Two duel for District 1 PRC position

An Albuquerque lawyer in his first bid for public office faces the incumbent Bernalillo County assessor in the race for the District 1 seat on the powerful New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

The winning candidate, either Republican Christopher Ocksrider or Democrat Karen Montoya, who is in her second term as assessor, will succeed two-term Commissioner Jason Marks, one of the three Democrats on the five-person board.

The contest for the other seat up for election, the District 3 post held by Democrat Douglas Howe, was settled in the June primary when Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza beat three other Democrats. Howe was appointed last year to fill the remaining term of Jerome Block Jr., a Democrat, who resigned after pleading guilty to felony charges related to fraudulent use of a state credit card.

Espinoza has no Republican opposition in the Nov. 6 general election.

The commission regulates public utilities such as PNM, telecommunication companies like CenturyLink, insurance companies as well as overseeing, transportation, pipeline safety and other regulatory matters. Commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid an annual salary of $90,000.

Check their backgrounds

Both Montoya and Ocksrider say voters should take measure of their backgrounds in deciding who would best represent the district, which incorporates much of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

Montoya is a veteran of state and county government and twice-elected county assessor. Ocksrider is an attorney in private practice, focused primarily on estate planning, business and tax law. Each has been running a publicly financed campaign under the Voter Action Act.

A native New Mexican, Montoya beat state Rep. Al Park and former PRC attorney Cynthia Hall in the primary. She said she would bring to the office integrity, accountability and ability to be transparent.

She said she believes she has “more diverse experience” than her opponent, including overseeing 100 employees in the assessor’s office and familiarity with quasi-judicial proceedings like the PRC’s, having chaired property valuation protest boards. She said she would forego the last two years of her term as assessor if she is elected.

“I have a background in appraisals, which looks at many profit-and-loss statements and I know what return on investment is,” Montoya said. “I know how to look at PNM’s profit-and-loss statements to decide if, truly, we are coming to the correct rates.”

Montoya said she would “be asking a lot more questions” if she were on the PRC. “I know how people can skew the numbers.”

Commission makeup

Her election would give the commission three female members — with Espinoza joining the board and Theresa Becenti-Aguilar, also a Democrat, having two years left in her term — for the first time.

Ocksrider, also a native New Mexican, has practiced law for 17 years, 10 of those in civil litigation, before transitioning into estate, business and tax law. He said his education and being an attorney “is a valuable thing to have up at the PRC and I think in that particular forum, I have better qualifications.”

“Being a quasi-judicial position, someone with a legal background can understand the complexity of both the substantive and procedural law,” he said.

He is a newcomer to politics, although he’s not the first family member to step into the arena. His father, Charles B. Ocksrider, who was an assistant adjutant general – air in the New Mexico National Guard, served in the state House in the 1970s.

Ocksrider said he would strive to provide a fair forum for all stakeholders involved in PRC proceedings.

“I’m a little leery of any commissioner who will say, ‘I’m looking at the consumer all the time,’ because that’s not the function of the commissioner,” he said.

Oksrider said he would be attentive to how PRC policies would affect the state’s economic development. “I think a lot of decisions of the PRC do have an impact on how business is performed in this state,” he said.

Opposing tougher qualifications

Both candidates oppose a proposed constitutional amendment that would enable the Legislature to set qualifications for PRC members, a reaction in large part to the Block scandal and others involving past commission members.

Montoya said voters are the best judges of the candidates and that qualifications wouldn’t necessarily ensure ethical behavior. Ocksrider said he wonders why a commissioner would need more qualifications than the president or a senator, saying it’s “better to have the door open and have people see their qualifications.”

Both candidates support a constitutional amendment that would transfer the corporate registration division of the PRC to the secretary of state, Ocksrider calling it “a natural fit” and Montoya noting it “is not a regulatory job.”

Ocksrider supports the constitutional amendment to transfer the PRC’s authority over insurance to a superintendent of insurance appointed by an independent committee, saying the size of the industry justifies having a stand-alone agency. Montoya opposes the measure. She believes the superintendent should continue to be appointed by the PRC and stay under its jurisdiction. “If any protests come up, it is better to have an elected body decide the outcomes,” she said.

Renewable mandates

Montoya said the state’s renewable energy mandates from the Legislature for utilities and PRC-set diversity rules — requiring them to achieve a specific mix of renewables in their portfolios — are “very aggressive and I am very much in favor of that,” saying a mix of energy is “vital at this point.”

Ocksrider said while the PRC’s “hands are tied” on the renewable mandates, he thinks the diversity rule needs to be looked at. “My opinion is the technology that is the best, reliable and cost-efficient should be used. If that is wind over solar, so be it,” he said, adding that utilities should be able to invest in renewables of their choice as long as they help achieve the overall goal of reducing the carbon footprint.

Both candidates said they would have voted to grant PNM’s request to close its payment centers to reduce expenses, believing PNM justified the request. The PRC this summer decided the centers should stay open two days a week.

“In my opinion, we give ample opportunity for people to pay their bills,” Montoya said.

“You have to figure out your staffing for two days a week, which is a significant problem… I’m not sure of the logic behind the ruling,” Ocksrider said.