Democracy for New Mexico

Ethics Hall of Shame Charter Members: Chavez, Sanchez, Mayer, Loy

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Ken Sanchez

It's a sad day when a Democrat is the deciding vote that kills a meaningful ethics reform package. Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez did just that yesterday when he voted with Republicans Sally Mayer and Craig Loy against Brad Winter's bill to clean up city elections and government.

The measure needed at least 7 votes to pass because it would change the City Charter. It only got 6 because of Sanchez. Evidently doing the dirty work of Mayor Marty Chavez, Councilor Sanchez came down on the side of pay for play and against clean government. He therefore is a charter member of our new Ethics Hall of Shame. We'll use the Hall to spotlight those whose votes and actions serve to hold back the forces of government ethics and campaign finance reform, or those whose personal corruption merits a showcase. Since our Hall of Shame is bipartisan, the names of Craig Loy and Sally Mayer, have also been added.

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Sally Mayer

Those councilors who voted FOR the ethics reform measure were Republicans Brad Winter and Don Harris, and Democrats Debbie O'Malley, Martin Heinrich, Ike Benton, Don Harris and Michael Cadigan (although councilors run for office on a nonpartisan basis). A heart-felt shout-out of praise goes out to all of them!

According to an article in the Albuqueque Tribune, Winter's bill would have amended the City Charter to:

• Clarify the power of the city's ethics board.
• Set guidelines for reporting campaign contributions.
• Protected city workers from being forced into campaign work.
• Set rules aimed at preventing contractors from influencing politicians through campaign contributions.

Councilor Winter was justifiably angry and upset about the defeat of his bill, and pledged to put the matter to the voters in the form of a referendum in the next city election in 2007. He said the loss would make ethics the dominating issue of the next municipal election, according to an article in the Albuquerque Journal. He added:

"I am appalled. ... I am in shock that this failed, and the people of Albuquerque ought to be very disappointed. I guess that's ethics and politics."

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Craig Loy

It's telling that the three councilors who voted against these reforms have all been known in the past for their allegiance to Democrat-in-name-only Mayor Marty Chavez on a variety of controversial issues. From their 'No' votes, we can assume that Mayor Moneybags was really the force behind this effort to keep things just as they are -- with those who "donate" money to his campaign getting preference on contracts and more, with city employees pressured into supporting candidates, often on City time, with "gifts" galore paying off politicos and with an ethics board with no real power to enforce compliance. So, you guessed it, Mayor Chavez is the fourth charter member in our new Ethics Hall of Shame.

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Marty Chavez

The excuses being offered by those who killed the bill are, well, priceless. As quoted in the Tribune article, here's Ken Sanchez:

Sanchez said while "there is definitely a need for ethics reform at the state level," it isn't as necessary for Albuquerque.

"I feel we've done a great job," Sanchez said. "We live up to the highest standards of ethics."

I guess he's already forgotten about the ABQPAC scandal, among others. And all the rumors about how and why Mayor Chavez got such extravagant "contributions" from the corporate development community and others who seek to do business with the City.

Meanwhile the Journal article had this to say about Sally Mayer:

Mayer raised several questions about Winter's proposal, but she was especially critical of provisions that would prevent the mayor and councilors from trying to steer city contracts to their campaign contributors when an independent review committee recommended a different bidder.

Oh me, oh my, Sally. I completely understand. It's so difficult to attract "pay to play" bucks when you can't promise anything in return!

The Journal also reported:

Winter's legislation would have explained whose gifts must be rejected. It said city officials should not take gifts from city employees, contractors and certain other people who have dealings with city government.

The legislation defined the gifts that should be rejected, offering a list that ranged from real estate to restaurant meals, discounts, the use of property, tickets to events and nearly everything else with identifiable value.

Imagine having to conduct city business without "gifts" to show the way! You can't tell the players without a scorecard or, in this case, without a list of who gave what to whom.

Not surprisingly, I'm with Matt Brix on this one:

"You really have to ask yourself, where is the sincerity in ethics reform?" said Matt Brix, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, which worked with Winter on the bill. "The public needs to question why there was not a unanimous decision in favor of amending the charter."

I'm questioning alright, along with many others on both sides of the aisle. And we'll keep it up until we get some real reform locally and statewide. With all the corruption and cronyism that's been exposed within our ranks in NM, we can no longer ignore those who work to keep it that way, in either political party. Hear that Democrats? No free lunch for you anymore. Enough is enough. We'll be watching very closely, especially when the NM Legislature considers ethics reform in January. Count on it.

