South Valley Rally with Lefty Blue

Today was a sunny warn day in the south valley where candidates gathered to meet residents of the south valley.

I took Lefty Blue down to the rally in the hopes of meeting Lefty Red, White and Blue but Lefty Blue missed Lefty Red, White and Blue so Lefty Blue had to stop and say hello to a few of our proud democratic candidates.

All of the candidates were happy to have their picture taking with a symbol of our party.

Check out the pictures here.

Who do I support for Tuesday’s Primary Election?

Non-contested races in the Democratic Primary are a no brainer since we should all support those candidates.

Contested races are another matter all together. Hopefully voters have taken the time to review each candidate and know which ones they want to vote for by now. Some races are easier than others when it comes to picking a candidate.

So here are my picks for offices:

Lieutenant Governor

Brian S. Colon simply put he is an honest, hardworking, truthful candidate that support the values of job creation and public education. No better candidate then he to help get Diane Denish elected to the office of Governor.
Lawrence D. Rael
Jose Campos
Gerald Ortiz y Pino
Linda Lopez

Over the last few months I have gotten to know all of these candidates and I can say that most are good people who care about our state. I hope that Jose Campos and Gerald Ortiz y Pino will stay in the legislature where they are doing great work for this state. I hope that Lawrence D. Rael will find a job within the Denish administration because he has done and can do great work for this state as an administrator which is high praise considering that for the most part I do not respect current administrator that I know in this state.

Land Commissioner

Ray Bennett Powell This candidate understands the value of protecting both our state’s natural resources and the future of our children’s education. After the past few years we need someone in that office that values both to the degree that this man does.
Harry B. Montoya
Sandy R. Jones

Both Harry B Montoya and Sandy R. Jones are good candidates who have provide good service in the past and who will be of great service in the future to our state.

State Representatives

My state representative does not have primary competition so I would not usually comment on these races but when it comes to a democrat who takes money from the Republican Party in a primary I feel that this is a dishonorable thing to do so I will support those who are being attacked by the republicans in this primary.

District 13
Matthew E. Archuleta= Red Dog Democrat not to be voted for in this election or any other in the future.
Eleanor Chavez

District 14
Michael A. Alter Sr.= Red Dog Democrat not to be voted for in this election or any other in the future.
Miguel P. Garcia

District 70
Barbara A. Perea Casey =Red Dog Democrat not to be voted for in this election or any other in the future.
Eric M. Cummmings
Richard D. Vigil
Chris Lopez

District 46
Ben Lujan= Speaker of the House and a man who has devoted his life to public service for the voting public in this state. I know the republicans love to attempt to smear his name every chance they get but I find that as only more reason to support him. We need his strong representation in Santa Fe.
Carl P. Trujillo

Bernalillo County Commissioner District 1

Loretta A. Naranjo-Lopez
Michelle Lujan Grisham this candidate is a person with a lot of heart that will be very devoted both to the well being of her district and of the county.
Dan Serrano

Bernalillo County Assessor
Mark J. Carrillo
Karen Louise Montoya

Mr. Carrillo has made no attempt to get anyone that I know to know about him or where he stands on issues so with this being a down ballot races I can only say that Karen has worked very hard to get people to know her face and what she stands for in this election. She has shown a drive and a desire to hold this seat that her opponent has fail to do.

Sheriff
Patrick M. Davis a young man who is well educated and who has an outstanding career history in law enforcement. Patrick Davis is a man who has the drive and the desire to make a great sheriff for Bernalillo county.
Felix I. Nunez got to admit that this candidate comes in as a very very close second but in the end you have to go with your gut when choosing which candidate to vote for.
Manuel Gonzales III
Marie Sisi Miranda
Geraldine M. Amato
Joshua R. Timberman
Joe R. Williams

Interview with Judge Gerard Lavelle

With only a few days left until the primary is over here is the first endorsement of the season. Judge Lavelle is a skilled man who deserves your vote and I support his reelection to the district court.

Republicans Financing Conservative Democratic Candidates in Our Primary

Well they can’t vote for them and since they don’t have anyone to run against them that can stand a chance now they are paying for our conservative candidates to beat the more liberal ones in this state. How sad can the Republican Party get in one year? And it is not just anyone but it is the leader of the Republican Party putting up the funding.

