Hatch

We came through Hatch today. Guess what I bought.

Otero Mesa

An Associated Press Story led with a sentence that said environmentalists had been handed a defeat in a Federal court case that says the BLM didn't violate the law in leasing and planning for drilling on Otero Mesa. The sentence should have said that New Mexicans had been handed a defeat.

I am pretty sure my opponent Pat Lyons is rejoicing as he supports drilling this last great Chihuahuan grass land in America. His largest oil and gas contributor, Yates Petroleum, will do the deed. I am hopeful an appeal of the case will be made, or that other avenues might be used to halt this pending disaster.

P.S. My campaign manager in the Primary Election, Jessie Keefe, has started a blog about her new life in Maui. It is good reading and I will visit it often. It is called NewMexicaninMaui.

Water Issues & Debates

There isn't a day that goes by when the issue of water supplies, water rights or water sheds doesn't come up at least half a dozen times. Today the Albuquerque Journal had a story about another law suit brought against the State Engineer's Office fighting new regualtions that would affect domestic water wells. This will be fought over for a long time before it is finally decided.

I have described our reclamation of our small farm in Pena Blanca. We invested money that will probably cut in half the amount of water that is used for irrigation there. What happens to the saved water? We have pre 1907 water rights and if we save water do we lose that water right?I would like to see irrigators who conserve be able to sell their saved water rights to the cities or entitities that need them. Perhaps I am all wet, but it seems that if the state were to start helping these farmers with laser leveling and new irrigation systems then some of the pressure might be relieved. I am sure I am not the first one to think about this and I might be over simplifying it, but it might work!

Finally, since Bill Richardson has wisely refused to debate with John Dendahl I hereby ask the TV stations to provide time for TV debates between Pat Lyons and me. After all, this position of State Land Commissioner is the most powerful constitutional office in the state. Folks should hear from us.

Negative Ads, Liver and Lima Beans

Yeah, now I would be suprised if many of my readers on this blog listen to Rush Limbaugh etal on KKOB, but if they do they heard me strike back at my opponent with a negative radio ad. I can't seem to upload it on this blog, but Joe Monahan posted it on his blog this morning.

I abhor negatives ads as much as I despised Lima Beans and Liver when I was a kid. (As the old saying goes...gag me with a spoon) Ugh! But, as you will read in this article out of the L.A. Times today they are effective, especially if they are not responded to. So, I started my negative ad today on KKOB, along with a lot of comparison ads on other stations. My sister Carlota listened to it and wasn't too happy, but once again I am not happy about it either.

10 1/2 Minutes of Truth

This will take a while to listen too. It is worth the time.

Beach Property 4 Sale Cheap!

This is worth reading.

I have a friend who winters at a home on St. Thomas out in the Carribean. He described it to me as a place that has the feel of Santa Fe in the 1970's, except that it is surrounded by an ocean. After reading this article from the National Academy of Sciences I think I better go see his place sooner than later.

Good Sunday

We stayed busy today. First was getting up early to read the Albuquerque Journal profiles on my opponent and me. I felt the story was evenly balanced and certainly pointed out the differences between us.

We stopped by the well attended solar fair and then we then took off to Velarde, NM for a meeting and fundraiser organized by Steven and Sandra Rudy and hosted by Levi and Angelina Valdez. It was a beautiful afternoon in the apple orchard at Velarde. Levi's red delicious apples were awesome and we gave a speech to about 40 residents. His grandaughter was beautiful.

Those residents are angry because of the scene above. A landscape disaster is the best way to describe it. The land office allowed this to occur when it leased the land for sand and gravel operations over the objections of the local residents. It is everything that is wrong with putting money ahead of environmental concerns. A lot of residents say that the mountain that has been eradicated no longer can provide proper wind currents to the orchards in Velarde and that the crops have been freezing the last few years. I don't know if that is true or not, but people here are really upset and think my idea of a state land conservation system is a good one.

