Democracy for New Mexico

Thursday on 'We The People': NM Voices for Children

WE THE PEOPLE

Guest

Bill Jordan

New Mexico Voices for Children

Albuquerque Channel 27

November 8th, 6 PM.

Not a cable subscriber?  Watch simultaneously on your  high-speed computer:

https://www.quote-unquote.org

Click for Channel 27s Media Stream -> Half way down the page on the Right.

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments.

THANKS FOR WATCHING

Mickey Bock, Host  Judith Binder, Producer

Javier Benavidez Named CVNM Outreach Director

Javier Benavidez, one of our favorite people on the local political scene, has joined as the outreach director. According to the CVNM website, Benavidez is passionate about protecting New Mexico as the "Land of Enchantment" both through fighting for the conservation of our state's natural surroundings and through respecting New Mexicans' unique spiritual and cultural relationship with our environment.

Javier was born in Santa Fe, raised in Albuquerque and graduated with a B.S. in Political Science from Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in California. He's almost finished with two masters' degrees at the University of New Mexico -- one in Public Administration and another in Community and Regional Planning.

Prior to joining CVNM, Javier served for four years as a Policy Analyst to the Albuquerque City Council, working with Councilor Martin Heinrich on projects including smart growth, community-oriented economic development and a fair wage campaign. He loves spending time with his family and enjoys serving on the boards of various community organizations involved in struggles for social justice. He is a board member at , the Southwest Organizing Project and the Sawmill Community Land Trust. He also co-hosts Espejos de Aztlan, a weekly radio show at KUNM 89.9 FM about grassroots public affairs throughout New Mexico. Good luck with your new assignment, Javi!

More Video Clips: Rep. Tom Udall at State Party Meeting

UPDATE 11/6/07: I wanted to add another clip, this one from KOAT-TV:

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In clip 3 of 5, Rep. Tom Udall on supporting our troops.

I've uploaded a few more short video clips from Rep. Tom Udall's speech Saturday at the Democratic Party of New Mexico's State Central Committee meeting at CNM's Smith-Brasher Hall in Albuquerque. See my previous post with video of Rep. Udall saying he'll announce whether he will run for U.S. Senate within two weeks, plus photos and commentary.

The video above (Part 3 of 5) has Udall speaking about supporting our troops and how the Iraq invasion was the major foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. Also see these video clips:

Part 2 of 5: Click for comments on needing 60 votes in the Senate to end the war and overcome filibusters in the Senate on other bills passed in the House.

Part 4 of 5: Click for comments on expanding children's health care with S-CHIP

Part 5 of 5: Protecting and defending our privacy rights and the U.S. Constitution:

Although the clip above cuts off, Udall continues with a statement of support for holding the telecoms accountable for their cooperation with the Bush administration in conducting illegal warrantless surveillance. He also says he'd rather lose an election than vote to give away rights guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

We wish we could have gotten video of Udall's entire speech, as well as the many other rousing and articulate speeches of Dem candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House seats in NM-01 and NM-02, and other important parts of the NM State Central Committee meeting. However, it's difficult to get everything when you're also active participants in the meeting with membership on the SCC. I will be posting more photos and commentary on the SCC meeting though, so stay tuned.

Also, bear with us on the video quality. We're currently using the limited video function of a still digital camera for these clips. However, plans are afoot to get a real digial video cam for future use. Tick tock.

See our previous coverage of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico in our archive. Also see the revamped Draft Udall website and coverage at . All video by M.E. Broderick.

(Updated) Tom Udall on Possible Senate Run: Two Weeks to Decide

UPDATE: See more video of Rep. Udall speaking at the SCC meeting in my Monday post.
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Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) spoke to New Mexico Democrats yesterday at the Party's State Central Committee meeting at Smith-Brasher hall at CNM in Albuquerque. Bottom line: Udall will take another two weeks to listen to what the people and his family have to say, and weigh the pros and cons of giving up his secure U.S. House seat in Northern New Mexico before making a decision on entering the 2008 U.S. Senate in New Mexico (video above).

Udall (R) had many conversations with Dems at the meeting

Udall spent a lot of time mingling and listening to what Democrats at the meeting had to say about the possibility of his entering the race. Many of them were urging him to step right in, no doubt about it.

