Susana OKs Medicaid expansion
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 9th, 2013
Saying “this decision comes down to what is best for New Mexicans,” Gov. Susana Martinez decided Wednesday (Jan. 9) to accept the federal government’s offer to expand Medicaid across the state in a move that’s estimated to affect 170,000 people in New Mexico.
“We have an obligation to provide an adequate level of basic health care services for those most in need in our state,” Gov. Martinez said in a statement. “However, we also have an obligation to ensure our state’s financial security. In deciding to expand Medicaid, I weighed every possible outcome and impact.”
The decision has been awaited for months, with health care advocates arguing that the federal government’s initial offering to cover 100 percent of the expansion was too good to pass up while opponents argued that the feds have a history of grossly underestimating the costs of large government programs and critics fear the expansion could leave the state government on the hook for millions of dollars down the road.
Martinez acknowledged those concerns, saying, “Unfortunately, we know that out-of-control federal spending can create uncertainty for these kinds of programs. If the federal government breaks its promise and begins to cut their reimbursement rate, we will be forced to scale back this expansion.”
But the decision has been made and many Democrats across the state were delighted.
“I’m really happy it happening,” outgoing state Sen. Dede Feldman (D-Albuquerque) told Capitol Report New Mexico moments after the decision was announced. “I think it’s the best choice for New Mexico medically and morally.”
Across the country, Medicaid has become the fastest-growing portion of state budgets. In the upcoming fiscal year, Medicaid spending in New Mexico is expected to take up $940 million. Only spending on public schools is larger.
A number of states headed by Republican governors have passed on the Medicaid expansion plan that moves from 100 percent payment by the feds in the first three years to 90 percent by 2020. The program goes into effect in 2014.
So far, 10 states have declined the Medicaid expansion offer (Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas) and 17 (plus the District of Columbia) have accepted it (counting New Mexico). Last month, another western state headed by a Republican governor — Nevada and Gov. Brian Sandoval — OK’d the expansion.
One of the critics of Medicaid expansion is Dr. Deane Waldman, a pediatric cardiologist, who told Capitol Report New Mexico back in August, “Although it looks on paper like it’s a good deal, it’s a very bad deal.”
Waldman insists the Medicaid expansion will increase government subsidies and decrease patient care.
“Let’s say [the federal government] fulfills their promises, which I have questions about … it’s not free money,” Waldman said. “Where’s it coming from? Ultimately, we have to pay the debt of the money they’re printing … Five years from now [New Mexico] can’t reduce the eligibility requirements. That would be against the law. And if the money’s not there, we, New Mexico, is going to have to pay for it.”
But Feldman counters by saying that expansion “should be good news for New Mexico’s hospitals .. this will help them make up for some of their losses” and that “New Mexico can make adjustments later on.”
“We have so many who are uninsured who show at emergency rooms,” Feldman said. “This will alleviate that somewhat.”
The governor said she spoke US Health and Human Services Department Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier today, and said Sebelius ”committed to working with the governor to sign New Mexico’s Centennial Care waiver.”
Centennial Care is a Medicaid modernization plan designed by Human Services Secretary Sidonie Squier that aims to reduce unnecessary spending and coordinating care across the state.
Should the feds renege on their promises, Martinez said in her statement, “we must protect our kids and protect our budget by ensuring that the most recent additions to the Medicaid program are the first ones moved off.”
In the months leading up to the debate, economist Lee Reynis at the University of New Mexico not only said “Medicaid expansion … pretty much pays for itself” but that her modeling predicted that 1,500 new jobs in health care will be created by 2014, 5,000 new jobs will be added by 2020 at that spending by those new workers resulting in additional hiring that she says could lead to 10,000 jobs across the state.
A number of fiscal conservatives have expressed skepticism about those numbers but on Wednesday, Gov. Martinez made her decision.
“I think this is good news for rank and file people of New Mexico,” Feldman said.
