New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Fortunately, MRGCD Stood Up: "Fixing" Elections by Legislatures, Governing Boards Bad for Democracy

    I've gotten a lot of response to this article, which I penned for The Paper, an independent, online publication in Albuquerque. It's about a national trend, and how even the election for a very local body, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, reflects the drive to overturn unfavorable results.

    Check out The Paper at https://abq.news. They have some great, timely articles!

    A famous Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, once said, “All Politics is Local.”  For decades candidates seeking the votes of their neighbors or residents of the surrounding area took it as gospel. A bridge here, a speed bump there was more important than the nuances of the remote Israeli-Palestinian problem. And sometimes local issues about taxes or pollution had a way of percolating up from the grassroots to Washington. But now, local politics are imitating the national scene with its divisive wedge issues and bitter partisan warfare. 

    The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy (MRGCD) Board’s recent election is a case in point.  The MRGCD is arguably the lowest level of local government—but a recent attempt by the losing candidate to have the election results thrown out by the governing board mirrors the larger national debate on voting rights. 

   The results of the June election for Board positions 3 & 4 were landslides, with the incumbents Karen Dunning and Joaquin Baca winning with 75% of the vote in what is typically an unknown, low-turnout election held at an odd time, in a non-election year.  The loser complained that the early votes should be thrown out, and not counted in the total because they did not contain his nickname, “Scooter.” The ballots did contain his legal name, but a clerk had promised him that his nickname would also appear.  Up until the last day of early voting it did not. For that reason, the loser demanded that the approximately 950 early votes be jettisoned, although none had complained that they could not find the candidate they wished to vote for.  The results would not have changed. The loser would still lose, and the winner would still win.  But in the process, the  about half the voters would have their votes tossed out. They would be, in effect, disenfranchised after the fact. 

    Remarkably, the MRGCD’s lawyer wanted to do just that.  If her recommendation had been taken, the board would have simply  overriden the will of the voters, coming up with a new total that would stand in the history books as the official results.  All the early voters would have been disenfranchised. We are all fortunate that the District’s board members decided not to tamper with the results at the behest of the loser.

    Voters in other states are not so fortunate.  In the wake of the 2020 election, and the failure of the Jan. 6 uprising to overturn the results by force, state legislatures in some states are attempting to interfere with election administration and grant themselves—or their appointees– the power to overturn elections.  

    The most dangerous bills allow legislatures to assume the responsibility for election administration themselves and reject the decisions of independent  Secretaries of State and non-partisan officials. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan law and policy institute, Georgia has already given the legislature control of the state election board and granted it broad powers to investigate and suspend local election officials like the Brad Raffensperger, who famously stood up for the accuracy of the vote count in that state.  In Arkansas the partisan State Board of Election Commissioners now oversees election results and can correct them at will. In Texas, election administrators could face criminal penalties for doing their job if SB 7 is passed; in Iowa an election official who fails to perform list maintenance duties would face up to two years in jail under a pending bill.   

    These laws threaten the foundation of democracy—neutral elections, fairly administered. If governing bodies can reverse the course of a free election, as the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy Board was asked to do at the local level, we can no longer claim to be a democracy—here in New Mexico or in any state.  

Thankfully, the entire Conservancy Board voted against the challenge. We owe them a debt of gratitude—for democracy’s sake. 

A View from Just Outside the Roundhouse: All Hands on Deck

We Are All Citizens Now

Photo Art by Carolyn Fischman

Jan. 31, 2017

What a difference a few months have made. I remember when I lost my first election in 1995 writing a letter to the voters who had supported me. I said then that the most important office in a democracy was that of Citizen, not councilor, not senator not president. With “alternative facts,” blatantly unethical appointments and rash executive orders, it’s even truer today. But how to keep the momentum from the millions (yes millions!) in the streets and even more on the Internet going in an effective direction?   My suggestion is to keep your eye on the ball—Congress. I’m trying not to pay much attention to Trump’s talk and bluster but to his policies, which must be funded (or defunded) and passed by the Republican Congress.   There are lots of online tools to make it easy to contact your representatives like Indivisible ABQ. But no sense in preaching to the choir. I’m concentrating on moderate Rs who might still have some common sense—Jeff Flake and John McCain in AZ, Susan Collins in Maine. You might even have some relatives or friends outside of New Mexico. Work with them! Yes, many Republicans will say no, or equivocate. But for every elected official, this is a profile in courage moment. Remind them of that.

