Mary Han Part III: Shades of White

"Darren White has long fought against shady deals, corruption, and ethics violations throughout his career – from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. Darren White will shake up the political bosses, shady lobbyists, and the traditional power-brokers in Washington, D.C., and promises to govern in an open and transparent manner."

 

Displayed herein is a chart showing all the connections between many of the high level players at Ms. Han's death. The thicker lines represent thicker relationships. As you can see, Kennedy and White have the most connections and the thickest connections.
 

The above statement came from Darren White and his campaign on October 15, 2008, prior to being beaten by then city councilor, and now U.S. Senator, Martin Heinrich. White made the remarks as then state senator pro-tem Manny Aragon plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and mail fraud in a public corruption case which brought down the once mighty politico.
 

Two years later, White himself would be in the center of orchestrating the greatest and most macabre police cover-up in APD's history. In it White would be promoting the desecration of a crime scene, tampering with evidence, lewd acts of voyeurism, grand theft, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and the cover-up of the murder of one of Albuquerque's most high profile and successful civil rights attorneys.
 

The call to APD Dispatch came in at 12:35 on November 18, 2010, and in it Ms. Han's former partner and rejected state supreme court justice Paul Kennedy reported an "accidental suicide." Kennedy stated to the dispatcher that he had gone by to check on her because she had not gone in to work that day. Instead of the silver Mercedes convertible Kennedy is known to drive, he arrived at the scene in a black Range Rover. But 911 is not the only call Kennedy made.
 

As the city's Public Safety Director, Darren White received a call, that his records indicate as being from an "Unknown Caller" moments later, White made a flurry of calls to City Attorney Rob Perry, to his own PIO TJ Wilham, to APD Deputy Chief Allen Banks, and to APD Chief Ray Schultz. From there those persons called other familiar names in Albuquerque's current affairs including then APOA President Joey Sigala, APD Deputy Chief Paul Feist, Assistant City Lawyer Kathy Levy, APD PIO Trish Hoffman and other unidentified persons including an APD detective.
 

As this mob of scoundrels descended upon Ms. Han's residence, the first responders were rapidly displaced by a never ending parade of stars and suits. DCOP Allen Banks and DCOP Feist went into the house and removed all first responders. Their actions, and the actions of others, remain inexplicable to this day. In the course of their actions triggered by White's flurry of phone calls, a crime scene was destroyed by people who had taught and overseen crime scene training and instruction. A scene was invaded by onlookers that seem to show a flurry of data transfers (that we are sure can be pinged to the cell towers near Candelaria/Rio Grande) which can only mean images were sent away. When those images and/or phones were "replaced" evidence of the scene was also tampered with and destroyed by the very people who provide instruction and oversight to thousands of city employees. And then there are the diamond rings.

Were they too tempting of a trophy for the offenders?

Or were they articles of nostalgia for one boxed into a corner by years of nefarious actions, unrequited love and bold rejection?
 

Displayed herein is a chart showing all the connections between many of the high level players at Ms. Han's death. The thicker lines represent thicker relationships. As you can see, Kennedy and White have the most connections and the thickest connections.

Help us fill in the blanks.....

Not in the News...

You know that Martin Heinrich is the incumbent Democrat Congressman from Congressional District 1. You know that no other D has stepped up to run against him in the Democrat primary. What you don't know is that Martin Heinrich - the only Democrat candidate for CD1 - didn't get all of the votes.

Our Eyes tell us that Robert Aragon, former Democrat ward chairman organized a group of 37 delegates at the D's Buffalo Thunder state convention to cast their vote for Republican Jon Barela. The group of 37 renegade D's placed stickers over the name of Martin Heinrich when casting their vote for the Democrat nominee.

We're sure that Barela's performance at the Democrat State Pre-Primary Convention wasn't announced to the faithful Ds gathered or to the media for that matter. And we're quite sure that Monahan won't be talking about it. But as recently as 2 years ago, it would have been impossible to even contemplate a single delegate vote for an R at a D convention much less 37.

The winds they are a changin' whether or not you read it in the news.

21 Pages

The Constitution of the United States is one of the most important documents in human history. Its 7 articles and 27 amendments created our government, its checks and balances, and even restricts the powers of the government it created. The entire document, including all 27 amendments is about 21 pages long.

The founding fathers understood that brevity is not only the sole of wit, it's the essence of wisdom. The knew that large, bloated legislation creates the opportunities for mismanagement and corruption.

Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives - under the cover of nationalized health care and the demise of Michael Jackson - debated and passed one of the most dangerous bills to come out of the House in recent memory. Dangerous because of it's size and negative impact on our economy and our lives. The bill often referred to as cap and trade, cap and tax, choke and steal, or more disingenuously entitled "The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009" creates government boards, inspectors, regulators, national building codes, and transfers an incredible amount of power to the Secretary of Energy, just for starters. This document including its 300 plus page early morning amendment totals 1201 pages. That's 1180 pages more than the document that is the foundation of our republic.

All three of New Mexico's representatives to the House voted for this massive increase in government bureaucracy. Heinrich and Lujan voted for the measure like a couple of party line toting bobble-heads. Meanwhile, their colleague and fellow freshman congressman Harry Teague cut a deal to exempt the evil carbon producing refineries in his district from the rigors of this misguided attempt to regulate carbon production.

Our question for Mr. Teague is if it's good to exempt your carbon producers how is it not good not to exempt others? We hope the true believers in choke and steal legislation can see through Teague's subterfuge and that the beneficiaries of Teague's deal understand how tenuous their situation truly is should this Obamination of a bill pass the Senate.

Today we were treated to Congressman Junior, uh... Ben Ray Lujan, Jr. trying to answer a simple question from KKOB-AM's Craig Kennedy about whether or not he had read the bill he had so enthusiastically supported. After prattling on about knowing the "major" points and other non-sense, he didn't answer - which of course means no.

Congressman Heinrich will be holding his "open house" at 4:15pm on the carbon belching diesel train commonly known as the Rail Runner. Perhaps someone from KOB could catch up with him in order to find out exactly how many of the 1201 pages he had actually read. Our bet that his answer will be no more satisfying than Bennie Jr's.

It's become a habit of the 111th Congress - passing bills without taking the time to read them, particularly when they're passing thousand page legislation that chokes our economy and steals our money and liberty.

You know, It's not surprising they haven't read the bills they're voting on. If they did, they'd probably be as horrified as the rest of us. Might we suggest however, that they take the time to read the 21 pages of the United States Constitution. By comparison it's light reading and utimately more important. At least it'd be a start.

Associations

One of the problems we have with the Albuquerque Closed and Un-Ethical Elections Ordinance is that the election financing scheme created by the ordinance also creates an ideological iron curtain that effectively hides the groups supporting a candidate. It's important to know just who influences candidates for office on every level and it's even more critical on down ballot races. After all, it wasn't all that long ago that a certain candidate for President started his political career in the living room of an admitted and unrepentant domestic terrorist.

What we're saying is that a candidate's associations are important. They provide a clear indication of what one's true beliefs and/or positions really are regardless of what they say in TV spots, campaign literature, or in debates.

Martin Heinrich has been trying to sell the voters of the 1st Congressional District the idea that he's a moderate. The truth is that Martin Heinrich is one of the most liberal candidates ever to run for Congress in the 1st Congressional District. Look no further than his voting record and the legislation he sponsored while serving on the city council.

(Sidebar)
The City of Albuquerque's website is a great place to do some research. Go to http://cabq.legistar.com/legislation.aspx and search Heinrich to see all of the Legislation that the former councilor sponsored.
(End Sidebar)

By now, we all know that Heinrich has never held a job of consequence. Sure he served on the Albuquerque City Council. Sure he was an unregistered lobbyist (a violation of New Mexico law) for a number of groups that Heinrich has yet to reveal. Sure he operated a "consulting" business illegally. What we don't know - and what the Heinrich campaign would rather you not consider - is his association with Eli Il Young Lee.

If you'll remember, Lee is the target of a lawsuit alleging voter fraud. The lawsuit - filed by three Democrats - alleges that Lee used 501 c(3)s and 501 c(4)s to illegally influence the outcome of the spring primaries by spending some $180,000 in unreported campaign cash to benefit three candidates - Eric Griego, Tim Keller, and Eleanor Chavez.

Soltari Inc. specializes in strategic consulting and field operations for progressive political candidates, nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Whether you are running for office or advocating for an issue, Soltari Inc. will craft a winning strategy for your campaign. We can also coordinate your field operation, emphasizing the most effective form of voter contact -- live interaction, through doorknocking and phoning. Combining the science of research and data analysis with the art of persuasion and strategy, Soltari Inc. formed in September 2000 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The word Soltari comes from sol, the Spanish word for sun, and tari, Korean for bridge. We have a saying at Soltari - "our work speaks for itself."

-Soltari Website (recently pulled down)

Soltari was Lee's first foray into local politics. They're political business model was to recruit a far left candidate that was generally unknown to the public, raise their money, create their mailers, and run their campaign. Soltari was a one stop shop for ideologically pure leftist candidates. One of Soltari's first fair haired boys was none other than Martin Heinrich.

Lee and his Sotari crew snatched up the camp counselor and made him a city councilor back in 2003. That year they also managed to install Debbie O'Malley and Eric Griego in the council chambers.

Lee is now involved in a network of non-profits whose only objective is to see far left candidates put in office by any means necessary (read it here and here). A few months back Peter St. Cyr interviewed State Senator Shannon Robinson. Robinson makes some serious allegations against Lee's non-profits and their coordinated effort to throw him out of office. Listen to the full interview here.

What it comes down to is that Martin Heinrich is Eli Lee's creature. Lee created him and put him in a position to run for Congress. From this and other associations it's easy to determine what Martin Heinrich's positions really are.

The Iraq War - Withdrawal at any cost even if that cost is failure for our troops and chaos in the Middle East.

Taxes - Don't believe the ads. Heinrich has a history of raising taxes on everyone. There's nothing but campaign rhetoric to indicate otherwise. In fact, taxes reached their highest rates locally while Heinrich presided over the Albuquerque City Council.

The Bailout - Heinrich hasn't take an "official" position on the bailout but his support of government mandates like the city minimum wage and the $240 MILLION trolley lead one to believe that Heinrich is for more government control and using taxpayer money to pay for it. In other words... socialism.

When you're trying to figure out who to vote for, don't look at the ads, the mailers, or even the media. Find out who supports them, what they've done and why. Once you know these things you can make an intelligent choice - a choice based on associations. A choice based on who these candidates really are.

White

Last week's Eye Poll took up the 1st Congressional District race between Sheriff Darren White and former Councilor Martin Heinrich. In this poll Sheriff White extended his lead over the former councilor by two points resulting in a 16 point lead. 57% of Eye readers preferred Darren White, 41% Martin Heinrich, and 1% didn't know (read this week's poll here).

Several weeks ago we ran the same poll with similar results. Sheriff White led that poll by 14 points with 210 votes registered. Last week's poll registered 50% more votes with only 4 voters undecided (view the previous poll here).

So what's the significance? The 1st Congressional District race is certainly attracting more attention and at least with Eye readers, their choices seem to be already made. In the final analysis, this race will come down to how well each candidate gets their supporters to the polls. A large Obama wave would certainly help Heinrich, but Democratic waves have broken on the rocks of the 1st CD before.

This week we'll take a look at the Wall Street bailout. As you might have surmised, we have serious reservations about the ability of politicians (Republican or Democrat) to effectively fix a situation that they are largely responsible for. We'd like to know what you think about Washington's willingness to spend HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of our tax dollars to buy up loans that shouldn't have been issued in the first place. Don't forget to vote!

Not Even Close

Last week we ran our Eye Poll on the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's race. It wasn't even close. Challenger Lisa Torraco ran away with the voting taking 71% of the 239 votes. Incumbent Kari Brandenburg received 25% and 4% didn't know (view the results here). Our results mirror a poll that was run by the APOA three weeks ago where Ms. Torraco received 70.54% of the votes (read it here).

The question remains, if Brandenburg consistently loses by wide margins in these unscientific polls why isn't the local media picking up on the story? It's pretty apparent that a large number of Eye readers have law enforcement ties. It's more than a little concerning that the general public has no idea just how much the law enforcement community seems to dislike our current DA.

We have received word that DA Brandenburg has agreed to debate hosted by the UNM Law School October 23rd. Of course, the debate won't take place until early voters have been voting for more than two weeks. The debate timing looks to us like another move by the Brandenburg camp to protect the DA from what could be a poor performance.

UNM School of Law Bernalillo County DA Candidate’s Debate
October 23, 2008, UNMSOL, Room 2402, 12:30 to 1:15

This week we train our Eye Poll back on the 1st Congressional District. You know the race between form councilor Martin Heinrich and Sheriff Darren White. Don't forget to vote!

Prevent Defense

In football they call it the prevent defense. You hear about it mainly when one team - we'll call it Team D - has a lead over another team - say Team R. The idea is that Team D plays conservative defense designed to minimize mistakes. The problem is Team R is hungry and playing from behind and is free to take the initiative away from the cautions even fearful Team D.

We'd argue that Democrats expecting another Democratic storm surge are playing their own version of the Prevent Defense. So far, two high profile candidates are busy trying to protect their lead or a perceived lead by preventing their candidates from appearing in televised debates with their opponents.

We told you about Kari Brandenburg backing out of a KNME channel 5 debate last week (read it here). Now, Congressional hopeful Martin Heinrich has joined the DA in the Democrat's undisclosed location.

Apparently, Heinrich has withdrawn from a KRQE/AARP debate that would have been televised on the CBS affiliate.

“After agreeing to the debate, and even after both campaigns agreed to change the date to appease Martin Heinrich’s ‘busy schedule,’ today Martin Heinrich surprised no one and declined the opportunity to debate Darren White on the important issues of the day,” White spokesman Stephen Schatz said. “Martin must have reconsidered after his abysmal performance at the other candidate debates and forums and awakened to the fact that his liberal politics are out of touch with the independent voters of the First District.”

-Heath Haussamen

Like his fellow Democrat, Heinrich has a number of recently revealed questions to answer like why he never registered as a lobbyist when he was admittedly engaging in the practice and getting paid to do so. The former councilor's company Heinrich Consulting allegedly lobbied both state and federal agencies and in doing so broke state and federal lobbying laws by not registering.

Worst of all, it sure looks like Heinrich was a... LOBBYIST! That's a lot like a "community organizer" only he's getting paid by special interests to "organize" state and federal law makers and officials. You can bet that like a lot of other lobbyists, Heinrich's efforts weren't about saving your money.