House District 13 candidate Matthew Archuleta

House District 14 candidate Michael Atler

House District 70 candidate Barbara Casey

All have $5,000 more to spend on their campaigns because of the leader of the Republican Party. And that does not count anymore that he might have put into their campaigns over the last few days because that report will not come out until after the primary is over.

This is what you call a clear case of if you can’t beat them then join them. Welcome to our party Chairman Yates. Please feel free to donate as much of the republicans cash as you feel the need to because I am sure the conservatives in our party will be more than happy to take your money. However don’t count on them voting with the republicans once they are elected to office that is if they can even beat our liberal candidates.

Oh one last note I personally think that Chairman Javier Gonzales should send a handwritten thank you note to Chairman Yates for his kind donation to our candidates. I am sure that the candidates that received the funds are all pleased with his finanical support of democratic candidates in our state.

Republican Debate for Governor Candidates

So why watch the debate in the first place? So that we will know in advance who will run against our candidate and what their positions are in the first place. Diane Denish is our candidate for governor and she far out shines anything the Republican Party has come up with in this state.

You have to feel at least a little sorry for republicans since they can't even begin to choose the best candidate to run against our candidate. Pete Domenici Jr. has no hope of getting the nomination from his father’s party even if he would have the best skills to run our state out of any of the republican candidates.

Instead Susana Martinez is their most likely candidate. She is a district attorney who simply refuses to tell the people in her own party the honest truth when it comes to the facts about immigrations issues in our state. You have to wonder is it that she lacks the intelligent or is she so lax on her own ethical skills that she is willing to lie to people on camera. Either way she is not someone we want running our state government.

Immigration and border security are two totally different issues.

As a district attorney she above all else should understand that to take drivers licenses away from illegal immigrants would only cause them to run from our police officers and to not have a reason to understand our traffic laws. Those licenses do not help them to get jobs in this state that issue is because of unethical businesses leaders that only want slave labor to do the work for them.

As for border control Martinez has no ideas on how to fix the problem and she is clearly unwilling to work with our president on these issues so how would that help our state in the first place? She would only be another governor like the one in Arizona who would pander to the far right hate groups that would in the long run cost our state jobs and revenues at a time when we can least afford it.

Clearly Pete Domenici Jr. won this evenings debate even with his lack of preparedness and yet republicans will once again further damage their party by nominating a candidate that lacks the skills and ethical behavior to even give them a chance at getting near our candidate when it come to the general election this fall.

Susana Martinez’s only hope is to stirrup the hate groups in our own state with the hope that more of them will turn out to vote in the general election than good democratic members of our own party.

Judge Linda Vanzi's Campaign Staff Pleased with State Supreme Court Ruling

Earlier this week the New Mexico State Supreme Court upheld the Secretary of State’s ruling that Lawyer Dennis Montoya who is running against Judge Linda Vanzi for the New Mexico Court of Appeals seat had broken the rules and could not receive public financing for his campaign.

Public financing is a good and honorable objective for any candidate when it comes to running for our judicial seats statewide but anyone wishing to obtain those funds should be held to a strict interpretation of the rules. I can think of no better option than that of Chief Justice Daniels when it comes to justice and the handing down of a fair and unbiased decision on this matter. (Good State Supreme Court, Good State Supreme Court :-)

It is a sad fact that this race has become such a public spectacle when one of our seats on an intermediate court is at question but what else would you expect from conservative media in this state when both candidates are democrats.

Clearly defined standards should be set on the quality of any candidate running for these seats in the future. I would hope that both candidates would resolve to hold themselves to a very high standard when commenting either publicly or privately on their opponent since neither is a republican and our party does not approve of mudsling of any kind.

This race should be about quality of judgment, skills and qualifications not about scandal and rumors.

The following is the complete text of a press release sends out by Judge Linda Vanzi’s Campaign:

Judge Linda Vanzi's Campaign Commends Secretary of State for Protecting Public Dollars

SANTA FE - Today, the Supreme Court upheld the Secretary of State's ruling to deny public financing to Mr. Dennis Montoya. Dennis Montoya is challenging Judge Linda Vanzi for her seat on the Court of Appeals in the Democratic Primary. The election is June 1st.

"Other candidates have successfully applied for public financing," said Sandra Wechsler, Vanzi Campaign Manager. "We believe that all candidates need to play by the same set of rules and Mr. Montoya broke those rules. The law is very clear about what you need to do to qualify for public financing."

For the public financing law to earn public support and have integrity, strict compliance with the rules is absolutely necessary. For this reason, the Vanzi campaign commends the Secretary of State for protecting taxpayer monies and denying rule-breakers from accessing public dollars.

Judge Linda Vanzi was selected by the Judicial Nominating Commission, and appointed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals by Governor Bill Richardson in 2008. By State law, Judges must stand for election in one partisan contest after appointment.

Judge Vanzi has been endorsed by the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Rio Grande Sun, Council 18 of AFSCME, the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association (APOA), Iron Workers Local Union No. 495, Office & Professional Employees Intl Union, Local 25, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 492, Communications Workers of America, Local 7076, New Mexico Professional Firefighters Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1564, the Victory Fund, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 953, New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council.

What is the Purpose of Bail Bonds in the Criminal Court System

Innocent until proven guilty is not just a quaint concept as some republicans in our city would like to make it out to be to the voting public. That concept is one of the core constitutional rights given to people in our country which other countries have never come close to in practice. The republicans would like nothing more than to take that right away from anyone in this state who is not Lilly White as shown by Mayor Berry’s new policy on checking immigration statue before anyone is indicted of a crime.

Chief Justice Daniels of the state supreme court who is a gifted jurist has now stepped into the battle between district court judges and the former sheriff Darren White to improve communication between the two groups because district court Chief Judge Baca apparently is too close to the republicans to effectively manage his own court system when it comes to working with the those two groups.

It would appear that Judge Baca’s only way of communicating with the voting public is through conservative media sources even if they do not always portray this bigwig as someone who can be an effective court administrator. We do all miss the days of Chief Judge Lang who was a gifted communications representative for our hardworking district court judges.

The current big issue in the conservative media at present is the question of bail bonds for people who have been arrested for crimes in this city. Chief Public Safety Director Darren White fails to understand that bail bonds must be set at a reasonable amount because it was never meant to be uses as a form of punishment or as a way to keep people locked up until their trial. Bail Bond is to be use as a way to ensure that the defendant will appear before the judge to answer to any charges brought by the district attorney’s office and nothing more than just that.

The city up until now is failing to provide the court system with an accurate timely report of anyone’s criminal history and past offenses in order to give judges who set bail bonds information that would assist them in setting a reasonable bail bond and even in some cases not allowing a bail bond at all for a defendant that might pose a potential threat to the public or a flight risk.

Without that information judges must base bail bond on only the facts presented in court at the time of the bond hearing which is nothing more than attempting to judge someone by their current demander. With so many talented defense attorneys in this city many individuals get out on bond and simply fail to appear for their next court appearance which then results in a bench warrant and an even longer time before the defendant can be brought before a judge to have their case adjudicated.

U.S. Supreme Court Candidate

The U.S. Supreme Court is the third separate and independent branch of our government. Justices are appointed by the president and approved by the U.S. Senate. They do not have to run in an election and their appointments are for life. One would hope that current politics did not play a part in their decisions but if you look at the current court system which is run by Chief Justice Roberts one dose have to seriously question that assumption.

So what makes a good U.S. Supreme Court candidate? Maybe intelligent should be one thing on that list. An ability to listen before you disagree would be another. Someone who works well, has a political personality, with everyone around them without being willing to always give into peer pressure would be very helpful.

Someone who has a broad understanding of the constitution and codified law would be very helpful. Experience both as a trial lawyer and as a trail judge would make a difference which would give the candidate an understanding of how a case can go well and/or what can happen to make a case turn out with serious flaws.

An education from one of our top law schools so we know they understand a broad array of legal issues and legal fields of study would also be helpful.

Humility so that they do not think themselves superior to the people of this country should be a requirement for a good justice. An understand of all walks of life would be helpful. Some idea as to how business works and what makes for a successful business would also be helpful.

An overwhelming respect for our system of government which includes open and free elections of government officials should be a defining belief for any good candidate. A desire to follow the original intent of our founding fathers which include the spirit of freedom for the American People and not just to the letter of the law could be seen as a positive characteristic. A desire to render unto César what is his and unto God what is his. In simpler terms a separation of Church and State.

Someone not easily moved by either the press or popular option when it comes to unpopular decision as long as they do not change the basic characteristics of our current legal system or make major changes to our current form of government. Judicial activists often see themselves as changing or interpreting the laws for a better country but that has not always been proven to be the case.

A candidate who is willing to answer difficult personal questions such as her/his sexual orientation and other difficult personal questions that could affect how they view the world and future cases would be helpful.

No one ever said that getting appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court should be easy but a life time job appointment to a job that you love should in the long run be well worth the difficulties faced in order to achieve that level of career success. No candidate can or will ever fit perfectly all of the requirements but we should demand one that can fit most of the characteristics that we the people desire in a candidate since we don't get to vote them in or out of office.

Mayor Berry’s New Policy of Racial Profiling Upheld by Republican Controlled City Council

Last evening in a vote that split Democrat and Republican City Council members the council voted to uphold Mayor Berry’s policy that promotes racial profiling right here in the Duke City.

Anyone arrested in Bernalillo County is now presumed to be guilty until proven innocent of being an illegal immigrant. Republicans have proven to be just as racist in our city as those in Arizona when it comes to the issue of immigration. Maybe Mayor Berry’s wife should start fearing deportation that is if she does not already live in fear for her safety from her own husband. One does have to wonder…

Public safety director Darren White is trying to destroy any hope of community policing in this city by making APD officers immigration cops. His hope is to join with Arizona in driving out immigrants from our state and making Albuquerque the smallest city in the southwest with no revenues for new job creation.

Make no mistake this will drive away new jobs and revenues as we are made to look like a racist city who only wants white people to apply for future jobs in this state. Aside from military jobs no one of color will be willing to work in this city or start a new company because of his policy. Heaven forbid one of their children should be stopped for a minor crime. This will only add to the belief that our city is an uneducated backwater place to live and work.

How long will it be before other states start to boycott our city and our tourism dollars dry up all together? How is this good for our city’s economy, its small businesses or its residents?

Illegal immigrants now have no reason in the world to allow police to stop them or arrest them for minor crimes because they know that it will lead to them being deported so it will cause more violent behavior in our city which will lead to more harm of our city police officers and innocent bystanders.

Have we not already lost enough police officers in the line of duty in this city already? Does the Mayor with his racist policies really need to make their jobs more dangers and difficult?

Grand Opening of New Mexico Court of Appeals Pamela B. Minzner Law Center

The New Mexico Court now has a shiny new building to house the New Mexico Court of Appeals here in Albuquerque. The building is right next to the UNM Law School and is on the edge of the UNM Golf Course. The building is light and airy with large windows facing both east and west with lots of artwork by noted artist Michio Ihara. The official opening was May, 14, 2010. Like most new buildings it is energy efficient and even has a green roof that is watered with rain that is collected in a 15,000 gallon underground cistern.

Opening remarks were made by the new New Mexico State Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Daniels. During his speech he gave a history of the court of appeals. Justice Daniels is a well spoken funny intelligent man who knows when and how to express humility both to his coworkers and the voting public. He is well known for his judicial temperament. He is a justice that knows how to speak in public without putting his audience to sleep.




Pictures of the building.

Albuquerque Not a Sanctuary City for Crime?

Come on Mayor Berry give us a break for real if your new policy is not directed right at racial profiling as you say then why is it not all criminal records across the country as well as internationally and not just their legal status for immigration being checked when someone is arrested in this city? Did you stop a little too short when it comes to checking on people who the police feel have crossed the line and need to be arrested? Huh?

Why not provide for the District Attorney’s Office on a timely base all the legal violations and criminal history of someone arrested in this city then maybe crime would go down. Why should immigration status be the only criminal activity checked if you don’t want to racial profile? Hum?

