Dems! Don’t miss the 2023 Ward/Precinct Elections and CCC Meetings

During the upcoming 2023 Democratic Party of Bernalillo County (DPBC) Ward, Precinct and County Central Committee (CCC) elections, active Dems will have the opportunity to gather (in person) and vote (online) for Ward and Precinct officers and additional members of the County Central Committee (CCC). Some of us may run for those offices. All of us will have the opportunity to elect leaders who support issues we care about.

The process begins with registration, Feb 1 – Feb 15, followed by in-person gatherings from Feb 18 through Mar 5. The voting period is Mar 7 to 11 and the CCC meeting happens Mar 25. Visit our DPBC website, where you’ll find the connections and information you need to register, participate, and stay in the know every step of the way.

Purposeful Progressive Change

By Jennie Lusk

The purpose of New Mexico’s progressive change is true transformation.

No more just “making do” with what we have, which won't get us where we need to go. In this rarest of times, the State has money—historic sums—to spend on an agenda that can establish a path to New Mexico's brightest future.

Progressive change is possible when there is enough money to make ends meet and do more. With the transformative profits the State has right now from extractive industries, it is actually possible to provide healthy beginnings for its children, and for their parents to understand the limits and potential for human development. Profits from oil and gas production can provide for an affordable and competitive education for New Mexico's students, financial stimulation for the success of its businesses, security for its elders, and a sustainable environment for all generations.

The profits will not last forever, so a responsible and progressive government sets money aside—as the State is doing with approximately a third of the severance tax income—and puts its money to work. While we have the windfall, we have a precious opportunity to expand the scale of necessary change and to right the scales of justice.

The long-time chair of the bicameral, bipartisan interim Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) at the legislature, Sen. John Arthur Smith, was defeated after his long opposition to the Early Childhood amendment that diverts a tiny percent of the State’s land grant permanent fund to early childhood education. In part because of his stubborn insistence that New Mexico could not afford this investment in children and their parents, it took more than 10 years to fund a permanent set of programs to support child and family health and learning. A coalition of labor unions, environmental groups, and reproductive rights organizations worked together to defeat Sen. Smith and end his 1989-2020 stint at the legislature.

Rep. Javier Martinez, the newly elected Speaker of the House, was a sponsor of some of the early childhood bills that Smith (not-too-affectionately called “Dr. No”) thwarted in his position on LFC. Smith’s departure has given us a chance to change the lives of generations to come. Only after Sen. Smith’s defeat, the legislature was able to get the amendment to the people last November, finally making the funding possible and permanent.

As one of his first acts as Speaker, Rep. Martinez replaced Rep. Patricia Lundstrom with progressive Rep. Nathan Small of Dona Ana County to lead the LFC. Rep. Lundstrom, an economist with the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corp. (GGEDC), who has been chair or vice-chair of the LFC since at least 2019 and sometimes served with Smith, continues her legislative career that spans more than two decades and is still doing the good she can for her constituents. However, she has made inopportune statements implying that replacing her will lead to profligate spending by Rep. Martinez and the progressives. The statements have been less than gracious about the Speaker's reasonable, responsible shift in economic approach, if accurately quoted.

Some have speculated about the Speaker’s reasoning in replacing Rep. Lundstrom, saying the removal is payback or punishment for political contributions Rep. Lundstrom made. Whether his reasoning is ever known or explained, the Speaker undeniably had the authority to make the replacement. He appears to have a vision for what New Mexico should—and can—be.

Rep. Small is a conservationist with New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and former Las Cruces city councilor. Elected in 2017, he has served as Vice-Chair of House Appropriations, prior to the new LFC appointment. According to Rep. Small’s website, he has led the fight to cut the gross receipts tax, eliminate the tax on Social Security income, and support rebates for working families. His legislative priorities include bills supporting the principle that health care is a human right, increasing Medicaid support for behavioral healthcare and substance use disorder treatment, and bills to support affordable housing.

With the solid Democratic power in our state legislature and especially with the political engineering of the new House speaker, progressives can guide us toward transformation—not pretending the State’s economic problems will disappear, but investing in renewable resources including human resources. By making investments in the health and well-being of people who have had to “make do” for far too long, the new legislative leadership could strengthen New Mexico’s people so we’ll have a better chance to avert or survive the hard times most people expect.

Meanwhile, legislators pushing for transformational change need our support. Let’s give it.

Sen. Pope's Policing Procedures Bill

By Sen. Harold Pope, Jr.

Used by permission of the author

This session we have a huge opportunity to come together in order to fix our broken policing system. That’s what so many people here in New Mexico and across the nation are demanding of us.

Here are the facts: every year, New Mexico has one of the highest, if not the highest, rate of killings by police in the country. According to data from Mapping Police Violence, police in New Mexico killed 27 people in 2021; by comparison, police in New York killed 25 people that year, even though New York has more than nine times our population. In the last decade, more than 200 of our neighbors here in New Mexico were killed by police – including 31 in the last year alone. And, of course, we know that sadly, people of color, unhoused people, and people experiencing mental health crises are particularly impacted when police misuse force.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can all agree that it’s possible to strike a balance between keeping our communities safe and giving police officers the tools they need to do their jobs without giving them a blank check for when they can use force. That’s why I’m proud to be introducing the Law Enforcement Officer Procedures Act in the state Senate as one step toward policing that lives up to our values of fairness, equity, and justice under the law.