Team Democrat doesn't want these types of uncomfortable questions being asked of their anointed candidates. As a result, they're sent to the bunker to hide out and wait for the anticipated Obama storm surge that they believe will flood the voters and carry their candidates along to victory.

As most football fans will tell you, Team D better be careful when they employ the Prevent Defense. A good portion of the time the Prevent Defense prevents a team from winning.

----- Update -----
We had hardly pressed publish on this post than we received a news release from the Republican Party of New Mexico that included a link to a statement from Martin Heinrich to the media that included the all important question of whether or not he was going to release his lobbying records (listen to it here). His answer was, well... not yes.

The former councilor talked about the White campaign "owing" $5,000 to the taxpayers for the President Bush fundraiser on White's behalf. And when pressed on releasing his lobbying records the councilor from an undisclosed location talked about his "work" with groups to "protect" the Ojito Wilderness. In political speak work equals lobbying and the answer itself means "hell no I'm not going to answer your question!"

More importantly this little media appearance was a pitiful attempt to change the subject. Presidential visits are expensive affairs and we taxpayers generally pick up the tab no matter who's in the White House. But that wasn't really the point of Heinrich's idiotic statement.

Heinrich's real objective was to use Bush and White in a sentence together in an attempt to remind voters that Darren White worked on the Bush campaign. Ok... guilty. Darren White is a Republican. Darren White worked on the Bush campaign. Done being surprised now?

We'd bet that Heinrich supported Clinton and he probably would have supported Jimmy Carter had he been old enough to do so.

Here's another reminder... For the past two years, Democrats have been in charge of Congress. We know that comes as a surprise to many, but the truth is that every one of the talking points that Democrats ran and won on two years ago - including immediate troop withdrawl from Iraq - have been virtually ignored by those same politicians.

Democrats have an obsession with President Bush that is only surpassed by their recently discovered meniacal hatred of Sarah Palin. They will attempt to run against him at every opportunity even though there's not a single ballot that he will appear on ever again. If they're not careful, it will be their undoing.

Eye Poll - Leaning White

Last week's Eye Poll took up the race for Heather Wilson's vacated seat in the 1st Congressional District between Sheriff Darren White and former City Councilor Martin Heinrich. Sheriff White carried our unscientific Eye Poll by a solid double digit margin of 14 points (57% to 43% read it here).

When considering the 1st CD most people tend to focus on the 2006 election where Heather Wilson held on to beat Pausing Patsy Madrid by some 700 votes. People tend to forget that Congresswoman Wilson traditionally won the 1st CD by a margin of around 10 points. It will be interesting to see whether or not the "Democratic Wave" has started to recede even with the Obama World Tour rolling through the 2008 election.

(Sidebar)
The Anointed One's announcement of Joe Biden as his High Priest leads us to believe that Obama is reluctant to share the spotlight with anyone. Biden may bring foreign policy experience to the ticket but we're not convinced that his conclusions have been accurate. When you consider Biden's penchant for shooting his mouth off - he brings almost no upside and the potential to create scandal and distraction.
(End Sidebar)

With redistricting looming and a Democratically held New Mexico Legislature, you can bet that the 1st CD will be redrawn to lean further to the left. Sheriff White may be the only hope for Republicans to hold the district through redistricting.

This week we'll move on to that other open seat. You know the one where Tom Udall is trying to convince voters that he's really for drilling despite his record of voting to restrict oil exploration at every turn. If Udall wants anyone to believe that he's for drilling as part of a comprehensive energy plan he ought to announce that his past support of radical environmentalists and their belief that any drilling harms the environment was a mistake. (Don't hold your breath on that one.)

It's the New Mexico U.S. Senate race - underdog Steve Pearce vs. Tom Udall. Let's get ready to ruuuuuumble! Don't forget to vote.

Doublethink

When Freedom is Tyranny and Tyranny is Freedom

George Orwell may have created the concept of doublethink, but modern day union activists and their attendant politicians have taken the concept to a new level. Take for example the Employee Free Choice Act.

The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them . . . . To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary.

-from George Orwell's 1984 (Wikipedia)

For a number of years now union membership has been dramatically shrinking - the only exception being government sector unions. In an attempt to staunch the bleeding and even recoup losses in the private sector, unions and their allies cooked up a scheme that among other things leaves employees during a union organization drive vulnerable to the type of peer pressure and coercion that union organizers are famous for. That scheme of course, is the Employee Free Choice Act.

The major provision of the act is the implementation of card check unionization. In other words, if employees wanted union representation they would simply fill out a card. The signed cards would then be sent to the National Labor Relations Board and if the cards represented a majority of the employees - voilà union.

Union activists argue that you can join other organizations and political parties by filling out a card, why not unions?

