4-2 NM's Colorful Legislators

40212 Colorful legs
SANTA FE – As part of this column's centennial coverage, I am pleased to write about colorful legislators. I may miss a few from the early days before I arrived on the scene.
I begin with Louise Coe, the first woman elected to the state Senate. Her political rise was not easy. Women had attained the right to vote only six years earlier. Coe went on to become president pro tem of the Senate. She is the only woman ever elected to that position.
A strong, determined woman, Coe married into a Lincoln County ranching family that included George and Frank Coe who rode with Billy the Kid. Her husband Wilber Coe stayed home to run the Coe's "Ranch on the Ruidoso," the title of Wilbur's autobiography.
Because of Coe's unaccompanied status in Santa Fe, many stories grew around her, some of which she confesses in her book, "Lady and the Law Books." In 1940 she left the Legislature to run unsuccessfully for Congress.
Former state Rep. Tweeti Blancett, was part of a longtime San Juan County ranching family also related to the Coes. Tweeti had a rather brief but colorful career in the Legislature and still appears in the news occasionally complaining about how natural gas developers treat her ranchland.
Tweeti brings up the interesting category of colorful names in the Legislature. Toots Green, of Alamogordo, was a House Republican leader. At the same time, Smiley Gallegos, of Clovis, was a House Democratic leader.
The aforementioned were still in the Legislature when "Lucky" Luciano Varela was elected from Santa Fe. These aren't just nicknames we're talking about. These names appeared on the ballot. I didn't know of Varela's good reputation when he first ran, so I just couldn't bring myself to check the name of an infamous mobster.
Sen. Les Houston was an intimidating leader. He began his legislative career as a Democrat but switched to Republican during the turbulent 1980s. Houston immediately became the Republican Senate floor leader. His battles with Democratic leader Manny Aragon are legendary.
Behind the scenes, the two likely had some laughs about their floor antics. But on the floor, they were bitter. And Houston usually won. He once was challenged that one of his maneuvers was illegal. Anything for which I can get 22 votes is legal, Houston firmly replied..
Despite his fierce manner, Houston privately admits that he cries at Lassie movies.
My vote for the most colorful legislator goes to Tom Benavides, of Albuquerque's South Valley, which he once tried to get named Benavides County. Tom has been a member of both the House and Senate and both the Democratic Party and Green Party. He also may have been a member of the Republican Party for a while.
Tom wore an eye patch, which may have been a tipoff to his demeanor and loyalties. He looked like a good time guy but he didn't drink and had the stamina to be the last man standing during late night floor sessions.
Long after everyone else had lost interest, Tom would sneak something through, like a bill to send him to Spain for a Quincentennial celebration. The bill didn't fare as well in the House the following day, but somehow Tom managed to arrange a special bottling of Benavides wine, a bottle of which resides somewhere in my house.
Many shenanigans are pulled by members of both houses to avoid being present for controversial votes. The State Police search for members in all sorts of hiding places.
One night during a "Call of the Senate," Benavides was spotted at a reception for a visiting Spanish dignitary in Albuquerque. Police tracked him down but Benavides eluded them.
The following day Benavides was questioned by leaders on the floor of the Senate as to his absence the night before. Benavides answered that he was, in fact, present and in his seat but that he was having an out-of-body experience in Albuquerque.

3=30 A Cure for Corruption?

33012 Corruption
SANTA FE – Is New Mexico the most corrupt state in the nation? You've seen the news. It looks pretty bad. Many national organizations are interested about corruption in the states.
On most of their rankings, New Mexico falls somewhere in the middle. The last one I saw ranked us 19th. Political corruption we hear about most often seems to occur in Illinois, New Jersey and Louisiana. But those states don't rank near the top of the corruption scale either.
It is often little, out-of-the-way states like North Dakota or Vermont that head the corruption list. How can that be? We never hear about it.
Numerous explanations are out there. Most studies involve only federal convictions. That's much easier than looking at state and local convictions or disciplinary actions by state legislatures. Most studies are done on a per capita basis but regardless of size, each state has only one set of state officers.
And some states may be better at prosecuting offenders. The strictness of state laws differ. And some states don't even have laws to cover many types of transgressions.
Finally an organization has compiled a list of laws and regulations that states should have in place to prevent the risk of corruption. The study was conducted by the Center for Public Integrity. It looked at laws in each state that demonstrate transparency and accountability in government.
The study looked at over a dozen mechanisms in state government designed to produce openness and accountability. It then graded each state on how well it is set up to prevent corruption.
The good news is that this study is the first of its kind. Let's hope it helps public agencies develop better safeguards for preventing corruption. The bad news is that nearly state starts near the bottom.
New Mexico got a D-. North and South Dakota, Michigan, Maine, South Carolina, Virginia, Wyoming and Georgia received F. The best state is New Jersey with a B+. New Jersey? They must have rigged this study.
Evidently not. The answer may be that past corruption has caused the enactment of more measures to protect against future corruption. And this study looked only at states not at local government where so many of New Jersey's problems have occurred.
Among the areas of government the study looks into were accountability in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. New Mexico's legislative and executive branches both received a D. The judiciary got a C, probably because of the existence of a Judicial Standards Commission.
Efforts in the Legislature nearly every year to create an ethics commission for all of state government always has has failed. The prevailing attitude has been that we don't need it.
Our highest grades were B-minuses for internal auditing and redistricting. The state Auditor's office and the auditing function of the Legislative Finance Committee may be the reason.
The good showing in redistricting is a surprise. It may be due to the fact that judges always end up deciding on districts when the Legislature and governor can't agree.
Other states must be worse, such as Texas and Colorado which redistricted again in 2004 when Republicans gained total control of the legislature and governor's office.
Our procurement and budget processes earned us a C-, as did our civil service management. Political financing and our pension fund management came in at D-. Lobbying disclosure, ethics enforcement and insurance regulation got us an F.
Maybe this rather thorough analysis and comparison of state governments will encourage our state government branches to strengthen their integrity. The problem is that they should already have known in order to insure transparency and accountability in government.
Governors and legislators both have organizations to help strengthen state governments. Taxpayers pay the bill for membership in these organizations. We also pay the expenses of many officials to attend conferences.
But so far, it isn't sinking in very well.

