Results of Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Monthly Meeting

Latest Thursday evening was the monthly meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. First to speak was Congressman Martin Heinrich. Congressman Heinrich told a crowded room that despite strong support from himself and Congressman Luján and Congressman Teague that the recovery bill was stripped of educational funding much needed by this and other states. Clearly republicans do not support public education and will do anything to damage it even if it harms this country. Until democratic elected officials start standing up in numbers as our represents did for education this country will continue to have problems educating our young people for future jobs, the bill does include some funding to reeducate workers for green jobs. Our state will be receiving large sums for green jobs and the state will receive money to help prevent reductions in state services. Congressman Heinrich limited questions to only three and then left for another event.

After Congressman Heinrich spoke the crowd was introduced to the Judges in the Appeals Court and both the second and third district courts. Each of the systems and divisions was described by a local judge. Some are the judges who will be running in the next elections and some like Judge Clay Campbell and Judge Carl Butkus are regular members who work hard to educate the public on the value of the court system. Judge Campbell pointed out during the meeting that judges are restricted on answering questions about cases and issues so it is best to stick to questions about job history and education in order to get a good feel about what type of judges the candidates will be on the bench. As Judge Campbell point out no one would even want a judge to predetermine a case before they hear the facts and hear the testimony from both sides on any matter before the court. What they did not point out is that most judges must take a pay cut in order to serve the public and that they often put their lives and those of their families in danger just to see that justice is provided for our state and city. They also work long hours and spend a great amount of time reading through mountains of materials for each case before the court.

The third issue covered during the meeting was the election of ward chairs and precinct chairs for the party. A number of meetings will be held in March in order to meet the requirements to elect these individuals. For more information on the meeting dates go to the county party website there is a link on the lower left hand side of the page.