You’re a republican and claim to be hard on criminal so why not prove it by starting to provide our district attorney with the much needed information her office needs to prosecute real criminals. After all what good does it do public safety in this city if you deport a red light runner with not violent criminal history and set free a wanted killer and criminal just because you limited the background check based on the color of their skin or as you say their legal immigration status? You cannot actually expect Albuquerque voters to start believing that the only people in this city committing real crimes are illegal immigrates? Then again maybe republicans are just that uneducated in our city? Just saying…

Interview with Candidate and Judge Shannon Bacon

Fair and Equal Justice for All New Mexicans

We here in Bernalillo County are a very lucky people because when it comes to our justice system we have some of the most hard working dedicated judges anyone could ask for in any state. At times they put the needs of the court system before family or friends to the point where they have to be told forcefully to take a break by those individuals. These judges care about the system and how well it works for the people.

They work very long hard hours to hand down the most fair and just decisions that are meant to be best for the voting public. They spend hours if not days and months reading over all of the filings in a case just so that they understand all of the facts before hearing the case in court. These filings can and often do amount to mountains of information that have to be reviewed before each court case is heard.

Judges hear thousands of cases each year so you can only begin to imagine all of the hard work these individuals perform to hand down fair and balanced judgments in each and every case.

We are all a little saddened and angered when a judge is asked to take a paid leave especially during hard economic time when the court system has limited financial resources to begin with while they are investigated for misconduct on the bench. The State Supreme Court has saw fit to remove Judge Victoria Grant from the bench in just such a case. When 22 complaints are filed by public defenders which will never be made public then a pattern begins to emerge that is troubling to say the least.

The lawyers in this city are the first and best line of defense when a judge does go bad on the bench because they are able to file complaints so that the upper court system can deal with the problem. All judges are people and sometime they have medical or personal problem that affect their ability to perform the job well so in order to protect them from unfair or unjust treatment those complaints are kept private.

Needless to say at times the voting public would like to know if something is going wrong in their court system. “Trust me, I will do the right thing,” is not always the answer the voting public wants to hear from the state supreme court in this state due to past corruptions in our state government.

Perhaps it is time that the State Supreme Court came out with some kind of a statement that would give the voting public some clue as to the nature of those complaints so that they could understand if this judge was just having a problem of some kind that can be delta with or if the judge in question just went bad on the bench. The State Supreme Court must understand that the voters are willing to be understanding if they are not kept in the dark on such issues for what amounts to unreasonable amounts of time.

President Obama Nominates Elena Kagan to U.S. Supreme Court

Today President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. This would make the fourth woman on the court system and the first time that three women sit on the bench of the high court at the same time.

Kagan has very limited time practicing before the court but has a history in the educational system as Dean of Harvard Law School. Elena Kagan is known to support a woman’s right to choose. She is well educated and has worked with presidents and vice presidents in the past.

The president would like to see his nominate confirmed before the August recess.

Mayor Berry Welcomes Sex Offenders Back to our Public Libraries

Mayor Martin Chavez saw the tremendous danger of sex offenders having free run in our publicly funded libraries and band them so that our children would be safe. Mayor Chavez was always very hard on sex offenders in our city and came out with as many laws as he could to protect our children from these depraved individuals.

Since Mayor Berry took over running our city the safety of women and children in this city has dropped to the bottom of the list when it comes to priorities. A rich man’s property is far more important than the life or safety of a child in this city.

Mothers have to stand up in this city for the protection of our children above any sex offender’s rights. The mothers of this city should start by not taking their children to the registered sex offender libraries and then we should show our displeasure with his new approach by voting down any bonds that would fund a library where sex offenders are welcome.

Mayor Berry should be sent a clear message that our children’s safety should come before any rights given to convicted sex offenders. The libraries have online services and the sex offenders can have any book they desire to read so the idea that they should have free run of our children’s publicly funded libraries is just outrages and unacceptable. The idea that library staff members have any ability to stop sex offenders from harming our children once they are allow back in the library is nothing more than a joke.

We do not allow sex offenders within a hundred yards of a publicly funded school and they should also not be allowed within a hundred yards of any publicly funded library. Our main library should be for law abiding citizens and children not registered sex offenders.

This is just another clear example of why republicans should not be in control of our state or local government.

Open and Transparent Court System Administration

Local District Court Judge Ted Baca is facing some very difficult press as of late for spending large sums of money on travel at a time when court staff has had to take time off without pay in order to balance a tight budget. Judge Baca has never been known as a person who does open transparent government very well. His lack of open processes for the district court has made some wonder just what he was up to over the past year.

Now a conservative news station is reporting that he spent large sums of money on travel and even spent $100,000 on a study which at this point the court system simply does not have the money to implement. This calls into question his common sense judgment when it comes to how the overworked court system is being run. Judges are being worked to death with heavy case loads and yet he spent the amount of a judge’s annual salary on a study that may never be used? Staff are taking days off without pay which cuts services to the public and he is jet setting around the country at a time when the courts budget has been cut to the bone?

How are local legislators ever going to be able to justify giving the court more funding in the future when the person responsible for allocating that money does not have a real clear understanding of how to use it to benefit the voters of Bernalillo County?

Our local court system has some of the best most honest hardworking judges in the state and they work long hard days on a regular base just to see that justice is done in this county and they should have leadership that puts the voters and court employees before self interest.

The voters deserve a Chief Judge that knows how to do business in an open and transparent manner and one that uses public taxpayer’s dollars in a way that best benefits public safety and achieves the most efficient use of court resources while maximizing a very skilled set of employees in the interest of fair and balanced justice for the county.

Owned by the Oil Companies and Deep into Their Pockets

Drill Baby Drill
Spill Baby Spill
Kill Baby Kill

Even after the daily reports coming out of the gulf coast states about the devastation and harmful effects of a major oil spill off the coast local republicans still want to reduce safety and environmental laws for the oil companies in our state. How out of touch can these people be when it comes to protecting New Mexicans? Is money for the oil companies all these people think about? What about local communities, the well being of local residents and the environment?

How far in the pockets of major oil companies are these republican candidates? Even our local Mayor who is a republican is getting into the act by switching police cars and other city vehicles for E-85 to unleaded gas. How long before our green city statue goes in the dump along with green jobs with that man as our mayor?

As for immigration Mayor Berry is looking at changing local city laws so that immigrates who are here illegally will fear reporting crimes. Thank god our governor is sane and will not hear of harming people just because of their legal statues in this state. These policy changes will only makes our city more unsafe and will lead to a higher crime rate and more desperate actions by illegal immigrates toward our local police department which could result in bystanders being killed.

One does have to wonder why Mayor Berry's wife is not speaking out in defense of other Hispanics in this city. How soon before local police start racial profiling in our city that is if they have not already started the process?

State Senator Tim Keller Announces Relationship

Spring is in the air and so is love for one of our most popular progressive state senators.

Our own State Senator Tim Keller announced yesterday on his facebook that he is now in a relationship with the lovely young Elizabeth Kistin. The couple has been seeing each other since just before the State Fair last year but wanted to keep the relationship private until they were sure that it was a keeper.

Sorry young ladies this cute single state senator is now happily taken. He now enters the same ranking as Lieutenant Governor Candidate Brian Colon and Congressman Martin Heinrich which is too cute but clearly in Love.

“Equal Justice Under Law.”

Today the U.S. Supreme Court closed its front doors to "Equal Justice Under Law." People are now told to take the side door in order to provide more security for the court. What kind of symbol will this provide for future generations? What kind of message does it send to the American People about their justice system? Will it be a case of a forgotten phase that for now will be out of sight and out of mind? Should the government now close the Statue of Liberty so that no one is allowed to read?

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Funny but it did not say anything about sending people who could afford to pay to become citizens.

With states like Arizona proving that justice is only for whites in this country and that anyone can be asked to “show your papers” without a clear and compelling reason is this act by the U.S. Supreme Court not another sad statement of how far our country’s legal system has falling?

Perhaps by being appointed for life and not answerable to the voters of this country the U.S. Supreme Court feels that they should now fear the voting public.

Brian Colon’s First Ad for Lt. Gov.

Supported by local labor Unions, married to an active teacher, father of a loving son,successful small business man, and active in the local hispanic community; Brian Colon is a candidate who is well worth serious and sincere consideration for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico since he clearly stands out among the rest.