Until government is redesigned to truly separate it from profiteering special interests, people will view the Downs at Albuquerque deal and any other involving campaign contributors and party insiders with suspicion, as they should.
I authored a commentary in September arguing that we need to pay our state legislators; newspaper articles published this weekend may indicate that such an idea is gaining momentum.
We cannot stand idly by and watch our elections be fundamentally degraded by a flood of unaccountable money into the system. That is why I have introduced an amendment to the United States Constitution to address our country’s broken campaign finance system.
Aaron Henry Diaz and Nathan Small, the candidates for the District 4 seat on the Las Cruces City Council, answer NMPolitics.net’s questions on topics ranging from growth and development to ethics reform to quality of life and sustainability.
Fred Espinosa, Charles Scholz and Gregory Z. Smith, the candidates for the District 2 seat on the Las Cruces City Council, answer NMPolitics.net’s questions on topics ranging from growth and development to ethics reform to quality of life and sustainability.
Miguel Silva and Natalie Chadborn, the candidates for the District 1 seat on the Las Cruces City Council, answer NMPolitics.net’s questions on topics ranging from growth and development to ethics reform to quality of life and sustainability.
Recent court decisions have rendered N.M.’s Campaign Reporting Act “unenforceable,” one activist says. Without strong disclosure laws, some worry the state could be flooded with undisclosed spending on ads in the presidential, Senate and House races next year.
Is Occupy Wall Street a demonstration, a movement, or a transformative moment? Some believe it’s merely an irritant that will be suppressed in the coming weeks. I think it’s something much more.
All three candidates for Las Cruces mayor said they would support campaign contribution limits and more frequent reporting requirements in municipal elections. And each had other ideas for reform.
UPDATED: The Republican Party of New Mexico and others have filed a lawsuit challenging the state law that limits the size of campaign contributions.
Given the turmoil on the Public Regulation Commission in the last 10 years, I hope that New Mexicans demand reform of this very important commission. As a former PRC candidate, here are my thoughts on what needs to be done.
UPDATED: Las Cruces mayoral candidate Michael Ray Huerta initially said he was honored to have the support of a political action committee formed by a corporation, but he now says he “strongly” disagrees with such PACs getting involved in any election.
We need policies that encourage growth and job creation. We also need my opponents in the Las Cruces mayoral race to join me in making this the fairest, most transparent campaign in our city’s history.
Ethics reform is long overdue in Las Cruces. Let’s hope the mayor, councilors, and candidates running in the November election make it a priority.
Voters, and the Democratic and Republican parties and the government they control, all share responsibility for the disastrous election of Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr., who was plagued by scandal even before he won the 2008 race.