Video from County Commission District 3 Forum

Last night Undersheriff and candidate for Sheriff, Robert Garcia and I attended the forum for Santa Fe County Commission candidates in District 3. It was well attended and very interesting to watch. The three candidates have very distinct speaking styles, issues that are near and dear and very different approaches to the campaign.

Robert Anaya has a down home country boy feel to him and his speaking style is low key but to the point, he approaches the commissioner position as that of a consensus builder. Robert is a former county employee and brother to current County Commissioner Mike Anaya who cannot run again due to term limits. He lives in Stanley New Mexico in Santa Fe County. David Bacon is an issue based speaker whose heart is in renewable energy and environmental concerns, his speaking style is that of someone who likes to use facts and figures and is much less touchy feely. David lives off highway 14 in Santa Fe County. Angelica's speaking style is similar to that of a motivational speaker and has her stump speeches down pat, she approaches the commission candidacy from the perspective of a single mother of five children. She often brings up her five children and even pulled all five onto the stage to make a point. In her last few speeches she has brought up that she recently lost her job at United Way due to cut backs. Angelica lives in the city limits on Santa Fe's South Side. Voters certainly have a choice in these three very different candidates. I video taped the forum and posted each candidates opening statements below.

Robert Anaya Opening Statement

David Bacon Opening Statement

Angelica Ruiz Opening Statement

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Santa Fe County Sheriff's Race Forum

The Democratic Party of Santa Fe County held a forum on March 17, 2010 for all candidates running to replace me as Sheriff in the June Primary. I still get asked a lot why I am not running again, New Mexico has term limits on the Sheriff as well as all county officials. A sheriff can only serve two terms and then must sit out a term before he or she can run again. While I have made it clear on this blog I am supporting Undersheriff Robert A. Garcia in the race I still want to congratulate all the candidates on a good job. It takes a lot to run for office and you and your families are in for some trying times and some fun times. I commend all of you for putting yourself out there and opening you lives to intense scrutiny in order to do something you believe in.

The Forum was cordial and differences between most of the candidates answers were hard to find. The main difference was that candidates Tafoya, Doerfer, and Dalton were talking about what they would do while Garcia talked about what he had done. Tafoya often referred to his job in Bernallilo County where he works as a deputy. Tafoya a former Santa Fean, has moved back to Santa Fe a few months ago from Rio Rancho in order to run in this race. Doerfer often referred to his military and former sheriff's experience in answering questions while Dalton told short stories about his life during his answers. Undersheriff Garcia often had to remind the candidates that most of what they were proposing was already being done in the Sheriff's Office.

Below are videos of each candidates opening statements.

Undersheriff Robert A. Garcia

Candidate Rex Doerfer

Candidate Rubel Tafoya

Candidate Charlie Dalton

Santa Fe County Democratic Convention

Antoinette (my wife) and I had a great time yesterday at the Santa Fe County Democratic Convention. The Convention was held to name delegates to the State Pre Primary Convention coming up in March at the Buffalo Thunder Resort. I am a State Central Committee Delegate so automatically I am a delegate to the pre primary however Antoinette was also elected a delegate from our ward as well.

State Chair Javier Gonzales addresses the crowd

In the morning there was registration and delegate elections and it was organized chaos. Actually registration was really smooth and then Antoinette and I joined 10 or 12 others working the crowd to enlist support and thank those who are already supporters of Robert Garcia my Undersheriff who is running for my job, the Sheriff of Santa Fe County. I was in campaign mode shaking hands, kissing baby's, and working hard for Robert.

Our next Sheriff Robert Garcia and I.

The response was overwhelming and I can't even count the number of my fellow Santa Fe County Dems who still wanted to vote for me in the Lieutenant Governor race. (I dropped out of the race a few months ago). Almost anyone running for anything statewide or local was there working the crowd as well.

In the afternoon we had to elect new State Central Committee Delegates to replace Eli Senna who's untimely death left a huge void in Santa Fe Politics as well as another seat which was vacated. Running for the two open seats were Michael Segura, Daniel Roybal, Estevan Gonzales, and John Thorpe. They all gave great speeches and then an election was held, Daniel Roybal and Estevan Gonzales won the seats in some close races.

Next we heard from all our state wide officials and candidates as well as candidates from all the local races. All my former Lieutenant Governor Candidates were present and I spent a moment and took pictures with all of them.

Lt. Gov. Candidate Jose Campos and I

Lt. Gov. Candidate Jerry Ortiz y Pino and I.

Lt. Gov. Candidate Lawrence Rael and I.

Lt. Gov. Candidate Brian Colon and I.

Lt. Gov. Candidate Linda Lopez and I.

The crowd was enthusiastic and I think this will be a great year for democrats in New Mexico! I took about 150 pictures with my cell phone camera and although the lighting in the gym made the pictures not come out so well they are still fun to look at. You can see them all here on my facebook page. It was a long day and Thank god for Bernie Loque y Perea who's great food booth and coffee kept my energy up. To all the 186 newly elected delegates congratulations and we will see you at the state pre primary convention at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino on March 13!

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Sheriff Solano Endorses Mayor Coss Re-election

I just announced my endorsement for Mayor David Coss. You can read the press release below. At the end of the day, I just think he's the right leader for Santa Fe and has the ability to bring people together to solve pressing issues and reduce crime.

Last summer there was a peak in residential burglaries. Working with the Mayor and the City Police we were able to bring down the burglary rate 57% in the last six months.