ACTION ALERT: Common Cause Ethics and Campaign Reform Kick-Off

From Common Cause NM:
As November approaches, Common Cause New Mexico plans to use the election season to ask that every candidate pledge his or her support for ethics and campaign reforms. Every aspiring elected official should commit to supporting good government, and we intend to make sure that they do.

We're launching this campaign on Wednesday, June 21, with a kickoff event at the home of Common Cause board member Eric Griego in Albuquerque!

Please join us!  Reserve your spot online for this great event:

The event will be hosted by Eric Griego, Michele Rizek, State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, former State Senator Richard Romero, former Albuquerque City Councilor Hess Yntema, Bernalillo County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta-Loeser, Albuquerque City Council President Martin Heinrich, State Senator Dede Feldman, former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, Albuquerque City Councilor Isaac Benton, Albuquerque City Councilor Debbie O'Malley, State Senator Cisco McSorley, Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks and Albuquerque City Councilor Michael Cadigan.

When: Wednesday, June 21, 2006, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Where: The home of Michele Rizek and Eric Griego: 1421 Marble NW (three blocks from Tiguex Park, near Old Town).  Go here for a map.

Suggested donation: $50 per person to Common Cause New Mexico (please note that Common Cause does not accept donations from active candidate committees).

Getting elected officials and candidates for public office to commit to ethics and campaign reform is critical.  Please join me at this important event to learn more about how Common Cause will work for much needed reform during the summer and fall, and how you can get involved in our efforts.

Sign up to join us today!  Or, if you cannot come, please consider making a contribution to our campaign efforts anyway:

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at Eric and Michele's on June 21!

Sincerely,
Matt Brix, Executive Director

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.

Mistrial Declared in Vigil Corruption Case: What Next?

The Albuquerque Journal, Heath Haussamen and Joe Monahan have the scoop on the yesterday's declaration of a mistrial in ex-NM Treasurer Robert Vigil's corruption trial. One holdout juror from Roswell refused to budge from his not-guilty mindset and put the feds in hot water on what to do next. We're hearing retrial, but the question is, when? It's expected that U.S. Attorney David Iglesias will push for a date before the November mid-term election, keeping the issue of Democratic corruption in the daily news cycle until voters go to the polls.

What does the mistrial mean for ethics and campaign reform in New Mexico? I agree with others who assert that pressure will only increase to reform our state's antiquated and toothless campaign and corruption laws. New Mexico is one of only five states that doesn't put a cap on campaign contributions, and one of 11 that lacks a state ethics commission to enforce standards. The result of this laxity is frequently on display and produced both the Vigil-Montoya and Serna scandals.

It's shocking to realize that many of the "gifts," "donations" and "contributions" that skew New Mexico politics are not illegal in any way. In essence, the system sanctions what amount to unlimited, legalized bribes that permit monied, self-interested power brokers to dominate the political scene. The narrow interests of highly paid lobbyists, powerful financial and real estate magnates and other elite and connected players repeatedly trump the needs of ordinary citizens and the common good. On both sides of the political aisle.

Big money in politics is always suspect. Unregulated money in a political system that also lacks strong transparency requirements and anti-corruption standards is the worst of all possible worlds. This is what we currently have in New Mexico and it must end. Now.

Governor Richardson has recently come out strongly for ethics and campaign reform, and has appointed an interim task force to come up with proposed legislation to attack corruption. Let's make sure it isn't another smokescreen created to give the impression that something's being done while the status quo continues unabated. Clearly we need to significantly strengthen controls on money and influence peddling in government. We need a powerful and comprehensive program to stop the corruption in its tracks and keep in there. And if we don't get it NOW, we need to hold New Mexico's Democratic leaders and officeholders strictly accountable, and -- yes -- communicate our wrath at the ballot box.

Let's all keep up the pressure by contacting the Governor, Attorney General, legislators and other office holders to urge timely and comprehensive reform. Let's attend the meetings of the ethics task force in droves, to push real change. Let's strongly support the efforts of Common Cause, which has been working long and hard on this issue in New Mexico and across the nation. If we don't do it, who will? We need to hold some feet to the fire and keep them there until we get some genuine reform. No ifs, ands or buts.

REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK: Ethics Reform Push for 2007 Legislature

This was originally a post on NM State Senator Dede Feldman's blog. Campaign finance and ethics reform may well be the most important issue today in terms of preserving and nurturing our democracy, both at the state level and nationally. The only way genuine reform will take place is if citizens keep the pressure on, pay close attention to how elected officials treat this issue and actively participate in grassroots action to ensure real change.

