LWVSFC In the News

Check out the local media coverage of LWVSFC.

Immigration Reform.  LWV's Support Cited.  League at 90.  City Council Candidate Forum.  League President Speaks.  Health Care.  Government Transparency.  In League with the Angels.

Immigration Reform

SHERIFF: STATE ON RIGHT TRACK
SANDRA BALTAZAR MARTÍNEZ Published: March 31, 2010

Forum focuses on benefits of changing law By Sandra Baltazar Martínez

Santa Fe leaders said a more stable workforce would be one result of immigration reform. At a Tuesday night forum hosted by the League of Women Voters, speakers said reform would allow the estimated 65,000 undocumented students in the United States to graduate college and become legally eligible for a job. "Terrorists come here to kill people, immigrants come here to work," Eric Witt, an aide to Gov. Bill Richardson, told a crowd of some 70 people at Santa Fe Community College.

Both the state and local government have supported policies to protect the rights of immigrants. New Mexico for example, is one of a few states that has refused to implement the REAL ID act, which, among many provisions, prohibits states from issuing driver licenses to undocumented residents. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said the state is doing the right thing. When he became a law-enforcement officer in Santa Fe in 1998, he noticed that many undocumented drivers fled the scenes, fearing that they would get deported.

But now, it's a different story, Solano said. "After New Mexico started issuing driver licenses, we saw a huge uptake in driver licenses, people had insurance and showed up to court. For law enforcement, it's a huge benefit," Solano said.

Among the panelists were Mayor David Coss, Marcela Diaz, executive director for Somos un Pueblo Unido, Victoria Ferrara, a private immigration attorney in Santa Fe, and Charlie Marquez, a lobbyist for several companies and organizations, including the Association of Commerce and Industry and the New Mexico Chile Association. "Our problems have been that we don't have an adequate American workforce, so we have used this immigrant workforce," Marquez said, adding that not having a stable workforce to pick chile has led to a decrease in production. In 1993, about 35,000 acres of chile were harvested, compared to the 11,000 acres harvested last season.

In December, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity bill to the House of Representatives. New Mexico Reps. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, both Democrats, are among the sponsors.

A bill backed by President Barack Obama is in the early phases of being drafted in the U.S. Senate. Contact Sandra Baltazar Martínez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.

See pdf's for exact rendition, caption, graphics and photographer info.

Copyright (c) 2010 The Santa Fe New Mexican

LWV's Support for Same-Day Voter Registration Bill Cited

The New Mexico Independent

By Larry Behrens | February 4, 2010

Controversial voter registration bill moves on

A bill that would allow voters to register and vote on the same day barely cleared the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday. The bill's sponsor Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe told the committee a coalition of groups approve of the measure. Those groups include the League of Women Voters, AARP and the Secretary of State's office.

But the measure also had its opponents, including members of the TEA Party. One resident says the bill would open the doors wider for fraud, "I don't think they (election workers) enforce the existing rules, so what leads me to believe they'll enforce the new ones?" Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Albuquerque also expressed concerns saying he's received "hundreds and hundreds" of e-mails on the matter.

Supporters said the bill actually strengthens voter registration. It would require voters to show "documentation" to prove their identity. Supporters also said since New Mexico ranks 38th in voter turnout, the state would benefit from the 7 percent bump they anticipate would happen if the bill passes.

The bill passed committee with a vote of 4-3 and now moves on to House Voter and Elections.

Copyright © 2009 The New Mexico Independent, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

The League at 90

By Judy Williams and Meredith Machen | January 30, 2010

Voters' group at 90 is as strong as ever

This year, the League of Women Voters celebrates its 90th anniversary. Deemed one of the most "highly trusted organizations in America," the league was established in 1920, the same year that the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote.

Once the 19th Amendment passed, the National American Woman Suffrage Association transformed itself into the League of Women Voters to educate women to effectively use their vote. Since then, the league has worked diligently for the voting and civic rights of individuals and groups denied the vote and equal status under the law, not only in the United States but worldwide.

