Democracy for New Mexico

NM Supreme Court Rules to Uphold Secretary of State's Ruling Denying Public Funds to Dennis W. Montoya

Today, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the Secretary of State's ruling to deny public campaign financing to Dennis W. Montoya. Montoya is challenging Judge Linda Vanzi for her seat on the Court of Appeals in the Democratic Primary. The election is June 1st.

"Other candidates have successfully applied for public financing," said Sandra Wechsler, Vanzi Campaign Manager, in a statement released today. "We believe that all candidates need to play by the same set of rules and Mr. Montoya broke those rules. The law is very clear about what you need to do to qualify for public financing."

The campaign's statement also said that, "For the public financing law to earn public support and have integrity, strict compliance with the rules is absolutely necessary. For this reason, the Vanzi campaign commends the Secretary of State for protecting taxpayer monies and denying rule-breakers from accessing public dollars."

Judge Linda Vanzi was selected by the Judicial Nominating Commission, and appointed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals by Governor Bill Richardson in 2008. By State law, Judges must stand for election in one partisan contest after appointment.

Judge Vanzi has been endorsed by the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Rio Grande Sun, Council 18 of AFSCME, the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association (APOA), Iron Workers Local Union No. 495, Office & Professional Employees Intl Union, Local 25, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 492, Communications Workers of America, Local 7076, New Mexico Professional Firefighters Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1564, the Victory Fund, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 953, New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council.

To see our previous stories on this race and other 2010 judicial contests, visit our archive.

New TV Ad: Diane Denish Highlights Her Fight to Reform Regional Housing Authorities

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Democrat Diane Denish's second TV ad of her 2010 campaign for governor highlights her fight to reform the regional housing authorities and save taxpayer dollars. Her efforts resulted in tough new oversight of the authorities. Several indictments were also handed down in the aftermath of this reform effort.

The 30-second ad begins airing statewide on broadcast and cable today. The transcript of the ad is below the break.

“Diane Denish will be a different kind of Governor -- and New Mexicans know that’s true because she’s been a different kind of Lieutenant Governor," Campaign Manager Oren Shur said in a statement released today. "It’s not easy to stand up to the insiders and the establishment, but that’s what Diane Denish has done and it's what she'll do as governor.”

The Denish campaign released two documents as companion pieces to the new ad. One backs up the statements (pdf) made in the ad with facts and the other is a narrative account of how the revelations of whistleblower Frances Williams resulted in actions taken by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and others to produce reform legislation and indictments.

Transcript of Denish Ad:

Frances Williams: Five million dollars was just wasted. Five million dollars squandered.

Voice Over: When whistle blower Frances Williams uncovered corruption at the Housing Authority, she needed someone to take on Santa Fe insiders. She turned to Diane Denish.

Frances Williams: Diane listened to me. She was outraged, she took action, she investigated.

Voice Over: Today four people are under indictment and the Housing Authority has tough oversight because Diane Denish wouldn't back down.

Frances Williams: She has the courage of her convictions. She will get it done.

True Reformer: Sierra Club Endorses Bill McCamley for Public Regulation Commission, District 5

The Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club has endorsed the candidacy of Bill McCamley for his bid in the 2010 general election for Public Regulation Commission, District 5. Bill McCamley is unopposed in the June Democratic primary.

A statement released by the group today said McCamley’s emphasis on clean government, ethics reform, health care reform, and promotion of renewable energy to replace our dependence on fossil fuels, have earned him the title as a “true reformer.”

Graduating from NMSU with a BA in Government and earning a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University, McCamley has been well suited to the many posts he has held in Doña Ana County and southern New Mexico and a potential seat on the Public Regulation Commission, according to the group. McCamley is a former Commission Chairman for the Doña Ana County Commission, a Local Development Coordinator, and Executive Director for New Mexico Rural Development Response Council.

Unfortunately the current PRC has been fraught with ethical lapses and a new direction is needed to stand up to large corporations and protect people from high rates and bad services. The Rio Grande Chapter believes that Bill McCamley is the right candidate to change the direction of the PRC and that he will be one of those leaders in the commission to set high standards and promote ethical leadership. His priorities in creating green jobs, low rates to customers, public safety, ethics reform, and most important, making New Mexico the center of clean energy through renewable energy and energy conservation are our Sierra Club priorities as well.

