Journal North:  Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment

          Front Page  north

Friday, April 22, 2005

Governor's Actions Criticized

By Martin Salazar
Journal Staff Writer
    ESPAÑOLA— Emilio Naranjo— the legendary party boss who held a firm grip on Rio Arriba County politics for decades— says Gov. Bill Richardson was "wrong as hell" for appointing Thomas Rodella to the county's magistrate bench.
    Naranjo, who turned 89 on Thursday, invited the Journal to his modest lower San Pedro home earlier this week where he discussed everything from his days in the state senate to the job he thinks the governor is doing. Though it's been nearly nine years since he lost his bid for another state senate term, the legendary northern New Mexico patrón hasn't lost his appetite for politics.
    "I'm an old man, my friend, but I'm still sharp on politics," he said, while sitting at the folding table he uses as a desk inside a home office crammed with political memorabilia. "I hope I'll see another presidential election."
    Naranjo said many good people applied for the vacant magistrate judgeship.
    "I don't want to get involved in names, but this was a terrible appointment that (the governor) made, and it's going to cost him thousands of votes," he said, referring to the governor's appointment of Rodella, a former State Police sergeant. "People are talking about this ... He gave a slap to the citizens of Rio Arriba."
    Richardson has repeatedly defended his choice and did so again Thursday afternoon after being confronted with Naranjo's remarks.
    "On Rodella, he (Thomas Rodella) has wide support in Rio Arriba," Richardson said outside the Taos convention center after delivering a speech to the International Hispanic Network. The governor said his office has received many calls from Rio Arriba residents supporting the appointment.
    Rodella, husband of state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-San Juan Pueblo, ran for sheriff during the June Democratic primary in 2002 and came in second to Joe Mascareñas.
    While the governor hasn't changed his mind about Rodella, he acknowledged that screening procedures for judicial appointments need to be tightened.
   
Accusations
    Rodella, who was sworn in last week, has been accused of improprieties.
    While working for State Police in the early 1990s, he was investigated for using his position to have traffic tickets dismissed to help his wife's legislative campaign. The governor has said he didn't know about that internal affairs probe when he made the appointment.
    Rodella also was suspended from the department for 30 days for firing at a deer decoy. And he has also faced election-related complaints for activities during his wife's campaigns.
    Naranjo, who was in power when Richardson was making his way up New Mexico's political ladder, also said Richardson should focus on his gubernatorial responsibilities and not on capturing the presidency.
    "I think he's done some good to New Mexico as governor," said Naranjo, known to friends and enemies alike as Emilio. "He should remain as governor and stop dreaming of being president of the United States. It'll never happen."
    Richardson said Thursday that his attention is squarely focused on his gubernatorial duties.
    "My main objective is to get re-elected and do a good job in New Mexico," he said.
    Richardson has long been mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate. The governor this week addressed many of the country's newspaper owners and editors in San Francisco for the Newspaper Association of America's annual convention.
    "I know by his actions that he wishes he would be president of the United States," Naranjo said. But he added that he doesn't think the people "are going with it."
   
Presidential politics
    Naranjo said he doesn't think the governor knows New Mexico politics very well and blamed him for U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee last year, failing to walk away with New Mexico's five electoral votes. President Bush won the state by just over 6,000 votes. Following the election, Richardson said he had worked hard to get Kerry elected.
    "I tried very hard to transfer my political capital to him," Richardson said at the time. "The problem is, it's difficult to do that in a national race, particularly a vote for president, which is very personal."
    Richardson, Naranjo said, should have taken Kerry to the northwest part of the state.
    "He never went there, and I'm sure someone with the right direction and knowing New Mexico politics would have taken him there," Naranjo said. "It would have made the difference."
    He also criticized the governor's leadership style, saying he engages in too much self-promotion and often acts like a dictator.
    "I think he's taking his office, coming out praising himself and building himself and nothing more," Naranjo said.
    But despite the harsh words he had for Richardson, Naranjo said he still believes in him.
    "I wish Bill Richardson a lot of happiness, and I hope he gets re-elected governor."
    Naranjo served as chairman of the Rio Arriba County Democratic Party from 1953 until he stepped down in 1995. For much of those four decades, getting on Naranjo's slate of candidates was a prerequisite for getting into public office in Rio Arriba County.
    Naranjo was also sheriff and county manager of Rio Arriba, and he served as a state senator for 19 years.