Part of the Run, Tom, Run brigade greets Udall

Udall entered the hall to a standing ovation, loud chants of "Run, Tom, Run" and a multitude of waving signs urging the same. His speech touched on many of today's hot button issues including Iraq, supporting our troops by getting them out of harm's way, protecting civil liberties, holding the telecoms accountable for warrantless surveillance and providing expanded children's health care. He emphasized that we need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome filibusters on bills that the U.S. House has been passing  on matters like ending the war and regaining and preserving our Constitutional rights. It certainly sounded to me like he was leaning towards running to take back the seat held for so long by Pete Domenci, and helping to make that 60 vote majority a reality in the Senate.

More Run, Tom, Run during Udall's speech

I'll be writing much more about the business conducted at Saturday's SCC meeting and the rousing speeches of candidates for the U.S House and Senate, as well as posting more video and photos. Today's my partner's birthday, however, and we'll be celebrating that first and foremost! Check back later today and tomorrow for more coverage as time permits.

Udall belting out the Star Spangled Banner with other Dems

See our previous coverage of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico in our archive. Also see the revamped Draft Udall website and coverage at .

Click on photos for larger images. All photos and video by M.E. Broderick, who's NOT a professional but does pretty darn good with a small digital camera's limited capabilities. We're hoping to get a real video camera soon but, in the meantime, the less than top-notch quality of the video will have to suffice.

Latest on Sunday Rally to Save UNM North Golf Course Green Space

If you care about saving UNM's North Golf Course as Albuquerque's largest green space in the cental city, be sure to show up for these Sunday events if you can. All are welcome:

Neighbors and users of the University of New Mexico North Golf Course plan a rally in the UNM Law School parking lot at 3:30 PM Sunday, November 4 before meeting with university officials and development representatives to discuss the future of the golf course.

The public meeting with UNM President David Schmidly is scheduled for 4 PM in Room 2401 of the law school.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, City Councilor Isaac Benton, City Councilor-elect Rey Garduno, County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta, and  legislators Gail Chasey and Danice Picraux are all slated to speak at the rally.  Lieutenant Governor Diane D. Denish, who is an alumni of UNM and a member  of the Netherwood Park Neighborhood Association, will address the public during the  town hall meeting.

UNM Regents have announced plans to consider development of the 80-acre site for gated "villas," a health complex and retirement village ­a move opposed by golfers, neighbors and thousands of city residents who use the site for jogging, dog-walking and bird-watching. The university owns other lands less intensively used and more appropriate for development, especially one unlikely to bring the financial returns promised by the university, said Sara Koplik, North Campus Neighborhood Association president.

"We are open to listening to university officials, but we believe we have never been given the whole story about UNM's plans," Koplik said. "We hope to have a civil exchange of ideas about a resource used by the entire city."

Koplik said the university's seeming lack of candor has galvanized those who wish to see the golf course remain a green space ­ with some needed improvements to its infrastructure. Elected officials who support retention of the North Course have asked to speak at the rally preceding the meeting with university officials.

President Schmidly will give a presentation at 4 PM followed by public comment. Initially, Cooperative Retirement Services of America intended to present, however now they will be attending in a observational capacity.

See the Neighbors for Green Space website for more info on this issue, as well as our previous post.

Los Alamos Study Group to Hold Weekly Public Meetings in ABQ and Santa Fe

From the Los Alamos Study Group:
The Los Alamos Study Group is beginning a series of weekly public breakfast seminar and discussion meetings in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. There will be 21 meetings at each location over the coming six-month period. We’ll start this week and end the first week in April, plotting our direction for future meetings from there. We won’t have meetings during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The overall theme of these seminars will be “Dimensions of the Global Crisis: Responses and Renewal.”  Of course we will emphasize nuclear policy, New Mexico, and we ourselves as actors and participants.  This week's topic will be "Los Alamos in Crisis -- The Decline and Fall of a Nuclear Weapons Laboratory?" We hope to alternate each week between factual aspects of the unfolding crisis (which is a crisis for New Mexico in particular) on the one hand, and our political response to it on the other.

Everybody is invited.  We expect these discussions to be informative, lively, and inspiring, despite the hour. If you aren't awake when you arrive I trust you will be an hour and a half later. Topics will be announced beforehand. Besides core Study Group personnel there will be occasional guest speakers. 

The Albuquerque meetings will be held every Wednesday morning at the Mennonite Church, 1300 Girard NE. The first meeting was October 31. There will be no meetings on November  21 or December 26.

The Santa Fe meetings will be held every Thursday morning at the United Church of Santa Fe, 1804 Arroyo Chamiso. The first meeting will be November 1. There will be no meetings on November 22 or December 27.

