2-4 column

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- Sen. Tom Udall has had his big day in Congress -- at least for now. New Mexico's freshman Democratic senator and a number of colleagues elected in the big Democratic years of 2006 and 2008 became dissatisfied about the Senate's slow pace a year or so ago.
Udall, his cousin Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado, and a few others with experience in the U.S. House of Representatives, were accustomed to a much quicker pace of work, with bills rammed through by strong leaders such as Nancy Pelosi, Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich.
They convinced other newly elected Democrats that the Senate is dysfunctional and broken. So they devised a plan to shake up the Senate and convinced 26 senators, including some of the old war horses, to become cosponsors.
The centerpiece of the Udall plan was to allow controversial bills to pass the Senate by majority vote rather than requiring 60 votes to prevent a filibuster.
The group also wanted the Senate to accept the House practice of adopting new rules of procedure on the opening day of Congress every two years.
Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle were quite annoyed at these new arrivals who wanted to change the way the Senate has operated for over two centuries. The Senate is intended to deliberate legislation the House has quickly passed.
The Senate no longer deliberates, Udall and friends said. We sit in our offices meeting with lobbyists and constituents with C-SPAN2 on in the corner. If we're going to allow filibusters, we should at least make them stand there and talk.
Senate Democratic leaders took turns meeting with the upstarts to explain that just because their party was in firm control didn't mean it always would be. That control has switched back and forth for many years. At the time it wasn't evident how quickly that control would slip away again.
Eventually, to put down the unrest, Senate leaders agreed to allow the group to present its rule changes to the Senate on the opening day of the 2011-2012 Senate session.
The Senate has never followed the House procedure of adopting new rules at the beginning of every session because two-thirds of the Senators are in the middle of their terms so rules are just carried over. And when the Senate adopts new rules, it is by a two-thirds vote.
But a little bit of precedent was created back when Richard Nixon and then Hubert Humphrey were vice presidents, even though no rules actually were changed.
So Vice-President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, agreed to allow the group to present its changes on the session's opening day for a simple majority vote.
The timing was a bit suspect because by then polls showed Democrats' power slipping away. Was that the reason the Senate Democratic leadership let the new guys have their chance?
My guess is it had some effect but the Democratic leaders knew the 60-vote filibuster rule would remain intact because they were going to vote against the change.
They were willing, however, to consider some of the group's more modest changes to the rules such as the secret holds one person could put on the confirmation process.
So on opening day of this session, the 26 Democrats were allowed to introduce their rules changes. Democratic leader Harry Reid then called a recess that lasted three weeks while he and Republican leader Mitch McConnell and some level-headed veteran senators from both sides worked out agreements on some of the Senate's more arcane rules.
The changes were approved by lopsided votes of well over two-thirds. They will be good for the Senate and for the increased civility Americans want from their elected leaders.
Udall and cosponsors got 44 votes for their filibuster proposal. He says he'll keep trying but this may be about as close as the Senate ever comes to changing the present time-honored filibuster.

FRI, 2-4-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

A blog reader reminds that the the present filibuster rules were changed years ago. I have clarified the situation by making the last sentence of the column refer to changing the "present" law.

2-4 Tom Udall's Big Day

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- Sen. Tom Udall has had his big day in Congress -- at least for now. New Mexico's freshman Democratic senator and a number of colleagues elected in the big Democratic years of 2006 and 2008 became dissatisfied about the Senate's slow pace a year or so ago.
Udall, his cousin Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado, and a few others with experience in the U.S. House of Representatives, were accustomed to a much quicker pace of work, with bills rammed through by strong leaders such as Nancy Pelosi, Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich.
They convinced other newly elected Democrats that the Senate is dysfunctional and broken. So they devised a plan to shake up the Senate and convinced 26 senators, including some of the old war horses, to become cosponsors.
The centerpiece of the Udall plan was to allow controversial bills to pass the Senate by majority vote rather than requiring 60 votes to prevent a filibuster.
The group also wanted the Senate to accept the House practice of adopting new rules of procedure on the opening day of Congress every two years.
Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle were quite annoyed at these new arrivals who wanted to change the way the Senate has operated for over two centuries. The Senate is intended to deliberate legislation the House has quickly passed.
The Senate no longer deliberates, Udall and friends said. We sit in our offices meeting with lobbyists and constituents with C-SPAN2 on in the corner. If we're going to allow filibusters, we should at least make them stand there and talk.
Senate Democratic leaders took turns meeting with the upstarts to explain that just because their party was in firm control didn't mean it always would be. That control has switched back and forth for many years. At the time it wasn't evident how quickly that control would slip away again.
Eventually, to put down the unrest, Senate leaders agreed to allow the group to present its rule changes to the Senate on the opening day of the 2011-2012 Senate session.
The Senate has never followed the House procedure of adopting new rules at the beginning of every session because two-thirds of the Senators are in the middle of their terms so rules are just carried over. And when the Senate adopts new rules, it is by a two-thirds vote.
But a little bit of precedent was created back when Richard Nixon and then Hubert Humphrey were vice presidents, even though no rules actually were changed.
So Vice-President Joe Biden, as president of the Senate, agreed to allow the group to present its changes on the session's opening day for a simple majority vote.
The timing was a bit suspect because by then polls showed Democrats' power slipping away. Was that the reason the Senate Democratic leadership let the new guys have their chance?
My guess is it had some effect but the Democratic leaders knew the 60-vote filibuster rule would remain intact because they were going to vote against the change.
They were willing, however, to consider some of the group's more modest changes to the rules such as the secret holds one person could put on the confirmation process.
So on opening day of this session, the 26 Democrats were allowed to introduce their rules changes. Democratic leader Harry Reid then called a recess that lasted three weeks while he and Republican leader Mitch McConnell and some level-headed veteran senators from both sides worked out agreements on some of the Senate's more arcane rules.
The changes were approved by lopsided votes of well over two-thirds. They will be good for the Senate and for the increased civility Americans want from their elected leaders.
Udall and cosponsors got 44 votes for their filibuster proposal. He says he'll keep trying but this may be about as close as the Senate ever comes to changing the time-honored filibuster.