BLM Puts Things Straight

You will recall that my opponent said that if I were to win the election that the Bureau of Land Management would refuse to work with me. Here is what the BLM had to say today to the Editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican Newspaper.

September 23, 2006

We read your story (“Debate centers on environmental issues,” Sept. 21) about the debate between state land commissioner candidates Patrick Lyons and Jim Baca and wish to comment on a statement by Commissioner Lyons ( “… you better vote for me because the BLM isn’t going to work with Jim Baca.”) We do not know the context in which the remark was made, but we would like to offer the following information.

The BLM has a long history of working with the State Land Office on land exchanges to consolidate state and federal land holdings when the actions benefit both parties. An example of such exchange is to acquire of state land within BLM Wilderness Study Areas.
BLM has worked on major land exchanges with the State Land Office since the early 1990s, and we look forward to continuing this work with its leadership in the future.

Linda Rundell
state director BLM
Santa Fe

Gasoline Price Chart

My Cat Jerry's Bodyguard

All this negative advertising by my opponent has my cat Jerry nervous so this Ninjacat is hanging around all of a sudden. Bodyguard?

Seriously, this cat is so black than even my Nikon's fast lens has trouble getting an image.

Ethics Task Force-Lyons Caught in Web

There is a good story in the Journal today on the work of the State Ethics Task Force that Governor Richardson convened. They are on the right track on limiting of campaign contributions and the possibility of public financing of all statewide elections. A limit of $2100 per contributor per election is reasonable. For example, that would mean someone could give me a total of $2100 each for my Land Commissioner primary and general elections, but nor more. I actually like public financing better because it would hopefully take the really heavy hitters, like the oil and gas industry, out of the game.

Yes, someone would figure out ways around this but anything that makes it more difficult for the rich and corporate interests to control elections is a good idea.

During our debate the other night Pat Lyons stated two times that if I was elected the Bureau of Land Management would not work with me. I served as Director for the BLM in Washington for President Clinton and it has a lot of good professional people working there. So, Lyons' statement is a real serious thing to say since this crucial federal agency can not by law refuse to work with a statewide elected official. You might have severe policy differences, but there is always something that is beneficial to both the state and the Bureau that can be worked out. So, I conclude that either Pat Lyons was telling the truth and someone at the BLM told him this, thus violating the law, or that Pat Lyons was being untruthful. I will ask him in our next debate. In the meantime one enterprising blogger went to the BLM to ask them if Lyons was correct. Read it here.

Debate

Pat Lyons and I debated tonight in front of the League of Women Voters at the Unitarian Church in Albuquerque.

I haven't been drinking here. My eyes are red from pollen.

The crowd was very patient and sat for an hour and a half listening to us answer questions from them. The forum was very well run by LWV. If it weren't for them we wouldn't have much chance to get into details about our reasons for running.

The media was out in suprising strength tonight. I love this process.

Thank You Governor Richardson and AG Patsy Madrid

Over a million and a half acres of roadless U.S. National Forest Lands will remain that way in New Mexico and millons more through out the west because of a court victory today. A large measure of the credit goes to Governor Richardson and AG Patsy Madrid for being the first to sign on to the effort at overturning the bush administration's attempt to destroy the roadless areas created by President Clinton. The AG of California and the Governors of Oregon and Washington also joined this lawsuit.

This is a victory for our watersheds in the roadless forests. It is a victory for hunters, fisherman, and all outdoor enthusiasts.

Vote?

Here is the conundrum. All polls say that education is one of the top issues with the public. Most respondents put it at number one. But, everytime there is a school board or school bond election no one votes. As I retire to bed tonight only 38,000 people voted in Albuquerque's school bond election. It passed easily, but only about 12% of the people bothered to vote. It just seems that at the very least every parent with a kid in public school should want to go to the polls. Well, maybe they just knew the bond issue would pass with or without them, but still, a vote for your kids education would seem a good reason to go to the polls. These school elections are the lowest turnout elections of all. I think it would be interesting to do an analysis of who did vote. Were they senior citizens with no kids in school? I would bet that an awful big chunk of the voters might be in that category.

