Racetrack Deal Will Be Issue in Dem Governor Primary

At least one potential challenger to Gov. Susana Martinez is making the controversy over the Downs at Albuquerque an issue in the campaign.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, released a statement Wednesday evening that said:

Sen. Linda Lopez

“A dark cloud hangs low over the grand opening of the Downs at Albuquerque. ... Individuals close to the governor have been questioned by the FBI regarding the billion dollar contract pushed through by the governor’s men, and which largely benefits a small group of individuals who made massive political contributions to the governor’s campaign and political action committees. 

It is long past the time for the governor to disclose to the public the role the governor’s men played in awarding the contract.  This includes her Political Director Jay McCleskey, Former National Republican Committeeman Pat Rogers, Downs at Albuquerque Manager Darren White, Downs at Albuquerque Principal Paul Blanchard, State Fair Commission Chairman Larry Kennedy, State Fair Manager Dan Mourning and the Governor’s husband, Chuck Franco.  

“Additionally, I am calling on the Governor to release all documents, including e-mails from her private e-mail account, that pertain to the awarding of the contract.  Gov. Martinez ran for office promising transparency and an end to political favoritism and corruption.  With the awarding of the contract, the Governor continues the secretiveness and behind-closed-doors dealing she so adamantly condemned while running for office.” 

Martinez and many of the others named in Lopez's statement have long maintained that there was no wrongdoing in awarding the 25-year contract to operate the racetrack and casino at the State Fairgrounds.

Andrea Goff, a former finance director of Martinez's 2010 campaign and the governor's political action committee, SusanaPAC said in June that she had been interviewed by the FBI about the Downs deal. A lawyer for Martinez's former Personal assistant Anissa Galassini Ford, who was investigated (but not charged) in the case of the governor's hijacked emails, told the Albuquerque Journal that she also was questioned by the FBI about the Downs.

However, a spokesman for Martinez has said that nobody in the administration has been interviewed by the FBI concerning the Downs contract.

With Lopez going on the attack, however, the issue will be getting some discussion as the campaign unfolds.

Another Funny Cargo Story

A lot of people have expressed a lot of love for  the late former Gov. David F. Cargo since he died last week.

But my former colleague David Roybal just shared a story with me about a contemporary of Cargo's wasn't that fond of him -- at least one day in the heat of a legislative session 40 some years ago.

You think there's tensions between Gov. Susana Martinez and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez? According to  former secretary of Public Safety and longtime state police officer Richard CdeBaca -- who is the subject of Roybal's new book --  Cargo’s lieutenant governor demanded that state police provide him with round-the-clock police protection as well as a restraining order against Cargo.

This came following a vote on controversial liquor reform legislation that , the late Lt. Gov. E. Lee Francis helped kill contrary to Cargo’s wishes.

Roybal quotes from CdeBaca's notes:

“One morning … I got paged to report to Lt Gov. E. Lee Francis’s office. He was livid and told me that he wanted to get a restraining order on Gov. Cargo. When I asked him why he wanted to do that, he told me in a straight face, ‘Because the (SOB) threatened me and I don’t appreciate it.’ I didn't know what to say so I told him, ‘I’m sure whatever Gov. Cargo said, he didn't mean it,’ and the lieutenant governor replied, ‘The hell he didn't.’ He added, ‘I demand full State Police security around the clock.’”

CdeBaca wrote that he informed then-Chief Joe Black of the conversation with Francis and that Black “had a good laugh.”

“He told me that he would call the lieutenant governor and address his concerns,” CdeBaca wrote.

CdeBaca told Roybal that he suspected Black took it upon himself to calm Francis down and that he doubted Black found it necessary to inform Cargo of the situation.

Indeed, that apparently is what occurred. “I never heard about the incident,” Cargo told Roybal. “I got after Lee when he cast the tie-breaking vote on a bill to change the old pricing system on liquor. I talked to him about the measure before he went down to the Senate chamber. When the vote came up, it was a tie and Lee voted against the bill to break the tie. He told me later, ‘That’s the most popular thing I ever did. I was getting congratulations from (liquor lobbyist) Pancho Padilla and liquor dealers and on and on.’”

“I said, ‘Listen, Mr. Lieutenant Governor, tomorrow you’re going to get words that aren't quite along that line and they’re going to come from the Albuquerque Journal and The Santa Fe New Mexican.”

Here's a link to Roybal's book'  Chief of Police, The Career of Richard CdeBaca During Extraordinary Times in New Mexico, 1956-1994.

Cargo to Lie in State at Capitol Thursday

Former Gov. David Cargo, who died last week, will lie in state in the Rotunda of the state Capitol on Thursday, July 11, before he is laid to rest in Santa Fe.

Albuquerque City Councilor Janice Arnold-Jones, a friend of Cargo and his family, said Cargo’s body will be at the Roundhouse beginning at 10 a.m.. A memorial service in the Rotunda will begin at 4 p.m.

Cargo served as governor between 1967 and 1970 and previously he served two terms in the state House of Representatives.

A Mass of Christian Burial for the former governor will be celebrated Friday, July 12, 2013, 10 a.m., at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, 131 Cathedral Place. Cargo will be laid to rest in Santa Fe National Cemetery following the services.

The Cargo family asks that memorial contributions be made to the New Mexico Library Foundation, P.O. Box 30572, Albuquerque, NM 87109-0572 or to “Friends of” your local library.

There is an online guest book for Cargo HERE.

In the meantime, here's a 2010 interview with Cargo by Lorene Mills. This was around the time his autobiography Lonesome Dave was published. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to embed the video.)

4th Floor Shut Down Due to Suspicious Envelope

After someone in Gov. Susana Martinez’s office opened what was described as a “suspicious envelope,” state police on Monday closed the fourth floor of the state Capitol.

The Santa Fe Hazardous Material Team was called to investigate the situation, John Yeager of the Legislative Council Service said.

Yeager said “something fell out” of the envelope after it was opened, but added that he didn’t know if the substance was a powder.

He said he didn’t know whether the governor was in the office when the envelope was opened.

UPDATE 4:50 pm I just got this statement from the governor's spokesman:

Our front office staff was processing and sorting incoming mail this afternoon.  Shortly after 3pm, a white powdery substance came out of one of the envelopes. Staff immediately isolated themselves, then called the
Department of Public Safety and State Homeland Security Department for directions on how to respond.

Santa Fe Fire Department Hazmat is on the scene.

A second suspicious piece of mail has also been identified.  This case has been adopted by the FBI, and any further inquiries should be directed to them, or the NM Department of Public Safety.

UPDATE: 5:59 pm Assistant Santa Fe Fire Chief Jan Snyder just told reporters that tests determined that the powder wasn't toxic. The envelopes have been sent tot the FBI for further eavaluation.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Fizzled Fireworks at the Roundhouse

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
July 7, 2013

Here’s a heartwarming little tale this Fourth of July weekend that might give you just a little more faith in this Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

One cynical truism that haunts the American political landscape is that our government officials at all levels basically are for sale. Powerful lobbies get their way and stop good legislation simply by flashing campaign contributions in front of Congress members, state legislators or whoever.

That might be true in some cases. But here in New Mexico, I’ve found one case where that doesn’t seem to apply.

And what more appropriate issue to provide that example than fireworks restrictions.

Remember back in the summer of 2011, when Gov. Susana Martinez called for a bill that would give the governor the legal authority to impose a ban on all fireworks in the state? Her plea was sparked (sorry!) by major forest fires in the state that summer, especially the Las Conchas Fire near Los Alamos. (Fireworks wasn’t the cause of that fire or any of this year’s forest fires.)

I reported at the time that the last major fireworks legislation in New Mexico had been passed in the late 1990s. The law was changed then to allow cities to ban “aerial” fireworks such as bottle rockets and Roman candles, as well as “audibles” (loud firecrackers).

Dede Feldman, who at that time was still a state senator, told me then how she had introduced a bill in 2004 that would have given the governor the power to ban fireworks in emergency drought conditions. Although the state fire marshal testified in favor of the bill and Feldman said “every firefighter in the state was for it,” the bill didn’t even make it out of Feldman’s own Public Affairs Committee.

Yes, owners of fireworks stands around the state as well as fireworks manufacturers testified against the bill and lobbied hard against it.
But one factor that that didn’t come into play was contributions from the fireworks industry.

In fact, according to records available at the followthemoney.org website operated by the Institute on Money in State Politics, as of 2011, New Mexico’s largest fireworks company, American Promotional Events — which does business in the state as TNT Fireworks — dropped just over $42,000 in campaign contributions on our politicians in the previous 10 years. That might seem like a big chunk of money for most of us, but keep in mind, it amounted to just a little more than $4,000 a year spread out among dozens of state officials.