FRI, 2-4-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

2-2 State to Get New Official Symbol?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- New Mexico has 20 official state symbols and may have a 21st before this legislative session is over.
Senate Bill 109, introduced by Sen. George Munoz of Gallup designates the squash blossom necklace as New Mexico's official state necklace.
Before you get upset about lawmakers wasting time with such trivia, let me say that bills such as this consume very little time and effort of legislators. They are indicative of a state's culture and provide help in advertising.
Sometimes a new state symbol is the product of a class project from a school in the state. I often have wondered how much good school trips are considering the time, effort and money has to be put into the project.
But when the students come on a specific mission, they have a hook to help them remember the experience and to appreciate how our government works.
Sales of Indian jewelry are a significant aspect of tourism in this state and any help this can give to our economy isn't wasted. Consequently the bolo tie was adopted as the official tie of the state a few years ago.
Texas and Arizona also have adopted the bolo as their official neckwear, although Arizona calls it a "bola" tie. Our neighbor has always had problems with such things. We didn't teach them enough during the 250 years they were part of our territory under Spain and Mexico
Utah, another neighbor, gave the nation pause two weeks ago, when a House committee easily passed a bill making the Browning M1911 semiautomatic pistol the official state firearm.
Its sponsor, the House Republican whip, predicts smooth sailing for the bill that would make Utah the first state with an official firearm. A Pennsylvania lawmaker already tried a similar bill this year but public reaction appears to have ended that effort.
Browning's pistol is one of many inventions by the Utah scientist and inventor. He patented the pistol exactly 100 years ago. It is still in use today.
Bills to create new official state symbols usually pass the Legislature rather easily and with little discussion. An exception occurred in 1965, my first year at the Legislature, when a Torrance County representative introduced a bill to make the pinto bean the state vegetable.
The Rio Arriba County delegation protested that frijoles are nothing without chile. So chile and beans were made the official state vegetable.
In 1995, Rep. Ben Lujan of northern Santa Fe County sought to further promote New Mexico's chile industry by making "Red or Green" the official state question.
The bill passed easily, with everyone chuckling, until the measure reached new Gov. Gary Johnson's desk. He made the bill one of his famous 100 vetoes, saying it was a silly waste of time.
Reaction was swift. Even the first lady chided the governor on Santa Fe radio. The bill was introduced the following year and signed without comment.
Having gained momentum, Lujan introduced a subsequent bill answering the state question with "Red, Green or Christmas."
Gary Johnson wasn't the first governor to upset a first lady. In 1991, Gov. Bruce King vetoed a child protection bill that had been actively supported by his wife Alice. An expanded version of that bill was introduced early the next year and signed with great fanfare.
One of the more interesting school class visits to Santa Fe occurs in conjunction with Presidents Day when students from Raton and sometimes other districts come to the Capitol with pocket-sized copies of the U.S. Constitution provided by local Lions Clubs.
Students then seek out their districts' legislators to quiz them on parts of the Constitution.
Lawmakers who have been cornered before have been known to study up on the Constitution. Others, who haven't studied, know to run when they see kids headed toward them with little booklets.
Sometimes they go to post offices around the state. So watch out.
WED, 2-2-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

