Rio Grande Foundation
Paul had a chance recently to sit down with Mark and Krysty Ronchetti on the latest edition of the “No Doubt About It” podcast. We mostly discussed the Gov.’s recently-adoptetd EV mandate but also looked ahead to the upcoming legislative session and some other critical issues facing New Mexicans.
Check out the conversation below:
KRQE Channel 13 did a very good story on the meetings currently being held at the Environmental Improvement Board that could dramatically curtail your ability to buy a gas powered vehicle in New Mexico.
Aside from RGF’s brief comment at the end there are some well-done comments throughout including from Sen. George Muñoz, a leading Democrat in the Legislature who opposes fellow Democrat Lujan Grisham’s overreach on this issue. Kudos to Sen. Muñoz.
Even if you take everything the climate alarmist lobby has to say about CO2 emissions and climate change at face value, the problem is NOT here in the United States, it is coming from China and to an extent India and nothing we can do here in the US (let alone New Mexico) will mitigate against that. See story below and map/chart below that.
In the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic the Keller Administration spent $97,000 of taxpayer dollars to publish book; sold fewer than 100 copies. The City’s inspector general trashed the project as a “waste of taxpayer money.”
We concur and shared as much with KOAT TV Channel 7. You can see the report here.
Not only was Mayor Keller’s performance as Mayor during COVID 19 poor (largely following the Gov.’s lockdown approach), but this book was clearly written as a campaign piece in support of the Mayor, not as a “after action report” to facilitate understanding of the policies that worked and didn’t work both with Pandemic, but also the George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020.
Recently RGF President Paul Gessing sat down with KOAT TV Channel 7 to discuss some of the numerous problems with the City of Albuquerque’s “free” bus program. Sadly, the City Council on a 6-3 vote approved making the program “permanent.” Only three councilors (Lewis, Sanchez, and Grout) opposed the bill.
You can read the “study” which supposedly justifies the “free” bus program here.
The City of Albuquerque’s police department monitor James Ginger has been paid over $11 million. While the overall merits of what DoJ is doing with the City’s police department is up for debate, the City’s payments to Ginger have remained high even as the City increasingly complies with DoJ’s mandates.
RGF’s Paul Gessing had a chance to weigh in on Ginger’s ongoing payments in a recent story KOAT did on the topic. Find the story at link.
RGF president Paul Gessing recently sat down with KOAT TV Channel 7 to discuss Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara’s interesting approach to property tax assessments. The issue was discussed in more detail in a blog post here.
In addition to Gessing and Lara, the KOAT piece includes Doug Peterson, one of the largest landlords in New Mexico. While everyone wants to see properties maintained and filled with thriving businesses, those seem to be policy and enforcement considerations for the Mayor, City Council, and APD.
RGF president Paul Gessing sat down with KOAT TV to discuss the Mayor’s plans for a new stadium for the NM United Soccer team. The Rio Grande Foundation helped lead the opposition to a ballot measure that would have spent substantial tax dollars on a new stadium.
While not discussed in detail in the article, our primary concern is that City Council has a chance to fully vet and vote on the plan which would use city-owned land at Balloon Fiesta Park. The plan would (unfortunately) spend $13.5 million in State funding but we need to know what, if any, liabilities could be faced by Albuquerque taxpayers. It is also important to understand what the real impacts of the stadium will be on Balloon Fiesta Park’s parking situation and what alternatives could be undertaken with this land.
The Rio Grande Foundation recently analyzed workforce participation data for New Mexico and its neighboring states. Separate data from New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee was also discussed in the post.
This attracted the attention of KOAT Channel 7 which did an excellent report on RGF’s data and analysis including discussing the data with a UNM economist who added his cogent thoughts. Check out the KOAT report here.
The City of Albuquerque and State of New Mexico share the cost of cleaning up under Interstate highway underpasses. Unsurprisingly costs have skyrocketed since 2020 as the homeless problem has worsened and City leadership has refused to deal with the issue head-on. KOAT Channel 7 covered the issue and interviewed Paul Gessing about the problem and the costs it imposes. You can watch here.
In the wake of an LFC report stating that New Mexico taxpayers are spending $18 million annually on unused office space, Gov. Lujan Grisham (after the election) decided to require that all state employees return to their offices by the star of 2023.
According to news reports, however, the Gov. has rescinded that requirement. Employees will be required to return NEXT month at the start of February. This is another case of poor leadership from the Gov. COVID (and remote work) has been going on for nearly 3 years now. The Gov. and her team should have figured out who needs to be in the office 5 days a week and who doesn’t (and how to manage them effectively) by now.
Could some state buildings be shuttered and sold off? Should the locations of gov’t buildings be shifted to reduce commute times? How can we make sure remote employees are actually doing their work?
These aren’t easy questions, but they should have been answered long ago. RGF’s Paul Gessing appeared in a story on KOAT Channel 7 to discuss the issue. You can find his segment here and below and the first portion here.