Meetings will begin at 7:25 AM and end at 8:45 AM. (Please be prompt!) Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast will be provided. There is no cost –- provided there are enough donations to cover the modest expenses. We’ll pass the hat.

In addition to these meetings, if you would like someone from the Study Group to speak to your church, peace group, college class, or organization, please call or write. We have a small speakers’ bureau and in all likelihood we can probably respond favorably.

Website: https://www.lasg.org

Rally & Town Hall Meeting on Proposed UNM North Golf Course Development Set for 11.4.07

From Neighbors for Green Space: Big crowd needed for Rally to preserve the UNM North Golf Course and Green Space! Come show your support! Download a FLYER (pdf) and post it or pass it on.

FIrst there will be a Rally
Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 3:30 PM
UNM Law School parking lot
1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque, adjoining the course

Followed by a TOWN HALL MEETING where UNM President Schmidly will meet with all those concerned about development of the proposed luxury retirement village on the grounds of the North campus golf course:

Town Hall Meeting
Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 4:00 PM
(this is the rescheduled time)
UNM Law School, Room 2401
Please click to RSVP
Questions? Email Sarah Koplik, President, North Campus Neighborhood Association at info@neighborsforgreenspace.com

Please write the UNM Regents, Gov. Bill Richardson, Mayor Martin Chavez and UNM President David Schmidly: click for contact information.

Neighbors for Green Space are in favor of:

• Maintaining the North Golf Course as the largest open green space in central Albuquerque
• Conserving trees on the North Golf Course that give beauty and protection from pollution
• Preserving the North Golf Course as a refuge for wildlife
• Keeping the North Golf Course as a revenue-generator for UNM
• Utilizing the two-mile perimeter trail for walking, exercise, and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle
• Setting aside permanently the North Golf Course and protecting it from development
• We support the Legislature's efforts to protect this valuable community resource

Editor's Note: For more info about this issue, see our previous post.

New Book Parties & Discussions: Community Organizing

From Mark Rudd:
I know this coming weekend, November 3 and 4, is tragically busy, but please consider attending one of these book parties and discussions, Saturday in Santa Fe and Sunday in Albuquerque. My old friend Michael Brown, with a lifetime of experience in community organizing, has written an extraordinary book, an easy-to-read guide. The title tells it all, every word of which is covered in the book: Building Powerful Community Organizations. Michael writes simply and directly and tells lots of stories from the his own experience.  Whether you're a veteran organizer or a novice activist, you'll want to meet Michael (muy charming) and read his book. Tell young activists about this, please.

Michael's trip to New Mexcio is sponsored by the National Organizers' Alliance. Saturday's discussion and party is at Terry Odendahl's house in Santa Fe. Sunday you can go to the Peace Center discussion and party after the Dia de los Muertos events. Information is below. Thanks.

Book Party and Organizing Discussion
Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World, a new book about community organizing, by Michael Jacoby Brown , (Long Haul Press. 2007). Introduction by Mark Rudd. Also see: and Long Haul Press.

Sunday, November 4, 2007, 7 PM
Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center
202 Harvard St , Albuquerque, NM
Sponsored by the National Organizers Alliance
RSVP: 505-268-9557

"Michael Brown is a superb guide. His book is full of thoughtful, practical advice for community organizers, and indeed for anyone who wants to participate at the grass roots in making ours a more just society."  -Howard Zinn

"Michael Jacoby Brown distills more than 30 years of organizing into his book, which every aspiring and veteran activist should own." -Library Journal (starred review)

And in Santa Fe:
Saturday night, November 3, 2007, 7:30 PM
At the home of Terry Odendahl
1439 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, NM
RSVP: Terry Odendahl at (505) 216-9756

Directions: From Albuquerque: take the St. Francis exit off Interstate I25. Go north 3 long blocks. Turn right on Columbia and right again on Miracerros Loop South. From Santa Fe: Go south on Galisteo. Turn right on Columbia and left on Miracerros Loop South.

Books will be on sale for discounted rate of $15. Available at bookstores for $19.95 or Michael Jacoby Brown, (781) 648 1508 or Email: MBrown7387@aol.com or Michael's cell: : 617 645 0226). Co-sponsored by the National Organizers Alliance www.noacentral.org and the Institute for Collaborative Change , Santa Fe.

