The Dismantling of Public Education in New Mexico

State senates lead by republicans calling themselves democrats are real serious about destroying public education in this state. They want 10% cuts to our children’s educational system thereby crippling it once and for all. These men don’t care about the future of our children. At the same time they protect tax cuts for the richest in this state.

State Senator Tim Keller just pointed out the brain drain of our children to other states due to a lack of high paying jobs. Now those children will have to leave the state just to get an education. No company leader in his or her right mind would want to move to a state that cannot provide an educated workforce.

State Senator Tim Jennings and State Senator John A. Smith should be removed from office because of their cold inhuman support of only the very rich in this state.

More people should be showing their support to our Governor for his refusal to allow these men to do away with public education.

Marissa’s Law and Politics

This ad for the Mayor was done by the mother of Marissa Sunshine. She should be shown the respect of any other mother who loses a child in this manner. A mothers should have every right to fight for people who help them to protect other children from the fate of someone like Marissa.



The mayor has done some very good things when it comes to fighting sex offenders in our city and even if someone does not like his approach on other issues he does deserve credit for this law.

More laws to fight crimes against women should be enacted because of our current high rate of crime when it comes to women. New Mexico is the seventh most violent state in the union when it comes to the killing of women. We just had the West Mesa Cases so the stronger the laws the better.

Happy Birthday Judge Stan Whitaker

Today is District Court Judge Stan Whitaker’s birthday so we wanted to wish the judge a very happy birthday. Last month on my birthday his honor came over to my table at lunch to say hello. The judge is hard at work today and is covering for Judge Bob Schwartz.

26% is Shameful for a Sitting Mayor

As I said yesterday Major Chavez clearly has little interest in winning the mayor’s race this year as shown by his poor showing in a survey made public by the Albuquerque Journal today.

The mayor has gone out of his way to ignore the voting public this year and has managed to insult past supporters. He is a stranger in his own party and has done nothing to improve relationships. One does have to wonder if maybe this is his way of handing over the mayor’s office to a republican.

On the other hand we cannot be too sure of just how much support Richard Romero actually has since this survey does not take into account in any meaningful way those professionals and young democratic that supported President Obama during the last election. These people like myself do not have land lines and are excluded from these types of survey and we all know that they are supporting Romero for mayor. I personally would like to see Richard Romero express his vision for the future of the City of Albuquerque and not attack the current mayor so much in public since it turns off the female voters.

So my advice to Mayor Chavez is either step it up or get out of Richard Romero's way because this city cannot afford to have a republican in control at such a critical time in our country’s history.

Picnic With Congressman Martin Heinrich

Today Congressman Heinrich stopped by Ridgecrest Park in Southeast Albuquerque to talk with local voters about his support of healthcare reform. Around thirty active voters show up which is a good indicator that people are beginning to tire of this subject and accept that there will be a healthcare reform bill very soon and that it will have a public option include within the bill.

Right now the concentration is on getting the U.S. Senate to support the public option and to get older senators to understand that now is the time to enact they type of legislation. Too many of our federal senators are like Senator Jeff Bingaman who does not realize how much support and pressure that the voting public can apply to our federal government to pass legislation which will decrease healthcare cost in this country.

Congressman Heinrich also talked about protecting our environment and reform to the educational system. The congressman had good news on both fronts that has been overshadowed by the healthcare reform bill debate as of late. Community Colleges are getting increased funding at a time when state budgets are being cut and more is being done to protect national lands.

Other candidates that showed up for the picnic were State Appeals Court Judge Linda Vanzi. She along with Judge Timothy Garcia and Judge Robert Robles will be running for reelection in 2010.

Also there was Ray Powell and Sandy Jones both of which are running to take back our land commissioner position so that both education and our environment are protected for Republicans who have done nothing but harm our environment and educational system over the past few years.

Mayoral candidate Richard Romero sent flyers to the picnic and a representative and Mayor Chavez just did not appear to want the votes in this area of the city. Both candidates were invited to the picnic. I personally invited the mayor myself. I am beginning to wonder what party he belongs to in this city since I never see him at any party event unless he is running for reelection and/or someone very important is attending the event. I guess he should have checked the invitation for who the guest speaker was for this event.