1-31 Government Moving at Snail's Pace

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Our state capitol is moving at a snail's pace so far this year. It took over a week for House standing committees to be named. Almost three months after her election, Gov. Susana Martinez has not filled her cabinet and some other top appointments.
But not to worry. There are good reasons for both. After losing eight seats to Republicans, Democratic House Speaker Ben Lujan was faced with adjusting the make-up of every committee to reflect the nearly equal balance between the parties.
Some of those decisions were tough. Loyal Democrats had to be removed from prestigious committees, such as Appropriations, Taxation and Judiciary.
Several committees are equally balanced and with the departure from the Democratic Party by Rep. Andy Nunez, Democrats will be outnumbered on the House Transportation and Public Works Committee.
Gov. Martinez also started with a disadvantage. She won her office never having set foot in the Capitol Building. She had to start from scratch in statewide politics. She likely had very few people in mind for any office.
To complicate matters further, the Legislature was deep into a study of restructuring state government. With many departments, agencies and boards being considered for extinction, there isn't much sense in filling such positions. Besides, who would want to quit a job to fill a government post with a dubious life expectancy?
So Martinez has temporarily continued a number of top officials from the previous administration until she sees what comes of the current legislative session. That means much of state government will be treading water for a few months.
Further complicating the situation is the necessity of getting all cabinet officials, plus some others, confirmed by the Senate. Not all of those confirmations will be easy. It is likely that by the session's end on March 19, all confirmations will not be completed.
That doesn't mean that parts of state government will come to a halt. Martinez's cabinet secretaries can continue on an acting basis. During the administration of former Gov. Gary Johnson, some confirmations were delayed more than a year.
State government is likely to continue to move slowly for another week or two until lawmakers realize the session is half over and they better get moving.
But don't think of our citizen legislators as slackers. New Mexico has one of the shortest legislative sessions in the nation and the work gets done. It is human nature to have to pick up the pace at the end whether a session lasts a month or a year.
If you come to visit the Legislature, a parking garage across the street west of the Capitol makes the walking much easier. For the first time in many years, gasoline prices did not drop the week the session started.
Years ago, lawmakers became upset about Santa Fe's eternally high-priced gasoline. So they asked the attorney general to investigate. Little came of the probe except that gas prices dropped every year when legislators were in town.
The fact that gas prices haven't dropped this year may be a sign that retail dealers expect the price of oil to continue increasing. It makes a trip to Santa Fe more expensive but it is good news for the state's general fund and permanent funds, which depend heavily on the oil and gas industry.
In between debating extraneous issues, the Legislature does have an out-of-balance budget to create. How big a deficit do we have? Estimates vary between $200 million and $450 million.
Indications are that the Legislature is figuring on about $200 million to cut and Gov. Martinez is using the high figure, claiming that the previous administration blind-sided her.
But the governor's proposed cuts so far are said to total less than $200 million plus some further tax breaks for the oil industry.
Stay tuned to see what shakes out.
MON, 1-31-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

1-28 Legislative Storms Looming

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Expect at least three stormy sessions of the 50th Legislature as New Mexico moves into its centennial year of statehood.
For eight years, all three branches of New Mexico's government have been under firm control of the Democratic Party. But that has changed. Republicans now control the executive branch and are close to a tie in the House of Representatives.
The smaller house committees will have equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. In the Senate, Democrats have a slightly bigger majority but the president pro tem was elected by a conservative coalition.
As a result, controversial legislation passed during the last eight years is all back on the table. Despite the need to concentrate on jobs and the economy, a huge amount of social and political issues will get in the way.
Topics such as the death penalty, human rights, environmental concerns, regulation of industry, Hollywood, space flight, government reorganization and politics will take center stage over balancing the budget.
When the House Republican leader says on the first day of the session that electing a new House speaker would have risked the passage of some great legislation that would have hampered a negative campaign next year, we know not much is going to happen.
In a House committee shake up, the appointment of Rep. Brian Egolf of Santa Fe to chair the House Energy and natural Resources Committee, signals a battle looming over Gov. Susana Martinez's effort to get more tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.
Egolf promises to be fair and notes that he has only one vote on an evenly divided committee. But as chairman, he also has the power to schedule when and if bills will be considered.
Witness the removal of liberal Albuquerque Sen. Cisco McSorley as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee because he wouldn't schedule bills he didn't like.
On the other side of the coin, the nomination of Harrison "Jack" Schmitt to head the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department foretells many battles with environmentalists.
Schmitt, a former astronaut and U.S. senator, is skeptical about global warming being caused by man. Views such as that presage a tough confirmation hearing.
The Silver City native seems to be so controversial that people even argue over whether he was the last man on the moon. Recently reporters have settled on saying he was one of the last men on the moon.
It's a matter of semantics, as I understand it. Gene Cernan, the commander of the moon landing, got to step out of the ship first. He also stepped back in last, making him the last man on the moon. But Schmitt can claim to have been the last man to set foot on the moon.
So much for that sort of thing. I'll have more to say about Schmitt, a friend for the past 60 years, when his stormy confirmation hearing comes around.
The legislative hopper is filled with bills to reorganize state government. The idea began as a money-saving initiative last year but now it has become a game of who gets the power. Everybody wants power so everybody has introduced bills to restructure government in their direction.
The original legislation from last year mandated that cabinet secretaries cooperate with the Legislature's restructuring effort. One would be hard pressed to find a single instance of cooperation.
Little savings from any of the restructuring seems evident. Administrative costs are a small part of any budget.
But we're finding many interpretations of administration. Martinez believes that in education, administration is anything that happens outside the classroom and says that's about 30 percent of the budget..
This session will be followed by a special session on redistricting sometime late in the year and then a 2012 session during an election year in which all lawmakers will have to defend their seats. The GOP will be aiming to win both houses of the New Mexico Legislature.
FRI, 1-28-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

