We start this edition with a DC reader with NM ties who works at a PR firm and who is monitoring the race for the Dem nomination for the northern congressional seat.

Joe, Contrasting itself with the Valerie Plame campaign, Marco Serna's campaign says they "filed every contribution" they received in the second quarter with the FEC. Well, so did Valerie Plame. FEC Regulations require the public reporting of all donations over $200. For the Serna campaign to say Ms. Plame did not report all her donations is misleading. Ms. Plame is not innocent either. She slammed candidate Teresa Leger Fernandez for being a "lawyer/lobbyist" but she then turns around and accepts at least $11,400 in donations from lawyers including: 

$5,600 - Martin Edelman, of Paul Hastings
$2,800 - Marrs Griebel Law, LTD
$2,000 - Mark Williams, of Morgan, Lewis, Bockius LLP
$500 - Thurgood Marshall jr., of Morgan, Lewis, Bockius LLP

RAIL YARDS REDO

Reader Jim McClure writes:

Joe, I’m glad you’re shining a spotlight on the financial black hole of the proposed Rail Yards renovation in downtown ABQ. Just because a building is old doesn’t mean it must be preserved. I’m a big fan of historic architecture. My hometown of Oak Park, IL, has done a superb job of preserving Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and re-purposing vintage commercial buildings, and I enjoyed restoring an old house. There are lots of historic buildings worth preserving in Albuquerque, but the Rail Yards aren't one of them. The building has all the charm of an aircraft hangar. But it’s sitting on a prime chunk of downtown real estate. Is dreaming up new uses for a cavernous ruin the highest and best use of this property? Or can the tract be redeveloped into something completely different, such as a mixed-use complex that will complement the trend of attracting new residents and businesses to downtown? 

VOTER, PLEASE STOP

James Trapp is the  brother of the publisher of the Rio Grande Sun in Espanola, and writes in that newspaper:

Voter, please stop. Where is your line? Do you have a line? Have any of these recent events in our community crossed your line? What in the world could make you use your voice in a better way?

You have elected many school boards that have done absolutely nothing to improve our children’s education and have no plans on doing so. You have elected an electric cooperative board that is so divided and secretive, it is dysfunctional. You have elected a rerun sheriff who thinks it is a good idea to hire people for our Sheriff’s Office, whom other sheriffs easily knew to not hire. . .You have elected a state senator who is drunk on our roads injuring the citizens he is supposed to work for. He is clueless to the damage he has done to us on a national level. These elected officials represent us as a community and make us all look like uneducated fools. You wonder why we have so many problems in our community? These are the people you have chosen to lead us. . . 

KEEP IT INTERESTING
Camisha Cordova writes on Facebook of her thoughts on today's ABQ: