Mayor Keller

On the ABQ political scene Mayor Tim Keller remains at the mercy of the political winds and so far those winds have been friendly when it comes to possible competition. 

No major names appear to be making the rounds looking to challenge Keller's unprecedented run for a third consecutive term next year. (Marty Chavez served three terms but not consecutively).

Our exclusive sources reveal that Keller's popularity remains deep under water. They report that recent polling in ABQ legislative districts included a question on Keller and shows his approval rating ranging from the low 30's with a high point of about 48 percent in one of the districts. 

Dissatisfaction with crime and homelessness in the city is widespread but how deep it goes is an open question. If Keller is so vulnerable why is his defeat not already obvious? 

First, mayor is a thankless job that leads nowhere politically. Second, Keller has poor numbers but he is a top level politician who will not be easy to defeat. Also. . .

The city lacks the vibrant local business scene of the past that produced more passionate and well-known candidates. Walmart and similar companies now dominate here and their interests are more national than local. 

Overall, expectations are lower. The city never really recovered from the 2008-09 economic crash and many potential leaders left town, along with what seems like a mass exodus of young people. Population growth has stagnated for years along with the economy. 

There ares no sign that any of that will change in the foreseeable future and there is no clamor for major change--except, perhaps, on crime.

Jeff Apodaca, whose New Mexico Project is backing conservative Democrats, told us he has three names as possible Keller foes next year (not including himself) but he said they don't want their names circulating. That doesn't sound like serious challenges forming. 

The chances of a candidate successfully sporting the Republican banner are much weaker since RJ Berry won two terms in 2009 and 2013. The city was much less Democratic then and the GOP stronger. The party brand is now cursed for a wide swath of Dem voters.

We mentioned Dem Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman in one of our blogs as a possible candidate but have yet to see much to indicate he is prepping a run. He sought the job in 1997.

NEW CHIEF 

Brunner

Keller is prepping his run. This week he announced Metro Redevelopment Director Terry Brunner as his new Chief of Staff. 

Brunner has been a below-the-radar player in state politics. He sharpened his political skills while serving as state director and campaign manager for Sen. Jeff Bingaman and is the former state director of the USDA Rural Development Office.

This is Keller's sixth chief of staff since he took office in December of 2017. And you thought MLG  ran through personnel. Brunner says:

I think it's a challenging position. No doubt there's a lot happening in the city. I look at it as a city going under a transformation in a lot of ways, and so riding that bucking bronco can be tough. But I think I'm up to the challenge.

Brunner, who holds an M.A in Latin American Studies, is being brought aboard as the '25 campaign is set to begin January 1. That's when the city clerk puts out the 2025 election guide and when mayoral contenders start eyeing that nearly $700,000 in public financing available for qualifying candidates. 

In addition, outside PACS formed in support of the individual candidates have become the norm, adding to the cost of the contest. 

Keller's brand of progressive politics has worn thin when it comes to crime which shadows him as does the still-developing APD DWI scandal. In other areas he gets higher marks (e.g. basic services and housing development efforts).

For those dissatisfied with his leadership, they await a candidate who has the gravitas up to the task. For Keller the longer that wait is, the better.  

SUPER MAJORITY?

If the state House Democrats can pick up two seats at the November election they would have 47 of the 70 seats in the lower chamber. That would constitute two thirds of the House which is called a "super majority." So what is the election goal of the Dems--to pick up two seats, of course. 

Technically a super majority means the House could override a veto from Dem Gov. MLG without any Republican support. But such override attempts are rare and holding all 47 Democrats together for a veto override is nearly impossible. 

What a super majority would do is give House Speaker Javier Martinez the ability to have the make-up of the House committees lean more Democratic which in turn could make the outcome of bills in those committees more predictable. 

In 2019 the House Dems fell one vote short of hitting the historic water mark when they had 46 members. 

We'll see if they break through this year when we bring you Election Night results on KANW. 

UNCOMPLICATED CRIME FIGHT?