And don’t forget that letters to the editor, op eds, phone calls and hand-written letters count. Mailbox full? Switchboard tied up? Be ingenious. One friend suggested post cards to Rep. Paul Ryan’s home (Paul Ryan 700 St. Lawrence Ave., Janesville, WI 53545); another suggested filling in required email forms with a zip code from the targeted state. I suggest tea party style town halls in all swing districts. Hey, we might even have to travel. This is what a movement looks like.

Ethics? What Ethics?

President Trump’s unwillingness to divest, to disclose, to remove himself completely from his hotels and businesses guarantees continued conflicts of interest and public distrust. His insistence that the laws don’t apply to him sounds like a central African dictator, who’s squirreling away the country’s money. Even worse are the conflicts that his top appointments brush off so lightly. So what if the new HHS Secretary profited off of pharmaceutical stocks he bought in advance of a vote on RX pricing? Too bad if OMB pick Mick Mulvaney didn’t pay taxes on his housekeeper. Not long ago that was enough to stop Tom Daschle and Zoie Baird, but not this group. Shameless behavior on display here http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/tom-prices-confirmation-hearing-muddies-the-swamp as Republican senators wink and nod at nominees enduring the pesky press and public. Here’s another run-down of all the conflicts:http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/trumps-appointees-conflicts-of-interest-a-crib-sheet/512711/?utm_source=eb And is it coincidental that none of the Muslim majority countries where Trump has business dealings are covered by the travel ban?

Friends, if we loose our outrage about the basic principles of ethics and transparency—we’re collaborating. Common Cause, a group I am now connected with, is standing up at the national and state level. Support them. Closest to home, you can contact legislators for a strong ethics commission, disclosure of PAC and lobbyist activities and other reforms. To find out how, go to nm.commoncause.org and scroll down to Democracy Wire, at the very bottom. Common Cause New Mexico has a Face book page, too.

ABQ School Board Elections Tuesday Feb. 7

Lorenzo Garcia, Amy Legant are my picks for the North Valley district. I know, there’s only one seat—but longtime friend Lorenzo G. told me he wasn’t running and I told Amy Legant I’d support her. Darn it! Not much help on this one.

Solutions from the Grassroots

As gridlock—and worse—looms nationally, we need to remember that we have a lot to be proud of here in New Mexico. I am now hard at work on a book featuring some of the solutions that are working here at the grassroots level in health care, housing, local foods, education, and arts. I’ve always believed that real change comes from the bottom up and now I’m exploring that idea. And I’m finding a lot of local heroes here who didn’t wait for Washington to start solving problems. Let me know if you know one.

Repeal and Replace is Really, Really Bad for NM

The Affordable Care Act has cut our 2^nd highest uninsured rate by half. Over 266,000 citizens who didn’t have insurance now can go to the doc thanks to the Medicaid expansion. 40,000 more people get it through the exchange, which subsidizes policies and makes sure that they include basic benefits with no lifetime or annual caps and no exclusions due to preexisting conditions. All that will be swept away if there is no replacement, along with a reduction in RX prices for seniors and free screenings for Medicare recipients. I’ve seen estimates that from 6,000- 19,000 people will lose jobs in clinics, hospitals, insurance companies that have benefited from the act.

Fortunately, the NM legislature had the foresight to enshrine some of the ACA insurance reforms in state law, something that I was a part of. For example, under state law, insurers cannot charge women more than men for the same policy, “20- somethings” can be included on parents policies, and 85% of insurance revenues must be spent on care, not profit or admin.  

Republicans are already finding out how difficult it is to replace the ACA. http://wapo.st/2kccZkx?tid=ss_mail Certainly the ACA has not been perfect. Deductibles, premiums and co-pays have gone up. But just wait until you see the death spiral when the mandate is withdrawn. My prediction is that the replacement will be the same sorry health savings accounts or barebones policies that cost more with less coverage. Lifetime and annual limits will be restored. And oh, if we can buy cheaper policies across state lines, kiss our local insurance companies (like Presbyterian) goodbye. Lots of political risk here, but nothing compared to the real lives at stake.

Call members of the U.S. Senate and tell them not to confirm Tom Price as HHS Secretary. Meanwhile,

Keep the faith! With all its perils, we may be entering the most exciting time of our lives since the 1960s (for those of you who remember them).

Ground Control to Major Tom: We May Have a Systems Failure

Blogger's Note: This is from the latest edition of my e-newsletter, From Just Outside the Roundhouse

I couldn’t help but think of our departed David Bowie this winter as I watched the legislature from just outside the roundhouse. It’s been four years since I’ve been out of that fray, and it looks, like Major Tom, untethered, disconnected and headed for parts unknown—in spite of the false display of accomplishment and good feelings on the final day. I feel the same way about the national political scene, where each party seems to be in denial that its grassroots are demanding an overhaul.

Is it just me or do you find these items disconcerting?

Item #1 The lack of meaningful action on the elephant in the room, i.e. an economy that continues to tank, making us first in unemployment, last in job creation. It’s fueling an exodus to neighboring states and leaving boarded-up buildings and For Rent signs in once thriving commercial centers like Nob Hill. The tired tools—smokestack chasing, tax breaks-- are not working. It’s obvious, but we’re stuck in political gridlock. Both the Governor and the divided legislature are to blame. Alan Weber had it right. The solutions are at hand: cellular phone service and high speed internet for the whole state; more flights at the Alb. Airport; diversification away from oil and gas to renewable energy; legalization and taxation of marijuana; investments in infrastructure and education; the use of unspent state funds identified by Auditor Tim Keller in his recent report.

Instead, the legis killed a measure that would have extended a tax credit for rooftop solar, dismissing an industry that is one of the few bright spots in the economy. And it made sure the voters would not have the opportunity to weigh in on legalizing (and taxing) marijuana, a proposition that brought $70 million into Colorado’s tax coffers last year.

Item # 2 In the wake of a major scandal involving the state’s chief ethics officer, the Secretary of State, the legislature, once again stuck its head in the sand and said the details weren’t quite right yet on the Ethics Commission, or on making lobbyist expenditures or independent PAC donors public. Really? Don’t we have a right to know? Shouldn’t lobbyists and elected officials be held accountable? Members of the Senate Rules Committee have had ten years to deliberate on this one, as bill after bill has come before them (I know, I was there), and their excuses are wearing thin. Many of the veterans are all for transparency—except when it applies to them. Then, as Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino said, a certain “paranoia” takes over that the elected officials will be victimized by the media or political opponents—and that-- with very few exceptions-- trumps the public’s right to know.

Almost all of the ethics initiatives were victims of a short session—and political moves designed to kill them. The Governor didn’t give messages or gave them too late, and House members got to vote for measures they knew would never make it through the Senate. Such is life in a divided body. The legislature, may be able to save itself at the 11th hour from Real ID, but can’t enact systemic reform to address deep-seated problems like declining public trust or economic stagnation.

Item #3 The unexpected rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. The way we have constructed the primary system has magnified the extreme wings of each party…. but, whoa, is there some realignment going on here? Some of the polls say that there’s crossover between Sanders and Trump supporters. They’re so disaffected that they’re for anyone who’s against the “establishment.” Think of what would happen if they somehow united. There are lots of institutional barriers of course, but… just saying. Our two-party system has created stability, but change is very difficult, especially without the reforms that would open it up. It’s gratifying to hear Bernie rail vs. Citizens United and dark money, just as it is to hear Trump tell a few truths about the power of moneyed donors on the Republican side. Without reform in this area, there’s going to be even more frustration from the shrinking middle class and… who knows, maybe even a push for deeper changes like independent redistricting (killed by the leg), ability for independents to vote in primaries (also killed) and even…. perish the thought, term limits or statewide voter initiatives.

Hammer's LBGT Clippings Collection Now a Valuable Resource for NM

Blogger's Note:  From an article I wrote for the Oct. 26 2015 ABQ Free Press...

Starting back in the early ‘80s Albuquerque real estate agent Bennett Hammer began what was to become became a life long obsession: clipping, saving and storing magazine and newspaper articles, flyers, posters, memorabilia-- almost anything, with the words “gay” or “lesbian” in it.

“I was curious about the legal part of it,” says Hammer, a former ACLU Board member and the 2005 Civil Libertarian of the Year, “and I wanted to understand and be able to explain, back then, why excluding gay people from the military was wrong, for example.”

“I didn’t censor the anti-gay stuff,” he says. “There are lots of materials from the Christian Coalition and I saved articles about parenting, money, schools, medicine, because these involve gay people as well.”  He also collected letters to the editor written by gay people, even obituaries.

“I’m like flypaper,” he says.

 Hammer is standing in a storage unit filled with hundreds of boxes of the stuff, along with Barbara Korbal, who is doing the painstaking work of organizing about 250,000 articles from 220 publications into a community archive, which will be housed at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research, starting in October.  Korbal, a cultural studies historian, joined the project in earnest in 2009 to ensure future generations can learn about the LBGT movement during a crucial time. She had just organized the papers of gay rights activist Neil Isbin, who died of Aids in 1996.  Isbin, credited with mobilizing the NM LBGT movement during the 80s and 90s, also saved everything.   His papers—condensed into about 19 boxes—are at the Fra Angelica Chavez library at the NM History Museum in Santa Fe.

Hammer and Korbal have gone through the boxes many times. As he makes his way through the shed, Hammer points out some boxes donated by Jean and Jim Genasci, from the Parents and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).  He holds a the program of a 1994 conference “Fight the Right” that he attended, even then sharing his articles, many of which he has since cleaned up and put in clear plastic sleeves.  Korbal holds an issue of the Nation Magazine from 1993 with the cover story “The Gay Moment.”  Somewhere, she says, there’s a copy of a 1997 or 1998 Time or Newsweek with Ellen DeGeneres on the cover, marking another seminal moment. And there’s another, a 1956 cover from Look or Life (she couldn’t remember which) with Rock Hudson on the cover.

The 364-box collection includes five boxes of magazine covers alone. There are gay publications from the early days, documenting the organizational growth of the LGBT movement.   And there are 40 years of clippings from the New Mexican, the Albuquerque Tribune and Albuquerque Journal, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time and Newsweek.

Hammer used to have more storage units but the material now has been culled, categorized and put into chronological order, reducing its bulk and increasing its usability. A number of interns have helped in the process, Korbal says, and some of the younger ones are amazed.

“One of them told me he couldn’t believe the progress gay people made in ten years.”  

Hammer says that 1979- 2010 witnessed the premier change in cultural attitudes toward gay people. Legally, he says the struggle for equality is part of an ongoing civil rights movement.  “Gay people have just been at the end of the line.”

There are other gay archives in Minneapolis, Amsterdam, North Carolina, New York and elsewhere, each with its own emphases. Hammer’s passion for collecting local materials has now grown into an ongoing project officially called The Bennett A. Hammer LLGBT Archives Project (www.hammerarchives.com), which shares information and accepts donations. Once fully catalogued and digitized, the collection will be available to the public at UNM Library. It will be a treasure trove for all kinds of people—medical researchers, playwrights, and historians.

“The ability to write and analyze the struggle for civil rights is only as good as its documents, says Barbara Korbal, who now directs the project. 

Hammer is pleased that what began as a personal obsession has become so organized and he credits Korbal and the professionalism she brought to the project. But he knew the potential early on when he would get calls from little towns in New Mexico about hate crimes, and he would send them materials.  Years later, the materials and the people would resurface.

“Cultural change comes when people talk to one another not at one another,” he says.  The materials are an invitation to do that. 

“I don’t’ think I am exaggerating when I say that making this kind of information accessible saves lives.   I know it has—by reducing isolation, changing attitudes, sometimes preventing people from killing and shaming each other.

--- From the Archive:  Watershed Moments for the NM LBGT Community

1975 law sponsored by Sen. Tom Rutherford repeals earlier sodomy law

1985 Executive Order issued by Governor Toney Anaya prohibits discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation

1985 NM Aids Services Founded

1987 APS adopts anti-discrimination policy

1993 SB 91, the first statewide anti discrimination bill introduced to become rallying cry for a decade

1997 Mayor Jim Baca issues non-discrimination order for Albuquerque city government

2000 Mayor Jim Baca issues executive order for city to insure domestic partners

2003 Hate Crimes Law enhances penalties for crimes committed vs. GLBT community

2003 Human Rights Act becomes law protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity "in matters of employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and union membership."