The splashy debate is over the Employee Free Choice Act (“card check”), whose premise is this: You can join the NRA by signing a card. You can join the Republican, Democratic or Green party by signing a card. Why on earth can’t you join a union by signing a card?

Employers trot out the “secret ballot” argument, which would maybe have some resonance were it not for the fact that during union-election campaigns, employers like Wal-Mart pull out all the stops to make the elections as expensive, divisive, long and tough on workers as possible.

- Carter Bundy, AFSCME (Haussamen)

Mr. Bundy is the political and legislative director for the public sector union AFSCME. It's no surprise that he'd be all for a scheme that makes unionization easier and employees more susceptible to coercion and union thuggery.

Currently, employers have the right to demand a secret ballot. Employees have the right to make a decision regarding their personal financial future privately without the scrutiny of their employers, fellow workers, or union organizers. That's free choice and unions know it.

Mr. Bundy's specious argument that you can join the NRA, or a political party is simply an invalid comparison. Joining a political party or political activist organization doesn't involve your immediate financial future. Those organizations lobby congress and legislatures, they don't set terms and conditions for your employment. Oh yeah... they also don't require you to pay dues for their "services."

For those of us who believe in the free market, forcing employees to serve two masters is an anathema. What is free about having everyone from managers, to fellow employees, to union organizers know how you voted on unionization? What's wrong with unions having to convince employees that bargaining on their behalf is in their best interest? What's wrong with employers making their case against unionization of their businesses?

The very fact that union membership in the private sector has been on the decline for over a decade should tell you that employees are choosing not to work for two masters. It should also tell you that employers are recognizing the benefits of taking good care of their employees.

You'd think that unions would cheer the improved treatment of workers that is resulting in their obsolescence. Of course unions abandoned their altruistic motivations some time ago and now exist simply to sustain their own existence. Unfortunately, that's often the case with organizations of any stripe whose purpose is based on an issue that can be resolved. They need the issue that gave rise to their organization in order to justify their continued existence.

All of which brings us to Martin Heinrich. The former city councilor come candidate for congress has endorsed the Employee Free to be Pressured by Unions Act (read and watch it here) - an act co-sponsored by the candidate for continuous change, Barrack "The Messiah" Obama. Should the two men be sent to Washington, we all better get used to doublethink - freedom that is tyranny and tyranny that is freedom.

Eye Poll: Heinrich

Last week's Eye Poll took a look a the 1st Congressional District. The race is now between Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Darren White. In our first unscientific poll 57% preferred Heinrich and 43% preferred White.

In our introduction to this particular Eye Poll, we were criticized for characterizing former City Councilor Heinrich as "far left." We'll stand by that characterization and any objective review of the former councilor's record will support our argument. Mr. Heinrich's record bears out a belief of increased government interference, redistribution of wealth, and government control. The obvious result of his demonstrated philosophy is a transfer of freedom from the people to the government.

This week we'll take a look at the New Mexico U.S. Senate race. Most polls put Democrat Udall far ahead of Republican Pearce. Of course, Pearce just emerged from a hotly contested primary and Udall got a free ride after the Almighty Alcalde withdrew from his second race in almost as many months. In fact, Congressman Udall has pretty much gotten a free ride his entire political career. We'll see what happens to him when he faces a determined opponent for the first time. Don't forget to vote!

Eye Poll: Smoke'em If You Got'em

Last week's Eye Poll sent Councilor Cadigan's dream of a smoke free world up in smoke. Of course it doesn't surprise us that people resist government intrusion into their lives. Our only concern is that we let it happen so frequently anyway.

Eye On Albuquerque readers believed by over a two to one margin that the state statute already goes too far. In our unscientific poll 65% of readers said that statute goes too far, 31% said the statute doesn't go far enough, while 4% don't care (read the complete results here).

It's encouraging to see that at least our readers are beginning to see the steady but persistent growth of government power - power that is increasing stealing our liberty in the name of some "greater good." Of course politicians and government bureaucrats are the ones that not only decide what constitutes "greater good" but directly benefit from those decisions.

Since the primaries are just around the corner, it's time to take a look at the biggest race here in Eyeland - the race to replace Heather Wilson in the First Congressional District. This week we're looking at the Dems. It's really the only race in play with no less than four candidates vying for the right to challenge either Republican State Senator Joe Carraro or Sheriff Darren White for the open Congressional seat.

Democrats will be choosing from former City Councilor Martin Heinrich the early favorite and first of the four in the race, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Robert Pidcock, and Rebeca Vigil-Giron, Rebecca Vigil-Giron (since her famous spot you always have to say her name at least twice. Don't worry you can only vote for her once. Don't forget to vote!

----- Correction -----
Our apologies to Rebecca Vigil-Giron - Rebecca Vigil-Giron. We misspelled her name of all things, spelling it Rebecca Vigil-Jiron - which since it's incorrect you only have to say or type once. Thanks to an Eye reader we have corrected our error above.

Eye on the Grapevine: Marty for Congress?

