Politics Archives - Page 74 of 214

Lt. Gov. Morales connected to Oregon Sec. of State who ‘broke public trust’

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

Oregon Public Broadcasting recently reported that Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan was quitting her lucrative second job as a “consultant” for Veriede Holding, LLC, an affiliate of a marijuana dispensary called La Mota, after it was found she “broke public trust by agreeing to work for a cannabis industry player — and political donor — that stood to gain from an audit the Secretary of State’s Office was carrying out.”

“Clearly, this contract raises questions,” she said. “Upon painful reflection, taking that contract was poor judgment, and for that, I am sorry.”

She offered details of how she obtained the contract from Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell, who gave her the consulting gig after she told them she was going to take a job teaching at Willamette University to supplement her $77,000 secretary of state salary.

“I’m starting over financially after a divorce. I have two young kids. I have student loans and other bills. I’m a renter in the expensive Portland metro area, and I’m the sole income earner in my household,” she said.

“Rosa mentioned that her company was looking to expand outside of Oregon and looking for contractors to do research on the industry and U.S. states and territories,” wrote Fagan, adding, “This opportunity interested me because it was something I was highly qualified to do.”

According to the report, “For that work, the secretary was paid $10,000 a month beginning on Feb. 20. She was eligible to receive a $30,000 bonus if La Mota secured licenses in any state besides Oregon and New Mexico.”

“It was not immediately clear on Monday why New Mexico was singled out in the contract, but it may be because the company was already making inroads there. La Mota CEO Rosa Cazares met with New Mexico’s Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales several times. ‘They were here asking questions about doing business in New Mexico, asking about the cannabis industry, the recent changes to our laws,’ said Jim Farrell, a spokesman for the lieutenant governor. Farrell said Cazares did not ask for specific help, but she did contribute to Morales’ campaign fund,” the report noted.

In the summer of 2022, La Mota purchased a small bakery in Deming to convert to a dispensary, as well as two other properties in the state. However, Deming rejected the proposal due to its close vicinity to a nearby daycare.

Fagan claimed to have spent 15 hours per week working on the New Mexico contract, describing it as tedious research.

“Fagan was twice asked whether she would release her tax returns to shed further light on her financial situation. She said she would not release those tax documents. Monday’s press conference concluded as a journalist asked the question again,” the report concluded.

Lt. Gov. Morales connected to Oregon Sec. of State who ‘broke public trust’ Read More »

Hobbs woman who chucked newborn in dumpster receives sentence

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Monday, Alexis Avila, 19, of Hobbs, was sentenced after she was found guilty of abuse of a child relating to great bodily harm and attempted murder in the first degree after she chucked her newborn baby into a dumpster and left him to die in 2022.

Fortunately, three people dug through the dumpster to find him, and he was rushed to the hospital in Lubbock, Texas. Baby Saul is “happy and healthy today living with family,” according to reports.

“Officers with the Hobbs Police Department were called to an alley way in the Broadmoor Shopping Center after three people who had been digging through a dumpster found the hours old boy in a trash bag, alive, and with his umbilical cord still attached but crudely cut,” according to YourBasin.com.

“Medical staff testified that the newborn suffered from hypothermia, severe anemia, and kidney problem, among other issues after being abandoned and left in 40 degree temperatures for more than six hours.”

Once police found Avila, she admitted she gave birth at home and abandoned the child, claiming to be too young to take care of him.

Avila was sentenced to the maximum mandatory 18 years in prison, suspending two years of the punishment due to mental health concerns.

“You’ve given yourself a life sentence of knowing what you did with your child,” Judge William Shoobridge told Avila. “And you’ve also given your son that same life sentence, and that is probably something that is as hard to deal with as any length of time that you may have in prison.”

“New Mexico lawmakers in 2022 approved a bill to expand the state’s Safe Haven Program and provide funds to build one baby box for every county where an infant can be left. Española has a box and Hobbs will be celebrating the installation of a box in that community next week,” according to the Associated Press.