****
Update 1/10: Dr. Waldman called us Thursday and elaborated on his criticism:
“This is a very bad deal,” he said, questioning some of the assumptions built into the expansion and the cost of creating the bureaucracy to run it. “And even if they up sign up close to 200,000 people, who the hell is going to take care of them,” Waldman said. “There are no new doctors, no new nurses … Even if they get covered that doesn’t mean they’ll get care.” Waldman also said that he’s seen statistics showing that “31 to 32 percent of doctors can’t afford to take Medicaid. Now it’s only going to get worse.”
(Full disclosure: Dr. Deane Waldman is an adjunct scholar for the Rio Grande Foundation, which funds Capitol Report New Mexico.)
“Prudent” budget recommendation from Democrats and Republicans in legislature
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 9th, 2013
LFC Chairman and state Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) at news conference, 1/9/13
Democrats and Republicans on the influential Legislative Finance Committee unveiled their budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year on Wednesday (Jan. 9) that calls for spending $5.88 billion from the state’s general fund — a $233 million increase from the previous fiscal year.
“It’s a prudent budget,” committee vice-chairman Luciano “Lucky” Varela (D-Santa Fe) told reporters of the recommendations that all 16 members of the LFC — Republicans as well as Democrats — signed off on.
Tomorrow (Jan. 10), Gov. Susana Martinez and her staff are expected to release their own recommendations. Then, starting on Jan. 15 when the new, 60-day legislative session begins, everyone will try to hammer out a deal.
“This is just the beginning, a starting point,” Rep. Varela said.
Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela at LFC news conference, 1/9/13
“This isn’t exactly what the (Martinez) administration will put forth, but it’s very close,” Rep. Larry Larrañaga (R-Albuquerque) said.
The LFC recommendation amounts to a 4.1 percent increase over last year’s budget. That may seems like a healthy figure but the committee’s figures represents a cautious approach that leaves the general fund reserves at 12 percent, which is considered a safe amount.
“We’re going to move gingerly,” committee chairman John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) said, pointing to uncertainties on the federal level (sequestration and upcoming debt ceiling talks on Capitol Hill) that could leave New Mexico’s economy — which is so dependent on dollars from Washington DC — vulnerable.
“It is imperative we proceed with caution,” Sen. Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas) said.
The New Mexico economy has been struggling. All the other surrounding states have seen a net growth in the past year while New Mexico has seen a net loss.
Gov. Martinez wants to cut the state’s corporate tax rate from 7.6 percent to 4.9 percent to make it comparable to neighboring states to help jump-start jobs.
Some critics might point to the LFC recommendations as too cautious but Rep. Varela said, “We need to make sure that tax cuts the administration proposes … really grow our jobs in New Mexico.”
“In general, the committee avoided adding new programs or, with the exception of early childhood (services), expanding exisiting programs,” Sen. Smith said. “But just taking care of basic government operations used most of the revenue growth. The state budget continues to be under great pressure.”
About a quarter of the state’s revenues come from severance taxes from the oil and gas industries and one of the concerns looking ahead is the potential for natural gas prices falling.
“The oil industry has been extremely generous to us this year,” Smith said. “That’s most where this ($233 spending increase) came from.”
“I personally feel lucky to be in a state with rich oil reserves,” Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort (R-Albuquerque) said.
Here’s a quick look at some of the LFC recommendations:
*$5.88 billion in spending from the state’s general fund
*1 percent pay increase for state employees, including public school teachers and staff — which would be the first raise since 2008
*an increase of 3.7 percent for public schools
*an increase of 3.7 percent for higher education
*an increase of 3.9 percent for Medicaid
*an increase of 3.7 percent for the Department of Public Safety
You can click here for a copy of the news release the LFC handed out this morning.
And if you really want to take a swan dive into the numbers, click here for a 147-page volume of the details of the recommendations.