David has an impressive record and his administration has a long record of working with the Sheriff's Office to ensure that the citizens are protected inside or outside the city or County. Keep in mind criminals don't care whether they are in the city or county and the same burglars victimize families in both jurisdictions.

The joint City and County Burglary and Narcotics Task Forces have made huge strides in keeping crime down even during our tough economic times where many cities are experiencing even higher property crime rates than we have experienced. Most notable is the dozens of arrests and thousands of dollars of property recovery's the task forces have made in the past year. I hope you will join me in supporting the Re-election of Mayor Coss in the City of Santa Fe.

Below is the official press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: Friday, February 5, 2010

SHERIFF GREG SOLANO ENDORSES MAYOR DAVID COSS

Santa Fe, NM -- Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano announced his endorsement of Mayor David Coss today, citing his ability to bring people together to solve pressing issues in Santa Fe and reduce crime.

“I continue to be impressed by Mayor Coss. The fact that he increased police officers on the city police force from 124 to 154 officers over the last 4 years is credit to his strong stance on public safety,” said Sheriff Solano. These increases in police on the streets are more than any Mayor in Santa Fe’s history. I have complete faith in his ability to lead Santa Fe during these trying times.”

Mayor Coss said, “I’m very honored to have the support of Sheriff Solano. I have great respect for his work in the County and look forward to our continued collaborative efforts to keep Santa Feans safe.”

Mayor Coss has worked with local law enforcement, community advocates, and neighborhood watches in Santa Fe to reduce crime. As a result, the number of police officers on the streets has increased by 24%, there are over 120 neighborhood watch groups, violent crime is at the lowest level in eight years, and burglaries have decreased by 57% over the last six months.

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For more information on the campaign to re-elect Mayor David Coss, contact Sandra Wechsler @ (505) 231-5866 or campaign@reelectmayorcoss.com www.reelectmayorcoss.com

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Santa Fe District 1 County Commission Forum

Tonight Undersheriff Robert Garcia and I hit the Democratic Party forum for the District 1 County Commission seat currently held by Commissioner Harry Montoya. Our Santa Fe County Democratic Chair Richard Ellenberg played moderator and read questions to the candidates who each had a chance to introduce themselves and give opening comments before answering questions. The current candidates for District 1 are Jon Paul Romero, Lenny Roybal, Paul White, and Daniel "Danny" Mayfield.

Water was on the audiences mind as the first question solicited the candidates opinions on the Aamodt settlement while the second question was on water rights and the writer of the question framed it in a way to convey the feelings that too many projects are being funded on the pueblo lands in Northern New Mexico. The Aamodt settlement which has not really yet been fully settled has been a huge bone of contention to non pueblo residents in Northern Santa Fe County. After news of the settlement came out following court ordered secret negotiations a county poll showed resident dissatisfaction which prompted County Commissioner Harry Montoya to write op-ed pieces defending the settlement. Residents are still unhappy and this settlement was an issue in the 2006 district 1 elections and looks to be an issue in 2010 as well. I was still shaking hands and drinking coffee so I did not take good notes on the water issues but I did sit down and take notes on the economic and crime questions.

On the Economy Jon Paul Romero wants to open regional small business incubators through out Santa Fe County. Lenny Roybal wants to teach people to grow their own food, open more co-ops and encourage landlords to lower rents in order to foster small business growth and he wants to encourage more students to become teachers. Paul White claimed the county has tripled its spending in the last three years. (I am sure this is not true, at least the Santa Fe Sheriff's budget is no where near tripled and has actually been cut by 8 percent in the 2009-2010 fiscal year and further cuts are expected. ) Mr. White also wants to promote a green economy, affordable housing and diversification of the economy. Danny Mayfield says we need to look closely at how we are spending county money but employment and jobs provided by the county is important to economic development however we need to ensure county employees are doing a good job and earning their pay.

Crime and youth crime was the next question and Paul White says in Chupadero where he lives there is a large drug related crime problem. He stated he has worked with the Sheriff's Office on developing a neighborhood watch program. He also advocated for programs for kids in jail to turn their lives around. Danny Mayfield stated we need to lead by example and be role models for children. He advocated supporting law enforcement and promote deputies spending more time in local neighborhoods. Jon Paul Romero says the solutions start at home and school. He advocated more activities and places for teens and stated we needed to be role models for our children. Lenny Roybal says we need to properly fund law enforcement and hire more deputies. He also advocated properly funding fire and 911 dispatch operators. He also stated we need to educate our youth and felt we needed programs in the jails for youth. Lenny also referred to the movie "Blind Side" and said "its easy to hurt a child but its hard to help them". He also said he cringes when schools look at dropping sports programs as they teach kids about life.

Each candidate had their supporters in the audience who were joined by several other candidates and elected officials including the man the candidates on the hot seat were seeking to replace, Commissioner Harry Montoya. Also in the audience was County Commission Candidate Robert Anaya who was probably getting warmed up for forums in his district 3 race to replace his brother Mike Anaya. The man seeking to take my job Undersheriff Robert Garcia was also in the audience shaking hands and passing out bumper stickers and business cards.

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Reception with Speaker of the House Ben Lujan

Speaker of the House Ben Lujan and the Democratic Legislative Delegation of Santa Fe County are holding a reception to benefit the Democratic Party of Santa Fe County.

Wednesday, June 24

5:30-7:30 pm

Thunderbird Room

Bishops Lodge, Santa Fe

RSVP to (505) 992-1396 or email: PSFeventRSVP@cybermesa.com

A contribution of $75 to the Democratic Party of Santa Fe is suggested

Add this event to your google calendar.