Hobbs woman who chucked newborn in dumpster receives sentence Read More »

NM county clerk seeks technician to handle Dominion voting machines

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

A new job posted last week on GovernmentJobs.com from Democrat Sandoval County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero’s office seeks a voting machine technician who will be trained in “certifying, calibrating, and maintaining the County voting machines (ICE) and (ICC) scanners.”

The job, which is salaried at $32,136 annually, lists the requirement of a GED and “six months of office clerical and data processing experience that includes experience with data entry and retrieval and working with and troubleshooting automated program equipment.”

It further notes, “State of New Mexico Certification of Dominion Image Cast Evolution (ICE) & Image Cast Central (ICC) Voter Assist Terminal required within a specified period of time following hire.”

“Programs, certifies, seals and maintains the County Image Cast Evolution (ICE) tabulator voting machines including running pre-printed Test Decks to verify scanners read ballots correctly in all four orientations; calibrates the machines for time, date, and battery status year round; performs preventative maintenance on voting machines including verification of door, key, panel, and wheel operations; provides voter assistance including inserting blank test decks; manually selecting voting positions to verify selections were marked correctly in all four orientations; maintaining ink cartridges; and using required clean sheet for upper and lower scanners,” are among the other duties required.

Qualified applicants will assist the Bureau of Elections staff “with answering phones, printing ballots, stuffing ballots in packets for mailing; printing labels, entering voter registrations in the Secretary of State voter registration system; auditing and filing of current, changed, [canceled], or deceased ID verifications; daily balancing during early voting; assists with qualifying and disqualifying Provisional and Replacement Absentee Ballots; canvasses election results for certification of election; helps scan returned ballots; assist in recount and recheck; runner for absentee ballots; and assist in election school and training election poll officials on ICE.”

The person will assist “in site visits to ensure internet connection; ADA compliance; parking and capacity of poll location” while verifying “all voting materials associated with elections including absentee, early voting, and Election Day; assembles packets associated with absentee voting; stuffs ballot boxes with State required materials for early and Election Day operations.” There are other duties listed in the description.

According to the job posting, it doesn’t appear that any security checks are mandatory for the position. The post indicates that the deadline for applicants to apply is May 10, 2023.

The job application website for the position is linked here. An archived version of the website, if it is removed, is linked here.

According to a previous listing of Sandoval County salaries for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, a person employed at the County under the job title “certified voting machine technician” received a salary of $37,706.66. That person was first hired by the County on July 10, 2006, as reported by Sandoval County.

Despite claims by people such as Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver insisting voting machines do not connect to the internet, NBC News reported in 2020, “The three largest voting manufacturing companies — Election Systems &Software, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic — have acknowledged they all put modems in some of their tabulators and scanners. The reason? So that unofficial election results can more quickly be relayed to the public. Those modems connect to cell phone networks, which, in turn, are connected to the internet.”

However, Toulouse Oliver insists, “Our air-gapped counting systems ensure that vote tabulators are never connected to the Internet.”

NM county clerk seeks technician to handle Dominion voting machines Read More »

MLG flaunts opulence with $368 per plate catered meals at the gov’s mansion

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Renato Costa

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is at it again with lavish spending on catering at the governor’s mansion.

According to a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican, Lujan Grisham blew $7,336 in taxpayer money on food, labor, bar supplies, and glass rentals provided by the Santa Fe-based Adobo Catering for a January 18 legislative event, which was one of the less-extravagant gatherings she hosted, presumed for the 112 legislators and one of their guests (coming out to $32.75 per plate if 224 people attended). However, some legislators did not attend, many being Republicans.

A catered event for seven people in January with Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuart Paisano cost a whopping $2,582, coming out to $368.85 per plate.

Three other dinners, some with former staffers, her Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie, and state Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) cost a combined $2,200.

A February breakfast for freshman legislators cost $1,679, totaling $104.93 per plate, if all 16 legislators attended (or were invited). One Republican freshman legislator told the Piñon Post they never recalled receiving an invitation, so it may have only been for the Democrat freshmen. In that case, the cost of the nine freshmen, including appointed Rep. Art De La Cruz (D-Albuquerque) and returning Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde), would be $167.90 per plate, including the governor.