1-26 Is Martinez After Richardson Pet Projects?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Gov. Susana Martinez is targeted in on the former governor's pet projects. Is it coincidence or does she have Richardson's legacy in her sights?
Education spending was one of Richardson's priorities. Martinez isn't looking to lower classroom spending levels, she just wants to use some new approaches.
That's fair enough. The new programs Richardson initiated didn't do much to improve student performance. So trying different methods is legitimate.
But the other three Richardson favorites may either feel the Martinez budget ax or at least some heavy slicing. We're talking about the Rail Runner, the film incentives and the spaceport.
Interestingly, none of these three was a new idea with Richardson. Former Gov. Toney Anaya proposed a bullet train. A film tax incentive was first passed and signed during the Gary Johnson administration. And the spaceport has been a dream since the early 1990s.
But Richardson picked up all three and ran with them. They were his signature projects. And Martinez is decidedly lukewarm on all three.
Railroad riders and revenues are chugging straight down hill. After its novelty wore off, it became almost totally a commuter train for state employees and many are becoming disenchanted with it.
Cars can make the commute faster. Delays from inconveniences such as hitting cows cost state employees leave time or money because they are docked for being late.
So do we shut it down to save the operating losses? We could sell the train cars at a big loss on eBay, like the airplane. Who would buy the track? Do we pay for upkeep? It's a tough decision any way we go.
The 25 percent film tax rebate is a different matter. Business is booming on that front. But Martinez and some lawmakers are worried we are giving too much back. Studies here and elsewhere are all over the board as to how much is too much. When Richardson took over, we were giving back 20 percent of a company's expenses in the state and a few movies were being shot.
When Richardson arrived, the rebate was raised to 25 percent and business went through the roof. But it wasn't just the money. No one romanced Hollywood better than Big Bill.
My guess is that no matter where the film rebate ends up, New Mexico is not going to get the movie business it has enjoyed the past several years.
Then there's Spaceport America. Las Cruces had been working on that project for over a decade when Richardson arrived. He took it under his wing, blasted funding from the Legislature, and started wooing companies to come test their rockets here.
The first group he landed was Peter Diamandis and his X-Prize competition. So far, X-Prize events have been held at the Las Cruces airport, awaiting construction of the spaceport.
The first big X-Prize was $10 million to the first private company to get to the edge of space. That was won by Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites company.
Richard Branson immediately signed them up for taking passengers on the same ride for Virgin Galactic. And Richardson quickly talked Branson into Virgin becoming the anchor of Spaceport America.
At this point the spaceport is being characterized as a $200 million boondoggle to send rich people into space. But that's selling it way short. The purpose has always been to make New Mexico the center of the commercial space industry.
That industry is moving more slowly than expected. But that's fine because so is the spaceport. Gov. Martinez wants private investment to help with construction. But private space companies are spending all their money trying to get their rockets to stay up in the air.
Airlines don't pay to build airports, they pay a fee to use them. Trucking companies don't invest in road building. They pay a fee to use them. And it's the same with the spaceport.
Martinez has appointed an outstanding committee to study the spaceport. Expect it to propose ideas to make it an even better investment for New Mexicans.
WED, 1-26-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