As a retired Air Force officer, I know how important it is to have strong, clear and consistent rules of engagement and policies on escalation of force. There’s no reason why policing should be any different. Under this bill, officers will be required to exhaust any available de-escalation tactics before resorting to force. Any force they do use must be proportionate to the threat they are facing; deadly force can only be used when necessary to protect human life.

These aren’t radical proposals – they’re common-sense best practices. In fact, evidence shows that officers who serve in departments with more rigorous use of force policies are less likely to be injured or killed in the line of duty, and they are also less likely to harm or kill members of the public. New Mexicans deserve to trust that calling a police officer will help make a situation safer – not cause it to end in tragedy. New levels of transparency from our police departments will go a long way toward rebuilding the trust between police and the communities they serve. The Law Enforcement Officer Procedures Act would also improve transparency by creating a database that will help ensure we sufficiently vet new officers so bad apples aren’t improperly hired.

I was elected to the New Mexico Senate in 2020, on the heels of a major reckoning in our country around race and police violence. I promised myself and our communities that I would work to find common-sense solutions to this issue that are rooted in facts and keep the public and police officers safe.

Law enforcement is a tough job and I’m grateful to the many New Mexicans who work hard to keep their communities safe. With common-sense measures we can become a leader in police professionalization and make sure that all of us are safer.

Sen. Pope has represented District 23 in the New Mexico Senate since 2021.

A link to the Law Enforcement Procedures Act (SB252): https://nmlegis.gov/Sessions/23%20Regular/bills/senate/SB0252.pdf

Green Amendment: What it is & What it isn’t

February 2, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Join Maya van Rossum and a panel of experts to discuss what the Green Amendment is, why NM needs it,and how it has been implemented in Pennsylvania and NY. There is a great deal of misinformation swirling around the legislature. This Zoominar will orient you to changes in this year’s legislation and help you better advocate with your legislators. Panelists:

* Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, is a NM State Senator and longtime community leader focused on the critical social, economic, environmental, and civil rights issues affecting the lives of all New Mexicans. After serving as Law Professor at UNM for more than twenty-five years—including eight years as Associate Dean—she became the executive director of a non-profit serving victims of domestic violence in the Latino immigrant community of Central New Mexico. Her years of community involvement and legal expertise exceptionally qualify her to serve her district while at the state capital.

* Maya van Rossum, founder of the Green Amendment for the Generations movement, an author of The Green Amendment, a book outlining the case for why we need constitutional protection of our right to clean, air, water and land. For over two years, Maya has been working with environmental activists to pass the Environmental Rights Act, AKA Green Amendment in NM.

* Mark L. Freed, Esq. of Pennsylvania is a partner at Curtin & Heefner LLP with a focus on Public Sector Law and Environmental Law and Litigation. Freed has worked on the responsible and strategic implementation of PA’s Green Amendment in a number of cases and assisted in promoting Green Amendment legislation across the country. He will speak about how the Green Amendment has been implemented in PA.

* Todd D. Ommen of New York is the Managing Attorney at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc. and a Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. He closely studied and advocated for the passage of NY’s Green Amendment, which passed in 2021. He now works with a team of environmental advocates and attorneys in NY to ensure the best implementation of NY’s Green Amendment and to educate members of the public and government officials on their new rights and obligations.

**You must register to participate**

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pMqi7DO8RPa20IbFxmkkJQ

SPARC CD-1 CONFERENCE & COMMUNITY ROUND TABLE, FEB. 11, 2023

February 11, 2023 from 10:00 am to 2:15 pm

4013 Silver Avenue SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108

The State Platform and Resolutions Committee will hold its 2023 Congressional District 1 Conference and Community Round Table on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023. Join in panel and community discussions on (1) Healthcare and Reproductive Rights; (2) Housing Justice; and (3) Sustainable Development Panel. Panelists will include Dan Frampton, Sharla Parsons, Michelle Melendez, Robert Blanquera Nelson, Santiago Maestas, Jorge Garcia, and Claudia Isaac. Most important, SPARC wants to hear from you in the three 45-minute community discussion segments.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AgR7ditTAfUKqZWD3aoxD9lezUHHfoGYjRdte968V_Q/edit

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89245195234?pwd=Q01LbkdCK3UzRk5UQ1lSSFZSSFAxZz09

The midterm election showed us just how important it is to reach younger voters using the communication channels they use. We stepped up to the challenge!

We've created a TikTok channel and we'd love for you to join us there & give us a follow!

There are a couple of very fun videos featuring DPBC 1st Vice Chair Danny Leiva, and Young Dems member Danny Bernal Jr. for you to enjoy, and there's more to come! The images to the left are not clickable from here, so to see the fun content, you'll have to.....