The league is a nonpartisan political organization working to improve our system of government and influence public policy through citizen education and advocacy on issues such as representative government, international relations, natural resources, and social policy. It is organized on three levels: national, state, and local. The national headquarters is in Washington, D.C., state leagues are in every state, and more than 800 local leagues are in cities and towns throughout the United States. The League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County (LWVSFC) was founded in 1951.

Major focuses of the league are voter education, voter registration, ethics, and campaign finance reform. Over the past year, LWVSFC has held general election candidate forums for our congressional delegates as well as for the Santa Fe Public School Board and the Santa Fe Community College Governing Board. Current voter engagement activities include the candidate forums for City of Santa Fe Council and mayor in preparation for the Santa Fe municipal election on March 2.

Public forums allow citizens to meet the candidates, hear their priorities first-hand, and ask questions. In addition, LWVSFC publishes and distributes voters guides for most elections to provide voters with unbiased information on elections and candidates. For more information on the forums, voters guides, and the League's positions on issues and much more, please go to http://www.lwvsfc.org.

LWVSFC is working on promoting transparency and accountability in local government. Its study of Santa Fe County is on http://www.santafecounty.org and on the LWVSFC's Web site. In addition, it is studying processes that local governmental entities use when holding bond referenda.

When complete, the study will include recommendations for residents so they can hold governments accountable for promoting citizen education and involvement in key issues on a timely basis. Santa Fe County's Sustainable Land Use Development Plan is also under review based on the league's established positions on land use, alternative energy, water, education infrastructure, and transit.

Once the plan is assessed, public educational meetings will be held. Ongoing LWVSFC activities, such as the Health Care Reform Forum held last August and the Lunch with a Leader series on issues, such as Santa Fe's need for affordable housing, helps keep residents informed.

All league officers are volunteers, even at the national level. All money raised from membership dues or tax deductible donations to the league's education fund to help pay for league activities such as forums and voters' guides.

Everyone, age 18 or older, is invited to join the Santa Fe league and become a part of an effective organization that helps make Santa Fe a better place to live. The league welcomes men and student members. For more information on membership and the education fund, go to http://www.lwvsfc.org, call 505-982-9766, e-mail league@lwvsfc.org, or write LWVSFC, 1472 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe N.M. 87505-4038.

As the league celebrates its 90th anniversary, it has much to celebrate, but much more work must be done to safeguard and improve government. The league has worked to ensure our democracy is transparent, effective, and truly representative. The challenges are different today, but as real as they were for the suffragists who struggled for their right to vote so many years ago.

Copyright © 2010 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

New Mexican Covers City Council Candidate Forum

By Tom Sharpe | January 29, 2010

Council hopefuls square off over city staff

Santa Fe City Council candidates squared off Thursday night on economic development and code enforcement at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.

Stefanie Beninato, a lawyer and historian who is challenging eight-year incumbent Rebecca Wurzburger for the southeast-side District 2 council seat, charged that codes are not being enforced because of payoffs.

"There is a culture of corruption in the Land Use Department," she alleged. "It's not everybody, but it's there. It's been there for a very long time. ... "It's demoralizing if you're honest and you know your desk mate is getting $500 a week extra in a white envelope and by the time they retire 30 years later, they have somewhere between a quarter million to three quarters of a million dollars in untaxed income."

Beninato, who has challenged city staff decisions by filing appeals and lawsuits, didn't offer any proof concerning her payoff allegations.

Wurzburger, a construction-management and public-administration consultant, did not respond directly to Beninato's charge, but praised city employees working in land-code enforcement, especially Land Use Department Director Matthew O'Reilly.

"We need more people (for code enforcement) and can't do that now," she said. "We've cut $15 million from the budget."

Asked if she thought the city spends too much time on development issues, Wurzburger said the city spends too much time on appeals of land-use decisions by staff and city boards.

"The major issue is having more responsibility at the staff level and making sure that the decisions that are made at that level, the policies are in place so that things are done in a fair way so we don't end up with appeals that cost the city tens of thousands of dollars," she said. Beninato responded by saying both Wurzburger and Mayor David Coss are "extremely pro-development."

"I have taken appeals to City Council and I know that the city boards and the City Council itself are highly ill-trained to be doing these things," she said. "They don't know what the actual legal standards are and, as a result, they have made decisions that are very poor and that are legally challengeable and they have spent thousands of dollars on going to court when they should have approved whatever it was that came in front of them." Candidates in the north-side District 1 -- incumbent Chris Calvert and challengers Russell Simon and Doug Nava -- were less contentious.

But after Simon, a former reporter now managing condominium associations, proposed acquiring an electricity utility to promote alternative energy, he said Calvert has supported the same thing, yet "has been absolutely silent on it for four years."

Calvert, a letter carrier, responded by saying he's been working to increase the green-jobs sector of the economy by creating a low-interest loan fund with Homewise for home improvements and alternative energy.

"I have been working on the issue of the community-owned utility for over two years with the county," he said. "We've been laying the groundwork studying the legal, the technical and many issues on that very issue. It's going to have to go to a vote of the people, so I've been asking for the people who are really interested ... to lead the way to develop that." Nava, a state tax official, proposed a city gross-receipts tax force that would inspect new and existing businesses to see that they are paid up on all state taxes. He said the city of Española already requires people seeking a business license to present a letter from the state that they are paid up on all taxes.

About two dozen people braved Thursday evening's snow to attend the forum at the Unitarian-Universalist Church. The same two groups will host a mayoral forum from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Santa Fe Preparatory School Auditorium, 1101 Camino de Cruz Blanca.

Copyright © 2010 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

National League President Speaks

League to hear national leader

Local news in brief | December 10, 2009

National League of Women Voters President Mary G. Wilson will speak at a Santa Fe County League of Women Voters holiday luncheon Dec. 16 in Santa Fe.

"I hope that anyone who is curious about the League of Women Voters or the work we do will join us or consider getting involved," Wilson said in a written statement.

The nonpartisan political organization encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy, according to the group's Web site.

The luncheon and a silent auction will begin at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 16 at the Santa Fe Hilton, 100 Sandoval St.

The cost of the luncheon is $18, and reservations must be made no later than noon Friday by calling 982-9766 or e-mailing rsvp@lwvsfc.org. If e-mailing, indicate your preference for a vegetarian or nonvegetarian entree.

Copyright © 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Health Care Reform

Letter to the Editor | July 19, 2009

It is critical that Congress take action and pass real health-care reform in the next few months. Almost every advanced country has a public, universal system.

Legislation must provide equitable services, effective cost controls and efficient, economical delivery of care. The key is offering everyone a public option, a government-administered health-insurance plan like Medicare that competes with private health-insurance plans.

America has a health-care crisis caused by a combination of skyrocketing costs and a for-profit insurance system that leaves 47 million without coverage. As a nation, we are spending $1 out of every $6 we earn on health care. The current health-care system is endangering both our economy and our health.

Health-care reform legislation must guarantee quality, affordable health care to all U.S. residents. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Rep. Ben Ray Luján need to support real health-care reform. Please encourage them.

Meredith R. Machen, Ph.D.
League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County

Copyright © 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Government Transparency Audit

By Phaedra Haywood | June 30, 2009

Group suggests county improve public relations efforts

Report recommends Web site redesign, more meeting notice and improved relationships with media

You aren't doing too badly, but you could do better -- and here is where you should start.

League of Women Voters board member Jody Larson said that is the message the league hoped to impart in a report it released last week about Santa Fe County's record in achieving openness and transparency in government.

At the county's request, the league embarked on a transparency audit of the county more than a year ago, and spent months requesting documents, attending meetings and interviewing county staff, media representatives and residents who deal regularly with the county.

The resulting report lists 17 findings and 22 recommendations for ways the county can improve. Larson said it was difficult for the evaluators to come up with something more definitive, because the results of the audit were so mixed.

For example, some of the information requests filed as part of the project were filled immediately the day they were requested, "but some petered out and we never heard back," Larson said.

Auditors also gave the county mixed reviews in fulfilling its responsibility to provide notice of public meetings. According to the report, meetings of the Board of County Commissioners were routinely correctly posted, but meetings of the county's myriad other committees were not. During the course of the project, at least one meeting was canceled because of lack of advance notice, and several months worth of decisions by the County Development Review Committee had to be readopted at a subsequent meeting because of lack of proper advance notice.

"The County needs to adopt a systematic approach to providing meeting dates, times and locations as well as agendas and minutes," the report stated. Asked to come up with a letter grade for the county's compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Larson said she would give the county an A or A-minus for noticing commission meetings, but a D for other committees. Larson said the county needs to do a better job of getting information to the public. "They can't just rely on the Internet," she said. "They need to take a multiple-track approach to getting information out."

The report found that the county's Web site "lacks essential information, a sense of organization, uniformity in approach and an overall user-friendly format," and recommends it be redesigned.

The report also recommended the county improve relations with local media outlets. "Both the local news media and the (public-information officer) believe that their relationship is, at best, only satisfactory," said the report.

The league recommended the public-information officer be "more accessible and responsive to the media and the general public," and noted that for greater accountability, the public-information officer, currently Stephen Ulibarri, should report directly to County Manager Roman Abeyta instead of to the head of Administrative Services, as he does now.

Abeyta said he was concerned with the finding and planned to meet with reporters to discover the basis for the conclusion.

"If there is not a good working relationship, that is something I need to address," he said. Abeyta said he felt the report was fair.

"It was great that we got an outside voice to tell us where we need improvement," he said. "This report is not just going to sit on the shelf. We are going to implement it." Some of the recommendations -- such as one that the legal department be open during the noon hour to allow those who work greater access to documents -- will be put into practice right away. Others, especially those that will cost money, will need to be considered more fully, Abeyta said.

Copyright © 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

In League with the Angels

Editorial | March 29, 2009

Santa Fe voters tend to be a well-informed lot -- and we'd love to think that it's owing to what you read in The New Mexican. But, more than anyone else, thanks -- and a bit of support -- should go to the tireless volunteers of the League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County.

League members -- and it's a co-ed operation, its name aside -- are the ones who, year in and year out, do the tough, detailed work of watching over local government.

Their main mission is, as always, getting out the vote -- a tough enough task in a town too often disgusted with its elected leaders -- but where they really shine is in the field of homework: They spend the long hours involved in observing the City Council and the Board of Santa Fe County Commissioners, a well as the Legislature and the many local boards and state regulatory agencies. While many of their fellow citizens might show up when there's a donnybrook on the agenda, the league volunteers are there from gavel to gavel of the most mundane meetings.

Then they pore over the minutes of meetings, analyzing issues and figuring out the legalese, translating and synthesizing it so the thicker-skulled among us can tell what our elected and appointed leaders are really up to.

It's the league that makes sense of issues like health care, economic development, population growth and demographics, affordable housing, education and whatever else appears on the horizon. The group does all this without taking sides, let alone seeking personal gain.

What our community sees from members' efforts are:

• Candidate forums and the voter guides that come out ahead of elections in The New Mexican.
  
• Issue-oriented forums to let the community know what's at stake at election time.
  
• Voter-registration drives.
  
• A who's-who of elected and appointed officials, and
  
• A league Web site loaded with analysis and local-politics lists.

That's a lot of work, all of it done for free.

But there are costs involved -- not much; maybe $18,000 for the coming year.

One way those costs are met is by league members paying for the privilege of doing the work they do: Dues are $45 a year for singles, $75 per household. And lots of members make contributions on top of their dues.

Still, the league is running a little short: This year, it needs another $4,500 to carry out its goals -- which include what could be some eye-opening information. Yes, you read that right; an amount in the low four figures.

Tough as times may be, surely some Santa Feans can help meet that goal -- can't you?

To make a contribution, to find out more than we just told you about its work, or to join in league efforts, call 982-9766. Or send a tax-deductible check to League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County, 1472 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, N.M. 87505. Or check out their Web site at http://www.santafeco.nm.lwvnet.org.

Copyright 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 25, 2010 14:32 PDT.

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