3-28 corrected version -- I got my Gary and Garrey mixed

32812 Colorful govs
SANTA FE – As part of this column's centennial coverage, I take pleasure in talking today about my picks for New Mexico's most colorful governors.
Most of this information you won't find in history books. It is gleaned from personal memories or stories my father told as I was growing up.
M any of my father's political stories were about Gov. Clyde Tingley who was elected governor in 1934 at the height of the Depression. His campaign theme had been "Order out of Chaos," But Tingley, who mangled the English language, kept forgetting that chaos doesn't rhyme with Taos.
Tingley's idea was to solve New Mexico's massive unemployment problems by getting as many of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs to New Mexico as possible. To accomplish this Tingley went to Washington to talk with FDR personally.
Roosevelt was so taken with Tingley that during his 1936 reelection campaign, he took Tingley to several states to explain how the New Deal worked. Tingley got federal money rolling into New Mexico.
When he showed a traveling archbishop all the projects in Albuquerque, the archbishop remarked that the people should canonize him. Tingley's answer: "They tried that last year and I beat 'em 2-1."
Another colorful governor was "Lonesome Dave Cargo" who almost single-handily got himself elected governor twice in the late '70s. He had no money and no friends in the political world. But he toured the state by himself in a 1963 VW Bug and painted his name on every rock and fencepost he could find.
Cargo also looked for the media and always was prepared with a witty quip for every subject discussed. His motto was: "Why buy the back page when you can get the front page for free?"
Gov. Garrey Carruthers could be colorful too, even though he was the only governor to hold a Ph.D. He had a sporty little convertible he loved to tool around in. The governor's security force didn't think much of that. They would chase him around Santa Fe while he tried to ditch them.
Gov. Carruthers was a faithful member of St. John's Methodist Church when in Santa Fe. He always invited his detail to join him in church but they never accepted. So Carruthers would try to ditch them when he left.
Security details also had a problem with Gov. Gary Johnson, a triathlete. Johnson liked to get up very early and run many miles. It wasn't a favorite assignment.
Evidently Gov. Johnson was left unprotected on some occasions because one cold winter morning he slipped on a patch of ice and had to walk home with a back injury.
For eight years New Mexicans watched as their governor competed in triathlons and winter sporting events all over the nation.
Protecting the governor seems to be a matter of gubernatorial choice. Gov. Bill Richardson says he had to learn to drive again after he left office. Gov. Cargo says he often drove while his one-man security force, Red Pack, slept in the back seat. And then there are the Alabama governors who prefer to be protected by death row inmates.
Gov. Bruce King certainly was colorful. His cowboy twang has been imitated by half of New Mexico. Everyone loved to watch Bruce work a crowd. With Alice at his side, he could come up with a name or town for just about everyone.
At the end of Bruce's final term, Alice convinced him to take a two-week Panama Canal cruise. Bruce introduced himself to the thousands of passengers and when the cruise ended, he was at the end of the gangway shaking hands and saying goodbye to everyone.
We've missed many colorful governors. Jim Hinkle and his cowboy philosophy. Jack Dempsey, a sixth-grade dropout, but an astute businessman and politician. And John E. Miles who ran for land commissioner after being governor, explaining that land commissioners have much more power.

