Wednesday, June 27, 2018On The Media Beat: Journal DC Reporter Ends Long Run; Paper Will Not Replace, And Rio Rancho To The Rescue For ABQ Coleman says the paper is looking into using a stringer to keep tabs on the congressional delegation, not a full-time correspondent, thus ending a long tradition in NM political reporting. Coleman has been at the paper's DC bureau 18 years. He arrived when the power of the state's congressional delegation was near its peak with Senators Domenici and Bingaman and leaves while it's at a low ebb, with only one of its five members in the majority party and having no chairs of any of the standing committees. Also, federal funding for the state took a major hit a decade ago and has remained relatively stagnant since. Years ago the position of DC correspondent for the Journal was a somewhat exotic posting. With no social media it was the state's main link to the delegation but not so in the Internet age. Back then the post also gave the Journal and its publisher a prestige boost but in today's newspaper world the bottom line is a constant concern and expensive reporting of any kind is subject to the budget scalpel. And a physical presence in DC is hardly necessary these days to track what the delegation is up to. Coleman had a good long DC run, kind of like the state had until the money started to dry up and with it the power. RIO RANCHO RESCUE Who would have thought it would be Rio Rancho that would rescue ABQ from its crime crisis? "With their aggressive posture towards recruiting, (APD has) taken at least three of our officers already." APD officers start off at about $20/hr. their first year after graduating from the academy. Then, officers move up to $29/hr. It takes a lot longer for Rio Rancho officers to even match APD's pay. "Here, our officers top out at $29 and that takes 14 years to get there. 14 years to get to $29," a spokesman says. We assume Mayor Keller's future political plans don't include running for anything in the City of Vision. THE BOTTOM LINES we joked about State Senator George Munoz not being mentioned on the invite to a "unity" fund-raiser being hosted by Stephanie Garcia Richard who Munoz lost to in the Dem primary for land commissioner. George didn't think it was too funny. He emailed in that he had called and congratulated Garcia Richard on her win. In an apparent reference to the unity party, Munoz said he is dealing with health issues among his family and right now has "other priorities. . . It's official: The State Canvassing Board certified the results from the 2018 Primary Election for each contest for statewide office and for districted offices that span more than one county, with the exception of the Republican Primary contest for Public Regulation District 5 as it requires an automatic recount. Secretary Toulouse Oliver’s fellow State Canvassing Board Member Supreme Court Chief Justice Judith Nakamura was in attendance. Governor Martinez, the third member of the Board, was unable to attend. Every County Canvassing Board in the state convened prior to Tuesday's meeting to certify the unofficial Primary Election results for legislative districts wholly within a single county and county offices. The official results for the 2018 primary races are here. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018 |
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