EXCLUSIVE: Mary Kay Papen says she “definitely has the votes” to become the new Senate Pro Tem
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 8th, 2013
Sen. Mary Kay Papen (D-Dona Ana County)
State Sen. Mary Kay Papen (D-Las Cruces) told Capitol Report New Mexico on Tuesday night (Jan. 8) that she “definitely has the votes” and and will become the next Senate Pro Tem.
“I know I’ve got the votes,” Sen. Papen said, adding, “I’m extremely confident … I think I have a minimum of 7 and as many as 10 votes.”
One of the most influential members of the New Mexico Legislature also told Capitol Report New Mexico the same thing.
“I was informed in Albuquerque today at a meeting that she has the votes that will get her over the hurdle,” state Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) said. “We believe it will be a bi-partisan vote … I was assured today that she definitely has the votes.”
Last month, Senate Democrats met in their party caucus and selected Sen. Pete Campos of Las Vegas over Papen to replace the former Pro Tem, Tim Jennings, who was ousted after 33 years in office in the November elections.
But the vote was not unanimous and since then, Campos and Papen have been jockeying for the leadership position, which is crucial in determining which senators as assigned to committees and — more important — who chairs Senate committees.
To get elected Pro Tem, all the Senate members take a vote on the floor on the first day of the legislative session, which begins on Jan. 15 this year.
Democrats hold a 25-17 edge but if all the Republicans vote as a bloc then it would take just four Democrats to force a 21-21 tie. In that case, it’s generally accepted that the lieutenant governor would come in to cast the tie-breaking vote.
It’s considered a slam-dunk that Republican Lt. Governor John Sanchez would cast his vote for Papen rather than Campos.
Sen. Smith said “from what I heard today” Papen has more than four votes, which would not require Lt. Governor Sanchez to intervene. Smith nominated Papen for Pro Tem at last month’s caucus.
Papen said she spoke to a number of senators today “and they said they will stand by me. They are not rolling.”
We called Sen. Campos at his home Tuesday night and he said, “I’m just going to continue to work and talk to members all the way to the end … I’ll do the best I can. I will say I will serve as a fair Pro Tem and I’m dedicated to the whole Senate.”
“I have not been promising people anything,” Papen said. “I’ve not been promising chairmanships. I’ve told people, ‘I promise I will use your talents wherever we can use them.’ ” However, Papen did say “It’s important we have people in (New Mexico’s) north and south in leadership.”
“The issues at hand — without getting into either personality — is the tool set that needs to be present in the Pro Tem,” Smith said, listing “the ability to communicate with the executive (Gov. Susana Martinez), the ability to communicate with the minority party and the ability to get along with the majority party.”
“I will work across the aisle and work with the governor,” Papen said. “When we work together, it’s good for all of New Mexico … It’s about time to not talk partisanship but let’s talk about New Mexico.”
Update 1/9: While attending a news conference Wednesday morning concerning the Legislative Finance Committee’s budget recommendations, Sen. Papen confirmed to other reporters what she told Capitol Report New Mexico.
“I know I have the votes,” Papen said.
Asked if her successful challenge of Sen. Campos might cause a split or dissension among Senate Democats, Papen said, “I hope not. I would hope that we would come together because it’s got to be about New Mexico. It’s got to not to be about this party or that party or the executive or the legislature, its got to be about New Mexico.”
Ben Hall elected as new PRC chairman
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 8th, 2013
Ben Hall, PRC commissioner, after being named chairman, 1/8/12
The Public Regulation Commission has a history of controversy — after all, it’s an entity that has seen two former commissioners arrested and another one sued for sexual harassment — but on Tuesday (Jan. 8), there were no fireworks after commissioners selected a new chairman on a 3-2 vote.
Ben Hall defeated Theresa Becenti-Aguilar, replacing Pat Lyons, who served as chairman for the past two years and like Becenti-Aguilar, will remain on the PRC as commissioners in their respective districts.
“I did two years,” Lyons said after the vote. “We’ll give Ben a shot.”
Lyons had wanted to remain as chairman but last Thursday, the first PRC meeting of 2013 turned contentious after one of the new members of the PRC, Karen Montoya, nominated fellow Democrat Becenti-Aguilar to replace Lyons, a Republican. Hall, a Republican, successfully called for tabling the election until the next meeting, which irritated Becenti-Aguilar.
On Tuesday, Lyons stepped aside and along with new member Valerie Espinoza voted for Hall as new chairman. Montoya voted for Becenti-Aguilar. Hall and Becenti-Aguilar voted for themselves, hence the 3-2 decision.
Espinoza, a Democrat, will be the new vice-chair.
“It was a divided commission and I wanted to keep them all together,” Lyons said.
Lyons and Hall said before the vote that they each didn’t think Becenti-Aguilar had the experience to take over as chair. Afterwards, Becenti-Aguilar said she has no hard feelings.
“I will continue to work to change the culture at the PRC,” she said. “I want to make sure we don’t go backwards.”
Theoretically, the PRC chairman doesn’t have any more clout than the other four commissioners, but the chair does lead commission meetings and actively handles the PRC’s budget.
“One of us had to lose,” Hall said after the vote. “I hope I can do as good a job as (Lyons) did.”
The plain-spoken Hall, a 76-year-old former building contractor and three-term member of of the New Mexico House of Representatives who lives in Ruidoso, has plenty of opinions and he’s not afraid to share them:
*”We’re still in the process of making the PRC acceptable out on the streets as a good working agency of state government and that’s my top priority.”
*A critic of the PRC reform amendments that passed the legislature and were approved by New Mexico voters in November, Hall said that while he opposed the amendments, “I can live with ‘em” but later added that if there are any further plans for changing the PRC, prepare for a fight. “There’s going to be some crazy bills coming up, I’m sure … (But) anytime anybody tries to tear anything away from the PRC anymore I’m going to oppose it,” he said.
*Hall said there are still changes that need to be made within the commission. “There are people coming and going as they please here. There are people who have too many (government) cars. There are too many people who misuse the rules here. I’m here every day and I see it every day. And this door is open to any staff member who wants to tell me what’s going on.”
*He criticized as “too cumbersome” the process of utilities going through the regulatory process. “This can be made a lot simpler in my opinion,” Hall said, pointing to a recent PNM rate case that he said went on for “5,000 to 6,000 pages for PNM and it took 2,000 pages for (the PRC)” to answer. “It’s a lawyer’s dream,” Hall said. “I’ve always said this, the PRC is a haven for attorneys.”
*Of how he sees his responsibilities, Hall said, “I don’t side with the utility companies, I don’t side 100 percent with the rate payers or shareholders. It’s my job to split the middle.”
*And regarding the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station that the state, PNM and the Environmental Protection Agency have been arguing about, Hall said, “San Juan is a big issue … that furnishes half the electricity or power in the state of New Mexico so we just can’t shut it down. If you do, all of us will be without electricity.”
In Hall’s office is a framed picture of John Wayne. Expect more unvarnished cowboy talk in the coming two years of his chairmanship.
Heather’s done as a candidate
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 7th, 2013
Heather Wilson
It looks like Heather Wilson’s campaigning days are over for good.
In late November, the Albuquerque Journal reported that the former congresswoman had “probably” run her last race after losing by 6 points to Democrat Martin Heinrich to replace Jeff Bingaman in the US Senate.
On Monday (Jan. 7), the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call was more definitive, saying that her loss to Heinrich “would be her last run for public office.”
Roll Call quoted Wilson:
“I’ve done my time, and it’s not my intention to run for office again,” Wilson said. “So I’m moving on to other things, most likely higher education. I’ll probably also likely serve on some corporate boards.”
Since November, she added, “I’ve managed to get my garage clean and my kitchen pantry repainted.”
Wilson served five terms in the US House of Representatives, from 1999-2009.
Tom Udall says his filibuster proposal is not a power grab for Senate Dems
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 7th, 2013
Filibuster, in the traditional and common understanding of the term
Since getting elected to the US Senate, one of Tom Udall‘s pet projects has been to change the filibuster rules he says clog things up on the Senate floor.
Sen. Udall’s wish may come true later this month but it even has some fellow Democrats worried.
Despite that, Udall told Capitol Report New Mexico he’s optimistic that the filibuster will be overhauled:
“I think we’ll have the votes to change the rules at the beginning of the Congress,” Udall said while in Santa Fe Monday afternoon (Jan. 7), adding that the Senate has become “a graveyard for good ideas.”
Right now, it’s easy for the minority party to filibuster legislation in the Senate.
Normally, when people hear the word “filibuster” they think of Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” talking endlessly at his desk on the Senate floor to the point of collapse.
Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico)
But currently, all that’s required is for senators to approach their leaders — or even a colleague — and say they object to what’s before the chamber. That leads to the Senate invoking a rule requiring that 60 votes in the 100-member chamber be needed to resume action.Udall wants that changed by insisting that if a senator wants to filibuster, he or she must actually speak on the floor continuously. Udall calls it the “talking filibuster.”
He and his supporters would also limit filibusters on a host of other Senate actions including executive and judicial nominations (except for the Supreme Court) and they’re pushing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) to adopt their changes by employing what’s called the “nuclear option.”
The nuclear option — or, as Udall calls it the “constitutional option” — calls for changing the rules with a simple majority (51) in the Senate instead of the traditional 67 votes.
But some conservatives say Udall’s move is simply to consolidate Democrats’ power in the Senate, where they will hold a 55-45 advantage on Republicans after the November elections.
“This represents an egregious power grab,” columnist David Horowitz wrote in the conservative website RedState.com on Monday.
“I would say that everything we’re doing has in mind that we may be in the minority in a couple years,” Udall replied. “We want to be fair, we want to allow debate, we want to allow amendments. We don’t want to shut down the process. We just want to make it work better.”
But even some Democrats are leery on employing the nuclear option, fearing that whenever Republicans get a majority they’ll turn the more traditionally staid Senate into something more like the US House of Representatives where the majority party is much more aggressive.
And longtime liberal Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan is working with Republican John McCain of Arizona on a compromise filibuster proposal as a counter to the Udall’s plan.
Among other things, the Levin-McCain plan would eliminate filibusters on motions to proceed if the majority leader guaranteed the minority leader and the minority bill manager the right to offer amendments to pending business. But it would not require filibustering senators to actively hold the floor.
While Udall — naturally — prefers his filibuster rules changes, he didn’t trash the Levin-McCain compromise.
“Sen. Cain and Sen. Levin (are) working together to try to figure out, is there a bi-partisan solution here,” Udall said. “And I know there is incredible displeasure on the Republican side about the way the Senate’s operating … we need to change the way we do business.”
Decision day is expected to be on Jan. 22 when Majority Leader Reid calls the Senate back from recess. Then we’ll find out if the Senate goes “nuclear” or if Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) have worked out a filibuster deal.
***
Here’s our quick interview with Udall on Monday:
New Mexico turns 101 as a state
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 7th, 2013
Did you know that today (Jan. 7) marked the 101st birthday for New Mexico achieving statehood?
Neither did I until I heard the mariachis playing in the Rotunda of the Roundhouse at lunch time and walked in to see the spread of five birthday cakes laid out on a big table:
On Jan. 7, 1912 President William Howard Taft officially admitted New Mexico as the 47th state in the Union.
Here’s a picture of the big guy moments after he signed the statehood proclamation:
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, New Mexico!
You look great for your age.
NM 26th, gets a “D” on national report card on education policies
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 7th, 2013
Well, here’s a education study in which New Mexico didn’t finish 48th or 49th but it did still get a D.
On Monday (Jan. 7), a national report card from Students First, a lobbying organization based in Sacramento, Calif., looking at respective state policies aimed at reducing the achievement gap for public school students ranked New Mexico 26th out of 50 states plus the District of Columbia and issued New Mexico an overall D grade.
Students First is headed by Michelle Rhee, a former head of the Washington DC public school system and harsh critic of the public education status quo.
New Mexico received a D-minus in the subject of “Evaluate Teaching Profession,” which included “meaningful evaluations for teachers and principals.”
The state received a D-plus for “Empower Parents,” which measured “increasing quality choices” and “giving parents meaningful information.”
And New Mexico got a D-plus under the subject of “Spend Wisely and Govern Well” which included evaluations of governance flexibility, spending of resources and the condition of state teacher pensions.
New Mexico had plenty of company, as no state received A’s. In fact, the two highest-ranking states were Florida and Louisiana, and they each received a B-minus.
The folks at Students First were hard graders. New Mexico’s D-plus in “Empower Parents” was the sixth-highest grade in the US and 11 states received overall grades of F.
“This reflects the fact that the status quo in the majority of states is a set of policies focused on antiquated systems, bureaucracies, and various adult interests,” Students First said in its 82-page report accompanying the grades.
As to what the report card entailed, the organization pointed out that “It is not a report card detailing the quality of a state’s schools or the level of student achievement in that state. The State Policy Report Card is focused solely on the policies that are adopted by states — policies that, as explained later, focus on eliminating the achievement gap and ensuring student interests are paramount in decision making.”
Click here to look at the interactive map of how states across the country performed and click here to read the full report with details on the grades.
We’ve got a call into Hanna Skandera, Secretary-designate at the New Mexico Public Education Department, for her reaction to the Students First report card. Skandera and Gov. Susana Martinez have been advocating for many of the reforms espoused by Rhee and the Students First organization.
Update: Here’s what we received from Skandera via e-mail:
Governor Martinez and I continue to pursue education reforms in New Mexico so that all decisions are student centered. We will ask the Legislature to implement policies that will provide meaningful evaluations of teachers and principals, assure that all students can read at the end of third grade, empower parents to make the best education decisions for their children by giving them high quality, effective options, and spend education resources wisely so that student needs come first.
The corporate BS awards for 2012
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 6th, 2013
Lucy Kellaway, Financial Times
Do you think that Thomas Alva Edison ever told his managers to “think outside the box”?
Or if Henry Ford informed his his employees they’ve been “tasked” to “empower” themselves so that customers will “buy in” to whatever the company is selling?
Yes, the list of clichés and perversions of the English language fester in the business and corporate world and that’s why Lucy Kellaway is one of my favorite columnists.
She writes for the Financial Times, based out of London, and has been conducting a one-woman crusade against the gobbledygook clogging the rhetorical machinery while calling for a return to plain speaking.
She posts a column at the beginning of each year called the Golden Flannel Awards where she lists the worst examples of BS produced by assorted CEOs and managers across the globe.
Some of the cow patties for 2012?
An analyst at an international financial group based out of India couldn’t bring himself to say his company lost money in one of its sectors. Instead, it “de-grew by 23.3 per cent.”
Try using that one on your spouse:
“Did you really lose $5,000 of our money when you went to Las Vegas?!”
“No, honey. Our savings just de-grew by that amount.”
Or this one from CitiGroup, where its leaders brag that now the banking and investment firm will now offer “client-centric advice.” Uh.. isn’t the entire idea of an investment firm based on clients? As Kellaway writes, “Which lets the cat out of the bag that the advice it used to offer was otherwise. Citi-centric, perhaps.”
Here’s another one, from CitiBank. Instead of firing 1,100 employees, it said in a news release that it was merely “optimizing the customer footprint across geographies.”
What’s just as annoying has been the creation of new words to try to puff up companies and their executives.
Kellaway points to firms in 2012 that declared they employ “solutioneering” while showing how “creovative” they are in this “phygital™” world we live in. (Yes, the evil inventor of that word has trademarked it.)
