing a future power move against the House's #1. 

This race has it all. The Governor, Speaker, Big Oil, progressives versus conservatives, a third emotional rematch and the treachery and delight of Northern New Mexico La Politica. Heck, we might have to move the blog to the Las Vegas Plaza Hotel for a week. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.  

Medina and Keller

APD Chief Harold Medina is leaving his job--but there's a catch. The Chief says he won't give up the reins to his controversial reign until December 2025. That just happens to coincide with the end of Mayor Tim Keller's second term in office. 

Keller says he plans to seek a third term next year and with Medina signaling that he will not be around for a third, the plan is obviously to remove the controversial Medina as a campaign issue. 

Well, good luck with that. 

--Medina has become somewhat of an albatross around Keller's neck as the ABQ crime scene settles into permanently higher rates, even though they have dropped from the spiked levels reached during Covid. 

--Then there is the rate of fatal police shootings, higher than ever in modern city history and the highest in the United States. This despite a decade long presence by the Department of Justice to bring that rate down. 

--Add to it the millions spent on a Federal Monitor for APD who has continually ghosted the city without repercussions, collecting his outsized checks but remaining a phantom.

--Then there is Medina's recent bizarre auto accident that critically injured an innocent civilian and brought into questions the Chief's temperament. 

--There are also problems at the City Council with a handful of the lawmakers expressing no faith in Medina but unable to garner a Council majority to approve a no-confidence resolution in the chief.

--There's more. The look the other way mentality when it comes to the huge amount of overtime pay going out the door at APD continues, despite Keller calling out the abuse when he was State Auditor as have other Auditors.

--Keller and company and public officials elsewhere continue to argue that the crime rate is down and that this is a perception problem. But that's only half true. ABQ homicides, for example, are down from the Covid spike but well above the pre-Covid rate.

--The APD DWI scandal that apparently goes back years continued under Medina's watch, a commentary on the checks and balances in the department.

--Also, the nature of crime--not only its frequency--is what raises public alarm.  

--Guns going off at Coronado Mall--the state's largest. 

--Brazen fatal shootings and others in the heart of Downtown. 

--Open air and ubiquitous drug use in the War Zone in the SE Heights. 

--Property crimes that reveal little fear among the city's drug-fueled criminal class. 

MAYOR 2025

Medina has been chief three years and under state retirement rules his high salary as chief--north of $200,000--will be applied to his retirement benefits. He could be eligible for as much as 90 percent of his current pay for the rest of his life. So Medina's decision to retire is not a shocker but as it is often the case with Medina it comes with a political angle, similar to his bobbing and weaving over the fatal police shootings and the ongoing crime wave

Keller may or not get re-elected. We won't know the lay of the land  until those hoping to replace him step forward. But if he fails to win again his decision to keep Medina will not be a fatal error. That would have happened soon after he took office in 2017 and promised a national search for a chief but ended up picking one from within the culturally dysfunctional APD. That pick didn't last but the culture did.

Medina has lasted but so has the lack of progress in reforming APD exemplified by the DWI scandal and the crime rate which can be partially explained by the pandemic but not fully. Medina or no Medina that will be key to determining the outcome of next year's mayoral election. 

DEBATING THE CANDIDATES

Domenici

Nella Domenici is trying to shed the heavy baggage that would keep her from mounting a serious challenge to Dem US Senator Martin Heinrich but the Democrats are determined to make her carry the burdensome cargo right up until Election Day. 

The 63 year old first-time candidate is now trying to bump from the campaign trail both Trump and abortion, the two super-charged issues that have painted New Mexico Republicans into a corner--and a very small corner at that. 

In a podcast interview, Domenici, daughter of the late GOP US Sen. Pete Domenici, sought to separate herself from Trump who lost New Mexico by ten points to Biden four years ago (54-44) and is poised to lose it again in '24. She also offered more substance on her abortion stance after her first interview last month that was skimpy on details.

On Trump, the leader of her Republican Party and soon-to-be '24 presidential nominee, she declared:

The use of the word "independent" is telling as she faces the long-odds task of keeping her losing margin in big Blue Bernalillo County to manageable levels and without alienating hard-core Trumpers elsewhere who are essential to pulling off an upset.

Because of her father's pedigree as a moderate Republican, she may have some luck convincing voters that she does not worship at the altar of Trump but the Dems will spend big money to block the pivot. 

ON ABORTION

Heinrich

Her fuller stance on abortion, explained in the podcast, is more problematic. It came after Trump announced that he was against a national abortion ban but before the court ruling in Arizona that bans just about all abortions under an 1864 law. She said:

NO JOKE