Busy days in New Mexico National Politics

The last few days have been very busy as National Politics settles into Santa Fe County. We have had several days of planning for visits by President Bill Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, and a possible weekend visit by Senator Hillary Clinton. In the 2004 election cycle we had visits by all the candidates and while the security concerns were high it does seem as though the candidates this year are receiving security usually seen by actual presidents.

With the short notice and quick planning for all these visits we have had to be on our toes and deal with ever changing plans. President Bill Clinton arrived yesterday and after attending fundraisers in Santa Fe he arrived at 2 am into his hotel room at the Eldorado Hotel. By 8 am he was having breakfast and preparing to leave. Thats when I met with him and what I thought would be a quick meet and photo op turned into a short conversation over COPS funding as well as law enforcement funding as a whole. I brought along a couple of 8x10's from the last time I met him and had a photo op and asked him to sign them for me. He graciously signed them both and as he did I complimented him on the fact that during his administration we enjoyed the best funding for law enforcement that we in law enforcement have ever seen from the federal government. I told him about how much we have been hurting under the Bush administration.

He told me that Hillary would work to balance the federal budget and put the country in a position to restore COPS program funding. He said she fought the cuts that have been put in place over the last few years and would continue to do so. I really appreciated that and I will be meeting with Senator Obama tomorrow and intend to let him know as well how much we need to restore law enforcement funding.

President Clinton and myself, ( I'm the short one) LOL

The last time I met with President Clinton it was on the tarmac at the Santa Fe Airport. There was no time for more than a quick hello and a photo. This time I was happy that we actually had a short conversation. For those who read my last blog post you know I endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for the New Mexico Caucus. I will however fully support Senator Obama should he win the Democratic Nomination. I do feel this is the Democrats year and we have the best candidates and we are on our way to the White House. Regardless of who you support make sure you vote on Tuesday in the Democratic Caucus. If you are one of the few Republicans in Santa Fe County your primary is in June. I urge Republicans to vote in their primary and then in November I urge you to vote for the Democratic nominee and help get this country back on track.

It's the Economy Stupid !

First off I apologize for my lack of blogging since the holidays. I took a break and then just didn't get back to it afterwards.

The title of this post is not only a cliche saying from Bill Clinton's first presidential election where he took out George Bush senior, I believe it is one of the two primary issues in this years presidential election. "It's the economy, stupid" was a sign hung in Bill Clinton's campaign headquarters to keep everybody "on message" in 1992. James Carville put it there. Along with then President Bush's "read my lips" quote it became the mantra of the election.

With Governor Bill Richardson out of the race I began thinking about what I would do in the presidential election. My first thought was John Edwards, I have to admit some bias in that I have met him and he greatly impressed me. However, In reality I think this is between Obama and Clinton. Keeping that thought in mind I started thinking about what I feel is important and where these two candidates stand. The two main issues I think about are the war and the economy. I am sure either candidate will begin to extricate us from Iraq immediately upon taking office. So the economy is next. Who has the experience and ability to put America back on track? I can't help thinking about where President Bill Clinton "whom I have also met and I have no doubt he is one of the great political minds alive today", left the economy upon his leaving office.

During his administration he took over at a time when another Bush had decimated the federal budget and left us with huge deficits and an economy that was on the skids. When President Clinton took over, his administration eliminated the deficit and put the economy on the right track. Skip ahead six years and another Bush has put us right back where we started, actually its worse. Ok, so it is Hillary and not Bill running this time. I understand that. I also know that she by being a part of her husbands administration knows what it took to fix the economy. I know they will hit the ground running and not have any learning curve. This is an important fact I could not overlook.

I would whole heartedly support Obama should he win the primary and go forward to the general election. However, in the primary I have to support and will vote for Hillary Clinton. I urge readers to look at the candidates seriously and join me in support of Hillary. Most important is to be sure and go vote in New Mexico's Caucus on February 5, 2008. I know everyone says that whichever election we happen to be in is the most important election of our time. So I won't repeat that cliche although I thought about it. This is however the most important political decision you will make in the next four years. Make it wisely and take a stand by voting. Some may say that I should not endorse because I am in a campaign myself. I hope you don't want to elect someone who cannot take a stand and explain it to the public. If not then there are plenty of others who will stand on the fence.

