Thursday, February 10, 2022MLG Says Fellow Dems Panning Her Crime Bills "Defies Explanation" But We Give It A shot, Plus: Sen. Lujan Releases Sunday Video Updating His Health, And: Javier Gonzales Dead In Santa Fe --First, the administration did not lay the groundwork pre-session for advancing her crime package, especially the controversial pretrial detention bill, At a Jan. 13 ABQ news conference only days before the session she urged citizens to call Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Cervantes to get on board with the detention bill. Why did she already not have him on board or a workaround figured out to deflate his opposition? --Attorney General Hector Balderas aptly declared this week to legislators giving the crime bills a hard time that "this is not your grandfather's Albuquerque." It sure isn't but the legislators in question needed to be made fully aware of that with personal attention and tours and then persuaded that changing the laws would not only benefit the big city but the state at large. Where was that effort from the administration? --Progressives were natural skeptics of the tough on crime session. MLG could have appealed to them by proposing a truly transformative proposal for the state's behavioral heath system, with funding in the hundreds of millions for the system that was effectively destroyed by her predecessor. But she never came close, adhering to her self-described philosophy of being a "fiscal conservative." That in a time of extraordinary plenty and opportunity accompanied send by a record ABQ murder rate and record drug addiction statewide. Why would the progressives listen to her? The Guv has already moved on to blame the legislature so she has an explanation on the campaign trail for the failure of much of her crime package. But what happened doesn't "defy explanation." It's explained by what the Caption famously told Cool Hand Luke: What we have here is a failure to communicate. JAVIER GONZALES Former Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales (2014-'18) succumbed to cancer Wednesday. He was 55. He gained statewide attention when he served as chairman of the state Democratic Party and made a short, unsuccessful run for the Dem Lt. Gov. nomination in 2018. More below. LUJAN UPDATE Finally. After weeks of speculation about his condition following his stroke and calls for more transparency, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan Sunday released a nearly six minute video in which he is flanked by his UNMH doctors and thanks New Mexico for all of its support during his health ordeal. He says he is "strong," and says he will soon be transferred to rehabilitation and anticipates being back in DC in a "few short weeks." His tweet: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The outpouring of support from New Mexicans and folks all around the country gives me strength every day. Excited to get back to work." While statewide success eluded Gonzales, his good friend and fellow northern New Mexican, Ben Ray Lujan, ascended to the US Senate in 2020 but is now facing serious medical issues as the result of a stroke suffered January 27. Gonzlaes died at just 56. Ben Ray is 49. Lujan's condition remains an unknown but his lack of communication in any form can be read as a sign that he is probably unable to communicate. The last report on his condition came Feb. 1 from an anonymous staffer who said Lujan would be back to work in DC in four to six weeks "barring any complications." Six weeks from that date would put his return at March 16. Several readers asked what would happen if Lujan was incapacitated and unable to perform his senatorial duties. Any vacancy due to a senator's death would be filled by Gov. Lujan Grisham. However, it may come as a surprise to those readers that there is no protocol for dealing with an incapacitated Senator. We get this from the Bipartisan Policy center in DC, a nonpartisan think tank: Aside from instances of members unable to show up to a new Congress to be sworn in, no sitting member of Congress has ever been replaced for incapacitation. Congress does have the power to expel its members, but has never done so for medical reasons, and it would seem unlikely that they would do so for a member who had done no wrong and who could not automatically return when recovered. Congressional history is filled with examples of members who have had severe, debilitating illnesses. Senator Karl Mundt of North Dakota suffered a stroke and was absent from the Senate for the final three years of his term. Illness forced Senator Carter Glass of Virginia to be absent from the Senate for nearly two years. In the case of Glass, citizens of Virginia petitioned courts to remove Glass from his seat, as it was effectively vacant. The court refused to take action.
Never has a sitting member of Congress been removed from office due to incapacitation. Lujan's absence due to illness is more historic than others, coming as it does with the US Senate evenly divided between the Democrats and Republicans and forcing delays in considering legislation. Senator Lujan remains hospitalized at UNMH in ABQ. As for Gonzales, he was the first openly gay mayor of Santa Fe and known for advocating for civil and immigrant rights. He announced he had terminal cancer in October of 2020 but he served the community to the end, with his last position as chief development officer for Christus St. Vincent Medical Center. UNSETTLED BUSINESS
Gonzales would be the first openly gay man to win the statewide nomination for Lt. Governor. His bid comes on the heels of ABQ Senator Michael Padilla withdrawing from the contest because of decade-old sex harassment charges.
There will be problems for Gonzales in the conservative rural areas of the state party. And with two of their own--Padilla and former state Rep. Garcia being taken down by sex harassment charges--the Dems are going to want to move the issue of sex--in all its variations--to the back burner. That sent Gonzales' political consultants and several of his prominent supporters over the cliff, publicly accusing the blog of wrongfully equating sexual harassment with being gay. Gonzales himself did not comment. We responded to the mini-frenzy by saying that the phrasing may have been awkward but there wasn't an "equation" being made between sexual harassment and being gay but there was an equation being made in the sense that both had political impact. And, of course, that's true and we stand by it today. Sad to say, we never did speak again with Javier Gonzales because of his intermediaries attacks but we always admired him for his honesty about his life and for holding his ground. We'd like to think he thought the same of us. Hasta la vista, Javier Gonzales. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2022 |
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