Amazing how our mayor spends so very little time with active democrats in this city that is why I don‘t know him very well. On the other hand Richard Romero works very hard to support the Democratic Party and its core values. You would think that a local city leader would support his party unless of course he really does not want to get reelected? The mayor did take his own sweet time even announcing his run for mayor,s office this year and he even said that he was not sure if he wanted to run again.

Ward 19A is now beginning to become more of an active group and will be building toward the 2010 governor’s race in the hopes of keeping New Mexico a blue state. At this point in time to do anything else would only give the Republican Party a opportunity to further harm this state.

Ward 19A of the Bernalillo County Democratic Party Annual Picnic

Where: Ridgecrest Park 900 Ridgecrest SE Albuquerque NM
When: September 26 2:00 pm -4:00 pm
Guest Speaker: Congressman Martin Heinrich
Topic: Healthcare Reform

Jump tent for the Kids and free Ice Cream Cones for all.

Democrats are invited to bring picnic lunchs and enjoy the company of fellow democrats as we talk about healthcare reform with our elected congressman and other democratic candidates. This will be a family friendly event and we look forward to a calm fun afternoon in a lovely city park.

New Mexico Ranked 7th on the List of States - Most Violent Against Women

Out of the 22 female victims of men in this 2007 study just released it was reported that 91% knew their killer and had a current or past relationship with them. These female victims were killed with handguns by a 48% rate. More needs to be done both statewide and citywide to help protect victims of domestic violence in our state. Stronger laws and more serious penalties need to be enacted to reduce these crimes.

This behavior should not be acceptable by any man no matter what walk of life he comes from. What I find most interesting and surprising about this study is that the majority of the victims were white women. Eighteen of the twenty two women killed were white. This study shows the need for our mayor to take this issue serious and work with community leaders on ways to reduce the number of women who are victims of domestic violence in this city. Police need the changes in laws so they can force this issue before it ends in a killing. Stalking laws should be treated as a serious priority for white women.

House Party for Mayor Martin Chavez

Yesterday evening I attended a house party for Mayor Marty Chavez. Melinda did a great job and the party was very successful. Her house is up for sell and people should take the time to look at it (4300 Anderson SE). To be perfectly honest I was not sure what to expect from this party since I have received different reactions from people when it comes to our current Mayor. I personal don’t know the man very well but friends have warned that he can be very difficult to work with or for but I did not see that last evening.

I saw a very charming, caring humble man who loves his city and is willing to work hard to make it a great place to live. At no point in the evening did he attack either of his two opponents which I found to be a very pleasant change. When he spoke it was about what he wanted to do to deal with issues faced by our city now and in the future.

He has over the past few years worked to make our city one that encourages green development. When asked about that he said that by moving in this direction our city has avoided older manufacturing jobs that have harmed the environment of other large cities in this country.

I asked how he planned to support redevelopment in the International District of this city. He said that coming soon is a community garden on what was once a Lovelace hospital parking lot and that the food produced would go to senior centers around the city. He encouraged people to vote for the bonds that would provide funding for communities centers and mass transit along with street upgrades like the ones now starting on Lead and Coal. He did say that if he stays mayor that he would like to see a light rail system at some point for our city as is common in all of the larger cities in the southwest.

When it comes to women’s safety in the city he pointed out that the cases on the west mesa are at an end and they don’t feel this is a future cause for concern to the women of this city. He did say that the local media would not report on the missing women until it became a major case and that our local police chief had done his best to try and get the word out. I would encourage both to contact local bloggers on these issues in the future as we would be more than happy to spread the word to the public.

He point out the sexual assault division that has been place downtown with all of its support services. He wants Kendra’s Law pasted and stronger laws against stalking. He said that he will continue to be hard on sex offenders as to make this a very unfriendly city for them to live in and I have to agree with him on this issue. He did say that his administration will not go after families just because they are here in the country illegally so as not to break up mothers and children but if anyone breaks the law then their status will become an issue.

It was a very nice evening and the mayor answered questions in a friendly and polite manner even when the questions were difficult ones. He did point out that he is receiving questions on issues like healthcare and the war which as a mayor he has about as much control over as any other voter in the public. Still we should encourage him to make his views on these issues public because he is a mayor of a major city in the southwest.

XYZ Beer Metropolitan Detention Center “?”

