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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sloan 'Intends To Stay' on PRC
By Dan Boyd
Journal Staff Writer
Six days after she was found guilty of two felony charges, Public Regulation Commissioner Carol Sloan's status on the PRC remains up in the air.
Sloan didn't attend the PRC's regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, and her office was dark and empty.
However, fellow PRC Commissioner David King said that he spoke with Sloan by telephone Tuesday and that Sloan told him she might attend a meeting later this week.
"She said she intends to stay on at this point," King said.
Sloan, a Democrat, will be barred from seeking re-election due to her conviction last week in Gallup of attacking another woman whom she believed was having an affair with Sloan's husband. She faces up to 12 years in prison when sentenced on May 20.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties have called on Sloan to resign her $90,000-per-year position on the five-member PRC.
CAP THIS: Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner is turning to the courts to oppose an environmental initiative of Gov. Bill Richardson's administration.
Turner filed a petition for a temporary restraining order Monday in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, seeking to stop the state's Environment Department from enacting a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. At issue is whether New Mexico should participate in a regional cap-and-trade program being organized by the Western Climate Initiative, made up of four Canadian provinces and several states.
Turner's campaign said cap-and-trade regulations, if implemented, would be a blow to the state's economy, but Environment Secretary Ron Curry called Turner's petition premature, because the state has yet to move forward with the proposal, The Associated Press reported.
Turner isn't the only candidate to speak out against the cap-and-trade idea.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who's seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, has also spoken out against the idea, and the four other Republican gubernatorial candidates — Allen Weh, Janice Arnold-Jones, Susana Martinez and Pete Domenici Jr. — have also categorically stated their opposition.
A separate proposal filed by an environmental group to cap greenhouse emissions was put on hold by a state judge Tuesday. The judge ordered the state Environmental Improvement Board to halt consideration of the proposal until he decides whether the EIB has the authority to do so.
TRANSPARENCY: New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera unveiled a new campaign finance database Monday that she described as quite a bargain.
Herrera had pledged to overhaul the Secretary of State's Office campaign finance reporting system since first being elected to the position in 2006.
The new Campaign Finance Information System uses software developed by Washington state. Officials in that state agreed to share it with New Mexico, Herrera said.
As a result, she said the cost of implementing the new database ended up being $176,500, much less than other states have spent on similar systems.
"The new system gives our state the best chance for transparent government," she said.
To check out the new database, go to www.cfis.state.nm.us
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