New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

2019 NM Legislature: Heroes, Homeruns and Hope

A View from Just Outside the Roundhouse

 April 10, 2019

2019 Legislature: Heroes, Homeruns and Hope

This is what resetting New Mexico’s future looks like: a $100 million education moon shot for at-risk students, increased teacher salaries and teaching time; an increased minimum wage; a carbon-free electrical grid by 2045; background checks for all gun sales in NM; an expansion of voter rights through automatic and same- day registration; increased accountability through an ethics commission; decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana; elimination of surprise medical bills, guaranteed coverage of pre-existing conditions and contraception, an early childhood department… and more.

When Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took office in January, she said her job would be to restore hope and ignite a “can-do”—rather than a can’t-do—attitude to lift New Mexico from poverty and its low ranking in education and almost every other realm. The enhanced Democratic majority in the House jumped in, and the Senate, with a few disappointing exceptions, came along.

Elections have consequences—and the lightening speed at which the new policies were enacted (think the “rocket docket”) —gives hope for quick implementation of the values voters endorsed in November’s “blue wave.”

This Session’s Heroes

I followed this session more closely than any other since I left the Senate in 2012 as I worked with Common Cause New Mexico to get a strong, transparent Ethics Commission, as demanded by 75% of voters. Make no mistake, legislators really didn’t want it—but thanks to Rep. Daymon Ely, Sens. Mimi Stewart, Peter Wirth, Daniel Ivy Soto and Rep. Brian Egolf—they rose to the occasion and came up with a workable commission, which will begin hearing claims next year.  This was a bipartisan effort, too. Former Rep. Jim Dines, who sponsored the constitutional amendment in 2017 that forced the legislature’s hand, and Rep. Greg Nibertof Roswell, who partnered with Damon Ely in the House, were key players.

The eight new Democratic women in the House get my nod for heroes of the session.  Many of them including Melanie Stansbury, Day Hochman-Vigil, Karen Bash, Natalie Figueroa, and Joy Garrett,are from Albuquerque, and they have stood tall for education, gun control, voters rights and environmental protection.  And ain’t it grand to have women like Gail Chasey, Liz Thompson and Debbie Armstrongchairing major House committees? They are champions.

Each session the spotlight is on legislative heroes but behind the bills are a slew of citizen advocates—and they don’t get enough credit.  This year I was so impressed by Moms Demand Action, whose red t-shirts were omnipresent during the session and before, during the election.  The group worked in targeted races and can legitimately claim credit for helping flip 7-8 seats to gun control advocates in the House.  The Sierra Cluband the environmental groups had an effective operation including a pre-session lobbying workshop for volunteers, a regular communications network and a system for contacting legislators. They also had paid lobbyists. It paid off! And as far as persistence goes—you have to applaud Common Cause and the League of Women Votersfor working for decades to get an ethics commission.  This year, help was on the way—from SOS Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Katy Duhigg, Albuquerque City Clerk, and the new kid on the block, NM Ethics Watch  (watch for ‘em).  Persistence is also the hallmark of Health Action New Mexico, whose heath care advocates have been pushing for a dental therapist program that finally passed this year.  These heroes remind me of the old quote, “History is made by those who show up.”

 

Conservancy District Elections Here Again: Barbara Baca the Best for At Large

Meet Her at My Place (1821 Meadow View Dr. NW) Wednesday April 24 at 5:30 pm 

 What you don’t know canhurt you!  For years, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which controls irrigation in a large swath of the valley from Cochiti Pueblo in the North to Socorro in the South, operated almost as a stealth agency. Its former chief engineer did not play well with other agencies. Its elections were off-season, with only landowner voters, who were discouraged from voting by arcane rules like requiring the notarization of absentee ballots. Yet this agency controls our beloved ditches—and, even if we do not irrigate--we pay taxes to the district. Taxes from the North and South Valley make up the bulk of the revenue for the district, which historically has focused on agriculture outside of Albuquerque.  All that began to change in 2009, with a slate of reform candidates that included Adrian Oglesby and Karen Dunning. The trend continued with the election of John Kelly and Joaquin Baca, and now I am happy to introduce Barbara Baca, the latest reform candidate from our area.  She is running for the at-large position on the board, covering the valley areas of Sandoval, Bernalillo, Valencia and Socorro Counties.

 

 

Barbara Baca has a long history in planning, open space and outdoor recreation.  She knows the bosque, trails and government service.  She was the director of the city’s Parks & Recreation Department from 2009-2014 and her large family includes farmers from Valencia and Socorro. She was there when the Rio Grande State Park was created, and she helped me in 2007 make the district pay attention to urban ditches for walking and recreation, as well as irrigation matters.