Don Wiviott Filing lawsuit to throwout HB 1156

I received this in an email from 3rd Congressional District Candidate Don Wiviott just a few minutes ago.

Dear Greg,

The right to fair and open elections is being threatened in New Mexico, and we must respond.

House Bill 1156, which went into effect last year, drastically changes how candidates qualify to appear on the primary election ballot. It takes the power of choice away from voters and limits ballot access to a select few, and if we do not act quickly, our very ability to put a progressive voice on the ballot this November may be in jeopardy. Replacing a free, open system in which candidates must collect signatures in order to appear on the ballot, HB 1156 restricts access to only those candidates who receive at least 20% of support at a pre-primary convention. Instead of giving primary voters the opportunity to hear and select from the full chorus of voices in the Democratic party, it limits access to the ballot to a well-connected few.

And the consequences for progressives in New Mexico could be disastrous. Under this law, if no Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District reaches the 20% threshold at the convention, the Democrats can have no nominee, and we will be forced to surrender Tom Udall's seat to the Republicans in November.

We cannot allow this to happen. Elections ought to be a contest of ideas, and open and fair to everyone. To that end, I announced today that I am filing a lawsuit in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, challenging HB 1156 and the restrictions it places on voter choice. In addition, I am urging all other Democratic candidates for the 3rd Congressional District to join with me in opposing HB 1156.

PLEASE, HELP BY SIGNING MY PETITION URGING OTHER DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES TO JOIN MY FIGHT AGAINST HB 1156

I'm not a career politician and I got in this race to fight to end the war in Iraq, to be a champion for the middle class, and to promote fairness in our political system. Minorities -- especially Native Americans -- will find it tougher to get on the ballot throughout New Mexico under this new system. That's unacceptable. New Mexico is about fostering diversity, and HB 1156 does not reflect our values. If there is one thing all the Democratic candidates can agree on, it is that the Democratic primary ought to be open and fair.

PLEASE, HELP BY SIGNING MY PETITION URGING OTHER DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES TO JOIN MY FIGHT AGAINST HB 1156

Together, we can unite the Democratic field in opposition to HB 1156 and repel this attack on our right to open and fair elections.

Sincerely,
Don Wiviott

Don has a petition on his website asking supporters to protest HB 1156. While Don uses the chance that no one would recieve 20% of the delegates and the possibility of no democratic candidate as a reason to do away with HB 1156, the truth is that in the current election it is more likely that from a slate of 5 or 6 candidates only one candidate may get 50-60 percent of the delegates. This would leave the other 4 or 5 candidates scrapping to get 20% and the likely hood would be that no one else would get 20%. This would mean the election would be over in March before a single vote has been cast.

This has always been my point of contention with HB 1156. I truly belive that in a democracy that the voters should decide elections, all the voters. The election should not be decided by 712 or so delegates to a pre primary convention. I belive that when the legislature voted for HB 1156 that they truly belived that this would strengthen the party by requiring candidates to take part in thier party meetings, get to know delegates and contribute to the party. Many times you never see candidates at local party meetings unless they are involved in an election at the time. Otherwise many are not active participants in party politics and day to day running of the party. The legislature probably belived this would stimulate participation in the respective partys.

Unfortunately this bill was probably quickly concieved, and voted upon without any thoughts as to the negative ramifications. Northern New Mexico is now facing those ramifications head on as the worst case scenarios for this bill seem to be overflowing like the New Orleans levys when the city flooded. While I am not announcing support or non-support for Don Wiviott's candidacy I am in support of his efforts to end HB 1156. This bill is bad for democracy and should be thrown out by the courts or repealed in this months upcoming legislative session.

Happy New Year!

After a real hectic November and early December I completely took a holiday break from politics, blogging and almost anything that was not family and home related. I hope everyones Christmas was as happy as mine. It was an easy going mostly stay at home couple of weeks. Now as 2007 comes to a close I hope you all had a great year and I wish everyone the best for 2008.

I am not one to make resolutions, I just never have done so. If you make resolutions I hope you are able to keep them. I intend to get back to blogging now so I hope for you thats a good thing. There was an interesting comment left on the Dr. Sex Graffiti post today and besides the interesting but flawed point of view, the comment comes as we near the two year anniversary of the trial coming to an end. I will write my rebuttal to the comment on my Jan 2 blog post. One final note, January 7, will mark the two year anniversary of this blog. Hard to believe I have been doing this two years. In those two years this blog has gone from one visitor to 34,260!
Wow, Happy New Year!

Decision made on Congressional Race.

I have made a decision in the Northern Congressional Race. I sent out this News Release today.

NEWS RELEASE- 12-10-07

Sheriff Greg Solano announces today that he will not run as a candidate for the northern congressional seat being vacated by Representative Tom Udall. Sheriff Solano will continue with his run for Lieutenant Governor in the 2010 Primary Election. Sheriff Solano states “ My family, supporters and I have weighed the issues and the races of Lieutenant Governor and the House seat and have decided the place where I can best serve the citizens of New Mexico is in the Lieutenant Governors race. “

Sheriff Solano went on to say “I feel confident the Democratic Party will prevail in the Northern Congressional Seat and I look forward to supporting the Democratic candidate in the general election”. “Now is the time for New Mexicans to make real changes in Washington by electing Democrats for President and into all of the Congressional Races. We must turn away from those who have supported President Bush’s failed policies and wars”. Sheriff Solano wants to thank all those who emailed and called him expressing support for a congressional run. “It was very humbling to be asked by citizens and my peers to consider the run and I am very thankful for the support”.

Funny Friday- Rock and Roll Sheriff Darren White

Thanks to Jeremy Jojola for posting this fun video of Rock and Roll Sheriff Darren White who is trying to succeed Pete Dominici as Senator from the Great State of New Mexico. Doesn't Sheriff White look serious as he croons "Just say no!"

Is Sheriff Solano In or out of the Congressional District 3 Race?

Visit my other blog for some insight into this.

In Rememberance of Robert Craig "Evel Knievel"

One of my child hood hero's has always been Evel Knievel. I couldn't wait until wide world of sports with Howard Cosell would show his next jump. I watched every movie or TV show he came out in no matter how cheesy it was. To this day I own both the VHS and DVD copys of all his jumps and the movie of his life starring George Hamilton.

Evel Knievel's Failed Caesar's Palace Jump

Hearing of his death reminds me of my first big jump (on my bicycle). We lived in an apartment at Hopewell and Sixth Street in Santa Fe. I was probably 11 or 12 when I built a ramp over an arroyo that was about five feet wide. I got way back and began pedaling that bike as fast as I could. I hit that ramp and sailed into the air for just a few seconds before my bike went head first into the middle of that arroyo. My arm crashed onto an empty beer bottle which broke and cut a good 4 to 5 inch gash into my right forearm. I am looking at the scar and laughing out loud right now. I have to admit I took a few more jumps with better success later. My mother was not happy with the bill for stitches I do remember that also.

Years later I got his autograph and framed and hung it on my wall. It eventually faded with the sun and me not being to bright at the time tried to trace it with a sharpie and ruined it. I always wanted another and In January I got the address to his condo in Florida and asked for another. Turns out he was selling them and I purchased a Photo and he sent it to me in one of his custom stationary envelopes which he also signed. A few weeks after I got the autograph he survived a stroke. I was glad I had gotten a hold of him when I did.

Here is Evel at his home in Florida signing my Photo.

Evel Knievel gave me hope, inspiration and a male figure to look up to. I never had a father and while my mother was a great role model I needed male role models to look up to. I found those as a very young boy from the likes of Evel, Elvis, and other Fifties rock and roll icons. Granted as I grew older I learned of the faults that Evel, Elvis and others had but by then I had learned some good lessons. Lessons like no matter how poor or bad things were you could still be somebody. You could still accomplish something in life. When I was young I never even considered college as an option. I was working since 12 years old and was a young entrepreneur from the age of 18. People like Evel showed me that the difference between success and failure was dependant on no one else but yourself.