3-28 Sone of NM's Colorful Governors

32812 Colorful govs
SANTA FE – As part of this column's centennial coverage, I take pleasure in talking today about my picks for New Mexico's most colorful governors.
Most of this information you won't find in history books. It is gleaned from personal memories or stories my father told as I was growing up.
M any of my father's political stories were about Gov. Clyde Tingley who was elected governor in 1934 at the height of the Depression. His campaign theme had been "Order out of Chaos," But Tingley, who mangled the English language, kept forgetting that chaos doesn't rhyme with Taos.
Tingley's idea was to solve New Mexico's massive unemployment problems by getting as many of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs to New Mexico as possible. To accomplish this Tingley went to Washington to talk with FDR personally.
Roosevelt was so taken with Tingley that during his 1936 reelection campaign, he took Tingley to several states to explain how the New Deal worked. Tingley got federal money rolling into New Mexico.
When he showed a traveling archbishop all the projects in Albuquerque, the archbishop remarked that the people should canonize him. Tingley's answer: "They tried that last year and I beat 'em 2-1."
Another colorful governor was "Lonesome Dave Cargo" who almost single-handily got himself elected governor twice in the late '70s. He had no money and no friends in the political world. But he toured the state by himself in a 1963 VW Bug and painted his name on every rock and fencepost he could find.
Cargo also looked for the media and always was prepared with a witty quip for every subject discussed. His motto was: "Why buy the back page when you can get the front page for free?"
Gov. Garrey Carruthers could be colorful too, even though he was the only governor to hold a Ph.D. He had a sporty little convertible he loved to tool around in. The governor's security force didn't think much of that. They would chase him around Santa Fe while he tried to ditch them.
Gov. Carruthers was a faithful member of St. John's Methodist Church when in Santa Fe. He always invited his detail to join him in church but they never accepted. So Carruthers would try to ditch them when he left.
Security details also had a problem with Gov. Garrey Johnson, a triathlete. Johnson liked to get up very early and run many miles. It wasn't a favorite assignment.
Evidently Gov. Johnson was left unprotected on some occasions because one cold winter morning he slipped on a patch of ice and had to walk home with a back injury.
For eight years New Mexicans watched as their governor competed in triathlons and winter sporting events all over the nation.
Protecting the governor seems to be a matter of gubernatorial choice. Gov. Bill Richardson says he had to learn to drive again after he left office. Gov. Cargo says he often drove while his one-man security force, Red Pack, slept in the back seat. And then there are the Alabama governors who prefer to be protected by death row inmates.
Gov. Bruce King certainly was colorful. His cowboy twang has been imitated by half of New Mexico. Everyone loved to watch Bruce work a crowd. With Alice at his side, he could come up with a name or town for just about everyone.
At the end of Bruce's final term, Alice convinced him to take a two-week Panama Canal cruise. Bruce introduced himself to the thousands of passengers and when the cruise ended, he was at the end of the gangway shaking hands and saying goodbye to everyone.
We've missed many colorful governors. Jim Hinkle and his cowboy philosophy. Jack Dempsey, a sixth-grade dropout, but an astute businessman and politician. And John E. Miles who ran for land commissioner after being governor, explaining that land commissioners have much more power.

