Mayor, Gov. Rift May Trace to Iowa
By Jeff
Jones And Trip Jennings
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writers
A longtime backer of Gov. Bill Richardson once said you don't get out of his
doghouse through the front door— you have to hope enough new people come in
that you get pushed out under the back wall.
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez is probably hoping for some
newcomers.
In the past few months, Richardson has taken a big bite out
of the mayor's pet red light camera program, feuded with him over new economic
development announcements and diverted millions of state dollars from city
projects.
And the pair still aren't sounding conciliatory: Just last
week, Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos described the mayor as a hard guy
to work with who usually has a "his way or no way" attitude.
So how did the two most prominent elected officials end up
on the outs?
In general terms, neither shies away from conflict, and both
keep score. But this go-round could have taken seed on the snow-covered
cornfields of Iowa.
While Richardson's staff insists it hasn't been the basis of
his policy decisions, Richardson insiders weren't happy about what they
described as the mayor's "operatives" working for Hillary Clinton's
campaign in the Hawkeye State.
Gallegos, in an initial e-mail to the Journal, said there
was "no political dispute" between the two state Democratic
heavyweights over Clinton and Iowa.
In a subsequent interview, he acknowledged that the Richardson presidential campaign had some concerns over the matter.
"The campaign was concerned (that) as many as three of
the mayor's operatives were in Iowa campaigning for another candidate,"
Gallegos said.
"The governor, to this day, has never received a full
explanation from the mayor."
Chávez said he was aware of the governor's concern, but he
insisted he had nothing to do with a lone associate's decision to help Clinton.
In fact, he said, he backed Richardson right up until he
dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination.
Asked point-blank whether he believed the Iowa issue played
a role in the red light law's passage, Chávez said:
"I leave that for others to speculate. ... I don't
think (answering that question) does anything to promote the city of Albuquerque."
The mayor tempered his remarks somewhat in a subsequent
interview, saying, "I don't know if it did or not. Only the governor can
speak to his motivation."
According to the city, Richardson yanked millions of dollars
in state money he had previously set aside for Albuquerque and moved it to
other projects during this year's legislative session.
"I've never had a conversation with the governor where
he said, 'I'm mad at you, and I'm going to hurt your city,' '' Chávez said.
But, the mayor added, "This was not a good session for Albuquerque."
Gallegos said the Iowa issue didn't play any role in Richardson's decision to move the money— "Of course not"— and added that Albuquerque and Bernalillo County scored $77 million in state capital-improvement money
for other projects this year.
Though the city administration disputes it, Gallegos said
that, in most cases, the reallocated money was taken from projects that weren't
moving forward anyway.
"The mayor is difficult to deal with. It's usually his
way or no way," Gallegos said in an e-mail to the Journal last week.
"The governor has tried to accommodate him, but the mayor forgets that the
governor represents the whole state."
Backing Richardson
In October Chávez launched a brief run for the U.S. Senate
seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. He abandoned his bid in early
December, not long after fellow Democrat Rep. Tom Udall entered the race.
Chávez said one of the staffers from his derailed Senate bid
decided to go to Iowa to work for Clinton in the leadup to the Jan. 3
presidential caucuses there. He said the staffer was invited by another New
Mexico Democrat, whom Chávez said did not work for his Senate bid.
Chávez publicly backed Richardson's bid for the presidential
nomination while it lasted, and the mayor said the staffer did not go to Iowa to work for Clinton at his direction.
But Richardson, who managed to win only 2 percent of the
vote in the Iowa caucuses and ended his presidential bid Jan. 10, apparently
believed otherwise— at least according to Chávez.
"I had a call from somebody who said, 'Hey— the
governor is concerned you sent (someone) to work against him,' '' Chávez
recalled in a Journal interview.
"(The caller) just said, 'The governor's folks are
saying you've sent people to Iowa to work against him,' '' Chávez said.
Chávez said he told the caller— whom he would identify only
as "certainly a supporter of the governor's"— that the information
was wrong.
"I said, 'It's just nonsense,' '' Chávez said.
"For me, that was the end of it."
Chávez threw his support to Clinton in mid-January.
"I supported Bill Richardson to the very end,"
Chávez said. "I coordinated mayors for him. I maxed out (in political
contributions)."
The bill
Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez introduced a bill in
2007 aimed at reining in and sharing revenues from Albuquerque's controversial
red light camera program. But Richardson vetoed it.
Sanchez had better luck with a similar bill he dropped this
year: It passed after some modification and was signed by Richardson.
Typed at the bottom of the bill are the letters
"GR"— a state administrative designation indicating the governor
requested the bill.
Sanchez, in an interview last week, said that, shortly after
the legislative session began in January, he reminded Richardson of his 2007
veto and asked him whether he was ready for another try.
"The next thing I knew, he had sent down a
message," Sanchez said.
Before signing Sanchez's bill, Richardson said the city had
promised to reduce its fines after the 2007 bill was vetoed and failed to keep
its end of the deal.
Chávez has disputed that, saying the city had reduced the
red light camera fines twice.
He said that, as originally written, Sanchez's 2008 bill
would have killed the camera program.
"Certainly, there was an attempt to destroy this
program," Chávez said.
Slashing programs
Chávez said the governor, in the Legislature's so-called
reauthorization bill this year, also went after money for other Albuquerque projects for which he had previously designated money.
According to city documents, city officials and a Journal
review of the reauthorization bill:
· Richardson diverted $3 million from a planned Downtown arena project to a host of other
projects, including new scoreboards at New Mexico State University, a safety
inspection station at Santa Teresa, film and media production initiatives
statewide and a space-based education center at the Unser Racing Museum in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.
· Richardson diverted $4.2 million meant for an Albuquerque extreme sports park project to
improve the University of New Mexico's basketball arena; an additional $700,000
from the park project went to the Unser Racing Museum.
· Richardson diverted $250,000 meant for Balloon Fiesta Park improvements to instead plan,
design and construct a spur and station for the Belen-to-Santa Fe Rail Runner
Express commuter train.
The Downtown arena and sports park have been slow-moving,
and the City Council has slashed millions in funding meant to help pay for the
sports park project.
Richardson "felt the city wasn't moving forward in what
they told him they were going to do," Gallegos said of the governor's
decision to reroute the funding.
Chávez said his administration had every intention of using
the money.
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/295728metro03-24-08.htm?jsbottom
Richardson, whose mother is Mexican, told the audience he was inspired by
Obama's speech on race relations earlier this week.
"As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his
words," Richardson said. "I have been troubled by the demonization of
immigrants— specifically Hispanics— by too many in this country."
He’s so full of baloney. He was going to do this a while ago.
Read this article.
He wanted to wait for the opportune time. Like when FL and MI weren’t going to count.