I always use to say I would recreate his first paid stunt in which he would jump a motorcycle over two pickup trucks parked end to end. I still haven't done it only because my first bike and all the bikes I have owned since were all heavy street bikes. At 44 years old now I really need to buy some cheap off road bike and take the jump (don't tell my wife !) before I get older and I have to do it on a hover round.

My kids grew up on Evel Knievel videos and have seen all his jumps. I took them with me to see his son Robbie Knievel jump a bunch of semi's at Rt 66 Casino right here in New Mexico. I waited for hours after the jump to get his autograph to place in my game room next to his fathers. He brushed right past the 4 of us who waited outside his trailer, jumped into his SUV and drove off. It's the last time I will see one of his jumps. Every year Butte Montana, the birthplace of Evel, hosts Evel Knievel days, a festival dedicated to Evel. Every year I said I would go but just never made it. This is one of the few regrets I have in life. I have been told that Evel would stay signing autographs until every one who wanted one got one. Every one who has met Evel says he is the nicest person you could ever meet if you were one of his fans.

Evel used to say he did not believe in god that he only believed in himself. I have my DVR set to record anything that has to do with Evel and one day a few months ago I found it odd to see that Robert Schuller's Hour of Power mass had been recorded. I looked at the description and was surprised to see that Evel was getting baptized. Evel was besieged with numerous health problems including Hepititis C, and two strokes. In the mass Evel acknowledged that he used to be an atheist but now believed in Jesus Christ. He actually looked and spoke really well but I remember telling my wife that he must feel like the end is near and decided to be baptized. As a believer in Jesus Christ myself I am glad he found god.

Evel Knievel announces his new found belief in Christ.

I guess you know your getting old when all the icons of your younger years start dying. Evel you had a great 69 years and I feel as though I have lost a family member. Thanks to you for inspiring me and I hope they have Harleys in heaven.......

The Real American Gangster- Frank Lucas

I haven't seen the movie with Denzel Washington yet, I rarely go to a theater waiting instead until the movie is released on DVD or even worse until its on cable tv for free. But I do often read articles related to the drug war and drug cases throughout the world. In doing so I ran across this article about the daughter of Frank Lucas. Frank Lucas is the real drug dealer whose life is depicted in the new Denzel Washington movie "American Gangster". Frank's daughter, Francine Lucas, who grew up at times with both of her parents in prison talks about her life as daughter of one of the most notorious drug dealers in Harlem. Its an interesting article which led me to another even more interesting article on the subject.














Frank Lucas

It seems the movie was based on an article by Mark Jacobson which was printed in the August 2000 edition of the New York The Magazine. The Article titled "The Return of Superfly" was an in depth interview and article on the life of Frank Lucas. It is a great read for anyone. You realize the true Frank Lucas when he laughs while describing how he oversaw the "Cadaver Connection". The Cadaver Connection involved Franks people smuggling drugs from Vietnam in the coffins of dead soldiers. When asked about the truth that he smuggled drugs into America in this matter his reply to Mark Jacobson was, "We did it, all right . . . ha, ha, ha . . . " Lucas chortles in his dying-crapshooter's scrape of a voice. "Who the hell is gonna look in a dead soldier's coffin? Ha ha ha."












I have lived with people who had a hard life and who will do things others would not for money. Things that like cleaning bathrooms, digging ditches in the snow, or cleaning out sewers. I have also met others who will do illegal things to get money. Rarely in your life will you meet someone who will smuggle drugs in the coffins of our dead soldiers.....and then laugh about it. Frank also tells the story of how he once paid a cook on Henry Kissinger's plane $100,000 to smuggle drugs into the country on the military plane carrying Henry Kissinger on one of his diplomatic missions. Frank laughs as he tells the Kissinger drug smuggling deal just as he did when telling the story of the Cadaver Connection. Frank only speaks of one homicide he committed when speaking to reporter Mark Jacobson however Frank Lucas is believed to have caused the deaths of many. Frank Lucas spent very few years in prison as a result of deals with prosecutors, how he lived to a ripe old age of 80 after turning states evidence is pretty amazing in itself.

The one thing people say about Frank Lucas is that he is a nice guy. Even the judge who sentenced him to 30 years in prison says he is likable and jokes with him like you would with an old friend as she talks to him on the phone. I guess thats the life of a drug kingpin and murder who lives to an old age, you get to be a paid consultant on the movie of your life and you get to joke around on the phone with the judge who sentenced you. I wonder how many mothers and fathers are remembering their children who died at the hands of Frank Lucas, whether directly by his hand or indirectly after losing their lives to the drugs he peddled.

Happy Birthday Governor Richardson.

I am not very good at remembering peoples birthdays yet I remember that November 15, is Governor Bill Richardson's Birthday. The only reason I remember his birthday is because we share the same birthday, yet the years are somewhat different. I am going to spend my birthday helping a friend lay out a cement pad at his house. I think the Governor probably will be doing less manual labor, however I bet he will still be fitting in a campaign stop or two, birthday or not.

Will Red Light Camera's Leave Albuquerque?

The two of you read this blog regularly,(lol) will know that I have often derided Albuquerque's Red Light Camera Program. I have always felt that the program was more geared towards revenue than it was towards safety. Especially when you look at the exorbitant fees the private company that runs the program charges. Now Mayor Chavez has announced he is forming a task force to investigate whether or not the camera's are effective at preventing accidents. Many States and locality's have done similar studies after trying out the camera's and ended up canceling the program.

Below is KOAT TV's coverage of the Task Force.



Mayor Chavez announcement came after two different T.V. stations did investigative pieces over just where the money was going. KOAT TV's investigation revealed that between 2005 and 2007, New Mexicans paid $10.6 million in red light and speed tickets. The city spent $4.8 million to run the safety program, which means $5.8 million is in the city general fund - all generated from the red light and speed program. When KOAT TV asked the city's chief financial officer, Gail Reese, how a program Mayor Martin Chavez claims is not out to make money is making millions. She responded with "Over time this program's costs will equal the revenues.
"It is an expensive program. Safety is an expensive thing,".

Here is the KOAT piece on the profits the City of Albuquerque has made from the program.



As I said earlier RedFlex charges Exorbitant fees to Albuquerque. The city spends about $200,000 a month leasing these cameras and speed vans, and on top of that the company leasing the cameras to Albuquerque, RedFlex, also charges for every single ticket: $18 for red light runners and nearly $25 for speeders. What I hope is that the task force appointed by Marty Chavez or one of the news outlets does a comparison between the contract RedFlex has with the city of Albuquerque and other contracts the company and similar companies have with other cities across the state. I have a feeling there are vast differences and communities that fight for a good deal and want to save taxpayers money are successful in doing so.

This red light program needs to be completely restructured or ended all together. One of the things that we who are law enforcement administrators often try to do is to eliminate the perception that we have quota's or that we make money from tickets. Most agencies do not. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office gets about $6000 a year back from magistrate courts from tickets we issue. We issue about 30,000 tickets a year so as you can see it really is not much. Especially when you consider the over ten million dollar budget we have in the Sheriff's Office. This program flies in the face of trying to get rid of the perception that tickets are to generate funds. What tickets should be about is education and deterrence.

Here are some links to past blog posts I have had on red light camera's. When you read them you will see that you heard it here first. The things this task force will study are the things I have advocated looking at all along.

Sheriff Greg Solano Red Light Camera Blog Posts.

Note: I use KOAT TV a lot for embedded video in my blog posts because they are nice enough to post their video on YouTube. Its a great convenience and I think a great way to get free publicity for their station.

Is rape of a prostitute not a rape?

I was surprised to read this story about a prostitute who made an appointment with a man by using criagslist in Philadelphia. When she arrived at the home she was raped at gunpoint by the man and several of his friends. The case was taken to court and the judge involved threw out the rape case and only allowed the man Dominique Gindraw to be charged with Armed Robbery For Theft of Services. There was outcry from several groups however Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni still won a retention election which occurred weeks after her ruling. Blogs run by Prostitutes or "sex workers" as they call themselves tried to organize an online "vote no on retention" campaign against Judge Deni but failed in their efforts to remove her.

The accuser testified that she initially agreed to have sex with Gindraw and a friend of his in exchange for money, but that Gindraw refused to pay her, held a gun to her head and forced her to have sex with several men, according to a transcript of an Oct. 4 court hearing. "She consented and she didn't get paid. … I thought it was a robbery," Judge Deni told the Philadelphia Daily News. The reduced charges against Gindraw are still pending in the Municipal Court, but the district attorney's office has refiled the rape charge at a different local court, the Court of Common Pleas, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.As I stated in the first sentence of this blog post, I could not believe this. I have every belief that the Court of Common Pleas will find that these men are all guilty of Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault and more.

The editors of our local newspapers are often pushing their opinion that magistrate and municipal judges should be lawyers. I have not usually agreed, having personally known several judges who were not lawyers but were good judges. In what is often called the peoples court I think common sense and someone who is closer to the "common man" will do better. On the other hand I know some bad judges who are lawyers. What do you think about this case and should judges be lawyers? Do you think Judge Deni was a lawyer? Yes or No ? Post your comment first on whether you think she is a lawyer or not and then click here to find the answer and see if you were right.

Santa Fe goes High Tech.

Yesterday I was proud to unveil SORIS the which stands for Sex Offender Registration and Identification System. The system brings to mind Star Trek type technology which is now no longer a science fiction story but reality. The System was donated by the company that designed it, BI2 Technologies. The equipment is valued at $10,000 and Santa Fe County will be the only jurisdiction in New Mexico to have the SORIS system as part of a pilot program to create a national database of sex offenders.

The system is an iris recognition biometric scanner and software to recognize and identify a person based on a scan of their Iris. With this equipment a persons true identity can be had in seconds based on a scan of the persons eye. Once a national database is populated and more and more law enforcement and jails use this system we can better track offenders and find offenders who move to other area's and change their identity. Here is the Santa Fe New Mexican Story on the system.

Below is the Fox News at Nine story on the SORIS System:


And here is the KOB TV News story on the SORIS System:

Lots of Phone calls about the House Race.

I have received a lot of phone calls about the possibility of running for Rep. Tom Udall's House Seat should Tom run for Pete Dominici's Senate Seat.

I have addressed the topic in my other Blog, "The Road to Lt. Governor".

Here is some of the news coverage of the topic:

Robert Montoya speaks out about daughter reporting him DWI

Larry Behrens got an exclusive last night when KOAT TV interviewed Robert Montoya. Robert Montoya was arrested by my deputies after his daughter reported him speeding and drunk driving with his 13 year old sister and a 15 year old friend also in the car with her.

You can see the video of the jail house interview here.

KOAT also did a story on Bill O'Reilly blasting Governor Richardson over DWI in New Mexico. You can see that story here.

Video of Sheriff Greg Solano on MSNBC with Dan Abrams

Below is the you tube video of my appearance on Dan Abrams MSNBC show which aired live last night. I was also scheduled to appear live on Star Jones Show on Court TV today however it was canceled due to technical difficulties in getting the satellite feed into a Santa Fe or Albuquerque studio in time. Vic Vela of the Albuquerque Journal did a story on the national airplay this story is getting and KOAT TV is planning to do a story tonight as well.

Sheriff Greg Solano to Appear on MSNBC with Dan Abrams

I have just agreed to appear on MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams tonight at 7:40 New Mexico Time. I will be discussing the Robert Montoya DWI arrest which has garnered much national attention due to the heart wrenching dispatch tape where the 15 year old girl is frantic as she calls the Sheriff's Office on her own father. Tune in if you can!

O'Reilly Factor Video on Robert Montoya DWI Case

Here is a You Tube Video of the O'Reilly Factor Video which I mentioned in my last post. In the Video O'Reilly uses the D.W.I. Case to bash Governor Richardson and gives the case as a reason he is unfit for the Presidency.