We all know how the grapevine works - put something in one end and something totally different comes out the other. With that little acknowledgement out of the way here it is... the grapevine is abuzz with a rumor that the Almighty One of the 11th floor after announcing he's going to run for U.S. Senate, which was after "exploring" the idea of running for Governor, has decided instead to run for Congress.

Yeah, that was our reaction too. We couldn't believe that anyone would try to run for more than two different offices before either election and before his current term was over. Seems crazy no? This has got to be another goofy rumor cooked up by some crackpot prankster.

Then we started to think about it... Marty's Senate bid thus far can only be characterized as a disaster.

• His announcement at Eclipse Aviation is followed almost immediately by Eclipse's own announcement of layoffs (ABQ Journal - Subscription).
• Marty announces his finance committee members only to have two of them deny all or part of his the announcement (read it here).
• Marty attends Big Bill's presidential rally to collect signatures and hang out with progressive Ds, only to be dissed by His Largeness who introduces the first top tier Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate as the MAYOR of Albuquerque.
• Marty's attempt to woo progressive bloggers over the phone falls decidedly flat (read it here and here).
• Tom Udall starts teasing Democrats with a Senate run (ABQ Journal - Subscription).
• Big Bill tells donors to "keep their powder dry" (read it here).
  
• Progressives start a draft Udall campaign complete with a website.

The only good news was that a new SurveyUSA poll had Marty beating both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce. The problem... the same company had Marty trailing both Wilson and Pearce just two weeks earlier. The wild swing in numbers had most observers discounting its accuracy before they even announced the results (read it here).

Needless to say the Marty for Senate folks already have a HUGE problem on their hands; the most obvious being Marty seems to be the candidate that even his own party doesn't want (read our take here). In our opinion, if any other well known Democrat decided to take on the Almighty Mayor the Ds would embrace them with something akin to a religious fervor.

So... What's an ambitious mayor to do? The answer and the thing that makes this rumor seem at least somewhat plausible, is to run for the House of Representatives. Right now, there are no top tier Ds running; the closest is City Councilor Martin Heinrich. The 1st Congressional District is dominated by Albuquerque; a city that has elected His Honor not once, not twice, but three times. And like the Senate, the House seat is being vacated and is therefore an "open seat" with only a Republican to beat (at least for now - Marty does seem to draw a crowd of Democratic opponents).

If the Almighty One does decide to jump ship again we see nothing but troubled waters ahead. Even though the prospect of facing only second tier Democrats may make the waters seem inviting, the very fact that his Senate bid has run into nothing but trouble with Ds coupled with the jump to yet a third prospective office won't do anything to help Marty's credibility (or fundraising efforts). He might even end up being considered a second or third tier candidate by the time the whole affair's over - especially if he loses in the primary to a single-term City Councilor.

Our advice to the Napoleon of the 11th floor (not that he'd listen to us) is to keep this rumor a rumor and if it's a trial balloon... pop it. For good or ill, the race for Senate is your last stop on this political merry-go-round and would certainly spell the end of your political future if you try to make the jump to the House race and fail.

Eye Poll: White Washed

Sheriff Darren White cleaned up in this week's Eye Poll garnering 53% of the vote in a four person field consisting of 3 Democrats and just one Republican (White). Second in our unscientific poll was Councilor Martin Heinrich with 37%, followed by Michelle Grisham with 8%, and rounding out the field Jon Adams with 1% (view the results here).

It's not surprising that the popular White easily carried the poll. However, it was interesting to see Councilor Heinrich do so well against his Democratic opponents.

This week's Eye Poll delves into the morale over at APD. Last week wasn't exactly a good week for the fifth floor. Let's see... Albuquerque ends up the FBI's 2nd in the country for assaults on police officers, two arrest warrants were issued for APD K-9 officers in Arkansas, and a suspicious death investigation nets pot and an APD lateral officer. The response from the 5th floor brain trust - it's time to start testing for steroids. Huh?

In any case, if you spent much time here you've noticed that there are a lot of APD's finest commenting (often graphically) about issues relating to APD. This week we'd like to get your opinion of APD's morale. Don't forget to vote!

There's a New Sheriff in Town - Or at Least in the Race

Last week Councilor Martin Heinrich looked like he had caught lightening in a bottle when his incumbent opponent Heather Wilson opted to go after the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Pete Domenici. As expected, the earth shattering announcement by Senator Domenici is continuing to send after shocks throughout the New Mexico political scene and right here in Eyeland.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White has announced he will enter the race for Congress. White is one of the rising stars on the Republican side of the political scene and has been mentioned for other jobs like mayor and governor. He would make a formidable opponent for any Democrat much less a little known single term councilor from Albuquerque's district 4.

Of course both men face primary's and could see a challenge from within their parties. Over on the R side of the isle state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones is said to be considering a run; a run that could very well be over now that the better known White is in the race.