San Antonio

Maybe fighting crime in ABQ and Santa Fe doesn't have to be too complicated. Take a look: 

Officials mapped San Antonio to a 300-meter-by-300-meter grid, then analyzed which of its 133,000 cells see the most violent crime and when. . . .Officers in patrol cars with lights flashing then are posted in those places for 15 minutes at peak times. Every 60 days, the grids are reevaluated and police resources shifted to cover the toughest 35 or so cells. . . The result was a 37% decrease in violent crime last year in high crime areas compared with the year prior, an improvement criminologists and the police department are confident contributed to an overall 7.3% reduction in violent crime in the city in 2023.

“When this plan first rolled out, not a whole lot of people were happy with it because it just seemed too simplistic and – again, quite candidly – kind of boring,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told the city’s Public Safety Committee in April. “But the fact of the matter is, it’s working, and I think everybody has gotten used to it by now.”

The problem here has been a severe shortage of police officers or inefficient deployment of the current force, to the point that Santa Fe spends millions  on private security to protect their historic downtown Plaza and other areas from the crime wave. Then there's there's the shortage of treatment beds for the drug addicted. 

This, against a backdrop of one of the wealthiest states in the nation with $58 billion in various reserve funds, according to the State Investment Council. 

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Editor Ethridge

It appears that ABQ Journal editor Patrick Ethridge may have been trying to keep quiet his August 24 shoplifting charge at a Rio Rancho Walmart super center, explaining why for over a month the incident went unreported.

In an interview with us Tuesday, Rio Rancho Municipal Court Judge Robert Cook said that when Ethridge appeared in court last Wednesday morning on shoplifting charges and was sentenced to ten days in jail, he was not represented by an attorney. 

(The criminal complaint filed in the case is below.)

"He did not have an attorney until after the sentencing. He appeared before Municipal Court Judge Michael Gibson and plead guilty to the charge. Judge Gibson waived the fine and sentenced him to 10 days in jail."

Cook said it wasn't until after the sentencing that defense lawyer Todd Bullion began to represent Ethridge and filed a motion setting the stage for an appeal by the newspaper editor. Bullion has said that Ethridge was not aware that he was "skip scanning" items at the Walmart.

In their reporting on Ethridge's arrest, the Journal quoted publisher William Lang as being "shocked to learn" of the arrest. That indeed appears to be the case.

ARREST FALLOUT (CONT.)

On social media the state House Majority Whip and attorney Greg Payne here on the blog both questioned why when the Journal found about the August arrest of their editor they did not report it for over a month. 

Payne, said it appeared that Ehridge was hoping the whole thing would go away and kept it on the down low. He had argued that if it turned out that Ethridge tried to keep the arrest "hush-hush" it would be incumbent on the Journal to dismiss him:

If an elected official had managed to hide the charge from the Journal prior to attempting to enter a very hush-hush guilty plea, the Journal would make that elected official pay twice for it. Did the editor of the paper hide his charge from his employer? If he did, and the Journal didn’t find out until (two days after his sentencing), why wouldn’t they fire him for that?

Ethridge has been placed on a leave of absence by the Journal.

JUDGING THE EDITOR

We originally (and erroneously) reported that Cook, the lead judge at the court and the only one elected, heard the case. But there are two "alternate judges" and Cook said Judge Gibson, who Cook said has been a judge for about three years, heard the Ethridge case because Cook had recused himself from cases that day.

Judge Cook says that neither he nor Gibson knew Ethridge or his association with the state's largest newspaper. He said he may have spotted another name on the list of cases that were to be heard that day that prompted him to have his cases heard by Gibson but said he could not recall.

He explained that paperwork in front of the municipal judges--who are not attorneys and who preside over mostly traffic cases--does not ordinarily list the employer of alleged offenders but does so when there are pre-sentence reports which are not common in Municipal Court. 

The police complaint filed with the court does list Ethridge's birth date and address but not his employer.

He told us he had not spoken to Gibson about his reasons for giving Ethridge ten days confined to the Sandoval County Detention Center.

Cook did not make Gibson available for an interview, saying that he is the "spokesman" for the court and handles media inquiries. Cook is the only elected judge at the municipal court. The two alternate judges are appointed and he is their boss.

WHY 10 DAYS?

Asked if it was unusual or uncommon for a first offender charged with shoplifting of $100 or less to receive so much jail time, Cook said he did not.