1-24 Two New Sheriffs In Town

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- There are two new sheriffs in town. Is Santa Fe big enough to hold both of them? It will have to. And it will be interesting to watch.
Ever since her election, Gov. Susana Martinez has been referred to as the new sheriff in town. It fits. She spent many years as a prosecutor. Her husband Chuck Franco, was also in law enforcement, capping his career as an under-sheriff.
But the day before the legislature convened, another sheriff appeared in town. The Tea Party arrived to ensure that the 12 new House Republicans it had elected followed their laws.
And the first law was "Thou shalt not vote for a Democrat for House speaker." That made it tough on the other new sheriff.
Gov. Martinez and House Republican leaders had cooked up a deal with some southern Democrats to unseat House Speaker Ben Lujan with Democrat Joseph Cervantes, of Las Cruces.
That deal looked like it might work until a posse of Tea Partiers arrived in town and a stampede of emails demanded that every House Republican vote for a fellow Republican for speaker.
So at the last minute, the deal was off. There had been hope among Republicans that with Cervantes as speaker, he and Gov. Martinez could work together to pass some great legislation., as one Republican leader phrased it.
It didn't happen. And it probably wouldn't have anyway. With the Tea Partiers' insistence that all Republicans vote for a Republican for speaker, they were saying no compromises. If we can't have it all, we'll take nothing. And that's what they got.
That philosophy is typical of both the far right and far left -- neither of which the Tea Partiers say they are. If you aren't with us 100 percent of the time, you aren't with us and we'll work to defeat you in the next election.
So if the Tea Party influence continues throughout the session, there wouldn't have been any chance of a Martinez-Cervantes coalition passing the "great legislation" for which some Republicans had hoped.
Why? Because any legislation a governor is going to get through a Legislature controlled by the other party is going to require some compromise. And the Tea Party doesn't appear to allow such a thing.
Martinez's deputies obviously saw that ambush coming and it may have affected her opening day remarks to the Legislature.
If she were looking at working with a Cervantes-led coalition, she might have been a little more Reaganesque in trying to charm her opposition into working with her for a better New Mexico.
Instead, her message seemed to be more one of don't mess with me because I'm tough and you're not going to get away with anything. The majority of the audience were supporters who came to listen to their new governor. And they loved it.
How is all this going to work out? Will it be a bitter fight the next two years leading up to the 2012 election when all 112 lawmakers will have to defend their seats? It could happen.
Lujan's election positions Republicans to run against the Ben Lujan Legislature the way they used to run against the "Manny and Ray" Legislature in the 1990s.
And remember, Lujan was former Gov. Bill Richardson's biggest supporter in the Legislature. This enables Republicans to run against Richardson again in 2012.
But my guess is that it won't happen quite that way. Lujan needs every vote he can get to hold his party together. He can't be as vindictive as he was the last time he was challenged. He's a practical politician. He'll work with others.
Likewise, I imagine Gov. Martinez will be more practical than she is sounding for her true believers right now. She knows she is being watched nationally by people who want to know if she can get things done. Two years of gridlock and she will fall off many radar screens.
MON, 1-24-11

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

1-21 Advice to new gova

FRI 1-21-11

SANTA FE -- Some governors on their last day in office will leave a letter for the new governor, ostensibly wishing good luck and offering sage advice on how to handle the rigors of officialdom.
Usually we don't hear about such happenings because outgoing governors don't mention it. But Gov. Richardson did bring up the subject, at a news conference, no less.
And that prompted reporters to ask new Gov. Susana Martinez what she thought of the letter. Evidently seemed to her a little preachy and maybe tinged with left over hard feelings from the campaign.
We can assume that one governor who didn't leave a letter for his successor was former Gov. Dave Cargo. When Gov. Bruce King walked into the office for the first time in 1971, he remarked to a reporter that Cargo had cleaned every single item out of the office except "that darned woodpecker" over on a corner table.
The following morning, the reporter noted that the woodpecker actually was a roadrunner, New Mexico's official state bird. King acknowledged that having lived all his life on a ranch, he was well aware of the difference between a woodpecker and a roadrunner.
King explained that he called it a woodpecker out of frustration that Cargo had cleaned everything out of the governor's office and the mansion.
Country folks have a very low opinion of woodpeckers, which can destroy a wooden structure. My father-in-law kept a shotgun by the door of his ranch house near Nogal in order to go on the attack whenever he heard that drilling sound.
One governor back in the 1930s didn't clean out the governor's mansion before he left. But he locked the doors and took all the keys with him. The next governor had to stay in a hotel overnight until a locksmith could come change all the locks. Evidently the oversight was not accidental.
When Gov. Ed Mechem took office for the first time, he vowed to solve the Cricket Coogler murder case. Coogler was an 18-year-old Las Cruces waitress who was chummy with Santa Fe politicos and Cleveland mobsters.
The mob wanted to expand its gambling operations out west. Nevada already had been tried All the necessary laws had been passed but Las Vegas was still a dusty little town with not much action.
Bugsy Siegal had tried opening a lavish hotel called the Flamingo to attract the Los Angeles crowd but that wasn't working so the mob began looking for locations that already were popular with tourists.
Santa Fe was a logical choice. The mob moved in and started getting friendly with politicians. At that point, the place to have illegal fun in New Mexico was around the edges of the state, especially south of Las Cruces, where big crowds flocked from El Paso, which had some strict drinking laws.
So it became a popular hangout for the mob and the politicians who followed them. One Easter Sunday afternoon, three boys out rabbit hunting came across Coogler''s body. Everyone was a suspect. Many arrests, trials and convictions followed but all had to do with a horrendously botched investigation of the case. Cricket's murderer(s) were never brought to justice.
Former Las Cruces District Attorney Ed Meachem vowed to crack the case if he became governor. One of his first acts in office was to assign the same state police officers to investigate the case who had investigated it before. Again, they found nothing.
Four years later, when John Simms took office as governor, he found one item on his desk when entered the governor's office. It was a file labeled "Cricket Coogler." Nothing more was ever heard about that file.
An interesting sidelight of the situation is that all the politicians and appointed officials involved in the case were Democrats. Meachem was the first Republican governor in 20 years. If anyone were going to blow the whistle, it was Meachem.
His advice to Simms must have been fascinating.

