Guest Blog: Don't Be Blindly Loyal, Vote for Rick Lass for PRC

This is a guest blog by long-time health care advocate and progressive Democratic activist Charlotte Roybal of Santa Fe.

The following editorial by the Las Vegas Optic expresses my views on the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) race in Northern New Mexico where Democrat Jerome Block Jr. is running against another candidate, Rick Lass. As a life-long Democrat, I cannot support a candidate who is unwilling to tell us where he stands on PRC issues. Many other Democrats share my views on this race and have come out in support of Lass. Unfortunately, Block's troubling statements and actions in this campaign have demonstrated such poor judgment, dishonesty and instability that we cannot support his candidacy.

We hope other Democrats will consider voting for Rick Lass for PRC in November. This of course means that you must take the time NOT to vote straight party ticket in the north. For more information go to Rick's web site at: www.ricklass.net.

Las Vegas Optic Editorial: Don't Be Blindly Loyal

Make no mistake about it, northern New Mexico is solidly Democratic. As a result, the party sometimes takes this area for granted.

Some people are loyal to the Democrats, others to the Republicans or Greens. But no party has a monopoly on wisdom and that's why we recommend against blind loyalty to your party. As such, we encourage voters to think twice before they vote straight ticket for any party.

Look at the District 3 race for the state Public Regulation Commission. It's between Democrat Jerome Block Jr. and Green Party candidate Rick Lass; no Republican entered the race. Amazingly, Block beat five candidates in the June Democratic primary — all of whom had more experience for the position involving regulation of utilities and insurance. But Block had an asset the others didn't — a politically powerful name. Both his father and grandfather had served on the PRC's predecessor, the State Corporation Commission.

In our view, Block's lineage shouldn't serve as a reason for his election as commissioner. Indeed, he has nothing much to offer the people of northern New Mexico.

The biggest problem with Block is that he seems to have an unhappy relationship with the truth. It's been well-documented in this newspaper that Block lied about having a country music band perform at a local rally. Indeed, he paid the band for a performance that never happened. A band member said he gave the money right back, but there's nothing to show for it in Block's campaign finance report. (PRC campaigns are publicly funded.) To make matters worse, Block has lied about his arrest record and inflated his educational credentials.

So if you vote straight-party Democrat on Nov. 4, you would essentially be supporting a candidate who would not only be ill-prepared to handle the responsibilities of PRC commissioner, but also not have the integrity that the public rightly demands of its leaders.

So far, the Democrats have yet to repudiate Block's candidacy. Maybe they don't want to go "off message." But we think it's time the party machine recognizes reality.

This is a guest blog by Charlotte Roybal of Santa Fe. Guest blogs provide our readers with an opportunity to express their views on topics of interest to our readers. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

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