"If he had been given the maximum sentence--90 days in jail and a $500 fine--that would have raised eyebrows but I don't find this to be unusual or uncommon." Cook explained. 

Cook said he could not recall off hand cases where he handed out such a sentence for the same offense. 

One of our Legal Beagles said on the blog that the Rio Rancho court is known in the legal community for administering stern sentences.

Judge Cook said Ethridge will serve all ten days of his sentence. That would man Ethridge woud be jailed until this Saturday. 

FULL COMPLAINT 

(Click to enlarge)

Here is the criminal complaint filed with the Rio Rancho Municipal Court in the Etheridge case: 

On August 24th, 2024, I, Officer Marcus Packer of the Rio Rancho Police Department was notified by RRPD Dispatch to proceed to the location of 901 Unser BIvd SE, in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Dispatch advised the call for service was in reference to an active shoplifting incident.T he calling party was Wal-Mart Asset Protection (AP). 

AP advised there were two young boys inside of the store, described as approximately 10 vears of age, one boy was wearing a black shirt, and the other was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey over a grey hoodie. The boys were reportedly acting disorderly around the store, knocking over displays and concealing items. I arrived on scene and observed the described juveniles to be in the self-checkout section, alongside their parents. I made contact with the family and advised them of the ongoing allegations. 

Accompanied by the family, I proceeded to the AP office to view surveillance footage of the allegations. The two boys were identified and the father was identified as Patrick Ethridge. . . During my contact they were not in possession of any merchandise. Asset Protection advised the boys were observed taking a can of Monster Energy Drink each, drinking from the item and then placing the drinks back on a shelf. During my contact with (the boys) they were not in possession of any merchandise. 

After reviewing surveillance footage, Patrick was observed to be "skip scanning" items while located at the self-checkout. Patrick would scan some items but not others, leaving several items unpaid for. (Video footage will be uploaded to Axon Evidence when AP is able to obtain the surveillance). The sum of all unpaid merchandise, including the energy drinks the boys consumed, was $104.20  

SEND IN THE SATELLITES 

If only 10 percent of this money was devoted to satellite delivered internet it could dramatically alter the shortage in rural New Mexico:

The state Office of Broadband is inviting local governments, tribal communities, nonprofits, internet service providers and electric cooperatives to apply for $675 million in federal grant funding that New Mexico is getting to expand internet access. State data estimates that 16% of New Mexico’s 873,797 locations are either unserved or underserved. Data shows around 70,609 locations are completely unserved and another 72,384 are underserved. Applications at OBAE’s website.

Many of those "unserved" locations will never be able to be served by ground-based fiber networks while Starlink continues to provide satellite internet across the planet and with speeds that meet the state's standards. If you're listening, Elon, please get your application in.

And if there's a problem using a company owned by Elon Musk, don't forget there's also satellite internet available from a firm owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper.

And Jeff is married to a New Mexico gal. So what's not to like? 

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

Rebecca Dow

What's the tightest race in Election '24?

After scouring the state from Anthony to Angel Fire; berating our Senior Alligators to open their jaws and consulting an ancient spin decoding device passed on to us by original Senior Alligator Andrew Leo Lopez of the ABQ South Valley, we have the answer. 

So without further ado and accompanied by a drum roll from the Rio Grande Ravens marching band, we present "The Tightest Race in the State."

And the suspense-filled answer is state House District 38 featuring Dem state Rep. Tara Jaramillo versus Republican and former GOP state Rep. Rebecca Dow. 

How close is it? One of those operatives of the Dem variety and at the top of his party's food chain, explained it this way:

Joe, this is the race that is mostly likely to keep you going late into Election Night. The polling is incredibly close and the results might not be known until the next day. Both candidates are spending heavily and campaigning actively. It is the closest race in the state. 

We can use that fuel to keep us going when we broadcast the latest election night results and analysis on KANW radio even if it has to be a down-ballot race.

But we can already hear some of you Gators arguing that "no, the southern congressional race between Yvette Herrell and Gabe Vasquez is the closet race."

Sure, that's a potential nail-biter but that late August Emerson College poll showing Dem Rep. Vasquez nine points ahead was not made out of thin air. The poll may have been faulty but it did show a trend. 