Senator Feldman is requesting your feedback on this issue, as well as recommendations for achieving effective reform. Please comment either on this post, or the original post on Senator Feldman's blog.

From Senator Feldman's blog: New Mexico, like many states and Washington, D.C., is experiencing an ethics scandal that seems to grow by the day.  Despite an attempt on my part, and on the part of some of my colleagues in the state legislature, the vast majority of ethics reform legislation introduced during the 2006 legislative session failed to pass.  We simply cannot let another opportunity to enact real reform pass us by during the 2007 legislative session. 

In an attempt to build momentum for ethics and campaign finance reform during the 2007 session, Governor Bill Richardson formed an ethics reform task force last week (click for more information).  The task force convenes an able group of New Mexicans who bring a diverse set of views and experiences to the table.

Governor Richardson and task force co-chair Garrey Carruthers (a former New Mexico Governor) have said that all options for reform are open (see Albuquerque Tribune article).  I certainly hope that’s the case. 

I believe the task force must consider the following reforms, as outlined by Common Cause New Mexico in a recent Albuquerque Journal opinion piece. 

“First, our state must ban gifts to public officials from persons having a financial interest in their official duties. Campaign contributions could be exempted from a ban because they are disclosed to the public. 

Second, New Mexico must develop an independent ethics oversight commission to ensure full compliance with ethics laws and rules. 

Third, campaign reports should be filed more often and should disclose more information such as the employer of every donor.  Independent expenditures, including those coming from outside of New Mexico should be reported.  Current law does not require this kind of disclosure and is the main reason the national Campaign Disclosure Project gives New Mexico disclosure laws a failing grade every year.”

“There is substantial room for improvement in the area of lobbyist disclosure.  A good start would be to require lobbyists to disclose what bills they are interested in influencing each session.”

I would add full public financing of all statewide and legislative offices, like we have for the PRC and Albuquerque city races, to the list of needed reforms. 

What do readers of this blog think are necessary steps for ethics and campaign finance reform in New Mexico?  Stay tuned for more information about upcoming meetings of the ethics reform task force.

Gov. Richardson Names Ethics Task Force

If you haven't yet checked out New Mexico political blogger Heath Haussamen, who's also a reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News, now's the time to visit. Heath has the skinny on Governor Richardson's selections for the new Ethics Task Force that will be making recommendations for action at next January's legislative session.

I'm particularly pleased to see that Common Cause NM Executive Director Matt Brix was one of those appointed. As I'm sure you'll recall, Brix and his organization were instrumental in getting the Open and Ethical Elections measure approved in Albuquerque this past Fall. This successful ballot initiative provides for voluntary public funding for municipal candidates. Other excellent picks are ex-U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, Judicial Standards Commission Executive Director Jim Noel, Albuquerque's progressive State Sen. Dede Feldman and State Rep. Ken Martinez of Grants. Haussamen has the entire list, along with analysis of the Governor's plans.

ACTION ALERT: Call ABQ Councilors on Election Ethics Bill

From Common Cause New Mexico:
Our fight to get a public financing referendum on the October 4 ballot in Albuquerque has entered a key phase.  On Monday, June 6, the Albuquerque city council held its first hearing on the Open and Ethical Elections Code.  Councilors seemed generally supportive of placing the referendum on the ballot, but we need Common Cause New Mexico members to remain vigilant because the final vote to place the referendum on the ballot will not happen until June 20.  Until then, we must keep the pressure on the city council! 

Over the next week, Common Cause New Mexico will meet with newspaper editorial boards to publicize the Open and Ethical Elections Code and work to persuade councilors that the voters should decide how campaigns are financed in our city.  It is important that we get this initiative on the October 4 ballot.  This is the first step in what will be a long campaign, but it's a crucial step.  This is where we need your help!  We need Common Cause members and friends to light up the phone lines at the city council office.  Please contact your city councilor today.  Find your councilor by entering your address and then ask for them by name at the city council office at 768-3100.  Tell them you support letting Albuquerque residents weigh in on public financing for citywide elections.

The Open and Ethical Elections Code is about returning power to where it belongs, with the voters of Albuquerque.  Find your city councilor, call their office at 768-3100, and urge him or her to support giving voters the opportunity to decide about the future of funding Albuquerque's elections.  Over the next week, we will continue to call the city council, targeting wavering members as we get closer to the June 20 vote.

Please visit the Common Cause New Mexico website in the coming week, to track the progress of the Open and Ethical Elections Code, see what the media is saying and find out how you can take action.

Thank you for all that you do for democracy in New Mexico!

Sincerely,
Matt Brix, Executive Director
Common Cause New Mexico