Morning Word: Officer in Boyd Shooting to Retire

• One of the Albuquerque Police Department officers who shot and killed a homeless person who was illegally camping
• has filed his papers to retire
• . He is just shy of 19 years of service and can buy up to 20 years of service. So what does this mean?

• After 20 years of service, APD officers can retire and get about 70 percent of their pay in an annual pension. A year less, and Sandy would have to wait until he’s 61 to start collecting that money, likely costing him at least a million dollars.
  
  News 13 has also learned Sandy had recently been ordered to sit down with internal affairs investigators. Retiring allows him to avoid that interview.

• Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry
• continued his push for right-to-work legislation
• while speaking at an event that was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

• Berry said he is pushing for several new initiatives at this year's legislative session to build on recent successes. Changing New Mexico's right-to-work status as well as supporting the Boeing bill could help bring more manufacturing to New Mexico, he said.

• Another Democrat from New Mexico got a high profile position in Washington D.C. This time it was
• Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was named the first vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• when Congress comes back in January. She is currently the whip of the caucus. She will take over for Ben Ray Luján, the current first vice chair. Luján was rumored to be a candidate for the chairmanship of the CHC, but he was instead a surprise choice to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
• The fight over whether or not to approve a diversion of the Gila River is
• starting to come into starker relief
• . The staff at the Interstate Stream Commission signed a $500,000 contract in 2012 and then—a month later—went back and retroactively approved the contract. This is part of allegations of the commission not following the Open Meetings Act.
• The Santa Fe Reporter looks
• at the status of emails as both a key way of doing business and something that public officials don't see as public records
• . At issue? Transitory emails.

• The Public Records Act stipulates how different public documents must be preserved over different periods of time. New Mexico’s Administrative Code says that “transitory” emails do not have to be retained, but it defines them as “information of temporary importance in lieu of oral communication” that are “only required for a limited time.”
  
  Trujillo explains “transitory” emails by giving an example. If she uses her email account to ask one of her colleagues at the office to find her certain information, several email exchanges between the two of them will likely follow. Only the final message of the conversation between them needs to be saved, Trujillo says, because the thread of messages leading up to it will be kept on the last email.

• U.S. Rep. Luján, meanwhile,
• wants to keep the current executive director on board
• .

• “I have tremendous respect for Kelly Ward,” Luján told CQ Roll Call in a Tuesday interview. “It’s been an honor working with her throughout the years, getting to know her, she reaches out to members, she respects members, and I think she’s incredible. So someone like Kelly, if not Kelly herself is someone that I hope that we would serve.”

• Oh, and the Republicans reacted to the choice of Luján:

• “In selecting Ben Luján to head the DCCC, Nancy Pelosi has chosen a member of the uber-liberal House Progressive Caucus who has routinely voted for budgets that include amnesty for illegal immigrants, tax rates as high as 49%, and a massive expansion of Obamacare,” Prior said. “This pick will give rise to plenty of awkward moments on the 2016 campaign trail as Democrats in swing states will have to distance themselves from incoming Chairman Luján, the very person tasked with helping them get elected.”

• The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce
• spoke to area legislators about the upcoming session
• and what their priorities will be.

• Nuñez, who has been a member of both parties as well as an independent, said it is possible to work across the aisle.
  
  He, too, wants to work on regulatory reform as well as right-to-work legislation. Driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, agriculture and water are on his plate as well.

• Five more people
• are suing the Archdiocese of Santa Fe over allegations of abuse by priests
• . They are just the latest in a series of lawsuits against the Church over widespread abuse.
• Attorney General-elect Hector Balderas announced
• his new transition website
• . Balderas, the current state auditor, will take over for Gary King in the Attorney General's office. From a statement in announcing the new site:

• “I want to make it clear to New Mexicans that the Attorney General’s Office belongs to them and that it can only function at the highest level with their participation,” said Attorney General-Elect Balderas. “I campaigned on the promises of being the people’s advocate and making New Mexico’s public safety and economic security my top priorities. From day one, I will fulfill those promises as Attorney General, and I am committed to proactively engaging New Mexico’s communities as we work to protect our children and families.”

• A federal judge ruled that
• state and private pension accounts from a former Metro Court administrator can be taken to pay restitution
• . The former administrator, Toby Martinez, "pleaded guilty in 2008 to conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with two separate schemes that defrauded the state of $4.3 million by overbilling for architectural fees and construction at the project in Downtown Albuquerque" according to the
• Albuquerque Journal
• . Another name you probably recognize involved was Manny Aragon.
• Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich
• were among the 41 votes against approving the Keystone XL pipeline
• . Udall said it was not appropriate for Congress to be approving a pipeline, saying it was the president's responsibility. Heinrich said approving the pipeline would show that the climate is not a priority.
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• Politico says it is a preview of what the minority Democrats will look like. Martin Heinrich is quoted:

• “Social Security and Medicare, the environment, education. There are going to be lots of opportunities for them to show their true colors,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).

• KUNM
• reported on the latest about the controversial teacher evaluations
• and how the Public Education Department refuses to make any changes.
• Some media news:
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• The
• city of Farmington is planning on buying numbers building belonging to the Farmington Daily-Times
• and to expand the Civic Center, which sits on the same block. The paper's owners put the buildings up for sale along with dozens of other buildings in the chain, including several in New Mexico. The
• Daily-Times
• staff would move to another, smaller building in the city.
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• KRWG
• is
• celebrating its 50^th anniversary of public radio broadcasting
• .
• A study by the University of New Mexico
• found the strengths and weaknesses in behavioral health treatments in Bernalillo County
• .
• The controversial Artesia immigration detention center
• will be shut down by the end of the year
• and all those currently detained there—all families—will be transferred to a new facility south of San Antonio, Texas.
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• Rep. Steve Pearce responded:

• "The Department of Homeland Security's announced closure of the immigration processing center in Artesia fulfills the department's commitment to the local community, the state and the nation," U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said in a statement. "The Artesia community was called on to play a vital role this summer, providing housing for hundreds of women and children who crossed the southern border."

• A group that says
• there are too many liquor licenses in areas of the state of New Mexico wants to educate the public on the dangers of alcohol
• .
• Lincoln County Commissioners
• voted to oppose a new EPA rule that would expand the jurisdiction over waterways
• .
• Another member of the Navajo Nation Council
• is facing criminal charges over a scandal involving misuse of discretionary funds
• . The scandal has plagued the Council and included the resignation of the Council's speaker.

• Mel R. Begay, who serves on the Navajo Nation Council, faces one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, two counts of making or permitting a false Navajo Nation voucher and six counts of conflict of interest.

• In all, Begay is alleged to have misused over $30,000 in tribal funds.
• Devon Energy
• wants to donate money to the Eddy County Sheriff's Office to buy new surveillance cameras
• to monitor oil field crimes.
• I missed this over the weekend, but the
• Santa Fe New Mexican
• profiled actor and Air Force veteran David Huddleston
• . Who? He played the mayor in Blazing Saddles. He will introduce and do a Q&A at a screening of the classic comedy in Santa Fe on Friday, with proceeds going to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society.
• There has been
• a decent start to the ski season
• when it comes to snow. Even if you don't ski, root for lots and lots of snow this winter in the mountains throughout the state to help ease the effects of the drought.

Santa Fe Reporter