And we repeat for the umpteenth time, half the vote in the 2nd Congressional District (under redistricting) comes from the reliably Dem counties of Dona Ana and Bernalillo.

The race is still a race and should be close. Vasquez and Herrell will both need to keep their foot on the accelerator but the gerrymander the Legislature did on this district makes this a lean Dem deal--not a toss-up. But we digress. . .

JARAMILLO VS. DOW

Rep. Jaramillo

As for Jaramillo and Dow, both are described as high quality candidates. 

Jaramillo, 55, is a speech pathologist who is a co-founder of Positive Outcomes in Socorro which provides services such as home healthcare for families who have children with disabilities (like hers).

She is seen as a moderate Dem. For example, she is against a ban on automatic firearms and voted against increasing the tax on booze (even though we prodded her to do so.)

Dow, 51, has also been involved in child care as a profession, having founded AppleTree Educational Center. She also served in the House from the old version of this district from 2017 to 2023 and if she returns to Santa Fe she could soon find herself in the GOP leadership. 

Dow, a bedrock conservative, also ran for the 2022 GOP Guv nomination, bolstering her name ID and fund-raising ability.

And look at this. The SOS reports the district of about 19,000 voters is now 40 percent Dem, 34 percent Republican and 25 percent independent with not a few of those indy's leaning toward the GOP. 

Then there's abortion which could be a runaway issue for pro-life Dow in this rural district that runs east of I-25 from Socorro to northern Las Cruces. But the pro-choice position held by Jaramillo has appeal to many non-Dem women everywhere. 

Jaramillo won in '22 by a mere 123 votes--50.7 percent to 49.3. 

The money is a real horse race with Jaramillo raising $266,000 so far and Dow $296,000. As of September 9 both had over $225,000 in cash on hand for the final weeks. 

We can only hope those Senior Gators and top operatives are right and that this race is close again no maTter who wins. After all, who wants to go home early on Election Night?  

 DUMPING PEARCE

Steve Pearce

A reader writes of our September 17 blog highlighting the dire straits the state Republican party continues to find itself in and some solutions to rebuild the party:

Joe, I’m surprised dumping GOP Chairman Steve Pearce, who’s been unable to navigate the blue skies of NM, didn’t come up in your list of things the GOP needs to do to make comeback. To a degree, Nella Domenici is prototyping a possible path by keeping her distance from Trump and making clear her position on abortion without compromising her beliefs. The fact that dumping Steve Pearce didn’t come up suggests the GOP is even deeper trouble that suggested by your list. 

Pearce, 77, will finish up his third, two year term as state GOP chair later this year. He is not expected to seek a fourth term (but he hasn't announced his decision publicly). The new chair will be selected  by members of the GOP state central committee after the November 5 election. 

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Journal Editor Patrick Ethridge

At first it seemed like satire. ABQ Journal editor Patrick Ethridge had been jailed for ten days for shoplifting at a Walmart super center in Rio Rancho. 

"Yeah right," the politicos opined as they rolled their eyes. 

But it turned out to be true and since the Journal is the largest newspaper in the state the incident raised questions about how the paper handled the bizarre affair while asserting it was doing so with "transparency." 

Ethridge, 47, was shopping with his two sons August 24 when Walmart surveillance video showed them "acting disorderly" including opening energy drinks and then placing them back on the shelf. 

When Ethridge went to check out the store says he failed to scan a number of items. When confronted, he offered to pay but Walmart wasn't buying and he was busted on a charge of shoplifting of $100 or less.

But what really dumbfounded La Politica was what happened last Wednesday and disclosed by the Journal in their Saturday edition. Ethridge pleaded guilty to the charge before Rio Rancho Municipal Court Judge  Robert Cook and was sentenced to an astonishing 10 days behind bars for the petty misdemeanor. 

The editor was hauled off to the Sandoval County Detention Center and, according to jail records, was taken into custody at 10:17 a.m. Wednesday morning. 

WHY JAIL TIME?

Court records consulted for us by attorneys show Ethridge has no prior offenses or arrests in the short time he has been in New Mexico. He took over the editor's post in May 2023, coming here from Nebraska. But locked up for ten days it was.