3-26 Pat Garrett Rides Again in Roswell

32612 Pat Garrett
SANTA FE – New Mexico's most famous lawman finally will be honored this Saturday, March 31, as Roswell celebrates the installation of a larger-than-life statue of former Sheriff Pat Garrett, sitting tall in the saddle.
Garrett was elected to track down Billy the Kid. He had to do it more than once, finally ending the Kid's life in July 1881. Then in 1896, he was asked to track down the cold-blooded killers of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son, Henry.
Although he succeeded in both dangerous responsibilities, his bravery has never been recognized anywhere in our state, according to historian Mike Pitel. The only monument to Garrett is a headstone in a crowded family plot in the Las Cruces Masonic Cemetery. That, of course, was courtesy of his family.
Roswell and Las Cruces were Garrett's two main places of residence during his lifetime. His widow, Apolinaria, remained in Las Cruces after Garrett's murder outside of town in 1908.
Why was Garrett never recognized for his bravery and courage? He always seemed to be on the wrong side. Billy the Kid was the hero of the little guy, the underdog, the oppressed.
Garrett was just doing his job but that job aided the Santa Fe Ring which controlled New Mexico. Today they would be known as the one-percenters. And then there was the way in which Billy the Kid was killed. Garrett said he shot from the dark of Pete Maxwell's room. That isn't the way John Wayne would have done it.
Others said Garrett tied Billy's girlfriend Paulita Maxwell to the bed in her room and ambushed Billy when he walked in. Others say Garrett shot someone else and claimed it was The Kid. In the Fountain trial, the defendants were acquitted.
Garrett never could catch a break. He was tall, angular, handsome, a good shot and a good horseman. Many historians regard the night he shot and killed the Kid as the moment the nation perceived that law and order had finally taken root in the territory of New Mexico, moving us a little closer to statehood.
Some say Garrett was a disagreeable sort who couldn't keep friends. You couldn't prove that by my grandparents, all of whom lived in Las Cruces at the time of the Garretts. They all thought highly of the family. One grandmother even confided in me that Garrett didn't kill Billy the Kid. He was such a nice man, she said, that he never would kill anybody.
I imagine a sheriff candidate in those days with a reputation for being too nice to kill anyone wouldn't have a chance of getting elected. But that's the way my grandmother saw it in the 1940s.
The dedication of Garrett's heroic, outdoor statue will commence at 10 a.m. adjacent to the Chavez County Courthouse on North Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.
Among the speakers at the Garrett statue dedication will be Garrett biographer Leon Metz, of El Paso and state Sen. Rod Adair, who represents portions of Chaves and Lincoln counties.
Among the guests of honor will be at least two of Garrett's grandchildren, Susannah Garrett of Santa Fe and Jarvis Patrick Garrett of Albuquerque.
Among Summers' other commissioned sculptures in Roswell is a larger-than-life bronze of famed cattle baron John Chisum, mounted alongside his lead steer, a Texas longhorn named Ol' Ruidoso. The statue was dedicated in 2001.
According to Pitel, Garrett's pitched-roof, six-room adobe, where he and his wife, Apolinaria, lived from 1880-1891 still stands at the north end of Bosque Road east of Roswell.
The thick-walled residence is on the State Register of Historic Properties and the National Register of Historic Places but is currently being used as a private storage facility.
The residence is also where Garrett's longtime friend, ex-reporter and former Roswell postmaster Ash Upson wrote the first 15 chapters of Garrett's 1882 book "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid."

The second column for 3-21 (Political craziness) should be labeled 3-23

thanks

3-21 Political Craziness

32112 weird pols
SANTA FE – The year 2012 is turning out to be a very weird political year. It began with the GOP presidential contest. The race began in typical fashion for a party with no incumbent. A field of about eight potentially viable candidates went to Iowa.
Rep. Michelle Bachmann won the summer 2011 Iowa straw poll. Then Rick Santorum won the Iowa primary caucuses in January 2012. Gov. Romney won New Hampshire and Newt Gingrich won South Carolina.
That set a record for an even race. Usually by Super Tuesday in early March, the field had narrowed to one favorite. But this time four candidates remained. And now in late March, four candidates vow they are in all the way.
The weirdness continues with Gov. Romney having a commanding lead in delegates and money raised despite having little momentum. And Rep. Ron Paul says he's all in despite the likelihood he will finish with no wins.
But the weirdest of all campaigns is that of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who announced his interest a year ago, hired a campaign staff and then went on a Mediterranean cruise. Following his return, his staff quit, citing Gingrich's disinterest in the campaign.
Gingrich vowed he was smart enough to do it all on his own but the likelihood of winning any more states appears slim. It is former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum who has the enthusiastic following although he has little money and staff. The race may continue until the convention.
On the state level, Republicans have a primary race for the U.S. Senate that Lt. Gov. John Sanchez has entered and then departed. Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson appears ready to win it but Greg Sowards, a Las Cruces businessman, says he is still all in despite having fired his political advisers and not spending the big chunk of money he has lent his campaign. The big question now is whether Sowards will spend that money.
In the GOP contest for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, former state Rep. Janice Arnold Jones boasted that she would take over 50 percent of the Republican convention vote over two candidates who have considerably outspent her.
Arnold-Jones not only made good on her boast at last Saturday's convention, she polled over 60 percent of the delegate vote, keeping one of her competitors off the ballot.
If candidates don't receive at least 20 percent of their convention vote, they can present additional petition signatures and still get on the primary election ballot. It is common for candidates to take that route but it never has resulted in a victory at the polls.
Lest you think that election craziness is limited to the GOP, the prize for weirdest behavior goes to Rep. David Chavez of Valencia County, who put out the word that he would not seek to retain his state House seat.
When blogger Joe Monahan included that information in his report, Chavez notified him that he most certainly was running. A few days later Chavez made a formal announcement that he would not be running for his seat again because it detracted him from his very successful law practice.
Service in the New Mexico Legislature does not carry a salary. The lack of a salary discourages many successful business people from legislative service so Chavez's announcement was not a great surprise. Business people often cannot afford it.
But now Chavez comes with the announcement that he will seek the state Senate seat held by Senate Democratic Leader Michael Sanchez. Chavez's action likely will cause some confusion among voters about how he could not afford to serve in the House but now evidently can afford to serve in the Senate. Neither position carries a salary.
It is known that Gov. Susana Martinez would like to unseat Sen. Sanchez who has been a major impediment to some of her legislative priorities. Might the governor and Rep. Chavez been talking lately?

