No Speech for You!

With each passing day, life inside the confines of the Albuquerque Journal must be getting weirder and weirder.  In addition to having little in the way of a firewall between their political agenda and their news reporting (and in some cases openly flaunting this journalistic taboo), the Albuquerque Journal has now anointed itself the sole [...]

More thoughts on Charter Task Force

Sitting through a two-hour meeting is not usually my idea of fun. But I have to say that attending the highly-charged City Charter Revision Task Force meeting on April 23 was pretty fascinating.
Charter Task Force meetings are usually sparsely attended, but this one was packed. In the audience were representatives of at least a dozen [...]

City Charter Task Force: What the Journal Won’t Tell You

This week’s editorial diatribes masquerading as new coverage of the Charter Revision Task Force were just the latest of many examples of the Journal’s focused attack on nonprofits. We have no issue with the Journal editorializing about whatever it wants – on its editorial page. That is, in fact, the job of an editorial page. But when that perspective drives the news reporting, we need to call them out for it.

A Transforming Force — Enlace Communtario

Successful social programs don’t always take a whole lot of money.
Sometimes they just take a bit of thought and a whole lot of heart.
Consider the promotora program at Enlace Comunitario, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that provides services and counseling to those in the city’s Spanish-speaking immigrant community who are victims of domestic violence.
The promotora (literally, promoter) [...]

Week in Rewind: More on TIDDs, Monahan’s ego, Animal Spirits, Blockgate, NM’s New Media, Bogus Polls and Val Kilmer too

Just now recovered from the legislative session. Here’s a buffet of the past week’s posts to re-taste and savor.
Downfall of the SunCal TIDD revisited: It came down to the wee hours of the session — David vs. Goliath and you know how that one came out.  Read all about it.
Environment Wins in Final Hours of [...]

Senator Michael Sanchez: Manipulations, Maneuvers and Manny

While nothing surprises me much at the Roundhouse these days, Senator Michael Sanchez pulled a major shocker out of his hat yesterday afternoon on the Senate Floor.
With Lt. Governor Diane Denish out of the chair and Senator Tim Jennings presiding, Senator Sanchez moved Senate Bill 652 for discussion, literally leap-frogging it ahead of hundreds of [...]

Tightening the Noose on Nonprofits: The Hidden Hand of Leadership

Representative Ken Martinez (D-Grants) was oddly absent in House Voters and Elections Committee Tuesday morning when it gave a “Do Pass” nod to a committee substitute for HB808, one of the bills designed to impose new burdens on local non-profit organizations that engage in public education work on legislative issues.
Although formally sponsored by Rep. Paul [...]