One of our Legal Beagles offers a plausible explanation for the judge throwing the book (or the newspaper, if you prefer)) at editor Ethridge:

Joe, on it's face that sentence is unusual. If he didn’t have prior offenses, then he probably got belligerent with Walmart’s loss prevention officers. I would guess there is a good possibility the latter is the case as Walmart tends to hire ex-cops who take umbrage at anyone who doesn’t immediately go belly up. Also, unlike a lot of other retail places, Walmart has some fairly strict policies about no concessions on pleas , and if a “victim," even one represented by only an officer present, the courts will get input from them on sentencing.

Under New Mexico law, a petty misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.

Ethridge, according to the Journal, did offer to pay for the items he failed to scan, claiming he did not know he was not scanning them but that wasn't enough to prevent him from being arrested.

HEAT OVER TRANSPARENCY 

William P. Lang

So that's how the case came down but how did the shoplifting arrest of the top editor of the Journal stay secret for so long--from August 24 until last Friday when the Journal reported the incident and with publisher/owner William P. Lang, declaring:

We don’t know or understand all the details yet, but were shocked to learn that he has been charged with shoplifting and sentenced by a Municipal Judge in Rio Rancho, where he is currently serving ten days. At the Albuquerque Journal, we believe in being transparent, and holding people to a higher standard, including ourselves. We appreciate your support and concern, and will report more information when it is clear to us.”

Ethridge has not been fired from the paper but placed on a leave of absence.

But attorney Greg Payne, a former state legislator, ABQ city councilor and veteran political analyst who has tangled with the paper in the past, isn't letting Lang and the Journal off the hook:

I mean, if this involved a state representative that no one knew--and who also didn’t run the largest newspaper in New Mexico--the Journal would’ve covered the fact that he or she had been charged.  And if that same elected official had managed to hide the charge from the Journal prior to attempting to enter a very hush-hush guilty plea, the Journal would make that elected official pay twice for it. Did the editor of the paper hide his charge from his employer? If he did, and the Journal didn’t find out until Friday, why wouldn’t they fire him for that?

Payne wasn't the only one piling on. State House Majority Whip Rene Szczepanski scorched the Journal on Twitter, asking: 

The arrest happened over a month ago. Why is it just being reported now?

The Journal has been merciless on the House Democratic leadership over the ABQ crime crisis, putting the blame at their doorstep in scathing editorials, some authored by a writer imported from Hobbs, the most conservative region of the state. Now it's payback time as the Journal deals with its own criminal activity by its most important employee. Will there be an editorial about that?

THE ETHRIDGE SIDEBAR

The editor is being represented by noted criminal defense attorney Todd Bullion who was co-counsel with Jason Bowles recently as they defended Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the movie set of Rust. Bullion's office is near Journal Center on Lang Avenue which is named after the Lang family that has owned the newspaper since 1926.

Ethridge replaced Karen Moses as editor.  The top salary listed for the job was advertised at $120,000 which we pointed out at the time seemed low for a large metro paper. But the Journal and other dailies have struggled financially to attract advertisers in the internet era. 

Ethridge came to ABQ from the Beatrice Daily News, a town with a population of only 12,000, according to the census. For him his move here was a trip into the big time. Now, unfortunately for him, he is doing some hard time--Rio Rancho style. 

KALTENBACH CREDENTIALS

Kaltenbach

Several readers pointed out that while we concentrated on Emily Kaltenbach's role in legalizing marijuana in New Mexico as head of the Drug Policy Alliance, we did not mention her experience in the areas covered by the state Department of Aging and Long-Term Services. MLG appointed her as the new secretary for the agency and here's that experience from the official news release:

Kaltenbach brings more than two decades of leadership in public policy, health care reform, and advocacy, as well as a strong track-record of advancing services for older adults (and) individuals with disabilities. . . Her extensive background also includes leadership positions at the Aging and Long Term Services Department and in the New Mexico Office of Health Care Reform, where she contributed to significant policy reforms benefiting older adults and people of all ages with disabilities. Kaltenbach holds a master’s in health care administration and has served on multiple boards dedicated to public health, cannabis regulation, and community safety. Her leadership in health care reform and social justice issues makes her uniquely positioned to lead ALTSD as it navigates the challenges facing the state’s growing aging population. 

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