It will be interesting to see if any other Democrat decides to give Heinrich a challenge in the Democratic primary now that White is in the race. Since Attorney General Patricia Madrid was sent packing by Heather Wilson in an election year that saw a tidal wave of anti-Republican sentiment, Heinrich has been seen as a young, far left long shot against the incumbent Wilson unless he happened to catch lightening in a bottle; which he appeared to do last week.

Should White prevail in a Republican primary, he is the Democrat's worst nightmare because he is well known, young, and talented politician and unlike Heinrich, he's got no voting record to tie around his neck. You can tell how scared the Ds are of White because yesterday (read it here) they started trying to associate White with the perfectly proper (and damn necessary) firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

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It's amazing how far political groups like Democracy for New Mexico will try to stretch a "controversy." In this case, a controversy that isn't controversial. Don't be surprised if they try to tie every major Republican to the Iglesias firing.
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The shake up continues and more after shocks are sure to be felt as politicians move to fill the void created by Domenici's retirement. Next year promises to be one of the most interesting and exciting election years in recent history, with a whole new crop of people and ideas entering the fray. Last week Councilor Heinrich may have caught lightening in a bottle, but the accompanying thunder may just shatter his Congressional dreams.

Eye Poll Results: Heinrich Scores Poorly

The results of our first Eye Poll are in and the numbers won't be good news for District 6 Councilor and Congressional hopeful Martin Heinrich. Granted this poll is not by any means scientific but Eye On Albuquerque readers gave the Councilor poor marks with only a 30% approval rating and a 43% disapproval rating - 10% of those polled said they didn't know and 16% indicated they didn't care.

If this poll is any indication, Councilor Heinrich faces an uphill battle if he wishes to unseat incumbent Heather Wilson in next year's 1st Congressional District race. Not only has Congresswoman Wilson shown herself to be a formidable campaigner, but she managed to hold on to a seat in the last election cycle despite what turned out to be a Democratic "wave" that unseated numerous Republicans and gave control of the House to the Democrats. Disapproval and apathy... not a way to start a campaign.

This week we're talking budget and more specifically the $9 MILLION gift to Bernalillo County.

Eye Poll

Inspired by another blog, Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics we've added a new feature to the Eye On Albuquerque... a non scientific poll! Yep, voice your opinion about various characters that make up the local political scene.

Since Councilor Heinrich has announced he plans to leave his position as city councilor for district 6 in order to run for Congress (Subscription Required), we thought he'd be the perfect candidate for the inaugural Eye Poll.

Eye on Elections - 1 In, 2 Out, and 2 Up

Sounds like baseball but as of today, the race for the City of Albuquerque's even numbered council districts is more of a walk, or maybe a crawl. City Councilor Brad Winter has announced to the Journal that he will indeed seek re-election (Subscription Required). District 6's current councilor Martin Heinrich, has decided not to seek re-election in order to go for Albuquerque's brass ring (federally speaking), Congresswoman Heather Wilson's First Congressional District seat. (Read our take here.)

So... District 4 will be defended by a twice elected incumbent, and District 6 is an open seat. That's all we really know for sure.

Our Eyes are telling us that Joan Griffin will be seeking Heinrich's open seat. In fact her brother, Rich Rosley president of A-Tech Security has jumped on the fundraising trail for Joan sending out an email asking for donations to her fledgling candidacy. In the email he states that "Joanie just registered this past week [the week of April 23rd] as a candidate." In yesterday's Trib, Griffin is quoted as saying that she's "seriously interested" in running. In our estimation, if she's filed the paperwork she's in.

Joanie is a long time fixture in the advertising biz here in Albuquerque with an extensive client list to prove it. One of her more notable political clients was none other than the Almighty One, Martin Chavez. According to her website Griffin served as Mayor Chavez' Press Secretary for his 2005 campaign. If elected, she would be the second city councilor to come directly from Mayor Marty's '05 campaign. Councilor Ken Sanchez originally served as Marty's Treasurer before being lured (some say by the Almighty One himself) into running against former Councilor Miguel Gomez.

Moving on to District 8, where left of center blogger Joe Monahan is reporting that Trudy Jones will run for Councilor Loy's seat. Loy, according to both our Eyes and Monahan's "Alligators" is planning not to seek a second term. That's about as far as we're willing to agree with Mr. Monahan as he also claims in the same post that Councilor Loy is a "conservative."

Trudy has demonstrated her ability to swim in the shark infested waters of commercial real estate for close to 30 years; not to mention she's been successful in the process. She will make a formidable candidate for anyone to try and beat in her largely conservative district 8. Raising money will not be a problem and our Eyes tell us that she is putting together an experienced campaign staff.

So... 1 in - Brad Winter, 2 out - Martin Heinrich and Craig Loy, 2 up - Joanie Griffin and Trudy Jones. Let the 2007 games begin!

Big Bill's Boy: Martin Heinrich

Yesterday, the governor's favorite blogger (Joe Monahan) announced that Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich was the Guv's pick to run against Congresswoman Heather Wilson. By this morning KOB, KRQE, and the Albuquerque Journal (Subscription Required) were all reporting the "report" by Joe Monahan.