Established in 1892, the Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest environmental membership organization. With our roughly 7,500 politically active members, our endorsement is widely sought by candidates for elected positions across the state.

Review the Chapter’s political endorsements for selected primaries and the general election as they are posted on its new web site: http://nmsierraclub.org/political.

Secretary of State to Affirm Hearing Officer's Ruling That Court of Appeals Candidate Dennis W. Montoya Doesn't Qualify for Public Funding

According to an article on the Albuquerque Journal website tonight, New Mexico Court of Appeals candidate Dennis W. Montoya will not be getting public funding for his Democratic primary campaign challenging incumbent Court of Appeals Judge Linda Vanzi. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will win the general election because no Republican candidate is running for the Court of Appeals slot.

A hearing was held Wednesday before an attorney to deal with an appeal filed by Montoya disputing an earlier decision by Secretary of State Mary Herrera to disqualify Montoya for public campaign funding based on reports he submitted to her. The hearing officer agreed with Herrera's decision, and Herrera intends to affirm Montoya's disqualification:

Arthur Waskey, a Santa Fe lawyer, said that Montoya did not provide sufficient evidence that the disqualification was improper, and that Herrera's decision should be upheld. Deputy Secretary of State Don Francisco Trujillo said Herrera planned to sign a letter Friday affirming Montoya's disqualification.

Although Montoya can appeal the decision to the state District Court, the Journal article reported he hadn't responded to a question on whether he would do so.

The Secretary of State originally ruled that Montoya was disqualified because he contributed more "seed money" to his campaign than candidates are allowed under the rules for public financing. Herrera also stated that Montoya violated another section of the campaign law that states candidates can't accept $500 or more or spend $500 or more and still qualify. (See my earlier post.)

The Journal article also provided a quote from Judge Vanzi in response to the latest ruling:

"For the public financing law to earn public support and have integrity, strict compliance with the rules is absolutely necessary," Vanzi said in a statement. "I'm pleased that the recommendation to the secretary of state is to protect taxpayers' money."

Dennis W. Montoya Campaign's Claim of Election Law Confusion a Hard Sell in Appeals Court Race

As you probably have read, Democratic New Mexico Appeals Court primary candidate Dennis W. Montoya was recently disqualified from receiving about $85,000 in public financing by Secretary of State Mary Herrera in his race against current Appeals Court Judge Linda Vanzi. In her letter to Montoya (pdf), Herrera stated that Montoya, an attorney, was being rejected because:

Candidate failed to comply with seed money requirements: Candidate exceeded the limit of contributions to himself in excess of the $5000.00 limit in direct violation of NMSA Section 1-19A-5 (H). Seed money report indicates that candidate gave himself $8,887.29.

Herrera also cited another section of the law that says candidates who take contributions totaling $500 or more, or who spend a total of $500 or more, don't qualify for public financing.

In response, the Montoya campaign, which is managed by Santiago Juarez, filed an appeal this past Wednesday, claiming that his original filing was incorrect because he was confused about what should properly be considered "seed money" and what should be considered merely "general campaign" funds -- and thus not applicable to the seed money limit. The Montoya campaign submitted an amended expenditure report (pdf) to the Secretary of State on March 25, 2010, which Juarez says splits out funds he considers to be true "seed money" sums vs. what he called "general campaign" funds, and claimed the Montoya campaign was thus in compliance with the law on public campaign financing.

Juarez Cites Confusion About Law
Santiago Juarez's appeal also went into some detail about what he sees as gray areas in the current law. He pointed to confusion about how money spent on what he said was lobbying for votes by the delegates of the Democratic pre-primary convention should be reported.

I have to say it seems odd that Santiago Juarez, of all people, should be confused about the requirements and intent of the judicial public campaign financing law. Juarez is an attorney, and he worked at the Progressive Alliance for Community Empowerment (PACE) from 2000-2005, the 501(c)(4) arm of an organization called Revisioning new Mexico. He was its main lobbyist charged with advocating for the public financing of elections.