3-21 Does Gov. Martinez have Rep. Pelosi's problem?

32112 tough Gov
SANTA FE – Gov. Susana Martinez's combative style has brought criticism from many quarters. It is alleged that the governor still is in her campaign mode and that she isn't going to experience many legislative victories until she softens a bit.
That is true but it also is possible that she is feeling her way through the minefield of being the state's first female governor. She needs to appear strong, even tough, in order not to be a pushover. Much of what I am hearing on the street sounds very similar to what was said about U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi when she became our nation's first speaker of the House.
I often thought that if Pelosi were a man, she would be referred to as a strong leader in the image of Tom DeLay, Lyndon Johnson or her father, Tommy D'Alesandro. But instead, the language used to describe her – and Hillary Clinton – was crude and sexist.
This analysis isn't meant to sound like a lecture on political correct ness. Bill Richardson had the same problem of being too combative late in his administration, especially with the Senate. Former Gov. Toney Anaya had a major league problem. His nickname was "Tough Toney" and lawmakers turned absolutely hostile toward him.
Former Gov. Jerry Apodaca, was known as being very tough. He instituted a 55-minute lunch hour for state employees, which he personally enforced by calling departments at 1 p.m. sharp. But he managed to consolidate state government from over 100 separate agencies down to 12 departments through masterful negotiations with lawmakers and agency heads.
Gov. Martinez recently has angered many with numerous line-item vetoes of capital outlay products from the big "pork bill." Those vetoes appear to be directed at lawmakers with whom she has clashed or at counties she didn't carry during the last election.
New Mexico has a pretty awful method of allocating capital outlay money. Amid the confusion of legislative sessions that are much shorter than those of most states, lawmakers from throughout New Mexico go before a legislative subcommittee, accompanied by local officials with large charts under their arms, to plead their case and ask for money.
The total of all these requests comes to many times more than the amount available. The subcommittee winnows the list based on the presentations and various other subjective political considerations. Those projects then go to the governor who has heard none of the local presentations.
One of the few parts of this process that seems somewhat fair is that the communities Gov. Martinez appears to have favored are those that Gov. Richardson didn't favor. Maybe the situation is evening somewhat.
Capital outlay money does not come out of the state's general fund. The bulk of it comes from diversion of some severance taxes from going into the state's severance tax permanent fund. Other money comes from statewide bond issues voted on at general elections and from state revenue surpluses, which have been rare recently.
New Mexico's method of allocating capital outlay money usually is given a C or D grade by national analysts. It isn't that we don't understand how to allocate this money more equitably. Several years ago, the state Board of Education created a Public School Capital Outlay Council that looked at all school buildings in the state and ranked them from worst to best in order to arrive at priorities.
It seems logical to have a state agency appointed jointly by the Legislature and governor that prioritizes local and state requests for capital outlay funding. This is the method used by states with A ratings. But it takes some power from the Legislature and possibly would give a governor pause before issuing vetoes.
Legislators feel that local pork projects are key to their elections. Governors get upset when lawmakers use state funds for local projects. The result likely is to remain a deadlock and no change.

3-19 Might Big Ten be looking at UNM coach?

31912 Alford
PHOENIX – The Millers are spending some time in Phoenix again at this time of year enjoying good weather, family events, Arizona politics and Major League Baseball spring training.
Arizona politics, of course, are a political writer's dream. The president of the Senate has been impeached, demonstrations are being staged to protest the banning of Latino studies in schools and the governor says she eats scorpions for breakfast.
This year, even the sporting events are creating new interest. As more teams move from Florida to Phoenix, an increasing number of Midwesterners come for the month of March. Since this also is the month for March Madness in college basketball, we are hearing much more about the Big Ten conference.
It usually gets a bit old rather quickly. But this year, the Big Ten folks are talking about New Mexico. After Coach Steve Alford's New Mexico Lobos won the Mountain West Tournament, the Big Teners have started talking about how Alford will be back coaching in the Big Ten again next year,
Alford has coached in the Big Ten before. He led Iowa to some good seasons and tournament victories. But as with football Coach Rocky Long at UNM, it wasn't quite good enough to become a perennial powerhouse. So he resigned and moved on to New Mexico.
Now, after some successful seasons in Lobo land, these Big Ten fans seem assured that their conference will want him back again. Their guess is that Alford will go to Illinois, which fired its coach at the end of the season.
It won't be the first time a coach from New Mexico has gone to the University of Illinois. New Mexico State University basketball coach Lou Henson produced some great teams. After taking the team to the Final Four, he moved on to Illinois, where he stayed 21 years, compiling records for most wins and highest winning percentage.
Will Alford also go to the Big Ten? He's in the early years of a 10-year contract. Of course, contracts can always be broken. And they can be renegotiated. The Lobos have had a love affair with Alford and already have fought off other suitors. I bet Alford will stay.
+++
Steve Alford may be planning to stay but former state Sen. Shannon Robinson is planning to return to the New Mexico Legislature. Robinson was one of our state's most colorful lawmakers. A tough Irishman, he always was ready for a fight – either words or fists, he didn't care.
For years, Robinson was an officemate of Sen. Johnny Morrow, another of New Mexico's most colorful lawmakers. When Morrow left the Legislature, Robinson carried on Morrow's tradition of trying to claw back the land Texas stole from us in an old. boundary dispute.
Following several scandals, the largest involving an appropriation Robinson secured for the UNM soccer team he coached,
Robinson was defeated in the 2008 Democratic primary by a 2-1 margin. He will now challenge Sen. Tim Keller for the seat he lost to him. But this time, Robinson is running as a Republican. He never did previously care much for Republicans. He even pointed out that Keller used to be a Republican.
But something unusual happened. Robinson's party change document was signed by former state GOP Chairman Harvey Yates. Will Robinson be able to run better as a Republican in a general election than in the Democratic primary?
The district is Democratic but Robinson supports some Republican causes that may attract some votes. Robinson sometimes likes to refer to himself as a Bull Moose, the party adopted by former President Teddy Roosevelt after being a Republican.
And some of Robinson's interests are popular with many Republicans. He was a major supporter of the concealed carry legislation for firearms.

Alamogordo to retry Tea Pot Dome Scandal

31612 Alamo 100
SANTA FE – Alamogordo has scheduled a full slate of centennial events for the year. "Full slate" is no exaggeration. At least one event I is scheduled for every week of the year.
How did they do it? Every community organization in town has volunteered to sponsor an event. You can't get better organized than that.
Events include a regional square dance jamboree, dog shows, and a hang glider fly-in. The area has one of the best mountains for hang gliding in the nation. Also scheduled is a cowboy shooting contest. There's no information yet on how many cowboys will be shot but it is one of many events planned to attract visitors to the city.
Another major goal of Alamogordo activities is to educate everyone about the struggles New Mexico underwent to become a state. Dr. David Townsend, a retired professor at New Mexico State University-Alamogordo, is presenting a year-long series of lectures detailing those struggles. Townsend also is a former state legislator from the area.
One of New Mexico's difficulties in becoming a state was its Wild West reputation. Some of the more notable characters who helped create that reputation were from the Alamogordo area. One of those characters was Albert B. Fall, one of New Mexico's first two U.S. senators who went on to become secretary of the Interior Department under President Warren G. Harding.
Fall was convicted in the Tea Pot Dome scandal involving alleged bribes received from oil companies. Despite his conviction, a court later ruled that the bribes were not offered. One of the centennial activities will be a retrial of Secretary Fall.
It won't be a reenactment of the original trial but a real trial by a judge and jury. Two years ago at this time, former Gov. Bill Richardson began a great effort to retry Billy the Kid for the killing of Sheriff Brady. The governor's effort didn't succeed.
During Alamogordo's many centennial events, Citizens will be en courage to not only dress in period outfits but to portray actual people from Alamogordo's past and be prepared to tell their story.
Barbara McDonald, chairperson of the Alamogordo Statehood Centennial Celebration, says she doesn't think any other community in the state is showing more spirit in celebrating the centennial than Alamogordo. She says it has produced much community camaraderie.
Recently this column highlighted activities in Hobbs, Carlsbad and Lea County. At the time, we asked to hear from other New Mexico communities. I'm very happy to hear from Alamogordo, which I figured would happen since Barbara's husband Cliff McDonald and Dave Townsend enthusiastically told me about Alamogordo's plans over a year ago.
Surely other communities are getting in the act. We'd love to hear from you too.
+++
Democrats had their state pre-primary nominating convention last Saturday. Tomorrow is the GOP's turn. No major surprises emerged from the Democratic convention. For the most part, it was what pollsters and pundits had predicted.
In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich produced a 55-45 victory over state Auditor Hector Balderas. The big question in that contest was whether Balderas could make a good enough showing to remain a viable candidate.
It appears to have worked. Balderas was enthused, some say overly so, about his finish and vowed to keep fighting. Some analysts wonder if Balderas may be positioning himself for a future gubernatorial race. He is very young and has lots of time.
The 1st Congressional District race went as predict ted. State Sen. Eric Griego bested former Mayor Marty Chavez and county Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham by comfortable margins. But it wasn't enough to chase anyone from the contest.
Chavez has bested Griego in a mayoral race previously. Lujan Grisham is raising good money from national women's groups. Griego is the most liberal of the three and isn't expected to do quite as well in the June primary.
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan kept Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya off the ballot in the 3rd Congressional District.