“While there were a few purchases of wine, none of the expenses is likely to ignite any outrage,” the report noted. Alcohol purchases with taxpayer dollars are prohibited.

Lujan Grisham’s spokeswoman Maddy Hayden defended the opulent spending, claiming, “The governor does not take her duty as a steward of taxpayer funding lightly.”

The governor previously came under fire for wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars used for $200-per-pound Wagyu beef steaks, ahi tuna, and expensive wines and liquors, all totaling up to around $13,500. This all happened while New Mexicans were forced to stand in long breadlines at grocery stores due to Gov. Lujan Grisham’s restrictive public health orders.

As we exclusively reported in December 2021:

According to the documents obtained in the IPRA, the taxpayers paid Abobo Catering $1,057.27 for a party, totaling over $150 for each person’s expensive meal.

The menu included “[s]ous vide and butter-basted beef tenderloin with roasted vegetable Napoleon and rosemary red wine demiglace.” Dessert included a “chocolate pear tartlet with hazelnut crisp.” According to the memo, the bar, bar supplies, and “dinner wine” were provided by the “client,” i.e., possibly the taxpayers in another form.

MLG flaunts opulence with $368 per plate catered meals at the gov’s mansion Read More »

Dem legislator threatened Edgewood funding over pro-life ordinance

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

On Wednesday morning, the Town of Edgewood passed an ordinance to ensure compliance with the federal Comstock Act, which prohibits the illicit transport of “abortion pills” or “abortion-related paraphernalia.”

During a meeting, state Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) threatened to yank funding from the Town of Edgewood if it passed the pro-life ordinance, according to attendees present and members of the public.

“I’m just going to have to reconsider how I allocate my capital outlay,” said McQueen, referring to funds legislators have for projects in their districts. In 2023, each legislator got $2,510,000 to spend.

Edgewood Commissioner Ken Brennan of District One clapped back at the lawmaker, “Is that a threat?”

McQueen responded, “Well if you want to take it that way.”

The Democrat lawmaker is also reported to have said, “I have 30,000 constituents, and Edgewood is insignificant.”

Present at the meeting were Mayor Audrey Jaramillo, Commissioners Jerry Powers, Filandro R. Anaya, Ken Brennan, Sterling Donner, state Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park), and others.

Among McQueen’s capital outlay requests for 2023 were four projects in Edgewood, with one project funded $500,000. That project was to revamp recreational facilities at Venus Park.

During the consideration of the ordinance, Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) testified in opposition to its passage, while pro-life Reps. Lord and John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice) testified in support. McQueen left the meeting before public comment.

The Town Commission passed the ordinance early Wednesday morning by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Anaya being the only vote against it. Edgewood’s move comes after other pro-life localities, including the Cities of Eunice, Hobbs, and Clovis, also passed similar ordinances.

Because the ordinance is based on federal laws and not state laws, it supersedes recent legislation, including H.B. 7, attempting to ban localities from regulating abortion.

In New Mexico, abortion is legal up to the date of birth without exceptions.

Rep. McQueen did not respond to a Friday request for comment. We afforded him the entire weekend to respond, but he has not yet since reached out to comment on the matter.

Edgewood passes pro-life ordinance, dealing blow to pro-abortion leftists

Dem legislator threatened Edgewood funding over pro-life ordinance Read More »

Pastor takes legal action after county commission blocks Nat’l Day of Prayer

24 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

Last Tuesday, the Doña Ana County Commission voted 4-1 to ban the National Day of Prayer from being held at the County Government Building. Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez brought the motion forward.

After the move by the Commission, Pastor Gene Pettit filed a request for an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Las Cruces against asserting that the Doña Ana County Commission had violated the Constitution of the United States by denying “the right of the people to peaceably assemble” and by restricting the free exercise of religion on public property.

It also claims the Doña Ana County Commission has violated the 11th Amendment by infringing on the people’s “sovereign immunity.”

According to the group, “The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance designated by the United States Congress. Since 1952, the President of the United States has been required by law to sign a yearly proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. The National Day of Prayer has been held at the Doña Ana County Government Building every year since 2015 (with the exception of 2 years during COVID).”

