Democracy for New Mexico

DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight

Our regular monthly Albuquerque DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup is set for tonight, Thursday, October 5, 2006, at 7:00 PM, at the First Unitarian Church Social Hall at 3701 Carlisle Blvd NE. Featured speakers include Felicia Griffin, Director of Development, New Mexico Voices for Children; and Shay Rose, Dem candidate for State Representative in District 28. We'll finish with an open discussion on the upcoming election so you can share your thoughts with the group and say your piece about recent events.

Click here to RSVP for the Meetup or join the group and get on our email list.

Free Screenings: Iraq for Sale

From Terry Riley:
Please go to the following web site to sign up to see a free screening of the new Robert Greenwald movie - Iraq for Sale:

https://iraqforsale.org/screenings.php

This movie documents the shameful waste of the money that the Bush Administration threw at the American corporations who took advantage of the occupation of Iraq. This is an important movie to see. The movie is being shown at the American GI Forum on Friday October 6th at 7 PM. The web site incorrectly lists it as Sunday October 8th. Please make sure that you note that the screening is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6th. It's co-hosted by Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Democracy for New Mexico and American GI Forum.

There is plenty of parking and seating.  You can get other information from the web site, as well as sign up for other screenings of the movie in New Mexico or schedule a screening of your own.

Jim Baca Keynote Speaker at Tonight's DFA-DFNM Meetup

Jim Baca stops in to say hi at our Meetup in April.
This time he's our featured speaker.

Our monthly Albuquerque DFA-Democracy for NM Meetup is set for tonight at 7:00 PM at the First Unitarian Church Social Hall at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque.

Our keynote speaker will be former Albuquerque Mayor JIM BACA, who's running on the Dem ticket for State Land Commissioner. It's a very important race in terms of our state's environment and use of public lands. Baca is running hard against an incumbent Republican who's funded largely by oil and gas interests. Come meet Jim Baca and learn more about this race. You can also visit his website linked to his name above or check out his blog, Only in New Mexico. All Dems are strongly urged to donate some bucks or time to Jim's campaign.

We'll also have a short presentation from our local Communities United to Strengthen America group about their work on healthcare and retirement security, and a short report from Lynn Jacobs on her trip to this year's DFA DemocracyFest in San Diego. To join our email list or RSVP for tonight's activistiies, visit our group page at the Meetup website.

DFA-DFNM MEETUP THURSDAY: Politics & Ice Cream

Our regular monthly DFA-Democracy for NM Meetup is set for this Thursday, July 6th, at 7:00 PM, at the First Unitarian Church Social Hall at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque. Click to RSVP or join our group.

This month's agenda includes Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Chair Marvin Moss, who'll update us on coming rules changes and other Party news and take your questions.

Our featured segment will be a compelling talk by Bill and Anne Kass, who just returned from a Global Exchange "reality tour" of Bolivia. They'll have all kinds of fascinating news and anecdotes about the changing political and social situation there with the election of Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia. Activism and democracy are on the march with Bolivians working hard to take control of their water, energy and natural resources, and struggling to benefit the disenfranchized and indigenous populations via their socialist movement.

Afterwards, stay for our FREE ICE CREAM SOCIAL. Savor a refreshing ice cream sundae while you hang out and chat with other participants. We'll provide the ice cream, whipped cream, syrup, nuts and maraschino cherries. You provide the bon appetit.

Hope to see you there! Many of our members are on vacation or out of town this week, so our Meetup should be intimate and afford plenty of opportunity for questions and interaction.

Results of the DFA-DFNM Unofficial Straw Poll

Here are the final results of our unofficial straw poll voting by members, which ran at the Albuquerque DFA-DFNM Meetup site. Polls were run for the major contested Democratic statewide primary races. Thanks to all who participated! (Winners shown in red.)

Attorney General
35%  Gary King 
12%  Lemuel Martinez 
43%  Geno Zamora 
07%  Undecided 

Secretary of State
76%  Stephanie Gonzales 
05%  Mary Herrera 
07%  Shirley Hooper 
07%  Letitia Montoya 
02%  Undecided 

State Land Commissioner
54%  Jim Baca
45%  Ray Powell

State Auditor
60%  Jeff Armijo
28%  Thomas Buckner
10%  Undecided

DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight: Ethics in Government

DON'T MISS THIS ONE! DFA-Democracy for New Mexico's regular monthly Meetup tonight in Albuquerque will focus on the timely issue of ethics in government and politics. Our panel includes MATT BRIX of Common Cause NM and JIM NOEL, Executive Director of the NM Judicial Standards Commission, both of whom are members of the Ethics Task Force appointed by Governor Richardson to examine what needs to be done to improve ethics and make recommendations for legislation to achieve it. Also on the panel are CARTER BUNDY of AFSCME and ELI LEE of Soltari.

We'll have a panel discussion and Q and A about reforming ethics laws in New Mexico that regulate campaign finance and the conduct of candidates and officeholders.

DFA-DFNM Meetup
Thursday, June 1, 7:00 PM
First Unitarian Church Social Hall
Carlisle and Comanche, Albuquerque

The Ethics Task Force met on May 30th and will meet again on June 28-29 up in Santa Fe. Anyone interested in reforming our state's antiquated and inadequate campaign finance, lobbying and accountability laws are urged to attend and keep the pressure on for genuine reform. Our discussion tonight can provide you with what you need to know about the process and how we can be effective advocates for ethics reform in New Mexico.

According to an article in the Albuquerque Journal, the task force set these reform priorities at their May 30th meeting:

• publicly financed campaigns
• caps on contributions
• legislative salaries
• a state ethics commission
• limits on gifts to candidates and public officials

The Albuquerque Tribune has more on this too. Governor Richardson has asked for a report from the group by November 1st and has stated he will use the recommendations of the task force to form the core of his legislative push for ethics and campaign reform at the next session in January. New Mexico is one of only five states that have no limits on campaign donations and one of only 11 that lacks a state ethics commission.

If you haven't yet RSVPed for tonight's Meetup, click here. To join our Meetup group and get on our email list, go here.

The DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup was established in April 2003 as a Dean for America campaign Meetup. Once Howard Dean was out of the presidential race, we transformed ourselves into a progressive grassroots activism group and an information clearinghouse for progressives. We hold regular monthly Meetups on the first Thursday of each month. Our email list currently contains more than 680 people. We have loose ties to the national group Democracy for America but, like all DFA-related groups in every state of the country, we operate independently with no legal ties to DFA.

DFA-DFNM Meetup to Feature New Dem Field Organizers

Our regular DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup is set for Thursday, March 2nd at 7PM at the First Unitarian Church on Carlisle and Comanche. If you plan to attend, please RSVP.

Our special guests are two of the new DNC field organizers in NM who are charged with outreach and Party building. Joe Casados and Anathea Chino will be explaining their roles, reporting on their activities and plans and explaining how we can help. We want to build a good working relationship with the field coordinators and this is an excellent opportunity to connect.

Howard Dean with Irene Para, Anathea Chino, Angela Chavez, Joe Casados
(Photo courtesy DPNM)

We'll also be hearing about the paper ballot bill, which will be signed by Governor Richardson the morning of Meetup, and what we need to do to make sure the machines are purchased in every county as soon as possible. In addition, we'll have announcements from several folks and a chance to discuss last week's visit to NM by Howard Dean.

Hope to see you there!

DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight

Our Albuquerque DFA-DFNM Meetup is tonight at 7:00 PM at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche.

Our agenda includes a visit from Letitia Montoya, who's running for NM Secretary of State, discussion on the recent Democratic Party State Central Committee meeting and related grassroots activism, what's happening with the Legislative Election Reform Task Force and a segment on preserving reproductive freedom.

Also, since this is our last Meetup before the holidays and winter solstice, we'll be sharing some special treats and cheer. Hope to see you there! To join the DFA-DFNM Albuquerque Meetup or RSVP for tonight's event, visit our Meetup page: https://dfa.meetup.com/160/

DFA-DFNM ABQ Meetup to Feature NM Rep. Mimi Stewart

NM REP. MIMI STEWART will be attending our DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup to discuss how we can effectively support progressive legislators and bills and work together toward common goals. She'll also be answering our questions. You may recall that Rep. Steward was scheduled for last month's Meetup but was tied up due to the special legislative session in Santa Fe. We're very pleased to have Rep. Stewart as our guest and hope we'll have a big turnout to welcome her!

After announcements about several upcoming events, there will be a round-table discussion about our legislative goals, as well as how we can get elected officials and candidates to commit to core Democratic values.

Hope to see you this Thursday, November 3rd at 7:00 PM at the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche for our DFA-DFNM Meetup!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP at our Meetup site by clicking here or on the Meetup logo on the upper left-hand sidebar on this page.

DFNM Endorses Griego for Mayor!

Councilor Wins Overwhelming Support from Albuquerque Members

Democracy for New Mexico on Thursday endorsed City Councilor Eric Griego in his campaign to be the next mayor of Albuquerque.

Following a recent mayoral poll of DFNM’s active Albuquerque members, in which Griego earned 86 percent of the vote, we made our endorsement official at our monthly DFA-DFNM Meetup Thursday. The next Mayor of Albuquerque (!) attended the meeting to express his appreciation to the group, answer questions and fire up our members to bring the grassroots power of DFNM to bear in the remaining two months before the October 4th election.

Our members are impressed with Councilor Griego’s common sense positions on planned growth strategies, a budget that serves the basic needs of our residents and neighborhoods, assuring a living wage for workers, youth outreach and engagement, reenergizing the ethical climate in city government and better protecting our environment. Perhaps most of all, we appreciate Griego’s courage and tenacity in going to bat for ordinary citizens.

DFNM’s endorsement process started with a mayoral candidate forum held in June and culminated in an email vote of our active Albuquerque members. Candidates were evaluated on their dedication to progressive social issues coupled with a fiscally responsible approach to governing and a commitment to grassroots campaigning.

“As a progressive Democrat, I am honored to have DFNM’s endorsement,” Griego said. “The members of Democracy for New Mexico know that real Democratic values – like raising the minimum wage and protecting our natural environment – are key to making our city even better. They also know that I will return these Democratic values to the mayor’s office.”

Griego also said that he agrees with DFNM in wanting better planning for Albuquerque’s growth and a balanced approach to public safety that would include treatment and prevention along with punishment.

Griego has already received endorsements from AFSCME, UFCW, Sierra Club and Conservation Voters New Mexico

Now's the time to contribute to or volunteer for Eric Griego's campaign by visiting his website:

https://ericgriego.com/

Let's follow through with strong support for his race!