My understanding is that Juarez helped to draft the public financing bills that were introduced in the New Mexico Legislature during that period. Although a bill that provides for public financing for statewide judicial candidates didn't pass until 2007, Juarez reportedly helped draft the almost identical version that PACE was supporting in 2005. He also was involved with an identical law for public financing of New Mexico Public Regulation Commission candidates that did pass. 

Given his extensive and intimate involvement with public financing legislation -- including bills very similar or identical to this law -- it seems highly unlikely that Juarez would be confused about the reporting and contribution requirements contained in the law. 

Judge Vanzi Files Motion to Intervene
Today, the Journal reported that Judge Linda Vanzi has asked to intervene in Montoya's pending appeal to the Secretary of State. The article also states that,

Linda Vanzi says Dennis W. Montoya is trying to "improperly secure public funds so that the taxpayers of New Mexico will foot the bill" for his campaign against Vanzi.

... Vanzi says Montoya is asking the secretary of state to ignore the stringent requirements of the public financing law. She asked in her motion to intervene that she be allowed to participate in any appeal proceeding, including the hearing.

Other Montoya Controversies
Of course, the candidacy of Dennis W. Montoya was receiving some serious criticism even before the public financing snafu. An article in the Albuquerque Journal published March 21, 2010 reported on an ethics complaint against Montoya that was filed in 2008 by Judge Vanzi with the board that investigates allegations of attorney misconduct:

She [Vanzi] accused him [Montoya] of failing to represent the interests of a young boy [Cody Utley] whose father [Thomas Utley] was killed in a one-car accident, questioned his fees and costs in the case, and accused him of lying to a guardian ad litem she appointed to protect the child's interests.

... "Mr. Montoya has shown a disregard for the legal system, including the courts, other attorneys, and clients he supposedly represents," Vanzi wrote in her complaint, which is still being investigated.

The Journal article also said that,

Montoya is a somewhat controversial figure who has been sanctioned by federal judges in Albuquerque on several occasions and recently got involved in a shouting match with a Metropolitan Court judge. His practice includes criminal defense, civil rights, employment and personal injury.

The complaint is still pending, along with a malpractice lawsuit the guardian, Kathleen Oakey, filed against Montoya on behalf of Cody Utley's son, Thomas.

Despite the criticisms of Dennis W. Montoya, he secured a position on the Democratic primary ballot by receiving the votes of 27.68% of the delegates vs. 72.32% for Judge Vanzi.

Judicial Credentials
Judge Vanzi, who was appointed to the Appeals Court by Governor Richardson in 2008, has pointed out that a judicial nominating commission carefully screens all applicants for appointments, like Judge Vanzi, to the Appellate Court (and others), reviews credentials and recommends several nominees to the governor to consider for appointment. Questions always include the topic of disciplinary complaints.

In fact, over the course of her career, Judge Vanzi has had five different Judicial Selection Commissions, as well as Governor Bill Richardson, review and approve her qualifications and experience. She's been awarded the Judge of the Year award by the Albuquerque Bar Association and the Trial Judge of the Year awarded by the American Board of Trial Associates.

Attorney Montoya, who has never been a judge or a judicial appointment applicant, has never been scrutinized by a selection commission.

NM-02 Voters Want Congress and Rep. Harry Teague to Pass Fair Elections Now Act

Voters in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional district are concerned about special interest influence on members of Congress and expect Congress to fix our broken political system, according to polling released today by Common Cause New Mexico.

The poll, which was conducted by SurveyUSA for Common Cause, MoveOn.org Political Action, and the Public Campaign Action Fund, found that voters believe that Democrats and Republicans have done too little to reduce the influence of special interests in Washington, DC, and that they want Rep. Harry Teague to work to pass comprehensive campaign finance reform. H.R. 1826, the Fair Elections Now Act, would go a long way to accomplish just that, and all three of New Mexico's Congressmen are cosponsors.

“Voters want Congress to act quickly to fix our broken political system,” said Steven Robert Allen, Executive Director of Common Cause New Mexico, in a statement released today. “Rep. Teague must be commended for his co-sponsorship of this legislation, and he should know that taking bold steps to reform the way Washington works is good politics.”

The survey also found that 84 percent of voters in the 2nd District believe that members of Congress are overly influenced by campaign contributors, and 65 percent are opposed to the recent Supreme Court decision lifting certain restrictions on corporate and union spending to support or defeat candidates. Click to see the summary memo and the complete results.

The Fair Elections Now Act would allow candidates to run competitive campaigns for office on a blend of limited Fair Elections funding and donations of $100 or less. Sponsored by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the Fair Elections Now Act has the broad bipartisan support of 140 House members. For more information, visit www.fairelectionsnow.org.

The poll of 520 likely voters in NM-02 was conducted by SurveyUSA from March 10-March 14, 2010.

Similar results were reported for NM-01. Check out the summary memo and complete results.

DFA-DFNM Dem LG Candidate Debate: Honesty and Openness in Government

Here's another follow up to my posts yesterday and Monday on Saturday's DFA-DFNM debate for Democratic lieutenant governor candidates at UNM Law School.

Below are videos of Rep. Joe Campos, Brian Colon, Sen. Linda Lopez, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Lawrence Rael answering a question from the audience about restoring honesty and openness to government.

Sen. Linda Lopez (L); Rep. Joe Campos (R)

Brian Colon (L); Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino (R)

Lawrence Rael

Governor Bill Richardson Signs State Investment Council Restructuring Bill

Yesterday, Governor Bill Richardson signed SB 18, sponsored by Sen. Tim Keller (D-Albuquerque), legislation that restructures the State Investment Council. The comprehensive bill includes multiple measures regarding state investment office accountability, state investment council expertise, private equity investing, oversight and transparency.

“I have moved aggressively to restore confidence in our investment practices, and this new law will help ensure that our investments are not tainted in any way,” Governor Richardson said in a statement released by his office.

The bill adds members to the State Investment Council and requires appointed members to have 10 years of financial or investment experience. The bill also prohibits appointed members from having any contracts with state investment entities for two years prior to their appointment and for two years after their term ends.

"The bill was a team effort; it reflects a lot hard work by staff, the legislature and the Governor," said Sen. Keller in a written statement. "The story of this bill is a great example of how the system can actually work respond to public will, improve ideas and promptly respond with a solution that was needed. The Investment Oversight committee the Governor and I worked together extensively on underlying bill in the interim, and it’s gratifying to see it come to fruition.”

The bill gives the Governor and the Legislature 30 days to appoint new members to the council. Governor Richardson said he will work expeditiously to comply with the new law.

The new law addresses many of the issues raised by an independent review of the SIC. Governor Richardson and the Legislature paid for the review, which recommended a more active council with more oversight powers.

“This bill is the result of best practices that decentralize and eliminate the many structural conflicts of interest that have been woven into the governance of these funds over time," said Sen. Keller. It takes effect immediately (because of the emergency clause) and will go a long way to restore confidence around the country in our investment fund governance."

SB 18, the initial interim investment oversight committee bill, was expanded by language pulled from Senate bills 218 (Neville) and 238 (McSorely) and then refined by amendments in the house. This combined bill demonstrates a bipartisan collaborative effort to address many of 80+ recommendations found in the Enis Knupp study done by the Governor’s office and Legislative Council. The bill was passed unanimously by both houses after vast amending and substituting.

The State Investment Council manages the state’s Permanent Funds, which are valued at more than $13 Billion. The Council distributes money from the Funds each year to its state beneficiaries, which include New Mexico public schools and universities. This year’s distributions top $722 million.

Rep. Joe Campos Discusses His Legislative Initiatives

The second session of the 49th Legislature has concluded and it was a very important and very busy session. Rep. Joe Campos, candidate for Lieutenant Governor, released a statement summarizing what his camp called his "demonstrated leadership and vision" in "introducing a slate of innovative and forward-looking legislation" during the session. His bills included:

• HB 118: Ethics reform designed to end pay-to-play.
• HB 288: A bill to strengthen equal pay statutes reinforcing the rights of women and other groups subject to discrimination.
• HJR 14: Legislation to amend the state constitution to allow the Taxation and Revenue Department to negotiate tax debt in hardship cases.
• HB 238: A bill to allow the efficient use of absentee ballots, eliminating waste.
• HB 181: A bill that promotes privately owned renewable energy generation plants by exempting these plants from regulation as a public utility.
• HB 99: A bill that provides a funding formula of emergency medical services (EMS).
• HB 98: A bill that qualified the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) for the Public Project Revolving Fund and provide for the sale of bonds to finance RETA.