Pettit wrote regarding the injunction, “The County Commission is infringing on the rights of the people of Doña Ana County to peaceably assemble and to practice their religion. We have a right to assemble on taxpayer-funded County property for this observance. I filed this Injunction to assert the rights of the people of Doña Ana County. Our National Day of Prayer event will still happen just as it has for many years prior. As written in Hosea 4:6 – ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge.’”

The National Day of Prayer event is scheduled to proceed on May 4, 2023, from 10:00 am to noon at the Doña Ana County Government Building located at 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Contact information for the commissioners who voted to disallow the event is as follows:

Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez – schaljohernandez@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5808 (This is the Commissioner who made the motion to amend the Proclamation to disallow this event on County property. He also is the ONLY one who voted against the National Day of Prayer Proclamation even once it was amended.)

Diana Murillo – dmurillo@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5804
Shannon Reynolds – sreynolds@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5807
Manuel Sanchez – msanchez@donaanacounty.org – (575) 525-5809

Chair Susana Chaparro was the one commissioner to oppose Schaljo-Hernandez’s motion.

Pastor takes legal action after county commission blocks Nat’l Day of Prayer Read More »

The usual suspects emerge to oppose NM pro-life sanctuary cities

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Piñon Post

Like clockwork, outside dark money groups, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains are seeking to get involved in attacking pro-life sanctuary cities.

The groups, which are bankrolled by hundreds of millions in donations from billionaires, such as George Soros, are planning on submitting briefs in a state Supreme Court case filed by pro-abortion Democrat Attorney General Raúl Torrez attempting to strike down six pro-life sanctuaries in Clovis, Hobbs, Eunice and Edgewood and Lea and Roosevelt counties.

The Albuquerque Journal reported, “The ACLU and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains both alerted the state Supreme Court this week they plan to file briefs in the case, which was brought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office and has emerged as a key test to local governments’ ability to restrict access to abortion services.”

The ACLU’s attorney, Ellie Rushforth, said the stakes “could not be higher” in the case and said abortionists would “leave for fear of litigation and civil and criminal penalties.”

“Meanwhile, attorneys for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains said in their notice of intent that other groups would join them in filing a so-called amicus brief with the court. Those groups include the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a Washington D.C.-based professional membership group, and Bold Futures New Mexico, which has advocated for access to abortion services.”

The pro-abortion groups have for years threatened localities with litigation over pro-life stances, from resolutions to ordinances. Last year when the City of Alamogordo passed a pro-life resolution, the ACLU sent a hostage letter, threatening litigation if the City was to enforce it. Despite the threats, the City passed it, and it remains intact after a failed referendum attempt that fell short.

The ordinances passed by the six localities all are based upon the federal Comstock Act, which supersedes state statutes far-left Democrats have passed, such as 2023’s H.B. 7, attempting to circumvent local control of abortion.

The New Mexico Supreme Court is set to rule on the matter in May.

MLG, AG Torrez furious after Edgewood passes pro-life sanctuary ordinance

The usual suspects emerge to oppose NM pro-life sanctuary cities Read More »

Columnist calls Sanger a ‘hero’ despite her mission to decimate Black population

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

A Friday column by Milan Simonich that appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican praised racist Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, a supporter of eugenics, who called for the extermination of the Black population.

Simonich, in attacking the Edgewood Town Commission, which passed a pro-life ordinance on Tuesday based on the federal Comstock Act, praised Sanger as a “hero,” writing:

The Comstock Act was weakened and then rendered toothless through a series of court rulings. The long fight had a hero.
Margaret Sanger, mother of three and a nurse in Brooklyn, opened the country’s first birth-control clinic in 1916. Sanger the next year served 30 days in jail for violating the Comstock Act.

*Margaret Sanger’s arrest at Brownsville Clinic for violating the Comstock Act via Wikimedia Commons.*

She said in a December 10, 1939 letter, “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.”

Even Planned Parenthood rebuked Sanger, writing in 2021, “The difficult truth is that Margaret Sanger’s racist alliances and belief in eugenics have caused irreparable damage to the health and lives of Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, and many others. Her alignment with the eugenics movement, rooted in white supremacy, is in direct opposition to our mission and belief that all people should have the right to determine their own future and decide, without coercion or judgement, whether and when to have children.”

