It's been rumored for sometime that District 3 County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta would be heading to Washington, D.C. to take a job in the Obama administration. Our Eyes skulking around the halls of county government have it that Commissioner Archuleta should pack her bags and check her tax returns because she's off to Obama... or at least to take a position somewhere in the administration.
As you may or may not know, when there's an opening on the County Commission the Governor appoints the departing commissioner's replacement. Our Eyes tell us that at this point the leading candidates to fill out Commissioner Archleta's remaining term are APS School Board Member Marty Esquivel and former commissioner Tom Rutherford.
It'll be interesting to see if Big Bill goes for APS accountability advocate Esquivel or the old guard Rutherford an associate of convicted felon Manny Aragon. In either case, there's change coming to the county commission.
----- Update -----
When political seats are about to be vacated the games inevitably begin. Our Eyes tell us that former Commissioner Lenton Malry is burning up the phone lines in an effort to influence Big Bill to give him his old job back. One thing is sure... if Malry calls Democrats pick up the phone. A quick Google of Dr. Malry turned up the interesting fact that he and his son contributed over $10,000 to Democrats last year according to campaignmoney.com.
20 comments:
Looks like County Commission, with all of its unused taxing capacity at the County Government level, could become the next Board of Regents--a political tool of Big Bill. If Alan Armijo knocks off Ike Benton in the Council race, then the Big Bully controls 40 percent of the County Commission (the City Charter prohibits a County Commissioner from also being a City Councilor, so Armijo has to give up is Commission seat if he wins). Hopefully the rumors are not true, and Brasher will not run against Harris, or lose if he does. Otherwise, the R's could lose that seat forever. In any event 4 Dems on the 5 member Commission for even a year could do a lot of damage . . . . You know what they say about death and taxes, and tax increases last forever.
I think most voters in New Mexico, Dem or Rep, would not want the Governor to control 3 out of 5 seats in the largest county in the state. Even those individuals that like the Governor will admit that his power should be checked. We have elections to prevent one person from amassing too much power, so I am disappointed we are even having this discussion.
Why would two Commissioners seriously contemplate abandoning the people who put them in office for a lateral transfer? People who are elected should finish the job before they seek another office. The Journal and the local stations need to shed light on this issue. The voters will not allow the Governor to control the Commission.
Please Don Harris have your boy Doug A. Please stop posting nonsense; you are just afraid of Brasher kicking your butt because he will no matter what you think!!!! Plus, unlike the city the county has term limits. Both Alan and Michael terms run out soon. Don please tell everyone how you could have stop the 1/4 tax from going to a full vote when it was in the finance committee (your are the President of the committee) you vote for it and it was YOUR vote which allowed the city to steal more money from our pockets. If you don't believe me look on the city's website under 0-08-63 and click under 1/26/09 Finance & Gov. Operations Committee and see Don's true vote. The funny thing is he is now telling everyone he will not vote against it. Harris is now the new John Kerry.
Self interest is a powerful motivator, and has led Armijo to rationalize walking out of his Commission seat. Ya see, Armijo is term limited. After January 2011, he is out of elected office. Oh my Gosh! How will the people get by without him?!?!?! He must believe that people like him sooo much he just has quit his Commission seat so he can continue to be on the public dole without interruption--a double dipper, actually, he lobbies for APS. My hunch is that the voters will let Armijo know that perhaps, just perhaps, someone else has something to offer, and that his concern for us not being able to live without him is, well, incorrect. Benton is hardly perfect, but he seems earnest; my bet is that the people will not fire Benton for the opportunity to have perpetual Armijo.
I was standing next to Don Harris at an event for RJ Berry last week when Harris told Berry he would support him for mayor. But Yesterday Don Harris told the Mayor he was supporting him. What is it Don? Last month the Mayor had a fundraiser for you, was it to buy your vote on the tax increase? Unlike the first two comments wanting the stations and papers to fine out reason why two commissioner might run for city council, maybe they should focus on another pay to play scheme at city hall.
This sounds like a back door unification plan. Does Armijo know something and that is why he wants to leave his commission seat early.
Why are people attacking Harris? Those posts had nothing to do with him. Seems like the posts made the same points that were also made by Joe Monahan and the Albuquerque Journal. Maybe Dan McKay or Joe Monahan were the anonymous posters. Every public official has detractors. Those who don't like Harris, or like Brasher, know that it is bad for Brasher, should he choose to run, to have his candidacy characterized, correctly, as a potential coup for Richardson in a conservative district. Brasher is a decent guy, but he cannot avoid having his reason to run, if he does, as being viewed as self-serving rather than serving higher principles.
I like Brasher because he was the ONLY Commissioner to vote 'no' on one of their $$$MILLION$$$$ vanity purchases.
Good point about Brasher voting against vanity purchase, but why support him walking out on the job for a Richardson appointee?
The Big Bill Commission
Is the Commission a worthless governing body? Why do three commissioners want to leave in one year? The prospect of Bill appointing 3 out of 5 commissioners makes the body seem irrelevant. What a sad bunch of “elected officials.”
Vanity purchase? That wouldn't be a streetcar named desire now would it?
A vote for Don Harris is really a vote for the Mayor, do you really want for more years of a rubber stamp for the Mayor?
Put Winter on the Scamera Artist Mug Shot Wall. His assistant lobbied for the cameras in Santa Fe. If you don't, you are not honest with your readers
Put Cadigan on the wall. His firm cashed checks from RedFlex. If the black eye does not report all info, people will stop reading it.
Put Winter on the Scamera Artist Mug Shot Wall. His assistant lobbied for the cameras in Santa Fe. If you don't, you are not honest with your readers
Put Cadigan on the wall. His firm cashed checks from RedFlex. If the black eye does not report all info, people will stop reading it.
The guys who dislike Harris are a desparate bunch. Now they try to call Harris (who organized the first successful veto-busting majority ever to face the Alcalde and who stopped the Mayor's tax extension--twice!!!) as being a rubber stamp for the Mayor. No one has paid a bigger price than Harris did for standing up to the Mayor. The "rubber stamp" dog won't hunt.
Go to the City website and check out r-07-223; Harris sponsored a resolution to audit the red light camera fund, but it died on a 4-5 vote, with the Adoring-Eye-on-Brad-Winter never reporting that the deciding vote killing the bill was Brad Winter. Put Winter on the wall.
A vote for Don Harris and Ken Sanchez is a vote for Marty. Don and his buddy voted for the Marty's Tingley Lagoon.
Don also voted for the red light cameras and only then called for a study to see how the red light money is being spent. Allocating the funds for the red light cameras was a council policy decision.
At the city council meeting it was clear that Don Harris is really a Marty Chavez guy.
What's up with Marty clone Ken Sanchez?
Both need someone to run against them.
Put Winter on the Scamera Artist Mug Shot Wall. His assistant lobbied for the cameras in Santa Fe. If you don't, you are not honest with your readers
Put Cadigan on the wall. His firm cashed checks from RedFlex. If the black eye does not report all info, people will stop reading it.
So let's get this right. Don Harris stopped a $400 million street car, then was budget committee chair when the Council ripped out all of the Mayor's capital projects (Metro Park, Extreme Sports Park and others), and now he is the Mayor's boy for supporting a single $5 million capital project that has historical significance? Sounds like he is independent, neither a reliable Marty-hater nor Marty pal--like it should be. Oh, and Harris was not on the Council when the red-light camera program was passed, although he did sponsor a measure to audit it and voted to lower the fines. Nice try guys.
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