The statement touted Rep. Campos' "applied determination and legislative expertise to draft the bills and get these bills introduced," and said that their enactment "stood to benefit a broad range of citizens as well as restore trust in state government." Campos' bills generated strong support in the House -- passing in House committees and on the House the floor. In fact, his equal pay bill and the RETA bill each received a unanimous floor vote to pass in the House, and the renewable energy generation plant bill passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. Campos' emergency services funding bill was narrowly defeated on the House floor.

This legislative session was burdened with the challenge of balancing the state budget, and Campos reports that he worked toward an equitable balance between cutting expenditures and generating new revenue streams. However, he said the budget shortfall crisis diverted attention from many worthwhile and meritorious legislative initiatives.

Campos expressed disappointment that several of his widely supported bills did not get to a vote in the Senate as time expired in the legislative session. He's particularly dismayed at the resistance put forth by special interest groups that sought to delay and defeat the ethics bill he introduced in the House. Campos said that, during the debate, he stood firm and pushed back at the special interests and succeeded in garnering support to pass the ethics bill in the House. The legislative session ended before the ethics bill could be voted on in the Senate. However, Campos said he will continue to advocate for ethics reform, equal pay statutes, tax relief for hardship cases, and providing funding resources for emergency medical services.

With the conclusion of the session, Joe said he looks forward to renewing his campaign for Lieutenant Governor. He said he will continue to meet the people, listen to their concerns and ideas and earn their support for his campaign to serve as the next Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico. The Campos campaign pointed to Joe's distinguished leadership in the past legislative session, stressing that voters will have a clear choice for Lieutenant Governor: a candidate who is experienced, knowledgeable, bold, tested, and who knows how to work within the government for the benefit of the people.

For more information and to learn how you can help out with the campaign, please visit http://joecampos.org/.

Photo by M.E. Broderick.

Sens. Tom Udall, Chris Dodd Intro Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Supreme Court Campaign Finance Ruling

Last month, the Supreme Court concluded in a highly controversial 5-4 ruling that corporations deserve the same free speech protections as individual Americans, enabling them to spend freely from their corporate treasuries on campaign advertising. Since then, a number of concerned Democrats have been devising ways to either overturn or go around the ruling to ensure that votes, not corporate money, are what determine the outcome of elections.

Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) has been in the forefront on this issue. He spoke out against the ruling when it was issued and, earlier this month, he announced his intention to propose a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance laws. Today, he joined with Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) in doing just that.

Senator Dodd today introduced a constitutional amendment (S.J.Res.28) to reverse a recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance that has the effect of allowing virtually unlimited corporate spending in elections. Senator Udall joined Dodd as an original cosponsor of the constitutional amendment. The two Senators commented on their action in a statement released today.

“I am a firm believer in the sanctity of the First Amendment, and I believe we must continue to do all we can to protect the free speech rights of the American people. But I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court’s conclusion that money is speech, and that corporations should be treated the same as individual Americans when it comes to protected, fundamental speech rights,” said Dodd.

“Ultimately, we must cut through the underbrush and go directly to the heart of the problem, and that is why I am proposing this constitutional amendment: because constitutional questions need constitutional answers. I believe it is the best way to save our democratic system of government from the continued corrosion of special interest influence,” Dodd continued.

“The Supreme Court's decision to encourage the corrosive effects special interest money is having on the election process fundamentally contradicts the American ideal that campaigns should be about the best ideas and not the biggest bank accounts," said Udall. "We have long needed substantive campaign finance reform and I am proud to join Senator Dodd in this effort to amend our Constitution and help put our elections back in the hands of average Americans."

The constitutional amendment would authorize Congress to regulate the raising and spending of money for federal political campaigns, including independent expenditures, and allow states to regulate such spending at their level. It would also provide for implementation and enforcement of the amendment through legislation.

In addition to the amendment, Dodd and Udall plan to support interim legislative efforts to blunt the Supreme Court’s ruling, including increased disclosure requirements on corporate campaign spending and other efforts to further limit the influence of foreign corporations in the democratic process.