Radio Daze

All the action seemed to be on the radio today. My opponents nasty radio ad, and it is a doozie, had people calling us all day. I finally heard it this afternoon and it is really pretty mean spirited, but that is what you have to put up with when candidates get desperate. I can only figure my opponent has a new poll that shows him slipping.

This ad was a topic of discussion on the Jim Villanucci show. A friend called and said they were talking about the ad and that I should call in to comment. I did, even though I hadn't heard the ad except for second hand accounts at that point. The ad says I am against the Bill of Rights because I sued to keep concealed weapons out of Albuquerque after the Legislature passed the bill. This law was passed when I was Mayor and our Police Chief and other law enforcement officials were not too happy about it. We lost the suit. That hardly makes us against the bill of rights or gun ownership. I own a lot of firearms. I got my first .22 caliber rifle when I was 8 years old. It stood beside my bed for years until I went into the Air Force. (P.S. Did my opponent ever serve in the military?)

Anyway, after I got off the show my opponent called in and said I was going to keep all hunters off public lands by taking away their guns! Come on Mr. Lyons, last time I checked that wasn't part of the responsibility of the Land Commissioner. The real threat to hunters is Lyons. Remember when he tried to trade away Whites Peak to a political contributor. That would have left a lot of northern New Mexico Hunters without the best hunting grounds in the state, unless they had $10K to give Lyon's buddie for a private hunt.

Lyons also said he had charts showing that Land Office revenues dropped when I was Land Commissioner for two terms. That is true, but that was due to the price of oil and gas plummeting. If he blames me for that then I guess he is to blame for $3 a gallon gasoline and the high revenues at the land office now. I will ask him that tomorrow night.

This is the way it will be for the next 48 days. If you want to see us Land Commissioner candidates in action, just come to the Unitarian Church tomorrow night in Albuquerque at 7PM for a two hour debate between us. The Church is at Carlisle and Comanche. It should be a hoot.

Oil and Gas Industry Funds Dirty Politics

So what else is new? My opponent started his negative radio ads today. They are being paid for by the oil and gas industry, you know, they are the same guys who gave us bush and cheney. The ads are full of erroneous and misleading information. The oil and gas guys don't care. They want to continue owning the New Mexico State Land Office just like they own the White House. If you would like to help counter the oil and gas industry and their mascot Pat Lyons, please go to www.jimbaca.com and make a donation. Lets show the oil and gas industry that they don't run New Mexico.

One of the lies in the radio commercial was that I was fired by President Bill Clinton as BLM Director. Nothing is further from truth. Please read this for a good approximation of what happened after I left Washington after 13 months. Both the President and Vice President had asked me to stay as BLM Director. After meeting with Bruce Babbitt and witnessing his obvious lack of respect for the BLM's efforts, I placed a letter of resignation in his lap and left with my head held high. Both President Clinton and Vice President Gore asked for my support in their subsequent bids for the White House and I gladly gave it to them.

Republicans on Education

My opponent has more billboards up in town than all other candidates put together. Just remember they are all paid for by the oil and gas industry.

The funny thing is that all he talks about is "working for education". That is his message and it is always a good one, but you have to ask yourself---What have republicans done for education?
My opponent came out hard against using more of the permanent fund for education. That is what its purpose is, but he objected to spending more than 4.7% of the fund per year for our school kids when voters decided to pass a constitutional amendment allowing that. Since he led the fight to try and stop that amendment the Permanent Fund has grown by more than 4 billion dollars. The fund will easily sustain a little more spending for the kids. I sit on private foundation boards. They are required to spend 5% of their fund annually by the IRS. Most spend much more than that and they are prudently run.

I would invite you all to go back a couple of days on my blog and read a wonderful comment by one of Joyce Briscoes former students. It is very moving.

p.s. I am trying to ignore all this stuff about the Pope and the Mullahs. No good will come of it.

Blog Clogged

My blog has been clogged today. No one could sign on. I am working on it!