3-14 Legislature hampers space opportunities

31412 space liab
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Legislature's failure, once again, to expand liability protection for the space industry may send our $200 million spaceport investment down the drain. Trial lawyers again were the major culprit.
The spaceport's major competitors, Florida, Texas, Virginia and Colorado, already have passed the necessary legislation. New Mexico passed limited legislation in 2010, holding harmless spaceflight operators from lawsuits in case of accidents.
But Virgin Galactic passengers already sign waivers. The main problem is the suppliers and contractors, such as manufacturers of space vehicles. This puts New Mexico at a disadvantage. Christine Anderson, executive director of the Spaceport Authority, thinks contractors and manufacturers will avoid doing business here.
Yes, spaceflight is dangerous but the people willing to shell out $200,000 for a ticket have already thought of that. They are adventurers who get a thrill from a little danger.
But how little danger is enough? Federal authorities haven't come up with a standard yet. The numbers for the space shuttle program were high: two catastrophes out of 134 flights. Domestic jet flight deaths are more like one in 30 million.
We won't get that safe but the industry will go slowly. An accident early in the program would be very hard on business.
Speed was important when the $10 million Ansari X Prize competition was underway to see who could make two trips to the edge of space in less than a week.
That was eight years ago. Timetables at that point talked about getting passengers into space in just a few years. But the risks allowable for test pilots and paying passengers are considerably different.
Sir Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Galactic, now says he wants to take his children on the first flight. That flight doesn't appear to be very close.
Safety is now the big consideration. But accidents are bound to happen. And if they do, lawyers will be looking for clients. The industry is skittish. And New Mexico's space competitors are looking to ease those fears and attract business.
It is unfortunate that New Mexico's two most promising industries have been undercut by state government actions. Last year, a cap was placed on movie industry expense rebates.
You may have noticed that this year's Academy Awards were considerably less exciting than the previous several years. Not much happened last year.
Expanded liability protection for the space industry appears to be a major issue for future legislatures and for this year's elections. Voting records on the issue are being tallied and both sides may weigh in.
Meanwhile, not only are other states getting into spaceport building, the number of space companies keeps growing. Virgin Galactic made a big splash, signing on with Scaled Composites soon after it won the X Prize.
But already in the game or joining soon after were Blue Origin, financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Armadillo Aerospace, owned by computer-game developer John Cormack; Space X, owned by Leon Musk, creator of PayPal; a company created by Budget Suites owner Robert Bigelow and UP Aerospace, a Colorado company that is Spaceport America's second tenant.
All of these companies, and more, are well along in various specialties. Those specialties include two companies that are building passenger rocket ships. One is building rockets to carry cargo and crew to the space station.
One has already successfully recovered a spacecraft from earth orbit. One has already launched two inflatable space habitats into orbit. These are the precursors to possible research labs or factories that could make products under weightless conditions.
If any of this surprises you, it's likely because little of it is happening in New Mexico. We do have stiff competition to being America's spaceport. We have some advantages, such as isolation and location next to a missile range that already has unlimited air space.
Another advantage is the federal decision to concentrate its efforts outside earth orbit and let private enterprise take care of all the nearby stuff. Not everyone agrees with that decision but many scientists have long said they can do better with unmanned probes.

3-12 Dumb Solutions to Dumb Laws

31212 dumb laws
SANTA FE – What do we do with dumb laws? There are so many on the books. Do we ignore them? Challenge them? Change them?
The problem with changing dumb laws is that they were created to solve touchy problems So messing with them ventures into sometimes sacred territory.
The latest example in New Mexico involves voter registration. Some yahoo with a cause registered his dog to vote. Nothing original with that stunt. We read about it in the papers every so often. The media treats it as a humorous prank. Nothing is said about consequences for the prankster or tightening of registration laws.
This time, however, much will be said. Because it involves a U.S. Senate contest. The joker is the husband of a top aide to Republican Senate candidate Heather Wilson, who previously has complained about a Republican U.S. attorney, who didn't work hard enough to sniff out voter fraud.
My guess is that Wilson knew nothing about the plan. Unfortunately her aide also is named Heather so the possibility of confusion could make things worse. The clown also insists his wife didn't know anything about the prank. It is difficult to believe he wouldn't have told her considering that voter fraud is a big plank in the Republican platform.
Also confirmation of the dog's registration arrived in the mail a few days later. And he still didn't say anything? Maybe not, but he was itching to tell someone so he called an Albuquerque TV station to tell all about it. Is something missing here?
The guy faces a fourth degree felony charge. Let's hope no taxpayer money is spent on that because voter fraud isn't much of a problem. It is talked about a lot but the incentive just isn't there, considering the penalties and considering a lot of people would have to be willing to risk jail in order to influence an election.
The big problem with voting is that less than half of those registered actually turn out to vote in any election. Those are much bigger numbers than fraudulent voters. How about this for a compromise? Allow people to register on election day and require identification.
Democrats say requiring identification suppresses the vote. Rallies to eliminate voter suppression currently are being held throughout the South. But without identification, fraudulent voting is possible. In a democracy, people should be encouraged to register and vote but some form of identification is necessary. The Bernalillo County clerk's office did everything it should have done.
An interesting sidelight to this problem occurred during New Mexico's special Democratic presidential caucuses designed to help Gov. Bill Richardson an advantage four years ago. Democrats were told to bring identification to the caucuses – until it was pointed out that Democrats are supposed to be against voter identification.
Registering a dog to vote is a dumb way to challenge a dumb law. Criminal consequences are a slight possibility but the main consequence will be political. Left wing groups already are trying to tie that bell around Heather's neck.
This isn't the only dumb law. Immigration laws always have been incredibly stupid. Throughout our history, Americans have had scares about new groups of people moving in and taking over. The Germans, Italians, Irish, Jews, Chinese, and now, Hispanics have been charged with taking away our jobs, language and culture.
We continue to survive. Private sector businesses usually force some sort of accommodation because they need people to do the dirty work. We know we are training large numbers of foreign scientists, engineers and technicians who then have to leave the country. Walls never have worked for any country that has tried them.
The solution is a comprehensive act such as was proposed by the George W. Bush administration. But a coalition of the far right and labor unions beat it.
And now we have independent expenditure groups financing elections. They are anything but independent. But so far no one is challenging them.