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wrote in the New York Times, “Sanger spoke to the women’s auxiliary of the Ku Klux Klan at a rally in New Jersey to generate support for birth control. And even though she eventually distanced herself from the eugenics movement because of its hard turn to explicit racism, she endorsed the Supreme Court’s 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell, which allowed states to sterilize people deemed “unfit” without their consent and sometimes without their knowledge — a ruling that led to the sterilization of tens of thousands of people in the 20th century.”

McGill Johnson concluded, “Margaret Sanger harmed generations with her beliefs.”

However, Simonich is now propping up Sanger as a hero, despite her ties to the KKK, support for eugenics, and racism against Black people and those with disabilities.

Columnist calls Sanger a ‘hero’ despite her mission to decimate Black population Read More »

New Mexico’s 4/20 pot sales grew like a weed

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Renato Costa

On April 20, marijuana smokers, dispensaries, and advocates celebrated the “420” holiday that praises the consumption of pot. In New Mexico, the formerly contraband drug was legalized beginning on April 1, 2022.

In 2022, New Mexico pot sales on the unofficial stoner holiday hit $1.12 million, according to Albuquerque Business First. However, in 2023, those numbers grew exponentially.

New Mexico sales of marijuana on April 20, 2023, rose 86 percent from last year to hit $2.82 million.

“This year’s 4/20 average transaction total was $50.28, up from the March average of $44.60. Hobbs recorded the highest average transaction size at $94.96,” reported the outlet.

The sales increase may also have something to do with the jump in dispensaries in the state, with 1,421 retail licenses in 69 towns in 2023 versus 681 stores operating in 37 towns in 2023.

The massive jump in sales also meant a 124.72 percent jump in transactions from last year to now, with 22,402 transactions in 2022 versus 50,342 transactions in 2023.

Software company Akerna noted that nationwide, 420 pot sales ballooned to $154.4 million in 2022, with that number rising to over $192 million in 2023, according to Cova.

New Mexico’s 4/20 pot sales grew like a weed Read More »

MLG, AG Torrez furious after Edgewood passes pro-life sanctuary ordinance

27 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By Renato Costa

After the Town of Edgewood passed its pro-life sanctuary city ordinance early Wednesday morning, pro-abortion Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Raúl Torrez responded with furious statements, obviously triggered by the move to protect human life in the womb.

Even more angering to them is the ordinance is based on a federal law, the Comstock Act, which supersedes state statutes far-left Democrats have passed, such as 2023’s H.B. 7, attempting to circumvent local control of abortion.

Lujan Grisham’s office told the Albuquerque Journal, “Abortion remains legal and accessible to every New Mexican. The governor recently signed into law HB 7, which prohibits local governments from enacting abortion bans.”

“It is clear the Town of Edgewood’s ordinance will be unenforceable in light of the passage of HB 7. We will take whatever action is needed to ensure that the laws of New Mexico are upheld in every community, including those seeking to strip women of their reproductive rights,” she concluded.

Torrez said, “The ordinance passed [Wednesday] in Edgewood is yet another example of Texas based lawyers misleading local communities and enlisting them in their effort to bring about a national abortion ban. The New Mexico Constitution and state statutes prohibit local communities from regulating access to healthcare or infringing on a woman’s fundamental right to make the most personal decision regarding her body and her future. Attorney General Torrez is closely monitoring these unlawful actions and looks forward to resolving these important issues in the action currently pending in the New Mexico Supreme Court.”

Interestingly, Torrez references Texas, despite the locality passing the pro-life ordinance on its own accord, whereas he and Lujan Grisham have worked hard to woo Texas women to New Mexico to get their abortions on the state line. Recently, the governor rammed through $10 million to construct a new abortion facility in Las Cruces to service Texas women.

Edgewood is just the latest locality to pass the pro-life ordinance. Places such as Eunice, Clovis, and Hobbs have passed similar pro-life ordinances protecting life in the womb and ensuring women are not maimed or killed by the deadly abortion drugs used in chemical abortions.