Your vote for Barbara Bacaon June 4 will continue the reform tradition, and it counts heavily in an election where only about 3,500 votes are typically cast.  Voting information including polling places for early voting (starts May 20) and on election day (June 4) is at barbarabacaformrgcd.nationbuilder.com. You can request your absentee ballot today at https://www.mrgcd.com/uploads/files/Application%20for%20Absentee%20Ballot.pdf.

Meanwhile, I am having a Meet and Greet Party for Barbara (I am sure she would appreciate contributions, too) at my house at 1821 Meadow View Dr. NW on Wednesday April 24 at 5:30 p.m. Come over and check her out!

Finally, spring has sprung. Rain has fallen. The ditches are full and I hope you are enjoying the season! 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from NM

Here, from my new book, Another Way Forward,  are more reasons to hope even in the face of military parades, the disgraceful use of dreamers as political pawns , massive transfers of wealth to the 1%, and looming cuts to Medicare, Social Security and safety net programs. This time the solutions are extraordinary people. All of these are in the book.

            An Honor Roll of 10 Local Heroes

• Sanjeev Arora, a UNM gastroenterologist with a simple, disruptive, technological innovation to bring specialty care to rural patients with chronic diseases. He wants to touch a billion lives around the world by 2020, with his Project Echo.
• Ona Porter, of Prosperity Works, who is helping low-income people build on assets they have to enter the middle class and bring their children with them.
• Alan Marks, a radical high school teacher, who has mentored over a hundred low-income students over the years and gotten them into colleges like Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Occidental and Pomona.
• Debbie O’Malley, who helped organize her neighborhood in the Sawmill District of Albuquerque to clean up a toxic brownfield and pioneer a new type of affordable housing—an urban land trust.
• Bob DeFelice, the CEO of First Choice Community Healthcare, who has a vision of a wellness ecosystem that is not just a clinic but a holistic means of addressing the reasons behind poor health in a low-income community.
• Susan Matteucci, whose small factory on 4^th St. in Albuquerque supports a group of Spanish speaking women with on-site daycare and family support services. Now a thriving social enterprise, Southwest Creations Collaborative is based on the idea that, above all, low-income women will invest in their children.
• Andres Mercado, a Santa Fe Fire Fighter who is the driving force behind that city’s Mobile Integrated Health Office, is bringing together community resources and revolutionizing what it means to be an EMT.
• Charlie Alfero, of Silver City, established a medical home at Hidalgo Medical Services, began using community health workers to serve rural patients and is now bringing health care providers to the area with a new model of medical education.
• Cliff Crawford, a UNM biologist who before his death began an innovative project to get students of all ages collecting real data from the middle Rio Grande bosque.
• Sayrah Namaste, of the American Friends Service Committee, who is training young farmers around the state to enable them to stay on the land and develop sustainable business models.

…And there are many others out there.  If you are one of them, perhaps it is time to tell your story, find allies, mentor others and make a bigger difference in these dangerous times. Margaret Mead was right. Never doubt that one person can make a difference.

Hope for 2018-- from the Bottom Up in New Mexico

Need to revive hope in the New Year?   Here are a few of the New Mexico solutions featured in my new book,  Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico. I will be talking about others Jan. 13 1-3 at the Los Poblanos Farm Store, 4803 Rio Grande Blvd. in Albuquerque. 

Solution #1: A service corps for young people to provide training in outdoor occupations, a sense of stewardship for New Mexico’s public lands and a leg up to further education.

Solution #2: A farmers market located outside a primary health clinic to offer low-income mothers fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms at affordable prices.

Solution #3: A community land trust to provide affordable housing, preserve a traditional neighborhood, and clean up an old industrial wasteland.

Solution #4: Tele-conferencing to bring the expertise of medical specialists to rural areas and address chronic diseases and opiod addictions.

Solution #5: A new type of experiential museum for all ages that is breaking the traditional mold and creating jobs for young artists.

Solution #6: A small factory that provides quality, on-site childcare for its employees at 25 cents per hour.

Solution #7: A civics program that gives kids a real-world opportunity to write a bill and lobby it through the legislature.

Solution #8: A medical residency program that encourages—rather than discourages—budding health care providers to locate in remote rural areas.

Solution #9: A fire department whose EMTs help 911 callers find services and solve problems rather than just taking them to the emergency room.

Solution #10: A program that matches the savings of low-income families if they take a financial literacy course and use the money for school, a small business or a home.

These are only ten reasons to have hope in the New Year —look around your community for the problem solvers, or just read my book, available through me www.dedefeldman.com/another, at Amazon (including Kindle) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999586408, Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/another-way-forward-dede-feldman/1127525590;jsessionid=E807877B1B77494C2FA174B10F926C74.prodny_store02-atgap05?ean=9780999586402 or BookWorks, where I’ll be having an event Feb. 1. at 6 pm.