Capitalism at work in America, everyday you see large corporations placing their names on sports facilities and mega office complexes. Corporations have the capital to spend on large buildings and to support charities so why not allow them to finance the construction of our government buildings and schools? Why not allow them to donate large sums of money to pay government employees’ salaries? I see signs on the local sports stadium every morning as I drive to work.

Difficult questions to answer in a year when the state budget is so tight that we need every penny to just meet the payrolls for government employees and support local non-profits.

First I have a problem with Corporate America ever paying for our jails and/or court systems because we want to keep these two systems separate and independent from each other. At no time do we want our courts to appear bias in any way toward Corporate America. This does not mean that Corporate American could not sponsor drug and alcohol rehab programs. XYZ Beer would not be a good idea for the detention center but a XYZ Beer Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center that could reduce the inmate population would be a welcome sight in this state especially if it did not cost the voters a cent.

And on the other hand we want to encourage Corporate America to support public education because it could only benefit both systems in the long run. Corporate America wants a well trained workforce for future development. Why not encourage large corporations to build new schools for local communities. Rather than naming a school Roosevelt why not Intel or Microsoft? The school could teach children the science that they would need to be good future employees of these businesses. We want businesses to provide input into what makes a good employee. Schools would welcome partnerships between highly trained corporate employees and professional educators which could include team teaching in the classrooms.

Over 40% of our state’s budget goes to education if that could be cut by corporate sponsorship then more could be spent on other areas of government. If taxpayers did not have to pay to build schools or pay teachers salaries then maybe the money could then be used to run the court systems at a higher scale. I don’t think it would be wise to allow beer companies or fast food companies to support schools but large corporations that produce a product that provides local jobs would be a good starting point.

This is an idea that bears thinking about because it could benefit both Corporate America and the voting public in this state. Some form of partnership between these systems could only benefit our state in the future during difficult economic times.

Modify Democracy is Not Pure Socialism

We in this country limit our capitalist attitudes from survival of the fittest because we want a society that supports the weakest and the most fragile in our society. We believe that in a civilized society every life has value. Strange that some people who decry the lost of a human life before birth turn around and support the dismantling of social programs which protect fragile adult individuals in this country.

Socialism is decried by some as being weak or unacceptable and they try their level best to put an end to any social support programs but if we did away with those same programs many people in this country would live shorter lives and face greater hardships. The cost in human life would be unacceptable in my option.

It is one thing to promote a healthy business environment and quite another to encourage ruthless capitalism. The CEOs who lead our largest corporations in this country should understand that they have a higher moral duty to provide a supportive environment to their customers, employees and society in general even if the end result is a reduction in profit. I do not oppose capitalism because I view it as a base for a healthy strong democracy. We should support the development of small businesses because it provides a strong economy which in turn provides a healthy lifestyle for the voting public.

I have read about moral CEOs that work hard to provide their employees with a great work environment and in return their employees support their company heart and soul. I once worked for a company where I could honestly say the administrator truly cared about her customers as well as the employees and there was no better place to work. The company thrived under that type of administration even when other companies in the same industry were facing difficult economic times. Too often what make the national news are the misdeeds of uncaring and unethical CEOs. We need stronger laws in this country to protect society from unethical business practices but we also should reward CEOs who show quality caring leadership.

Lady Justice Blind but Not Yet Deaf

Make no mistake the Justice branch of government is just that a branch of government meant to serve the voting public. Lately I have heard judges say that they should be above politics and not answerable to the voters because it influences how they decided cases in their courtrooms. How is this a bad thing?

We have one group of justices that are appointed for life and not answerable to the American people they are the U.S. Supreme Court and I have to say that at present these are the justices that I am the most unhappy with because they express their own personal political views on the bench and don’t care about the rights of the American people or the constitution. These are the conservative justices that are actives who push their own views above past legal case law.

We in New Mexico do not want a judge that behaves like Justice John Roberts on our state supreme court or our appeals court. We want judges that care about the voters and that are humble not arrogant. We want justices who care about what matters to the voters and understands that it is the welfare of the voters in this state that matters above all else. We want the right to remove any judge/justice that shows a total lack of understanding of what is best for the voters.

Laws are created to protect the voting public not to punish them. Laws are created to enhance the voters lives not to harm them. Lady justice maybe blind in this state but she is far from deaf when it comes to the voting public when it comes to this state and I for one do not want to see that change. I for one would have serious concerns when it comes to voting for any judge who feels that she or he should be above the voting public or not answerable to them.