3-9 GOP political strategy unfolding?

30912 GOP strategy
SANTA FE – Although a Republican legislative agenda never seemed to materialize during the past three legislative sessions, it appears a GOP political strategy has been alive and well from the beginning.
The basic plan is to take the House in November and to remake Senate into a more combative corps that may not win more legislative battles but will help set the stage for Gov. Susana Martinez's reelection in 2014.
You will remember that the GOP took full advantage of the 2010 national GOP landslide to reduce the overwhelming House Democratic margin down to 37-33. Soon after the 2011 session commenced, Democrat Andy Nunez, of Dona Ana County, got crossways with House Speaker Ben Lujan and became an independent.
Nunez has since voted often with Republicans and has carried some of Martinez's controversial bills. Martinez returned the favor by mentioning Nunez often in her opening speech to the 2012 Legislature.
During the past three sessions, the GOP has targeted House Democrats representing marginal districts. It has recorded votes on driver's licenses for illegal aliens and voter identification that it will hammer on during the general election. The outcome, most likely, will depend on the political dynamics of national races.
The Senate situation is a different scene. Democrats currently hold a 2-1 margin in seats. No state Senate contests were held in 2010 when the political landscape was so favorable for Republicans. The GOP national outlook isn't quite as good this year.
The GOP is looking at picking up a few seats but getting to a tie that can be broken by a Republican lieutenant governor would require a switch of seven seats, which isn't likely to happen.
Lieutenant governors don't always vote the party line. Two years ago, with Gov. Bill Richardson out of state, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish not only voted against Gov. Richardson's desire, she immediately signed the measure as acting governor.
But the defection with the biggest impact was in 1990 when Senate Democrats playfully created a tie vote for conservative Lt. Gov. Jack Stahl to break in favor of the General Appropriations Act that Gov. Garrey Carruthers had negotiated with Democrats.
But instead of voting for the measure, Stahl voted against it, thereby creating the need for a special session. The Appropriation Act is the only bill that has to pass the Legislature. And that time, it didn't.
According to blogger Joe Monahan, the GOP strategy for the 2012 general election is not to win control of the Senate but to create a band of fighters that will make life tough on the Senate Democratic leadership.
That will require removing easy-going Sen. Stuart Ingle as Senate Republican leader and replacing him with someone who will push Gov. Susana Martinez's agenda hard.
The plan also will require primary election opposition for some Republican senators who do not toe the line for Martinez. Three Republican senators already have announced they won't be running again.
Those incumbents are Sens. Clint Harden of Clovis, Vernon Asbill of Artesia and Mark Boitano of Albuquerque. Three candidates already have announced for Harden's seat.
A niece of former Sen. Pat Lyons is the candidate reportedly preferred by the Martinez crowd. Following his service in the Senate, Lyons served two terms as land commissioner and currently is chairman of the Public Regulation Commission.
Watch those three races for a view of what may be to come in the Senate. Apparently the message is being delivered that the first loyalty of Republican senators should be to the governor and not to the Senate. That could cause some mighty big waves in the traditionally independent Senate.
Another factor to consider in this possible Senate shakeup is that the Senate president pro tem is not the person chosen by the Democratic caucus.
At the beginning of the 2009 Legislature, Democrats chose Sen. Carlos Cisneros as their candidate. Cisneros was defeated by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats supporting Sen. Tim Jennings.
If Republicans decide to play hardball, that may not happen again.