 

1-19 No Bold Changes Yet

WED, 1-19-11

SANTA FE - So far, there haven't been many fireworks in the transition from what critics called a corrupt, free spending Democratic administration to a law and order, budget-cutting Republican administration.
Maybe we were expecting the baseball bat that unsuccessful GOP primary candidate Allen Weh promised to use to clean up Santa Fe. But the Susana Martinez administration is taking it slowly and deliberately with no drama.
This could be the result of many factors. The transition is moving slowly, perhaps because nearly all the top brass are new to New Mexico state government and they want to be sure they are getting it right. The only huge hurry is the legislative session, which must approve some of the changes Martinez would like to make.
If she works with the Legislature on items such as the budget, she likely will find it easier to get cooperation on some of the changes she would like to make, such as reorganizing some of the departments, agencies and boards of state government.
The "bold changes" Martinez has promised likely will still happen. They just won't be sudden or dramatic. The slowness with which top positions are being filled may be due to restructuring she wants to accomplish in those areas.
One change Martinez already has made is lowering salaries of top staff. She began with her own chief of staff who reportedly was cut from $141,000 to $110,000. That's more than a 20 percent cut. She announced other cuts in the 10 percent range and no cabinet secretaries will make over $125,000.
Martinez also has served notice that this is just the beginning. Further cuts can be expected. She is following the pattern of Albuquerque Mayor R.J. Berry, a fellow Republican. Berry even cut the salaries of unionized city workers. He has been taken to court but so far hasn't lost. Martinez has announced there will be no layoffs or furloughs.
Significant changes are expected at the governor's mansion. The two chefs have been laid off and replaced by a short-order cook. Other staff also may go. First ladies often have had staff to help advocate causes, often ones sponsored by state government.
Charitable groups have had frequent access to the mansion for various functions. This may continue but we may also see the governor and first gentleman spend some of their time in Las Cruces.
The biggest dust up in the new administration, so far, has been over the transfer of crime lab functions from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Outgoing Public safety Secretary John Denko said it was a budget-cutting move. Albuquerque Public Safety Director Darren White said it was less efficient.
Denko started the move the last week of his administration. White prevailed upon political ally Gov.-elect Martinez to announce that she would move the lab back to Albuquerque as soon as she took office.
The entire affair was called a spitting match between two public safety officials who never have cared much for each other. The rest of the story is that Albuquerque and Santa Fe care even less for each other.
Ever since the Santa Fe Ring finagled itself out of a railroad that bears its name, Albuquerque began to grow much faster. In the late 1800s, Albuquerque began efforts to move the state capital from Santa Fe. Santa Fe's response was to build a glorious new capitol building to replace the almost- 300 year-old Palace of the Governors. The building burned to the ground soon after it was finished.
Santa Feans always blamed Albuquerque for the fire and for anything bad that happened since. Numerous state officials have lived in Albuquerque although the constitution says they should live in Santa Fe.
In case you hadn't noticed. The state capital complex is moving south. A large proposed office building south of Santa Fe currently is being fought by downtown businessmen who say its just another step toward Albuquerque.

 

columns

MON, 1-17-11

SANTA FE - Our former governor may be through with his Billy the Kid pardon deliberations but the world isn't through with Billy. We will still be hearing of him often.
And that's not bad. Billy the Kid's legend, whether accurate or not, will long be an important commodity to New Mexico. The tourism industries in many communities are helped anywhere from partially to almost completely by stories of The Kid's exploits thereabouts.
Gov. Bill Richardson spent some time on the subject of Billy the Kid but it wasn't totally wasted as some of his detractors maintained. Helping local communities increase tourism isn't wasted time.
In fact, that's my idea of economic development. I'd much rather see our state helping businesses that already are here rather than spending millions of taxpayer and state permanent fund money going after the big boys who talk a good game but who don't have an ounce of loyalty to New Mexico.
So I'm happy to see Billy keep on riding and churning up business for this state. And that he'll do. A letter from J.P. Garrett to his family, and to selected news people, urges them not to give up the fight to assure former Sheriff Pat Garrett's good name is preserved.
My biggest problem with Gov. Richardson's involvement with Billy the Kid the past eight years was that he was playing with fire. By wanting to dig up Billy and his mother to check their DNA against pretenders, the governor and his friends said they wanted to prove Garrett did shoot Billy and that The Kid is buried in Fort Sumner.
However all the side issues that emerged created doubt about what really happened. All but one community fought having any digging in their cemeteries. The only place that didn't fight was the Arizona Pioneers Home.
It was a state-owned facility in Prescott. Gov. Janet Napolitano evidently figured Arizona had nothing to lose. If John Miller didn't turn out to be Billy, few would care and if he did turn out to match Catherine Antrim's DNA, it would be a huge win for Arizona.
Some lawmen from Lincoln County found a bench they said The Kid's body was laid on. They sent a DNA sample from that bench to a Texas lab for comparison with DNA from one of two bodies dug up from the Arizona cemetery.
That was over two years ago and nothing more has been heard. Several of us tried to obtain the information in order to eliminate public confusion but our requests were denied, either because it was part of a criminal investigation of who Garrett shot or that it is private information not subject to public disclosure.
So author/historian Dr. Gale Cooper and Fort Sumner newspaper publisher Scot Stinnett went to court to obtain the information. The judge ruled the information must be released but a year has passed with no compliance.
A daylong hearing will be held on Friday, Jan. 21, in the Sandoval County District Court in Bernalillo, to determine what action should be taken for failure to follow a court order.
It is obvious why the Garrett family is interested in this information being released. It surely will show that there is no relationship between the blood on the carpenter's bench and the DNA from John Miller, and therefore Garrett didn't allow Billy to get away after being shot.
So interest in Billy the Kid will continue. During the part eight years that Gov. Richardson made The Kid an issue, dozens of books about Billy have been written, along with two television documentaries, numerous newspaper and magazine articles and countless Web sites and blogs.
It will all be to New Mexico's good as long as it doesn't confuse potential tourists that some of the pseudo-history about Garrett shooting someone else and/or letting Billy get away might be true.
FRI, 1-14-11