Cutting the State Budget

The time has come in this state to pay the piper and it will not be petty to watch state lawmakers cut the budget. Services may well be reduced that could harm low income individuals and individuals who find themselves out of work because of layoffs. Everyone is trying to protect what they value most in this round of cuts.

What should be protected and why is the ever growing question being raised by state lawmakers? Some lawymakers understand the direct relationship between education and this state’s future when it comes to pulling this state out of the current recession. They know that without a well trained workforce that New Mexico will continue to lose jobs and that any jobs left will not pay well which will have a direct effect on the amount of taxes from payroll. Low paying jobs would also increase future demand for government services.

The questions has to be why is Republican elected officials still demanding cross the board cuts that include education in this state? When it comes to dealing with controlling the cost of education no state lawmaker will even begin to discuss the issue of high paid administration. When we cannot begin to pay for teachers in the classrooms and educational support staff who work directly with students why on earth are we paying huge outrages salaries to an administration that does not even spend time with our children? When are state lawmakers going to start to address this issue?

We currently have large dropout rates, 5,000 or more homeless children in the K-12 system and low paid educators who have to apply for government services just to make ends met and support their own families. Classroom supplies are still being paid for by parents and classroom teachers. Yet school administrators are making six figure salaries and can’t understand how they could live on less. They point out how many people they have to supervise but how many students dose an educator manage during a single day? What is most important to the residents of this state and why? As my dearly departed mother use to say enough is a enough and too much is nasty. School administrators should be willing take less in pay at a time like this so as to protect our children otherwise what are they even doing in the field. Educators and support staff took a 1.5% pay decrease in the last budget cycle to help balance the current budget.

Corpcracy is Coming to America

The right leaning U.S. Supreme Court which supports corporations over the voting public is about to overturn campaign finance laws by an act of judicial activism. With this act they will give huge corporations the same rights as any voter. The problem with this is that corporations were created with the ability to raise large sums of money intended to help them build the company but now corporate CEOs will be able to use that same money to buy political races. Corporations were never given a vote because they are artificial entities run by mere humans who already have a right to vote.

The Huge Drug Corporations will now write the laws that control medications with the changing of this law. The Large Oil Corporations will now write environmental laws. The large right wing media corporations will now write the laws about public broadcasting. Large health insurance corporations will now write our healthcare laws. All of these corporations will join together to write labor laws.

Voters who don’t have the access to huge sums of money will simple not matter to those running for public office and any elected official who does care will be out spent by the large corporations. Unions will be outspent by these large corporations and labor laws will simple vanish into a long forgotten past where what the voters thought was once thought to matter.

Democracy will be replaced by Corpcracy and our government will be run by elected officials who are answerable to corporations. The United States of America will become a country for the corporations, by the corporations and with the corporations.

Albuquerque Interfaith 2009 Municipal Candidates Assembly

Today the mayoral and city council candidates faced some interesting but difficult questions that were developed by leaders of the Albuquerque Interfaith organization. This group is a non partisan group that directs their efforts toward asking questions about issues that affect families in the City of Albuquerque.

The questions:

Workforce Development-Will you work with Albuquerque Interfaith to establish a workforce development intermediary that (1) provides long-term training for good jobs with a living wage, benefits, and a career path; (2) meets the specific training needs of participating employers with those jobs; and (3) provides students with the wrap-around support they need to graduate and succeed?

¼ Cent for Public Safety- Will you work to obtain an accounting of the actual spending of funds collected from the quarter-cent public safety tax since it was approved by voters in 2003? Will you work to implement the ¼ Cent for Public Safety Citizens Advisory Council passed by the council last spring?

Transit-Will you work to obtain an independent management review of the transit department’s employee discipline system and practices? Will you work with Albuquerque Interfaith to improve the bus routes serving working families, especially those with non-traditional hours, and increase service in the South Valley as part of the city economy?

They then had individuals present moving stories of why each candidate should be supporting these issues and requested that the candidates answer yes or no to these questions after which each candidate was given two minutes to further explain why that was their answers.


Candidates that showed up were:


City Council:


District One Ken Sanchez who answered no that he would not require a independent management review of the transit department’s employee discipline system and practices. He answered yes to all of the other questions.