December 19, 2013, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the state must provide same-sex couples with the same marriage rights as different-sex couples, making New Mexico the 17th U.S. state to recognize same-sex marriage

 

 

 

Ethics? What Ethics? Getting Away with It Again in Santa Fe

    The first day of every legislative session legislators raise their right hand and take the oath of ethical conduct, swearing that they shall not use their office “for personal gain and shall scrupulously avoid any act of impropriety or any act which gives the appearance of impropriety.”   But the honor system isn’t working and it’s only the legislators that deny that reality.  New Mexico constantly flunks on national scorecards on ethics and disclosure, and this year a Common Cause poll found that only 19% of voters feel that elected officials are more responsive to voters than lobbyists.  

    Examples of abuse abound.  This year the Santa Fe Reporter documented how Sen. Phil Griego, serving as both a realtor for a client buying a state property and a state senator, pushed through the sale (and voted on it) under suspicious circumstances.  But has anybody done anything about it?  No. New Mexico is one of nine states that does not have an independent ethics commission, although it does have a legislative ethics committee.  The committee never meets, however, and the pubic is barred from finding out if any complaint has been filed unless legislators themselves find probable cause.  The latest we heard from the committee was about six years ago, when someone complained about the misuse of the state seal.  Yet for the past several years, public polls indicate overwhelming support (always over 85%) for the establishment of a commission.

    Meanwhile, the Secretary of State recently admitted that she didn’t punish candidates who violate campaign finance laws, and lobbyists…. well, lobbyists, have gotten their way again, with the party-line defeat last week of Rep. Jeff Steinborn’s HB 155 which required additional disclosure of how much special interests are paying overall to push specific issues in Santa Fe. Coincidently, the SOS website, which allows at least a glimpse into how much lobbyists are paying for gifts, special events and contributions, has malfunctioned this session, making access to the existing records difficult, if not impossible.

    For a good look at this subject check Sandra Fish’s story on KUNM http://kunm.org/post/lobbyists-lax-spending-disclosures and for a real case study see what lobbyists have spent to defeat a interest rate cap on payday loans http://nmindepth.com/2015/02/06/storefront-lending-lobbyists-spend-big-on-nm-officials/   

    At least we’re not New York where the Speaker of the House recently was arrested on corruption charges.  But without transparency or accountability—how do we know that there aren’t lots of Sheldon Silvers out there making policy, levying taxes, and influencing education and economic development?

    I can personally attest that most legislators are honest and hard working.  But they are caught up in a system that demands constant fundraising and interaction with special interests and their representatives.  And they are in denial if they think that contributions, personal relationships don’t influence their vote.  It did mine.   They don’t realize that what is just a campaign contribution to them looks a lot like legalized bribery to the public.

    The restoration of public trust starts with a few good people in office coming forward and saying here’s how we can begin to fix the system—even in the face of Citizens United. And that’s happening this session.

    There are several bills to establish an ethics commission (HB 115) and shine some light on who is funding all those independent PACS that are now heavily influencing the outcome of our elections (HB 278 and SB 384).  There are others to fix our public financing system (SB 58).  And HB 155, to require more lobbyist disclosure, is showing signs of life. Sen. Peter Wirth is, again, a hero.  I hope you will weigh in with legislators on committees to which these bills have been assigned. Keep track of the bills at www.nmlegis.gov 

For Political Junkies and Last Minute Shoppers

Attention Political Junkies, New Legislators, Lobbyists and Advocates

Special Holiday Sale

$24

      2014 Winner: Best Political Book,  NM-Arizona Book Awards               

Inside the New Mexico Senate: Boots, Suits and Citizens

            Order Direct from former Senator Dede Feldman at 505-220-5958 or dedefeld@comcast.net includes shipping, tax and signature. Check, credit cards or cash gleefully accepted.         

 “An insightful and compelling history of New Mexico’s legislative battles. Feldman’s observations are astute and her story well told.” US Senator Tom Udall

“Finally an honest book about the New Mexico Legislature.”Wally Gordon, NM Mercury

“…essential reading for anyone involved with or interested in New Mexico’s Legislature.”  Steve Terrell, SF New Mexican

“Dede Feldman is done mincing words… about the way the process works, and the way it should work.”  Santa Fe Reporter