Heinrich could be considered the darling of the left side of the Democratic party. He's young, well spoken and extremely, uh well... "progressive." He's the type of candidate that would be hard to beat in a Democratic primary. It makes perfect sense that the Guv would implicitly endorse Councilor Heinrich as Richardson is in the process of wooing the same group of "progressives" that Heinrich represents, for his (Vice) Presidential bid.

Democrats believe that Congresswoman Wilson is vulnerable because of her narrow victory over former AG Patricia Madrid. They also hope to stoke the David Iglesias non-story for the next year and a half, further weakening the congresswoman. What they have failed to calculate is that Wilson's victory over Madrid can also be seen as a sign of strength and even with the aid of Chuck Schumer and Joe Monahan (who seems to be able to make everything about David Iglesias) in the end, the David Iglesias story is a story about nothing.

Madrid also had a number of things that Councilor Heinrich does not. First, she had incredible name id. Second, she had no real legislative record that could be hung around her neck. Third, she was riding what turned out to be a wave of discontent with the Iraq war and Republican mismanagement of congress. Madrid failed, narrowly to be sure, but failed none the less.

Despite serving as city council president, Councilor Heinrich isn't well known outside of his district. We'd argue that half of his own constituents in District 6 would have a hard time naming him (not that it's that unusual for a city councilor). Councilor Heinrich also has a long legislative history of supporting things like the minimum wage and the use of condemnation to further his environmental goals (some of you make think that it's noble... we think it's a tyrannical abuse of governmental power).

Lastly, who knows what will happen in Washington or Iraq for that matter... The Democratic leadership seems determined to press the position of troop withdrawal and have tied their future to an anti-war position. This could easily backfire. Terrorist attacks at home, a nuclear Iran, or general instability in the Middle East could leave the Democrat leadership holding the bag. And if they don't succeed, they'll be held accountable by party leftists who are already unhappy that the troops haven't started "re-deploying" stateside.

Either way the DCCC and the Democrats are busy fighting the last election with a potential candidate that couldn't have won that one either. The only difference... 11 seconds. Heinrich will not be caught with his mouth open and nothing intelligible coming out.

The Big Flush: More Than Just Water Down The Drain

Coming to the council near you... Starring Martin Heinrich, The Big Flush! No it's not a movie rather another effort by the City Council to insert themselves into your life and your wallet. In less than a year we've had red light cameras, animal husbandry, cell phones, and now your bathroom.

The Eye has learned that the intrepid councilor from District 6 is eying all of the fixtures that use water in your home in a proposed bill that will come before the council March 5th. The ordinance (O-06-41) if passed, will require the buyer of virtually any home to replace all of the non-low flow water fixtures (you know the kind that actually work) with their low flow equivalents within 90 days of purchase and file a Low Water Use Fixture Certificate with the County Clerk. By the way, if you don't you can be charged $100 per fixture, per month, for each month past the first 3, that you are found to be non-compliant.

Now... that doesn't sound so bad. After all we live in a desert! And besides, it doesn't take effect until 2010! The Eye would argue that you couldn't be more wrong and you'll be finding that out the next time you try and buy or sell a house that is required to be retrofitted, meaning any home not built in the last 5 or so years. No matter how you slice it, this ordinance will add approximately $700 to $1,000 to the price of your home.

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Ever notice how the city loves these unfunded mandates?
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Water is an important commodity in Albuquerque, we've been fighting over it for years now. We've also had voluntary conservation programs in place for over a decade. In fact, the City of Albuquerque website claims that we've reduced water consumption by 34% since 1995. If that weren't enough, we're now subjected to sin taxes for over use in the form of a "conservation charge," and both time of day, and day of the week watering restrictions. And if THAT weren't enough we've got the water police armed with their cameras and citations to charge us if we have the temerity to let water spray onto a sidewalk.

(Sidebar)
Has anyone noticed that despite an extraordinarily wet July and record snows this winter, we haven't heard a thing about rescinding the water restrictions imposed by the City/County Water Authority? Don't hold your breath.
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So what's the deal? As a community we've done an outstanding job conserving water. We're being told that the San Juan - Chama diversion project will be coming on line in the next year or so and will provide enough water for another 80 years. Why do we need Martin Heinrich in our bathrooms? The fact is, we don't.

The Council has gotten it in their heads that they need to control everything in our lives. It doesn't even matter if it makes any sense. How long before they decide that everyone should use florescent bulbs, and stop eating french fries or ice cream? How long before they decide what kind of car you can drive, or where it's safe for you to work? It's for your own good! Sounds a bit Orwellian, but it's a real danger. Every time these knuckleheads decide to do something like this, they take away one of your choices, they take away one of your freedoms.

Ronald Reagan said "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" Watch out anytime the city mandates something for your own good... it usually costs you money and freedom.