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.
Three Doña Ana County legislators who want to reform rules that govern the State Land Office have endorsed former Land Commissioner Ray Powell in his 2010 bid to regain the seat. Sen. Steve Fischmann and Reps. Jeff Steinborn and Nate Cote are all Democrats from Doña Ana County, where no-bid planning and development leases given out by the land office have been particularly controversial.
Fischmann was involved in efforts to reform the Land Office as a private citizen before he became a state senator, working in tandem with Steinborn and Cote to urge the attorney general and state auditor to scrutinize the land office. Then, in 2009 the three proposed a package of legislation aimed at reforming the land office.
“Ray Powell is the reform candidate. He’s who I trust. It’s no question that we need him back at the Land Office,” said Senator Steve Fischmann in a statement released by the Powell campaign.
“The stakes are high. With Ray, he’ll bring much needed stability back to the Land Office,” said Rep. Jeff Steinborn. “He’s ethical, principled and knows how to work with communities to maximize the dollars returned to the land office and ultimately our schools.”
And, Representative Nate Cote said, “When Ray Powell served as land commissioner, he was recognized for running one of the best land management agencies in the country. Right now, the Land Office is in crisis, and we are desperately in need of leadership we can trust.”
Powell, a veterinarian and regional director of the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation in the western United States, served as Land Commissioner from 1993-2002. His opponents in the Democratic primary are Sandy Jones, Harry Montoya, and Mike Anaya.
In the statement released today, he presented a reform platform for the Land Office, which includes public meetings for any land exchange, lease or sale; a local land approval process for any long-term leases of state land; joint planning agreements with municipalities and counties where there is state land; a revamp of the Land Office Web site to achieve greater transparency and accountability; a conflict of interest process for employees at the Land Office; and the adoption of public financing for elections of the commissioner of public lands.
