I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has a big decision on her hands.
Upon her automatic promotion to governor when (and if) Gov. Bill Richardson is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the nation’s next commerce secretary, Denish will have to name a replacement to her current post.
While she probably won’t pull the trigger until February, it’s a choice she must be mulling over right now.
And Lawrence Rael — a man who has worked for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and three Albuquerque mayors in very high-level positions — is one candidate who isn’t coy about the possibility.
“Oh, absolutely,” Rael said when I asked him if he was interested in serving as the state’s No. 2. “I think i could offer her a great deal of experience and understanding about budgets, about government in general… I’d be very honored and delighted to do that job,” he added.
Up until now, a fair amount of the lieutenant governor speculation has centered on state Auditor Hector Balderas, a former two-term state representative from Wagon Mound.
But if Denish is looking for someone who knows how to, well, make the trains run on time, Rael would seem to have a big edge over Balderas given his 11-year tenure as Albuquerque’s chief administrative officer from 1990 to 2001 — not to mention his current gig.
I talked with Rael, currently the man in charge of the $400 million-plus Rail Runner Express commuter train, on Wednesday. (Technically, his title is executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments.) My interview with him was broadcast on KNME’s New Mexico In Focus last night and mostly focused on next week’s extension of the Rail Runner to Santa Fe.
I’ve posted his answers to a couple political questions in the video above. When the full interview is posted online, it will be here.