North Campus Meeting to Discuss Alternatives to UNM Golf Course Development

Stung by the University of New Mexico's aggressive pursuit of a retirement village development on UNM's North Golf Course ­after assurances in April from Acting UNM President David Harris that there were no development plans, the North Campus Neighborhood Association has called a meeting to be held at 5:00 PM on October 28 to form an action plan. The meeting will be in Room 2401 of the UNM Law School, 1117 Stanford NE in Albuquerque, which adjoins the course.

"The University in public and private meetings has repeatedly said they had no plans to develop the golf course. But last week we learned about a plan that would eat up two thirds of the existing UNM North Golf Course," said neighborhood association president Sara Koplik. "This plan does not value the multiple benefits of the course, which is really Albuquerque¹s Central Park. It's the People's Course -- affordable, centrally located and popular with the golfing public, but also used extensively by birders, runners, dog-walkers and nature lovers of all kinds."

UNM issued a request for information in February soliciting interest in commercial development of multiple properties in its real estate portfolio, including the North Golf Course. It announced plans to proceed with more detailed discussion with Co-operative Retirement Services of America (CRSA) and JP Morgan Chase for a "continuing life care community" dubbed Lobo Village. Preliminary plans posted on the university web site show the North Golf Course shrunk to a so-called "executive course" with buildings and parking lots consuming what is now open, green space.

"The neighborhood does not oppose a retirement village. But UNM owns ample undeveloped lands that are more suitable for development ­ and wouldn't lay siege to a natural jewel in the heart of the city," Koplik said. Lands owned by UNM include the Elks Lodge on University, car dealerships along the south side of Lomas and a swath of undeveloped parcels called Lands West, located west of University Boulevard.

North Campus is not the only neighborhood unhappy with the plan, Koplik said. Other adjacent neighborhoods, many environmental and civic groups and community leaders have taken positions opposed to development on the North Golf Course.

A link to the university¹s plan is available here by clicking on UNM Real Estate Projects and then Lobo Village. Further information is also available at NeighborsForGreenSpace.com.

Past Protest and Jamie Koch's Responses
About 700 people showed up in February to protest the retirement project at the golf course and signed a petition against the proposed development. Back then the President of the UNM Board of Regents, Jamie Koch (right), had this to say, which bolsters the criticism that the forces behind the development have been less than honest about what's going on:

In a Feb. 20 e-mail from Jamie Koch, president of the board of regents, he claimed the university is not looking to turn the area into a retirement center, something that was briefly discussed during the regents' January meeting.

"I'd like to make it perfectly clear at this time that the university has no plans to build a retirement community for alumni or faculty on any property the university owns," he wrote. "I've repeatedly said that the UNM North Golf Course has not been discussed by the regents nor has there been any request from university personnel for use of the golf course for a retirement community."

More recently, Jamie Koch changed his tune, despite the fact that the retirement community would displace a new Appeals Court building approved for construction near the UNM Law School:

"We’re very interested in working with the community, but we are going to try to move ahead with a retirement community, maintaining the golf course,” Jamie Koch, president of the UNM regents, said this week.

Koch said as part of the project, he would like the university to find a new site for the planned state Court of Appeals building now slated to be built near the UNM Law School. A groundbreaking had been projected for early 2008.

... Regents previously had signed off on the courthouse location. “I think we need to get out of the deal on the courthouse,” Koch said, stressing that he was speaking for himself and not the full board. He said UNM could find other land for the courthouse.

Appeals Court Judge Michael Bustamante said he didn’t know how a change in the location might affect the project. “We have a Board of Regents resolution in place that they passed last year … allowing or giving us the space that we’re planning for,” Bustamante said. “That’s still in place, and we’re currently working on the form of lease.”

Koch also claims he wants to replace a signficant portion of the golf course to save water. Conveniently, he doesn't reveal how much water the new development would use.

Regent Contact Info and Related Stories

Click for contact info for the UNM Board of Regents, including President Jamie Koch.

Check these out for more info on this issue:

• Gene Grant: UNM, Don't Trade Golf Course Green for Ivory Tower, Albuquerque Tribune (sadly, this happens to be Grant's last column for the Trib), 10.25.07
• University of New Mexico Regents Explore Developing North Golf Course, Albuquerque Tribune, 10.18.07
• UNM to Develop North Golf Course, Daily Lobo, 10.17.07
• Protesters Rally to Protect Golf Course from Development, Daily Lobo, 2.26.07

Reminder: Richardson Road Runner Rally This Thursday

Richardson Campaign's New Ad: Only One. Read more.

RSVP NOW for the Bill Richardson for President Roadrunner Rally:

, or email Michelle Frost at mfrost@richardsonforpresident.com with any questions.