And then there’s the woman at an Australian consulting firm whose job description is to “to turn people into innovation dynamos.”
And her job title? Head Inventiologist.
Not even Edison had that much self-regard.
Click here to read Kellaway’s column. Keep up the good fight, Lucy.
Additional charge, $150,000 bond set for Gary Smith UPDATE: Another charge added, bond up to $225,000
Posted by rnikolewski in News on January 4th, 2013
Gary Smith booked into Metropolitan Detention Center, 1/2/13
Update 1/6: An additional stalking charge has been added to the rap sheet for Gary Smith. On Sunday (Jan. 6) a judge signed off on a charge of aggravated stalking against Smith in connection to allegations of slashing the tires of his former campaign manager, Rhead Story of Albuquerque. That brings to three the number of charges Smith is facing — one against Story and two against former GOP congressional opponent Janice Arnold-Jones (felony vandalism and aggravated stalking). And police say more charges may be added as the invesigation continues. It also pushes the total of Smith’s cash-only bond up to $225,000. “I feel safer,” Arnold-Jones told Capitol Report New Mexico Sunday evening. “But it also means my husband won’t be so cranky because he can get some sleep.”
***
It looks like Gary Smith will be in jail for a while.
The former congressional candidate accused of slashing tires of a fellow Republican opponent is now facing a $150,000 cash-only bond and has been slapped with another aggravated stalking charge, this time against his former campaign manager.
“I think he’s been unhinged,” Albuquerque Police Detective Lorenzo Garcia told Capitol Report New Mexico on Friday afternoon (Jan. 4), adding that if Smith “doesn’t post bond, he stays in jail.”
Unlike bonds that require the inmate to post just 10 percent of the total, Detective Garcia said the $100,000 cash-only bond requires Smith to come up with the entire sum. That means Smith could be sitting in the Metropolitan Detention Center at least until a grand jury looks into this bizarre case that has made headlines across New Mexico and even in national media outlets.
On Friday at Smith’s conditions of release hearing, District Court Judge Daniel Ramzcyk set the higher bond amount after Smith was re-arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated stalking for violating the conditions of an earlier release by slowly driving past the home of Janice Arnold-Jones, a former GOP opponent, on Jan. 1.
The Smith story broke on Dec. 28 when the 65-year-old was arrested after surveillance cameras in the driveway of the Jones family caught a man fitting the description of Smith puncturing all the tires in two vehicles parked in the family’s driveway.
Also on Friday, Detective Garcia filed another charge of aggravated stalking against Smith, alleging him with bothering Rhead and Wanda Story of Albuquerque. Rhead Story is Smith’s former campaign manager and told Detective Garcia he’s had 54 tires slashed in recent months.
Garcia says Smith may soon undergo a psychiatric evaluation if a crisis intervention team or officials at the detention center deem one necessary.
“I think he definitely has mental issues and some intervention needs to be done,” Garcia said.
In addition to all that, Peter St. Cyr of the Santa Fe Reporter reports that prior to moving to New Mexico, Smith was accused by his next-door neighbors in El Paso of slashing their tires and more:
[Kenneth and Esther] Propps say they spent thousands of dollars installing surveillance cameras after repeatedly finding their vehicles tires flattened.
… [On Feb. 25, 2012] Propps says he heard a loud hissing sound coming from outside.
After pulling on clothes, Propps ran outside to check his tires and spotted Smith trying to run away.
“I grabbed him and tried to hold onto him until the police arrived,” Propps says.
But Propps says Smith swung at him, cutting his left arm with a sharp blade.
“Normally, he would use an ice pick,” Propps says. “But this time he had a blade.”
Bleeding, Propps tried to keep hold of Smith, but says Smith somehow managed to hurdle himself over a wrought-iron fence. When he did, Propps’ right arm was punctured, he says.
Here’s the surveillance video from the Propps family in El Paso:
