| Tuesday January 20, 2009 06:59 Far from galas, Richardson opens session comment. LETTERMAN SPEAKS OF RICHARDSON Richardson has the reputation of appointments of people because they are corrupt.Look at Pro Se [for yourself] Fights for further evidence of the above assertion http://www.prosefights.org/nmlegal/eclipse/eclipse.htm#dendahl |
 High-balling Governor Off Track By John Dendahl Freelance Columnist In mid-2006, the Republican candidate for governor withdrew and the party's governing committee designated me as his successor on the ballot for the general election in November. I was decisively defeated by incumbent Gov. Bill Richardson. Some would like to attribute my move to Colorado a few months later to that loss. But I had had no expectation of defeating a man who had been in public office for most of a quarter of a century and would spend at least 40 times what I did in 20-week campaign. Richardson and I had first "met" via a phone call from him in 1979. I was a businessman. He was a recent carpet-bagger who picked the state as a good prospect to elect him to the U.S. House and was looking for support. When that 10-minute call ended, I thought: The man is a pandering liar. I met him personally at a friend's home a few weeks later. The first "promise" on the palm card he handed out was directly opposite to the main point he emphasized in our earlier conversation, thus affirming my first impression. I have never encountered another individual whose bad character was so obvious to me yet so apparently opaque to many others. Richardson lost that 1980 race, but New Mexico gained a new congressional district one election later. Richardson won the new seat in 1982 During his 16 years in Congress, Richardson continued to vindicate regularly my first impression- a pandering liar. It wasn't until his taking office in 2003 as New Mexico's governor, however, that he revealed himself to be a dictator as well. Illustrative of his hubris was his immediate move to replace his predecessor's appointees on boards (e.g.. university regents) to which they had been appointed to constitutionally set terms. He simply demanded their resignations, then replaced them with appointees who signed undated letters of resignation which could be "accepted" if, as, and when the dictator chose for any reason whatsoever. An early embarrassment was administered by a student-regent, Felicia Ybarra. She refused to vote as instructed for chairman of her university's board of regents, then, alone in a face-to-face meeting with Richardson and some of his staff, refused to resign. Richardson quietly tucked his tail between his legs and let the matter pass. Pay-to-play Organized Labor represents practically no one in the private sector in New Mexico, and lost its legal right to represent public employees when the relevant statute "sunsetted" during the term of Richardson's predecessor, Gary Johnson. The Legislature didn't have the votes to override Johnson's veto of its bill to extend. With direct contributions and indirect expenditures, Labor lavishly supported Richardson's 2002 campaign for governor. One of its most aggressive bosses, Brian Condit, was soon the Richardson transition organization's apparent gatekeeper for appointive positions. Labor got its big reward by immediate restoration of its collective bargaining statute without a sunset, then card-check recognition (that is, no secret ballot elections) of two unions for bargaining units spread around the state, then combination of the bargaining units into such large and ungainly wholes that employees have no chance whatsoever of mounting successful decertification campaigns. It won again when the Richardson lackeys on the University of New Mexico board of regents put a provision in a $185 million hospital construction contract a "project labor agreement" - to eliminate any possible cost savings through awards to non-union contractors. Among Richardson albatrosses around New Mexico's neck is a so-called commuter train, heavy rail no less, running about 100 miles in a corridor having fewer than a million people. A billion-dollar boondoggle. Richardson obliged the Burlington Northern Santa Fe by buying and taking over about 300 miles of BNSF track that was probably more liability than asset (the 100-mile "commuter" corridor plus another 200 miles into southern Colorado). BNSF got $75 million taxpayer dollars from Richardson; tens of thousands came from BNSF and affiliates to Richardson's campaign and to the Democratic Governors Association he headed. A Sept. 24, 2006, Albuquerque Journal article told the eye-popping story of approval by the Richardson administration of access to a major East-West limited access artery in Albuquerque for a real estate development by the family of Pete Daskalos. Access by other developers had been denied, as had access for a fire station. Soon, $130,000 made its way into Richardson's campaign coffers from various Daskalos family interests. This fandango alone should have tipped White House vetters, if they cared, that Richardson was too hot to handle PRI-style ruthlessness The candidate I replaced on the ballot had been severely hampered in fundraising on account of potential donors' fear of retribution, reportedly including actual warnings to some. I was confident- overconfident - from my more than eight years' chairing the state Republican Party and raising a great deal of money that I could get past that. Among my finance directors first calls was to ask a close friend, a Republican real estate developer, if he and his wife would host a fundraising event. He called back promptly the following day to report that he couldn't face the risk of. Richardson's retaliation. He also reported a conversation at a meeting of Albuquerque's Economic Forum during which other business leaders had expressed the same intention: Let someone else support Dendahl and bear the consequences meted out by our ruthless governor. Ditto Hobbs in Lea County, an oil and gas producing area in the Permian Basin. Nearly all local officeholders are Republicans, and George W. Bush twice won decisively there. However, I was told by a locally prominent close friend that I would be able to raise zilch. Reportedly, Richardson's local enforcer and the chairman of his State Transportation Commission had the word out that economically important local activities - a horse-racing track/ casino operation, a private prison, highway building and a budding uranium enrichment plant - could all be hurt by any showing of financial support for Richardson's opponent. That well was dry. I went next door to Carlsbad, in Eddy County. When Richardson was in Congress, he was the single most effective opponent of a federal facility proposed in that county, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), designed to dispose of transuranic (TRU) waste produced by the nation's nuclear weapons program. The project was popular in Eddy County, but opposed by anti-nuclear environmentalists in Richardson's district, even though the Los Alamos National Laboratory needed WIPP to get rid of locally-stored TRU waste. But Richardson pandered to the enviros and lied to the rest: "I'm for WIPP as long as it's 100-percent safe," he said, knowing that nothing, not even that lie, is 100-percent safe. I had worked for years with the Carlsbad mayor and a couple of his predecessors, as well as the county's legislators to counter Richardson and his enviro allies. When I asked the mayor for support, he acknowledged that Carlsbad owed me big time for all the WIPP help, "but I can't put my city at risk," Nothing coming from there. In a community 25 miles north of Santa Fe is a prominent businessman known for damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead courage. During a visit shortly after my nomination, he pledged $10,000 to my campaign. After several weeks a $10,000 check came in from a source entirely unknown to my campaign staff and me. I smelled a rat and called the pledgor to see if this were payment of the pledge and he said it was. I told him I had to return the check. Another day, another friend cowed by the specter of Richardson's wrath. And so it went all over the state. To be sure, there were courageous people who provided generous support; however, the Richardson organization assured through brute intimidation that that would be a comparative trickle. Since my wife and I moved to Colorado nearly two years ago, hardly a month has passed without news of some scandal among those ruling New Mexico, adding to the pile of vindication for our decision. It might be pointed out that, like New Mexico's, Colorado's recent electoral results haven't favored my side, either. However, whether its governments trend left or right, I believe Colorado has the necessary critical mass of press and community leadership to squelch promptly the sort of corruption Richardson has made endemic throughout New Mexico. Sadly for New Mexico, formation of a similarly corrective critical mass seems light years away. Albuquerque Journal Sunday January 18, 2009 |
| Sunday January 18, 2009
14:47 New Mexico attorney general Gary King should get involved in the $22,036 SLFCU CEO Christopher Jillson felony fraud theft which should net Jillson 9 years in prison. All the evidence of Jillson's guilt is in writing in court records. Let's try to keep a good sense of humor. Bill went to McDonald's at Tramway and Montgomery to get a $.99 bag of ice on Saturday January 17, 2008. He wore his pheasant hunting fleece sweatshirt while other were be laundered. Mc employee who gave bill the bag of ice commented, "Nice jacket." Bill responded, "I'm invisible." Employee responded, "Maybe in a pumpkin patch."  Note digital US army issue hat. http://www.prosefights.org/nmlegal/eclipse/eclipse.htm#richardsonwsj |
| New Mexico's Political Wild West
Lack of Contribution Limits, Ethics Laws and Lawmaker Pay Seems to Breed Scandal By STEPHANIE SIMON A cascade of recent corruption scandals in New Mexico has drawn fresh scrutiny to the state's unusual-and lightly regulated-political culture. New Mexico is the only state in the nation that doesn't pay its state legislators. It is one of just a handful with no campaign-contribution limits, so politicians- among them Gov. Bill Richardson- have collected tens of thousands of dollars from individual donors. Unlike most states, New Mexico lacks an independent ethics board. There is no statewide law governing ethical conduct for officeholders. There is no way for citizens to watch their representatives at work, unless they trek to the state capitol in Santa Fe. New Mexico is one of only three states that doesn't broadcast or Web-cast its legislative proceedings. During a kickback probe a few. years ago that ended with two state treasurers in prison, a witness was asked why he bribed the officials. "He said, 'My understanding is, that's how business is done in New Mexico,' "recalled Attorney General Gary King, a Democrat. "Well," Mr. King said. "That's embarrassing." The latest allegations swirling through the state involve the administration of Mr. Richardson, a Democrat. A federal grand jury is looking at how a California firm, CDR Financial Products, landed a lucrative state contract. The firm's top executive was a major donor to Mr. Richardson's political committees. A similar pay-to-play accusation surfaced last week when a state court unsealed a lawsuit filed during the summer by the former chief investment officer of a state pension board. He alleged that people with ties to the current administration pressured state officials to invest $90 million with an Illinois financial concern, Vanderbilt Capital Advisors LLC and related entities. The firm's executives later donated to Mr. Richardson. Mr. Richardson has said he did nothing wrong in either case. CDR also has denied wrongdoing. Vanderbilt declined to comment.
Both Democratic and Republican advocates of strengthening ethics rules hope to leverage pubic concern about the allegations to push for tighter state laws. "Our system is drastically behind other states and the federal government in terms of regulating the flow of money through the political process," said Matt Brix, of the Center for Civic Policy, a government-watchdog group in Albuquerque. Recent corruption cases include the federal fraud and corruption conviction of a state insurance regulator for coercing companies to fund his pet charities, and a state fine levied against a commissioner 01 public regulation for misuse of public money during his campaign. And most startling to many in Santa Fe: The abrupt fall from power of longtime state Senate President Pro Tempore Manny Aragon, who pleaded guilty last year to felony conspiracy for bilking taxpayers. "We've had one case after an-other," said state Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, a Republican. "I think my colleagues are in the mood" for ethics overhaul, she said. "It's well past due." New Mexicans, though, have heard that before. Messrs. Richardson and King have both pushed for an ethics overhaul for several years. It is a nearly perennial issue in the legislature. But it has proved tough to get anything but moderate overhauls enacted, as legislators tend to vote down or sideline more ambitious proposals. "It's natural for legislators to be cautious and, quite frankly, skeptical [of new regulation), because it restricts what they do and puts more scrutiny on them," said Steven Robert Allen, who pushes for ethics overhaul as executive director of Common Cause New Mexico. Mr. Allen has high hopes that the New Mexico legislature, which starts a new session next week, will limit campaign contributions to $5,000 for statewide candidates and $2,300 for legislative candidates. He also sees emerging support for a bipartisan, independent ethics commission with investigative powers. About 40 states have such a commission. But New Mexico's budget crisis will take top priority in the 60-day legislative session, so any ethics overhaul that costs money- such as public financing of campaigns or paying legislators a salary-is likely off the table, analysts said. Still, proponents of an overhaul don't expect the ethics issue to fade away. A few years ago, the legislature authorized the attorney general to hire a special team of eight investigators to probe public corruption. Mr. King promises the state "will be seeing the fruits of that soon." Asked how many cases he expects to bring, he answered: "More than a handful." Wall Street Journal Saturday/Sunday January 17-18 2009 |
