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Friday, May 04, 2007
Two More Hats in the Ring?
A little birdie (and it wasn't Bosco, Sunny or our seven parakeets) told me that . . . Javier Gonzales and Don Wiviott are two more Democrats considering entering the U.S. Senate Race to run against Domenici. Again, these are essentially rumors, but ...
In 1994, at only 27 years of age, Javier Gonzales was elected to the Santa Fe County Commissioner, where he served two four-year terms. According to the New Mexico Highlands University website, Gonzales works as a consultant at the global management firm, Accenture, and serves as the President of the NMHU Board of Regents:
Javier Gonzales is an Associate Partner in the Accenture Government Practice. His primary responsibility is to serve as the National Business Development Director for Local Government. Prior to joining Accenture, Javier served eight years as a Santa Fe County Commissioner. During his term as County Commissioner, Javier was elected to serve as the President of the National Association of Counties (NACo). Javier was the first Hispanic to serve as President in the organizations 66 year history as well as the youngest. Javier is a co-owner in his family business KSWV-AM 81 Radio Que Suave. It is Northern New Mexico's largest privately owned radio station.
His father, George Gonzales, was Mayor of Santa Fe from 1968 to 1972 and a County Commissioner before that. While on the County Commission, Javier is reportedly credited with helping to initiate Santa Fe County’s open space program, pass the County's first economic development plan and create the position of Health Policy Commissioner, among other things. Javier has also served on the Board of the National Hispanic Cultural Center and, according to this, he's also on the New Mexico First Board. Last month, Gov. Richardson appointed Gonzales to head a Higher Education Campus Safety Task Force in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy.
At last weekend's Dem meeting in Las Cruces, Gonzales hosted a packed event at the Double Eagle, where he treated the crowd to prime rib and more.
Don Wiviott is the developer of The Lofts, The Lofts at Marquez Place, and the Railyard, which are all innovative live-work unit projects in Santa Fe. He's also chaired the Santa Fe Development Review Committee.
Anyone out there know any other back stories on these two?
See our earlier Hats in the Ring post.
May 4, 2007 at 04:40 PM in 2008 NM Senate Race, Candidates & Races, Democratic Party | Permalink
Comments
It bothers me that Gonzales was involved with NMHU when Manny Aragon was there and that he works for Accenture, whose record is very antidemocratic and sleazy. Think Enron and go from there. Google them and you'll find numerous articles about their wrongdoing.
Posted by: Coyote3 | May 5, 2007 12:53:12 PM
I guess money talks. I'm uneasy about both of these guys. Hector Balderas looks better and better as the right one to run against Domenici. I hope he is really thinking about it.
Posted by: Old Dem | May 5, 2007 1:21:24 PM
Gonzales is actually a thoughtful public servant, and has carefully chaired the Highlands Board of Regents through this time of transition.
Manny Aragon was already mortally wounded by his own performance and record at Highlands before Gonzales was appointed to the Board and they had no prior relationship. As the Board worked on the necessary changes to move the University forward, Aragon resigned before facing negative performance reviews.
If anything, it demonstrated it was no longer business as usual at Highlands and that Gonzales and the Board were bringing transparency and accountability to everyone, from the administration to the faculty.
Also, I attended that nice reception in Las Cruces, and although Gonzales claimed he was just saying "thank you" to the delegates for their hard work, he clearly wants them to get reacquainted with him, and he was sure looking "senatorial" in a dark suit and tie.
Posted by: Desert Dem | May 6, 2007 7:34:34 PM
Javier Gonzales would be the best candidate by far.
Keep in mind that he brought justice to NMHU, and keep in mind that it was Tony Anaya and the other regents at the time that hired Manny Aragon.
Also keep in mind that he has testified before Congress and the Whitehouse to support the nation's counties when he was elected President of the National Association of Counties.
Hector Balderas hasn't done much in my opinion. He was lucky that Jeff Armijo dropped out of the race, or else he would have never won.
Posted by: John Quinones | May 6, 2007 9:41:53 PM
Does it bother anyone else that Javier Gonzales works for Accenture? They have been in the news for horrible scandals and fraudulent practices so I don't trust anyone who is paid by them to be what amounts to a lobbyist. We need candidates who serve the people not lobby for big corporations that are into dirty business.
Posted by: Que Suave - No | May 7, 2007 8:40:56 AM
Information on Accenture:
https://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199200496
"Accenture, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems have operated illegal kickback schemes over the last 10 years that have bilked taxpayers out of millions of dollars annually through government IT contracts, federal prosecutors say.
The allegations were contained in separate lawsuits filed last week in an Arkansas federal court by the Department of Justice. The complaints claimed the defendants paid or received kickbacks from dozens of companies in violation of federal law, while denying that they had such arrangements. In filing the complaints, the DOJ joined whistleblower suits that were filed against the companies in 2004."
https://www.thelandesreport.com/SERVEaccenture.htm
"Accenture is the leading offshore beneficiary of government contracts whose main business is the privatization of government services, according to Lee Drutman of Citizen Works, a non-profit founded by Ralph Nader. Accenture has a troubling track record, a close business relationship with Dick Cheney's Halliburton, and 2500 partners - more than half are not U.S. citizens."
Posted by: Accenture | May 7, 2007 12:20:32 PM
If it makes any difference, I don't think Gonzales works for Accenture anymore. That bio must not be up to date. And for that matter, he was a local government IT consultant for a period of time, and not corporate or privatization guy. So to link his character with the whole corporation is a bit of a stretch.
We can either link candidates to every conceivable association or relationship they have to assign an unfair criticism, OR we can focus on what they are actually doing to serve people and what the results are.
Now that we've ping-ponged on Gonzales, what about Don Wiviott? I've spoken with him before and he seemed like a sincere and fair-minded guy. I wonder how his name came up.
I was hoping he'd announce for Mayor of Santa Fe.
Posted by: Desert Dem | May 7, 2007 1:52:31 PM
Wiviott's corporate-backed (Coors is a big contributor) and establishment/big business all the way.
Ben Ray Lujan's so corrupt and incompetent he's almost the comic relief, were it not for his father's apparent determination to get him this job (along with every other job he's ever had)
Seems to me Shendo and Montoya are the only legitimate candidates in the race. We'll see.
Posted by: -FS | Feb 13, 2008 6:41:06 PM
You are ridiculous FS. Maybe you should start spreading the word that Montoya is against a woman's right to choose and taking orders from the catholic church. Shendo is OK, but not up to the job at all.
Posted by: Northern nm sal | Feb 14, 2008 4:30:15 PM
