A Conversation with Marty Chavez, Dem Congressional Candidate in NM-01

This is a post by Mary Ellen Broderick.

Former three-term Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez invited Barb and I to sit down for a discussion regarding his reasons for running for Congress in New Mexico's First District, as well as his positions on the issues. This very important seat in the Albuquerque area will be vacated in 2012 by Congressman Martin Heinrich, who is running for U.S. Senate. Recently, we met over coffee and had a wide-ranging conversation.

Why did you decide to run for Congress?

Marty Chavez explained that by working the past 14 months as executive director of ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, he became intimately familiar with the workings of the United States Congress, which he found to be ineffectual and even damaging in the results it achieved. He said he became frustrated during his time at ICLEI, outside the walls of Congress, because the people with the votes would not support even the most basic of ideas to promote energy sustainability. He said he realized he needed to be a member of Congress to effectively promote energy sustainability as well as other potential solutions to our problems.

Marty then elaborated on many of the programs offered by ICLEI to counsel cities, states and towns of any size in ways they could adopt to promote energy savings -- simple ideas that could save bundles of money and not cost the taxpayers anything. He noted that the creation of jobs is closely tied to energy independence, and that energy independence is closely tied to national security.

He explained that one of the major strengths of CD1 is having Sandia National Laboratories located in Albuquerque, with its high percentage of PHDs, and said we could be doing a much better job of using the brainpower here to help grow our economy.

“I am running because I think I can bring that as a main focus. I would focus like a laser beam on developing the clean-tech, renewable energy economy here, using the brain power of the labs and associated companies to research and develop new technologies,” Chavez said. Throughout our discussion, Chavez returned often to this point, explaining that his time at ICLEI has educated him about the latest developments in the area of green technologies and how research and growth in the clean-tech energy sector relates to the built environment of a city or region.

If elected, Marty said he intends to be active in the Democratic caucuses -- progressive or otherwise. He said he wants to go to DC to work hard and to work with anyone who has good ideas. His main desire would be to get things done, and end the current stalematebecause it’s important to negotiate and come up with solutions to the many problems we face. He  will listen to all sides and to anyone who is seriously trying to come up with practical answers to the dilemmas we face.

He explained that the most important thing to him would be to focus on all the important work of the country and get matters moving forward. If elected to Congress, “The job would represent the balance of what I will be doing with the rest of my productive years,” he said.

Many of your campaign communications have framed you as a progressive. Can you point to achievements during your three terms as Albuquerque mayor that you consider to be progressive victories?

"I am a Democrat with progressive values, with a tremendous record of results in my three terms as Mayor of Albuquerque," Chavez said. He pointed to the public charter school he was instrumental in establishing on the UNM campus -- the Albuquerque Institute of Mathematics and Science -- which he said is having great success. In terms of education policy, Chavez says he agrees that no child left behind is not working, and needs to be abolished.  "I believe that the poor quality of education in America is one of the main reasons America is in decline -- and unnecessarily so," he noted

He said another progressive accomplishment he's very proud of was expanding and modernizing mass transit by implementing the  bus routes. The Rapid Ride buses run on an advanced energy technology, and include all the latest high-tech bells and whistles that make for efficient service.

Marty also mentioned his involvement in helping to establish Albuquerque's downtown growers market, which has blossomed into a popular and sustainable source of food grown locally. He said it helps local farmers be successful, provides locals with better access to fresh, locally grown produce and other products and has made it much easier for city dwellers to obtain and growers to market healthy products that represent a sustainable food source.

Chavez added that he started out at a young age working to promote progressive values. He noted that he volunteered as a student organizing farm workers to fight for fair working conditions.

The former mayor also said he wanted to remind voters that he was opposed to the Iraq War from the start. He said it was "the wrong thing to do, and added, "Imagine what even 1 billion dollars of money spent on that war could do for New Mexico." He asked why we still have thousands of troops in Europe when "it clearly seems there is no longer any need for them, and we could be using that funding for things we do need right here at home."

Chavez also discussed pride in his accomplishments related to helping to develop the movie industry in Albuquerque. "The movie industry is a big job creator. Unfortunately, it is being decimated by the current administrations at both the city and state level," he said.

Other Issues

LGBT Rights: Chavez said he was proud that he has always been a huge supporter of the LGBT community, for instance, by providing equality in terms of benefits for LGBT city workers. “This was done years ago at a time when it was not yet fashionable to support equal rights for the LGBT community,” he noted.

Job Creation: Marty said he feels strongly that if you create an atmosphere that is attractive to creative people -- to the so-called creative class -- then high-paying jobs and wealth will follow them. He explained that was why he spent so much time and effort while serving as mayor to improve and expand Albuquerque's amenities, like the Bio Park and Balloon Fiesta Park and Museum, and to generally work on making Albuquerque a more attractive place to live.

Minimum Wage: Asked about the position he took related to raising Albuquerque's minimum wage, Chavez said he has always believed that the minimum wage should be handled at the federal level. However, because no action on that had occurred at the federal level for years, he came to believe that local municipalities needed to step in and pass legislation to raise the minimum wage level. "I signed the bill passed by the City Council, and I make no apologies for doing so," Marty said.

Labor Unions: Marty explained that one of the biggest challenges this country is facing is the shrinking of the middle class. "When the country was doing well, it was heavily unionized, and the average American could buy the house and the boat, and live a good life," he said. Chavez said he believes we need a good, strong labor presence. He did admit, however, to "having a bias of being pro-business as well. The ma and pa businesses don’t need unions," he said.

Montano Bridge: Chavez noted that the controversial Montano Bridge project passed each and every environmental hurdle with flying colors. He said Albuquerque was in dire need of another river crossing in order to prosper and connect the city's East and West sides, and he believes he did the right thing in pushing for its completion, which happened in 1998. The Montano Bridge was later widened, which created another round of controversy.

The Race: In summary, Chavez said that if the Democratic primary election is all about determining which of the candidates is the "real progressive," we will neglect the practical issues that people care about and lose the general election. He believes the election should be decided by: "Who has strong Democratic values? Who has a record of accomplishments? Who can get things done? Who can win the election?" 

The Campaign

Marty said he is building a very high powered team in terms of a manager, treasurer and fundraising operation. He stressed that he is assembling an A team, and that he has a tremendous amount of passion for the CD1 congressional seat. Last week, we blogged about his hire of former Martin Heinrich Campaign Manager Alan Packman.  Marty also has City Councilor Ken Sanchez on board as Treasurer.

The former Mayor said his campaign fundraising is going well and that’s he’s especially encouraged by the strong grassroots support he’s received. Noting that many fundraisers will take place around New Mexico in the near future, as well as in DC, he said, "Please contribute! This seat is a must retain seat for Democrats and I believe I'm the best candidate to make sure we keep it."

"I'm in this to win -- because I believe I am the right person for the job -- I intend to give it all I've got," he said. 

Note: In the coming weeks, the Democracy for New Mexico blog plans to conduct and publish informal interviews with the other Democratic candidates in the NM-01 race -- Eric Griego and Michelle Lujan-Grisham. Watch for them.