O'Reilly Factor Bashes Governor Richardson over D.W.I. Case

Tonight I watched the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, I usually do not watch anything on Fox News due to their usual biased reporting which I have talked about before. I watched it tonight because I knew they were doing a story on the 6th time D.W.I. arrest of Robert Montoya. If you have not read about Robert Montoya he was arrested on Saturday October 27, 2007 after his 15 year old daughter called 911 to report him driving drunk at 100 miles an hour while his two teenage daughters and one of their friends were in the car. The 911 tapes are horrible to listen to as you can hear the fear in his daughters voice as she pleads with him to stop the car. Below is KOAT TV's You Tube video of the 911 calls.

This case has been covered by many national news outlets and most local news. Inside Edition, Fox News, have covered the story and Good Morning America will cover it tomorrow morning. As usual Fox news twisted the story and used it to claim that Governor Bill Richardson has failed on D.W.I. in New Mexico and can't be a good president because he has not even been able to tackle D.W.I. in New Mexico. The only guest from New Mexico was Pat Frisch Program Director and sometimes Talk Show Host from ultra conservative republican radio station 770 AM KKob in Albuquerque. Pat Frisch is hardly qualified to speak with any credentials on the D.W.I. problem in New Mexico. Fox news staff was in contact with my office all day and I have a suspicion that they did not ask me or anyone with real knowledge of D.W.I. to come on air because they would not blame Governor Richardson for this incident as O'Reilly wanted to do. Before the show even completed I fired off this email to Bill O'Reilly.

To: oreilly@foxnews.com

I watched tonight your story on the sad arrest of Robert Montoya after the frantic call from his daughter as he raced down the highway while drunk. I was in contact with members of your staff all day and someone much more qualified than Pat Frisch who's only credentials in New Mexico is that he is a talk show host on a conservative radio talk show. Rather than talking about the real problems of repeat D.W.I. offenders you chose to capitalize on the suffering of the Montoya children and use this incident to attack Presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson. While D.W.I. is a serious problem across the United States Governor Richardson has done more than years of previous governors including former Republican Governor Gary Johnson who as you know even tried to legalize drugs in New Mexico. Same usual twisting of news to suit the Fox Political Agenda.

Sheriff Greg Solano Santa Fe County 35 Camino Justicia

This is a sad case and I really feel for the 15 year old daughter who called in her own father. Usually repeat offenders get suspended sentences and with good time they spend little time in jail. Because of the publicity and the additional charges of Child Neglect Mr. Montoya will probably get a somewhat severe sentence. He deserves it and I hope the sadness and pain he has caused his daughter makes him really think twice about his life and this may be the final thing that makes him stop drinking. If this does not do it nothing will. I really believe state and local officials are doing all they can to change the drinking and driving problems in New Mexico. We are making headway. Unfortunately there will always be people like Robert Montoya and at some point the only way to keep the citizens safe is to keep these people in jail as long as possible. I hope his daughters get some counseling and overcome the pain this man has caused in their lives. I know my family and many others are praying for them.

Halloween Safety Tips

I want to offer you all some Halloween Safety Tips you can use to keep your kids safe this Halloween.

· Carry a flashlight or glow sticks
· All young children should have parental supervision.
· Teenagers should have a map of the areas parents want them to stay in.
· Walk, don't run.
· Stay on Sidewalks
· Obey traffic signals
· Stay in familiar neighborhoods
· Don’t cut across yards or driveways.
· Make sure costumes don't drag on the ground.
· Shoes should fit (even if they don't go with your costume)
· Avoid wearing masks while walking from house to house.
· Carry only flexible knives, swords or other props.
· (If no sidewalk) walk on the left side of the road facing traffic
· Wear clothing with reflective markings or tape.
· Approach only houses that are lit.
· Stay away from and don't pet animals you don't know.
· Inspect all candy and items and do not keep anything that is not pre wrapped or may have opened.

Call the dispatch at 505-428-3710 to report any suspicious activities or unsafe activities in the area of trick or treaters. Check http://www.nmsexoffender.com/ for sex offenders living in your area; do not go to these homes when trick or treating.

Extra Sheriff’s Deputies will be on patrol as well as fire personnel throughout the night to help ensure your safety.

Sheriff Greg Solano Wishes you all a happy and safe Halloween!