SANTA FE - New Mexico once included at least three times the territory it now does. Perhaps you have seen maps of New Mexico from the early 1800s showing us covering an area that includes all of Arizona and the southern portions of Colorado, Utah and Nevada. How did we lose so much territory?
I recently became aware of a book published in 2008 that answers most of the questions. "How the States Got Their Shapes," was researched and written by Mark Stein and published by Smithsonian Books.
It also has been produced for television. I saw it late one night on the History Channel, as I recall. The show tried to cover all 50 states in about 90 minutes. Naturally, I thought New Mexico was shortchanged so I looked for the book.
I soon realized that every researcher has to start somewhere. The acquisition of new territory by the United States was his starting point. The map I had remembered was produced when we were still a territory of Mexico.
When New Mexico became a U.S. territory, things changed. Texas already had been a state for a few years and before that had been its own independent republic for nine years.
Soon after our Revolutionary War victory, Congress appointed a committee headed by Thomas Jefferson to decide how to divide newly acquired territory into states. As you might expect, Jefferson believed that all states should be created equal. That is why so many states, except for the original colonies are much the same size and have so many square corners.
Except Texas and California. They were special. This was the time of manifest destiny when most Americans figured the Almighty meant for the United States to own all of North America. Or from sea to shining sea, at least.
Texas and California were vital to achieving that goal. So Congress told both of them they could claim any land they liked. Texas immediately claimed all of New Mexico to the Rio Grande.
That made Santa Fe, the capital of New Spain for 250 years, just another west Texas town. Congress knew better. It also knew Texas was flat broke so it bought New Mexico back from Texas. And it suggested that Texas divide into five states Texas said it liked being big.
California was different. Gold had just been discovered at Sutter's Mill. The United States needed California more than California needed the United States so it got to stay big too.
Poor New Mexico had nothing to bargain with. It was poor, spoke a different language and had a different religion. So the rules were followed and New Mexico became about the same size as its neighbors - except Texas.
It was too bad. Southern Coloradoans are the same culture as Northern New Mexicans. Many feel left out by their government in Denver. They watch New Mexico TV stations and when a New Mexican says, "I'm from southern Colorado," we know it means, "I'm really one of you."
But Colorado had discovered gold too. So even though its neighbors on all sides claimed their land, Colorado got to be its own equal-sized state.
It was Arizona that came out the worst. It and New Mexico knew they would be divided. For a brief period in 1862, when the confederate army was marching up the Rio Grande, Confederates created a state of Arizona out of the southern half of each state.
But after Confederates were turned back at Glorieta, east of Santa Fe, Congress drew a north-south line separating the states east and west. Soon after, Congress dinged Arizona by taking away the southern part of Nevada that once was part of the New Mexico territory. The land was awarded to Nevada.
That area now contains Boulder Dam and Las Vegas, Nevada. Reasons were not given but the suspicion is that it was punishment for the brief creation of that Confederate state.
WED, 1-12-10

SANTA FE - Think you know just about everything regarding the father of our country? You know he was our first president - and probably our greatest. You know he was a great general and that we likely wouldn't have won our independence without him.
You've also undoubtedly read that little George chopped down a cherry tree as a child and then 'fessed up to his little crime. The obvious message is that George already was mature as a child and that all children should strive to be that way.
But that's not the way it happened. Little George started out as a baby and had a childhood not unlike the rest of us. He grew into adolescence with all the irritating traits of that stage of life.
If you would like to read a story of how our greatest American got through adolescence to become the superhero he was, do I have a book for you. It was written by Roswell historian David Clary and published by Simon & Schuster.
Clary tells a story that few have ever told. It chronicles Washington's struggle through the long adjustment from boyhood to manhood. It is a story that helps a reader appreciate Washington more than ever because he wasn't born a great man. He endured a painful struggle to become one.
Washington did not have a military education as most great generals have. But his strong ambition to become a leader and a keen ability to learn from his mistakes managed to get him there.
The young Washington did get an early start by doing a great job selling himself to his elders. It was during the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763 that the young man got to start learning the lessons of war, starting as a colonel at age 22.
He was a young glory seeker thrust into circumstances he was not prepared to handle by elders who should have known better than to listen to Washington's entreaties for command.
Leading young amateur soldiers in the Virginia militia against French professionals, he was on his own, with no superior officers and no battle hardened veterans to keep him out of trouble.
The brash young man made many mistakes. He survived his five-year ordeal unlike any other founding father. He was becoming a great military thinker by the process of trial and error - mostly error in the beginning. But he usually managed to explain his way out of bad decisions, sometimes by shading the truth.
His insubordination to civil and military leaders was, at times, shocking. But he got away with it , struggled through it and eventually emerged as the steady, mature supreme leader our revolution had to have.
Clary has the talent of reveling in the backstories of American history. In "Adopted Son," he tells of the father-son relationship that developed between Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette that saved the American Revolution.
In "Eagles and Empire," he tells the story of the Mexican-American War from both sides, , revealing the horrible decisions by American and Mexican leaders that led to a war that never should have happened the way it did.
Once again, in "Washington's First War," Clary reveals amazing facts about the foibles of a precocious young man who had to learn everything the hard way. Some may feel Clary shouldn't even reveal some of young Washington's mistakes, missteps and even insubordination.
Others may feel like Clary's wife Bea, who said some of Washington's actions made her want to send him to his room. But they were all actions that molded perhaps our greatest American, a man without whom our revolution may not have succeeded.
As of yesterday, Clary's book is now available in bookstores and online. It's a great read - by a fellow New Mexican.
MON. 1-10-11

SANTA FE - During the recent gubernatorial campaign, I was chided for comparing Susana Martinez with Barack Obama. I talked about their ability to excite people who never had voted before. Many of those new voters were independents but others were registered in the opposing party.
Well get over it, because here I come with more comparisons. The day after President Obama was inaugurated, the wolves were at his heels. Radio talker Rush Limbaugh came flat out and said he hoped Obama would fail as our president.
Several Republican leaders scolded him for wanting our president to fail but after a day or so nearly all had fallen in line pledging to do their part to make Obama a one-term president. Those are the people casting the unanimous no votes in Congress.
With Susana, the attacks started even earlier. On December 29, three days before she became governor, state Democratic Chair Javier Gonzales penned an OP-ED piece attacking Martinez for breaking campaign promises even before taking office.
The very next day, GOP state Chairman Monty Newman, of Hobbs, fired back a reply. In case you hadn't noticed, the campaign battles appear to have moved into all out war already. There don't appear to be any statesmanlike efforts to cooperatively move New Mexico forward.
As the Legislature convenes in a little over a week, let's hope party leaders will give peace a chance and make some efforts to move New Mexico forward. Those of you with decent memories will recall that Bill Richardson had a reasonably long honeymoon with both the Legislature and with voters who approved two major education amendments in a special election nine months into his term.
What is the difference now? What is making us less civil? Is it the poor economy? Did Obama, and maybe Susana, raise expectations too high with their messages of hope? Let's give Susana a little more time. She's barely gotten started.
Admittedly, Gov. Martinez has been off to a slower start than most governors have. As their terms ended on Dec. 31, some cabinet secretaries were unsure who to leave their keys with because only about half of the old cabinet had been replaced.
It is a bit of a problem when reorganization is being seriously considered, to appoint a cabinet secretary for a department you want to abolish. That's why we're seeing some temporary and interim appointments. Heads of boards and commissions have been told their agencies won't be evaluated for awhile so they will be around maybe until after the Legislature's completion in March.
Not only did Gov. Martinez get off to a slow start, it also was a cold start. There may be something about governors from Las Cruces that causes them to figure that Jan. 1 is a fine day for an outdoor ceremony. Gov. Jerry Apodaca tried it too. The temperature in 1975 was about 16. On my back porch this year it was around 6 degrees at 10 a.m., when the inaugural ceremonies began on the Santa Fe plaza.
Gov. Gary Carruthers also was from Las Cruces and knew better. Do you suppose it was his Ph.D.? Apodaca and Martinez both give the appearance of toughness. Maybe that explains the outdoor ceremonies.
Santa Fe old-timers can tell you that our worst weather is almost always right around the first of the year. In 2006, we had 27 inches of snow on New Year's Day. Even Las Cruces was cold this year. El Paso's Sun Bowl was played in freezing temperatures.
Many of us in the news business were surprised at how little coverage the inauguration activities received. I could swear I heard television stations advertise that they were going to give full coverage to the activities but there was no live coverage and little on the news.
Maybe they didn't want to be out in the cold either. Can't blame them. I stayed inside myself.

 

Caribbean

We're headed for warmer climes. Out of office from Jan. 3--17. I'll have my computer so shouldn't miss out on much. If all goes well, I'll be able to stay on schedule.