Governor MIA

So, what was missing from Business Day in Santa Fe?

Well... a Governor who cares about the business community. Governor Richardson is already forgetting that his number one priority - at least as long as he is putting taxpayer money in his pockets - is supposed to be his New Mexican constituents.

A couple hundred business leaders from across the state took the time to go up to Santa Fe, but the Governor was nowhere to be found. Tell me again why we're paying him a salary?

Up in Santa Fe

I'm up in Santa Fe this morning for Business Day. I'll write something tonight about the day and the various speeches.

Nonsensical Rate Increases

I frequently travel out of state on business. I've always liked how easy it is to get in and out of the Sunport. And as a small business owner, I've also appreciated how inexpensive parking can be.

Leave it to Mayor Martin Chavez to mess with that (subscription):

The city Aviation Department is seeking authorization to increase rates for short-term and long-term parking. City councilors are considering the proposal.

For short-term parking, the rate for 24 hours would go from $7 to $9. After 72 hours, the daily rate would go from $10 to $12.

The long-term rate for 24 hours would rise from $6 to $8. After 72 hours, the daily rate would go from $8 to $11.

Airport officials say the rate increase would bring Albuquerque more into line with other cities. "We have been looking at what is done at other airports our size, and we are far below what they charge for parking," said spokesman Daniel Jiron.

Re-read that last paragraph. Mr. Jiron is not saying we need additional revenue to cover costs. Instead, he is saying that he just wants to bump up the costs because other municipalities charge more. Would somebody please explain to the goofballs what it means to have a competitive advantage?

This is at minimum a $1.7 million tax increase on anyone who flies. A completely unnecessary tax increase I might add. Worse yet, if the City raises the parking fees by the proposed 20-30%, then all of the private parking lots around the airport will raise their fees accordingly. This is a perfect example of government artificially driving up costs.

I hope our City councilors have more sense than the Mayor's aviation staff.

Ethics Reform - NM Style

Governor Bill Richardson made a point in his State of the State to address the need for Ethics reform:

Holding the highest ethical standards is not a privilege, but our responsibility as public servants. It’s also the best, and only way, we can protect the public’s faith in their democracy.

Some of you here served in the Ethics Reform Task Force and provided valuable recommendations. Thank you for your efforts. Those recommendations are the basis for my ethics package.

I’m proposing—an independent ethics commission, better campaign reporting, public financing for judicial candidates, and limits on gifts and campaign contributions. These recommendations are now before the legislature and represent a tough reform package that will help restore the public faith in our Government.

So, what's Governor Richardson's first step in restoring the public faith in our Government:

The Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee was officially less than five hours old Monday when it fired off more than 300,000 e-mails seeking campaign contributions to potential supporters across the country.

But here’s the problem…

It looks like it is illegal for the Governor of NM to raise any money for political purposes during the New Mexico legislative session.

From state statute:

1-19-34.1. Legislative session fundraising prohibition. (1995)

B. It is unlawful during the prohibited period for the governor, or any agent on his behalf, to knowingly solicit a contribution for a political purpose. For purposes of this subsection, "prohibited period" means that period beginning January 1 prior to any regular session of the legislature or, in the case of a special session, after the proclamation has been issued, and ending on the twentieth day following the adjournment of the regular or special session.

Thanks to the Wednesday Morning QB for pointing this out. Now I wonder if our new Democratic Attorney General, Gary King, is going to launch an investigation? Yeah, that'll happen... about the same time that there is real ethics reform in New Mexico.

Make sure to tune in this Saturday to Insight New Mexico at 3:00 p.m. on 1350 AM Progressive Radio (what can I say I like a challenge) to catch yours truly telling like it is.

Land of the Broken Computers

Looks like New Mexico has computer software problems galore. This is pretty funny when you think about it. We've got all of these Ph.D.'s running around New Mexico and two national laboratories. Yet, state government can't seem to figure out how to buy a computer system and get it to function.

Let me correct that. They CAN figure out how to BUY the computer. They CAN'T figure out how to get it to WORK.

So, far we've got news stories about over $14 million spent on a broken system for the Labor Department that leaves the unemployed dangling in the wind. Now, Jay Miller has a story about the $28 million inoperative SHARE system, which is leaving "60,000 contractors and vendors and the 24,000 state employees" who have been forced to use it with no solution in sight.

It's good to see that Governor Richardson has been spending that record budget surplus well.

Shorten Winter and Extend Summer

The Albuquerque Journal (subscription) has a follow up article today on the proposed upcoming APS academic calendar. APS wants to shorten the summer and increase the winter break. Personally, my family would prefer that it be the other way around. A three week winter break is too long.

There was one rationale behind starting earlier in the summer that just struck me as absurd:

Officials said another reason for the early start is that the APS payroll department has set the first pay period from July 30 to Aug. 10. Teachers must work at least three days during that time, or they don't get a paycheck.

I can't believe an official put this out as a reason to change the calendar. Tens of thousands of families lives being altered to because of some bureaucratic nonsense. Tell me this system isn't broken.

Speaking if which, you mighr want to attend tonight's APS Board candidates forum.

A Lack of Splash

Sorry I've been silent on the Bill Richardson "big announcement." I was snowboarding in Vermont with about a dozen childhood friends and didn't really have internet access on the big day.

However, I'm not sure it would have mattered if I did. Governor Richardson's announcement just didn't seem to generate a lot of buzz and excitement up in that corner of the country. Sure, the Albuquerque Journal gave it a lot of ink, but in Vermont, well, it was an unimpressive entry at best.

Richardson's got a long way to go, and it doesn't seem promising that his campaign is already trying to spin his inability to raise the money needed to be competitive on the national stage by claiming that he's going to run "a grassroots campaign." Ouch, nothing like making excuses right out of the gate.

Same Song, Different Year, Same Results

If nothing else, I guess you can say that Governor Bill Richardson is consistent. It seems like every year the Governor in his State of the State (.pdf) talks about all of the great accomplishments that have happened in New Mexico under his watch, and then sets an agenda to accomplish all of the things he has already taken credit for accomplishing.

I know it's confusing, but seriously, that's what happens every year. Don't believe me? Well, look how he started out his speech:

Over the last four years, I’ve laid out ambitious goals for New Mexico: Better schools, better jobs with higher wages, protection of our water and natural resources, more accessible health care, safer streets and communities, and a more fiscally responsible approach to government.

The legislature joined me, we acted—and acted boldly. We put progress above politics. We found common ground. Democrats and Republicans, community groups and churches, business and government—we came together--regardless of party, faith, or affiliation—and got things done.

Gee, what an image. Everyone gathered around the Roundhouse in one big circle, holding hands, smiling and singing "kumbaya" and they "got things done." Yes, siree Bob it's a beautiful thing. Brings a tear to my eye. In fact, it's such a lovely fantasy, that I kind of feel guilty about providing the links above.

Or for that matter pointing out the obvious....

If we accomplished all of those things, why are they back on the agenda this year? I know, it's a silly question, but I'd like to know. See, on page one of his ten page speech the Governor says, "[We] got things done." Then on page two, he says:

I believe we must expand the bounds of opportunity for every New Mexican.

Expanding opportunity means extending health care coverage, so the lives of our citizens are not are limited by poor health and no health care. [Oops, so much for that "more accessible health care" accomplishment.]

Expanded opportunity means protecting the needs of future generations for a clean environment and sustainable water supply. [Uh-oh, it looks like that "protection of our water and natural resources" didn't actually happen yet.]

It means widening our economic base—so our oil and gas economy, expands to renewable energy, film, tourism and high-tech—from our urban areas to our rural main streets. [Hmm, it seems that claim to "better jobs with higher wages" success was a bit premature.]

Most of all it means—an education system dedicated to learning, achievement, and success. So that every child gets a world-class education and enters the world of work prepared to succeed. [Darn it! Looks like "Better schools" hasn't happened yet either.]

So, let's see. I guess that leaves just "safer streets and communities" and "a more fiscally responsible approach to government" on that once grand and beautiful list of accomplishments.

Houston, we have a problem.

It seems that the streets actually aren't safer. Oh, and I'm having a hard time finding anyone who thinks that increasing a $3.9 billion budget to $5.7 billion in one term of office could be construed as a "fiscally responsible approach to government."

So, are you inspired? Yeah, me neither.

The Bloggers Are Coming

It looks like there is a public forum coming up on January 24th for those who would like to be elected to the APS School Board. And guess what? Two of the candidates are bloggers:

Candidates for the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education will participate in a public forum on Jan. 24.

The forum will be moderated by the League of Women Voters and will give members of the public an opportunity to hear the opinions and views of the candidates.

There are three candidates, Cecilia C De Baca, Dolores Griego and Richard Sanchez, who want to represent District I, the district that encompasses the South Valley of Albuquerque.

In District 2, on Albuquerque's west side, the candidates are Cynthia Jones and incumbent Robert Lucero.

The five candidates from District 4, the Downtown and University area of Albuquerque, are Vanessa Alarid, John Edward, Martin Esquivel, Charles MacQuigg and Pauline Nunez.

The forum will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24 at the APS administrative building located at 6400 Uptown Boulevard NE.

Now that should make for an interesting night.

Simple Math, Scary Future

Ok, by now we all know that (subscription)...

Higher-than-expected revenues from oil and gas, as well as corporate and personal income taxes, will pump an estimated $720 million in extra money into New Mexico's checking accounts.

Gov. Bill Richardson and the Legislative Finance Committee have recommended spending about $5.7 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1. That's up from $5.1 billion this year and would represent an 11 percent increase in state spending.

The "new money," as lawmakers and bureaucrats call it, could go toward everything from tax cuts to higher state worker and teacher salaries to expanding pre-kindergarten, more state health care and dealing with overcrowded prisons.

Reread that last paragraph. What do you notice about all of those items? If you answered, that with the exception of tax cuts, they're all recurring costs, you're a winner.

Now, let's put this into perspective. Imagine that at the end of last year your employer gave you an unexpected $720 bonus. Do you:

a) Take that $720 and buy something nice for $720.
b) Take some of the $720 and buy something nice and invest the rest for your future.
c) Commit to spend $720 every year from this point forward.

If you answered "a", you better hope Social Security stays funded. If you answered "b", they wrote about you in the book, The Millionaire Next Door. If you answered "c", the bad news is that you're fiscally irresponsible and most likely have a bankruptcy in your future. The good news is that you have a VERY promising future as a New Mexico politician.

Let the Spending Begin

In the Op-Ed section of today's Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico's Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, Katherine Miller, has a letter which begins:

Recent calls for caution against a "spending spree" during the legislative session are prudent and necessary given the record amount of money that is available. In fact, Gov. Bill Richardson in a speech to business leaders last month said that he will not allow a spending spree.

Ok, this sounds good to me. A little restraint seems seriously past due. After all, when Gary Johnson left office the state budget was nearly $3.9 billion (an amount he had vetoed as excessive), and it has been growing larger ever since:

2002 - $3.9 billion
2003 - $4.0 billion
2004 - $4.4 billion
2005 - $4.7 billion
2006 - $5.1 billion

So, I'm thinking it's about time to we show a little fiscal restraint up in Santa Fe. But wait, what's this in the Metro Section (subscription):

Gov. Bill Richardson is proposing a nearly $5.7 billion state budget that provides for an 11 percent increase in spending next year and leaves room for about $125 million in tax cuts.

Oh no. Let the "spending spree" begin. Governor Richardson is throwing caution to the wind, and it's spend, spend, spend up in Santa Fe. Think about it. In just five short years, Governor Richardson has allowed - no, make that encouraged - increasing state spending by almost TWO BILLION DOLLARS.

Just Like I Said

Last night I wrote about third world tactics, and today Hugo Chavez was good enough to help illustrate my point (subscription):

As Venezuela embarked on another six years under Hugo Chavez, the president announced plans to nationalize power and telecom companies and make other bold changes that will concentrate more power in his hands.

Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs until 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to strip the Central Bank of its autonomy and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.

See, I don't make this stuff up.

Third World Tactics

Ever wonder why most Latin American countries lag so far behind the United States when it comes to economic prosperity? Think inadequate protection of private property rights. See, it is hard to encourage growth in countries where a sudden change in the political landscape can result in the new government deciding to seize a private investment for the "public good."

Keeping that in mind, what sort of message do you think this sends (subscription) to those who would consider investing in New Mexico:

In 2004, [the newly formed public Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority] increased what it charges [the privately owned New Mexico Utilities Inc.] for sewer service by tens of thousands of dollars [in blatant violation of a 1973 contract]. The utility [which has provided services to area residents since the 1960's] sued.

The authority [created in 2003] has made no secret that it wants to condemn New Mexico Utilities and merge its operations with the city/county agency.

Think about that... a new governmental agency is formed in 2003, and one of their first orders of business is to try and seize a private company. A private company that has been operating a viable, growing and successful business for more than 40 years. This is wrong. Our elected officials need to be reminded that this is not the way that America works.

Failure, Failure, Everywhere

Governor Richardson has enjoyed a healthy budget surplus, year in and year out. So, you would think that government agencies would be performing better than ever. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. First, we had snowfall that shut down the state and crippled our highways - in some counties for a second time in just two years.

Now the Journal publishes this (subscription):

The state's Web site for filing new unemployment insurance claims doesn't work, and the only phone number for registering is inundated.

Applying in person? Well, no. There's no way to do that with the New Mexico Department of Labor.

How tough has it been to try to file by phone or computer?

After receiving a letter from a frustrated Sandia Park resident, the Journal did some spot checks.

A reporter's efforts to call up the unemployment claim link on the Labor Department Web site consistently failed during a 10-day period.

A new message appeared on the site last week stating, "Currently the file claim option is not available on-line. At this time please call 841-4000 to file a claim."

By that time, the Journal had already phoned the number dozens of times.

Last Thursday, a Journal reporter finally got more than just a busy signal.

The computer operator answered: There were 106 other calls ahead, with an estimated wait time of 92 minutes. On Friday, 70 callers were on hold, with a wait time of 23 minutes.

But hey, at least we got a train to nowhere and a spaceport.

My Point Exactly

Governor Richardson's plan to give all teachers a seven percent raise just doesn't make any sense. Some of those teachers deserve MUCH MORE than a seven percent raise, and some of those teachers don't deserve any raise at all, and a few of those teachers don't even deserve their job. If you don't believe me, read this:

As I was saying, given these past [testing] experiences, the "Instructional Council" at my school had a great idea. So great, I separate the idea into its own paragraph....

Send the kids home and have our Spring Parent/Teacher conferences in the afternoons of three testing days.

This idea kills so many birds with so few stones that worldwide bird populations would be decimated and we could still build a sturdy stone gymnasium. Kids test at the optimal time, "studies" show, are sent home during the useless afternoons, Parent/Teacher conferences don't wreck other school days, conferences don't last all day leading to teacher coma and basically having to put name tags on the parents to tell them apart. This is possibly the greatest single idea ever developed through a school leadership committee, imho, and I'm considering nominating this idea and "council" to the people at Nobel, Fulbright, etc. for an award of some type.

And that's where we finally reach the point of this little story. Several teachers (total number unknown) didn't like the plan. They didn't like it because it involved we teachers extending our work day from the normal 3:05 final bell (and roughly 3:20/3:30 hitting the parking lot) until 4:00 in order that parents would have more time to see us.

They framed the objection as being made without sufficient staff input, but in truth they really just didn't like having to stay until 4:00. I cannot stress how embarrassing it is for me, as a K-12 teacher, to have typed the previous sentence.

I recommend you read the whole post.

State of Emergency Deja Vu

Remember the Spring of 2004:

The storms washed away a portion of at least one county road in Carlsbad and prompted the closure of N.M. 137.

"It's flooding. It's hailing. You name it, and we're getting it," said Carlsbad resident Kathy Kelly. "It's been three days now."

Several roads in the Hobbs area were also closed because of flooding, including N.M. 207 between Hobbs and Eunice and U.S. 62-180 from Hobbs to the New Mexico-Texas line.

In northern New Mexico, crews were making progress restoring electricity to more than 1,000 customers of the Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative, Ernesto Gonzales, the co-op's general manager, said Monday.

The outages began Saturday morning as heavy, wet snow caused electrical lines to sag, break and short out mainly in the Mora Valley south of Las Vegas, Mineral Hill and Gallenas Canyon, he said.

Gonzales said he did not know exactly how many customers had electricity restored, but he hoped to have everyone back on line later Monday.

In Albuquerque, crews were fixing sinkholes that opened up because of the rain. From about midday Friday to midday Saturday, 2.29 inches of rain fell in the Duke City, beating the previous 24-hour record of 2.26 inches set in September 1893, according the National Weather Service.

No? Well, how about the Winter of 2004:

Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency as a winter storm pummeled the state, leaving roads virtually impassable, closing schools and blanketing one town with 13 inches of snow.

Richardson's declaration signed late Tuesday freed up about $750,000 in state funds to help cover overtime costs for road crews, police and emergency workers, said Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for the governor.

The worst of the snow and rain was across northern, eastern and central New Mexico. All state employees were sent home two hours early and Los Alamos National Laboratory closed for the day.

Yeah, our Governor and other elected officials are counting on the fact that you forgot about those emergencies. Because, let's face it, if you remembered, you might be more than a little upset that two years later our state had the very same problem again:

Gov. Bill Richardson has declared a state of disaster for eight counties affected by rain-induced flooding.

The order covers Bernalillo, Harding, Quay, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Juan, Sierra and Socorro counties, which were hit by heavy rains from July 1 through 9. The order makes up to $750,000 available to help counties recover costs.

Roads, bridges and other infrastructure were damaged in many areas.

Officials from the state Office of Emergency Management will work with authorities in each county to assess damage and come up with estimates for repairs.

Or, you might be left wondering why after records budget surplus - the kind that allows hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent on trains and spaceports - we're STILL not better prepared to deal with simple weather emergencies:

Trucker Jessie Pierson, from Wichita, Kansas, was hauling a load of hay to Texas when he wound up stranded for 5 1/2 hours Saturday by closed roads.

"Then we were able to move about 12 miles in one hour, and the roads were closed again," Pierson said Sunday afternoon. "We couldn't move again until 11 this morning."

Pierson said snow plows on roads passing a truck stop in Clines Corner, New Mexico, where he and his girlfriend had sought shelter, "just piled the snow up so none of us could get out.

"The state wouldn't get out and help anybody and there was no National Guard to be seen anywhere we've been," Pierson said.

"People were getting out and helping each other -- we couldn't count on the government for any help."

So, has New Mexico government finally learned their lesson? Will they look to ensuring the safety of New Mexicans and visitors to our state before again spending millions on frivolous legacy projects? We'll see. This legislative session emergency preparation should be the number one priority.

Snow Days

I'm back at work. My employees are back at work. My vendors are back at work. My clients are back at work. How is it everyone in the Albuquerque Metro area could make it back to work except the Albuquerque Public Schools?

And the Governor wants to throw more money at education this coming legislative session? Simply brilliant.

Please, Define Accountability

I'm sure it was just an oversight, but I wasn't invited to Governor Richardson's inaugural festivities. Instead, I just had to read the speech online.

And what a speech it was. This highlighted portion from the Governor's press release is by far my favorite:

“Four years ago today, we demonstrated our commitment to education with a 6% increase in teacher salaries - tied to accountability measures,” said Governor Richardson. “Those increases took us from 48th to 39th in the nation in teacher pay, dramatically boosted teacher quality, and improved education in the classroom. Today, I propose that we renew our commitment to education in an unprecedented way - let's raise teacher's salaries by 7.4 percent, tie them to accountability, and move to 27th in the nation.”

So, that first raise was tied to accountability. Based on these results, who would've thunk it? I can't wait to see what kind of results another 7.4 percent across the board will bring us.

Blog Vacation Over

Happy New Year! It's 2007 and time to start blogging again.

I missed all of the snow excitement in the Albuquerque area because the family and I were ringing in the New Year with a ski vacation in Angel Fire. We stayed in a great little apartment in Eagle Nest behind Eye of the Eagle Jewelery and Gifts. They didn't have internet access, but I highly recommend staying there. The proprietor, Billie, is just one great lady.

The only complaint I had was that Saturday the town of Angel Fire was closed, so we couldn't ski. Now, I understand how Albuquerque might be in total chaos after a snow storm, but I can't understand how a ski town can't manage to get five or so miles of roads plowed by 9:00 a.m., or noon for that matter.

That's just silly.