In the 2012 Legislature, there was indeed a fireworks bill that the governor backed. It had bipartisan support, with Feldman, D-Albuquerque, as the main sponsor and Rep. Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, prepared to carry it in the House. But it didn’t make it to the House. It was killed by the Senate Corporations Committee.

Campaign contributions for the 2012 cycle from TNT and affiliated companies were up compared to previous years — $7,500 from the company. (And checking last week, there’s no records of any contributions since.)

Records show that two of the six senators on the committee who voted to table the bill — Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, and Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington — received $500 contributions from American Promotional Events. Another who voted to table, Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, received a $250 contribution.

But another senator who received a $500 contribution from the company, David Ulibarri, D-Grants, (later defeated for re-election) voted against tabling the fireworks bill.

Griego last year laughed at the idea that the contribution affected his vote. “Five hundred dollars? Give me a break. Five hundred dollars isn’t going to change my vote on anything.”

I believe him. However you feel about fireworks legislation and whether Griego’s committee made the correct choice in stopping that bill, the campaign contributions made by the fireworks lobby is bird feed compared with the big cash bucks routinely dropped by other sectors like oil and gas, real estate, pharmaceuticals and public sector unions in recent years.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

R.I.P. Former Gov. Cargo

David F. Cargo, who was governor of New Mexico from Jan. 1967 until the end of 1970, is dead.

Longtime friend and Albuquerque City Council Janice Arnold-Jones said Cargo died this morning at 5:15 a.m. He was 84.

Cargo, a Republican, was known as a moderate, or sometimes even a progressive Republican. He often was at odds with his own party, which helped earn him the nickname, “Lonesome Dave.”

Cargo for several months had been living in an Albuquerque nursing facility following a stroke.

Arnold-Jones frequently visited him in the home. "He was so frustrated," she said. "His brain was going 90 miles a minute but his body would not cooperate.

Services for Cargo are pending, she said.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican.

My review of Gov. Cargo's 2012 autobiography can be found HERE

UPDATE: The time of Cargo's death has been corrected.

Gov. Susana Martinez with Gov. Cargo in 2011

Martinez Near Last in Job Creation

A national business publication has ranked Gov. Susana Martinez next to last among governors in terms of job creation.

The Business Journals -- the online media division of American City Business Journals, which consists of 40 weekly print papers around the country specializing in business news -- published what they call an  On Numbers report last week.

Martinez's page is HERE.

Report author G. Scott Thomas cautions, "Experts can (and do) argue about the the ability of any governor to manipulate a state's economy. Many are downright skeptical. Economist Justin Wolfers, for instance has written that governors often benefit from lucky breaks such as the energy boom that is driving the current growth in North Dakota and Texas."

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple was ranked number one in the job-creation report, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry was number two. (Both are Republicans,)

"But the On Numbers study reflects a basic fact of political life," Thomas said. "Governors routinely take credit for economic growth (regardless of their actual level of involvement) and are equally certain to be blamed for economic decline."

The five governors who took office this year aren't rated, Thomas explained. The overall rankings were based on the difference in private-sector employment growth rates.

UPDATE: 4:45 pm Here's the response from the Governor's Office:

For too long, New Mexico's economy has been far too dependent on federal spending. This is why Gov. Martinez is determined to diversify our economy.  Gov. Martinez took office during a period of financial turmoil. In her first legislative session, she showed job creators that we could balance the budget with no tax increases and without doing it on their backs.  For her second session she reformed the gross receipts tax by eliminating the double taxation on our construction and manufacturing industries.  And in her third and most recent session, we successfully enacted game-changing tax reform to make New Mexico more competitive with our neighbors.   

Unemployment remains below national average, we’ve seen unprecedented border development, and are now first in the nation in export growth, up from 38th.  

We face challenging times as we recover from the national recession, with federal budget cuts making recovery even more difficult.  ... we’ve sustained a steady loss of federal government jobs, at the rate of at nearly 4 percent  monthly. At the same time, we’ve experienced flat or incremental private sector job growth, which is remarkable given that in New Mexico so much of our private sector is tied to federal spending.   

Gov. Martinez is dedicated to creating jobs in New Mexico and will continue working with the Legislature to strengthen our state’s economy.