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.
The endorsement of Romero will be symbolic, not an official endorsement of the greater union, which endorsed the incumbent, Martin Chavez. The president of AFSCME Council 18, which is the parent of Local 624, told the Independent in July that he was confident AFSCME’s endorsement of the mayor reflected the majority opinion of union members as a whole.
The endorsement of incumbent mayor Martin Chavez by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal employees was seen as a major coup by Chavez. The endorsement was the first for Chavez by AFSCME, which has several union locals that represent various groups of City of Albuquerque workers.
After that endorsement, Local 624, which represents the blue collar workers of the city of Albuquerque, had a major battle internally over whether to break with the official endorsement of Chavez by their parent union. The Independent covered that battle as it spilled over publicly, until union leaders decided to shut the door on public scrutiny of internal deliberations. Things got so tense, that at one point police officers had to be called to the union hall.
It seems a decision has been made. A statement from former State Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero this morning announces that the local will endorse his candidacy for mayor this afternoon:
Mayoral Candidate Richard Romero and members of AFSCME Local 624 will announce that the rank-and-file of the largest city union—over 2500 members—is putting its support behind Richard Romero.
The news conference is at 2:30 PM at Civic Plaza, Downtown Albuquerque