District Three:


Alan Armijo and Isaac Bention both answered yes but one of the questions to all of the questions. It was pointed out that the job of making sure that the transit departments behavior was a direct responsible of the mayor and that city council has no control over these issues.



District Five


Michael Cadigan and Daniel Lewis answered yes to all of the questions



District Nine:


Don Harris and David Barbour also answered yes to all of the questions


Mayoral Candidates:


Richard Berry a republican and Richard Romero a Democrat both answered yes to all of the questions. The current Mayor Martin Chavez turned down the request and refused to answer any of the questions that mattered to the 450 voters who turned out for this forum.

Democrats have a New State Party Chairman

Javier Gonzales confirmed as chairman of the Democratic Party! He ran unopposed and was elected by acclimation. Could not have happened to a better man. Congratulation Javier!

A City and A State of Walls

Do walls truly make good neighbors or not? Since I moved here some twenty plus years ago I have watched our city grow and over the past ten years I have seen walls go up in wealthy neighborhoods. At first you would think that a wall would be a great idea because it would keep out criminals and make for a safer neighborhood but criminals know how to get around such simple defenses. Walls cut people off from the outside world, hide crimes in progress and divide neighbors. Walls make it harder for neighbors to develop relationships either good or bad. Walls cut people off from each other and end communication.

In the southern part of our state along the border this country is building a fence to keep people from Mexico out. Just a few short years ago our country was screaming “tear down that wall” about a fence that divided a country and families. The fence on the southern border is now dividing families and friends as well as making it easier to keep out illegal immigrates. Farmers are finding that those individuals were also the ones who picked their fields and that without them some of their crops are not getting harvested on time.

Back east people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits to keep their neighbors from building walls because of the effect it has on community and the environment. Will we be forced to spend that kind of money in the future to keep our neighbors from building walls? Will the American people be screaming “tear down that wall” at us on our southern border in the future to reunite families, friends and to repair the environment? What happened to the cattle range mentality of open land for all? Looks like that in our future the only people to benefit or profit from walls will be the lawyers and maybe the city if they require permits to build walls.

Interview with Bernalillo County Sheriff candidate Felix Nunez

State Senator Linda M. Lopez Announces Run for Lieutenant Governor

Today in Washington Middle School Park surrounded by one hundred supporters and playing children State Senator Linda Lopez announced that she would make the run for Lieutenant Governor. When asked supporters sited ethics and honesty as key reasons for their support of Senator Lopez.

The senator will have to face some difficult questions from the voting public this year because of her vote to support State Senator Tim Jennings as President Pro Tempore of the state senate. Senator Lopez was one of eight democrats to break with the democratic majority while siding with republican senators to vote for a conservative who has since sent out letters to local school administrators warning them to be ready for more budget cuts that could force them to layoff classroom teachers.

Senator Lopez told the crowd that she is ready to explain any vote she has cast in the state senate in the past. Senator Lopez also said that she will not support further cuts to the educational system this year.

The following is Senator Lopez’s announcement and an interview on some issues facing women in this state.

Democrats are Proud of their Senator from the North

Anyone who has ever met Senator Tom Udall knows what a hard working and honest elected official he is and how much he cares for the core moral issues of the Democratic Party. Look up public servant in the dictionary and you find a picture of U.S. Senator Tom Udall. Raised in a family who dedicated their lives to public service our senator knows when to support issue like the healthcare reform bill that would give all Americans instead of just the rich much needed medical coverage.

Since he was elected to the senate I have not run across a real democrat who disagrees with his stand on any single issue. Lately Senator Udall has been taking a lot of heat from the far right wing nuts because of his stand on healthcare and the public option. Still the Senator has stood his ground and been a leader for the middle class and the working poor of this state and he has been an outspoken champion for this state. With almost half of all New Mexicans not being able to afford healthcare this is not an issue where you can sit on the fence.

Some people are born to be leaders and others simple are forced into the roll because of what they care for and value most in life. Senator Udall had to be dragged out of congress by supporters but once he was in the senate I am sure that not even he could deny how much we needed his present there to support our issues. Democrats are looking forward to many years of service from Senator Udall in the U.S. Senator for this state. Our Northern Senator should know just how proud we are of all his hard work for this state and the children of this state.

Finally Some Uncommon Common Sense about Education and the State's Budget

“Now more than ever, state government needs to think outside of the box and come up with innovative ways to fill in the gaps in the budget. In order to reach consensus on this vital issue, everything has to be on the table and evaluated in the context of what is necessary to enhance the health, safety and welfare of our citizens. It is imperative that the availability of these services- and of educational enrichment- not be impaired. In working to resolve the budget issues, I remain committed to protecting education and avoiding layoffs of state government workers.”

Senator Sanchez noted that because New Mexico’s educational system is the largest public employer in our state, cuts to that system would have a profound impact on our current state economy.

“Reducing funding for education may help to resolve our deficit in the short-term, however the ripple effects of such action could exacerbate already weakened state and local finances for years to come,” stated State Senator Michael S Sanchez.

At this point in time a number of State Senators unlike the front man for the GOP Senator John A. Smith are beginning to stand up and tell the GOP that cuts to education are not the answer to balancing our state budget in Santa Fe. Any reductions in education could only further harm our state's income and reduce our state’s ability to compete for future high wage jobs.

Free Enterprise’s Major Fault

The largest businesses of today are showing their most major fault which is that without a real moral core large businesses are more harmful then beneficial to the American people. Today’s business leaders have no concept of ethical behavior when they take large profits even when their companies are in major trouble.

These companies are allowed to fail and still the top management is bailed out with taxpayer's dollars. These same executives are not being held responsible for poor management styles that lead to these failures. In the past these executives were kept safe from personal liability so as to encourage risk taking in order to promote company development now that same system is being used to protect incompetent management practices common to larger companies. The management is given no reason to work for the betterment of companies but instead it encourages them to work for their own personal enrichment which they clearly understand cannot be touched by lawsuits.

At the core of any free enterprise system is that a business leader takes the risk of failure and is therefore entitled to the rewards of success. Company size was held small so as not to endanger the overall economy. In today’s business world companies have been allowed to grow so large that if they fail then it would bring down the national economy. Competition is a key factor in keeping management honest when it comes to business practices but now large companies have not competitors. A system must be established that would punish management for personal profit taking at the cost of their company’s health and well being.

GOP Would Love to cut Education

The GOP would love to destroy public education in this state. They have their representatives out beating the drums to cut our educational system by as much as 5% which would harm our children. As far as they are concerned education should only be for the rich because middle class and low income children don’t deserve a chance to improve their lives and those of their families. How can one group be so narrow minded in their view of the world?

By depriving our children of a quality education we will deprive our state from high paying jobs and economic development in the future. If our state has any hope of attracting good jobs we will need a large skilled workforce and communities that provide cultured living.

Tell our state government that without a good educational system we have no hope of a stable economy in the future. Provide the funding today to protect our economic future before it is to late. Tell Senator John A. Smith to stop fronting for the GOP.

Brian Colon Over the Moon at Launch Party

Brian Colón a candidate for Lt. Governor in New Mexico along with just a little over 500 of his closest friends set out last evening to launch his campaign for Lt. Governor. He will now tour the state and gather support for his bid to become Lt. Governor. Colón was introduced by his lovely wife Aleli Colón and their eleven year old son Rafael.

The crowd was standing room only at the Albuquerque Hotel where many notable elected officials were in attendants. State Auditor Hector Balderas said that he was glad that he and Brian Colón had made the right call when it came to running for Lt. Governor.

It will be more then a little interesting to see the reaction of other Lt. Governor candidates when they find out just how many people showed up for the launch party of the year. There is a wide range of very good candidate for this position but none positioned as well or as well known as Brian Colón.

Diversity was the unintended theme of last evenings party with culture, economic status and yes even party being just a small part of that turn out. Brian Colón also had a large number of young democrats turn out for this launch party. Former Party Chairman Colón clearly knows how to reach out to the younger voters in this state and it would appear that they are reaching back to put him in that seat of power.

Colón made it clear that he supports healthcare reform and public education during the evening. He told on lookers that he would make sure that labor has a seat at the table in Santa Fe when he is elected. A child of humble beginnings Colón told the guess that he understands just how important real educational reform is for this state and that nothing else will push our state forward when it comes to good high paying jobs and future economic development.






You can find more videos of the event on my youtube channel at the bottom of the page.