I have been reading the reporter for about 18 months now and there is a dearth of coverage of jazz music or anything besides Americana and Rock.  There are many of us in Santa Fe who could benefit from some coverage of this genre of music.

Thanks

Cameron Weckerley

 I couldn’t help but notice that the recent anti-DWI commercials being shown on television and run on the radio are the same commercials that have run over the last year or so, but with one notable difference: Governor Bill Richardson has been replaced with a distinguished looking silver haired actor with a sonorous voice. At first, I didn’t think much of this but upon reflection I realized that it is another example of our current governor’s administration to do everything they can to wipe out the former governor’s legacy. In this case, a measurably successful campaign against  the ongoing issue of drunk driving in New Mexico.
I can understand the desire by a new administration to put a new face on the government. I can also understand the desire to change the tenor of how business has been done by the state government. What is notable is the unnecessary expenditure of re-editing both a television commercial and a radio spot to take out the image and voice of the former governor. An actor had to be cast and presumably paid, as well as the time spent by an editor to alter the original video commercial and the audio as well as generating new copies for all of the radio and video media outlets where this commercial would be presented.
We are all of us very, very aware of our current Governor’s drive to save our state’s money and to use it in the most efficient ways. Selling the jet, and most likely the Railrunner, choosing not to appoint anyone to fill "unnecessary" jobs (like Film Commissioner) and eliminating other jobs outright all seem like steps in the general direction of prudence.  This administration has to understand that since they have taken the office through general election we, the citizenry are willing to allow them to try out their ideas, but only insofar as they are actually proving to be more efficient and prudent. Sell the jet? Sure, but only if when you have to traverse this large state in a rapid way you aren’t spending more money, more fuel, more man hours to do what you could have done in a more efficient manner with the state owned jet that you chose to sell because it was your predecessor’s idea and not yours. The same goes for the Railrunner. If a private interest can run the commuter rail line in a more efficient and profitable way without making the fares outrageous, or the schedule even more limited than it already is then by all means sell it. But, if you are looking to sell the Railrunner because it was one of the great achievements of Governor Richardson’s administration and it galls you to think that he will be remembered for improvements like it and the highway GRIP projects, and a new wing of the UNM Hospital, and a reduced rate of DWI then you are operating from your ego and not, as you say, with the best interest of the State of New Mexico in mind.
Governor Martinez can, like the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, strike the name and image of those who have offended her or her sensibilities from the cultural record. She can denigrate their achievements through word or deed. These things she can and is doing, but this will not elevate her or make her more successful in her attempts to achieve. It will only serve to make her look small, vindictive and ultimately forgettable.

 I have a friend who works for the International Herald Tribune in Hong Kong who saw this on the AP Wire and sent it along to me.

This just goes to show how our governor is just following a national conservative agenda to gut the film industry while clearly leaving other industries that receive much higher incentives intact. 

Keep the faith. Remain vigilant.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Thanks to a tax break used to lure Disney filmmakers away from North Carolina to coastal Georgia, Harry Spirides figures his beachfront hotel raked in an extra $85,000 because Miley Cyrus spent a summer filming here.
The producers of Cyrus’ film, ‘‘The Last Song,’’ were brought in with an across-the-board tax credit of 20 percent when they rolled into Tybee Island in June 2009. Lawmakers in Georgia and other states, though, are worried that they can’t afford to offer Hollywood those incentives any longer as they struggle to find enough money to pay for programs like Medicaid.
For Spirides, though, the economic benefit from the tax credit was clear: The crew rented a parking lot at Spirides’ Ocean Plaza Beach Resort for $30,000 to set up makeup trailers and dining tents. Then there were hundreds of families working as extras on the film who would crash at the hotel after shooting until 2 a.m.
‘‘The shooting of the movie definitely made it a lot better of a summer financially than it would have been,’’ Spirides said. ‘‘It really, really helped when we were in the depths of the recession.’’
In January, though, a Georgia state council said those benefits are fleeting. It said even though the crews bring jobs — and lots of people who spend money locally on food and lodging — those benefits are lost when they pack up and leave after filming.
The council recommended ditching the film tax break, which meant $140.6 million in lost tax revenues last year. Film producers spent $617 million in Georgia last year.
An Associated Press survey found that from 2006 to 2008, states shelled out $1.8 billion in tax breaks and other advantages to the entertainment industry. The recession has officials in several states wondering if the incentives are worth the lost revenue.
Michigan’s governor has proposed capping Hollywood tax credits at $25 million a year — a fraction of what the state spent in the past. New Mexico lawmakers are pushing to limit film subsidies to $45 million a year and spread out refunds to large film projects over two or three years.
Budget woes prompted New Jersey and Kentucky to place similar caps on film incentives last year. Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin all slashed spending on their programs in 2009.
But not everybody is cutting back. A few states eager for jobs and spending are offering more money to lure Hollywood productions.
‘‘It’s a mixed conversation as to are we giving away money or are we trying to create jobs?’’ said Todd Haggerty, a tax policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Virginia adopted its first tax credits for the movie industry last year. North Carolina, which lost ‘‘The Last Song’’ in 2009 because Georgia offered a sweeter deal, bolstered its film incentives last year by $14 million.
The film industry is pushing to hold onto its tax credits. At the state capitol in Atlanta last week, several studio officials turned out at a hearing to tell Georgia lawmakers the tax breaks are vital to getting films produced in the state and have helped create jobs outside the movie business.
Brian O’Leary, a tax attorney for NBC Universal, hinted that other states would be happy to snatch film projects away from Georgia if its cash incentives get scrapped.
‘‘The debate that’s currently under way is going to create a chill on this industry,’’ he said.
Alan Essig, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said lawmakers shouldn’t accept that testimony as fact.
‘‘If the film industry is correct, for sure we should do it. But I think we need an impartial look at it to see if it’s actually creating jobs and growing the economy,’’ Essig said.
Savannah, for instance, had long been a Hollywood favorite, with ‘‘Forrest Gump’’ and ‘‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’’ both filming there in the 1990s. After ‘‘The Gift’’ was shot there in 2000, it was nine years before another Hollywood hit filmed there because other states offered better incentives, said Jay Self, Savannah’s film commissioner whose job is to woo Hollywood to Georgia’s oldest city.
Georgia adopted its current tax break package in 2008, and studios quickly returned to the Georgia coast. The following year, Cyrus and ‘‘The Last Song’’ set up shop in the area. Robert Redford also picked Savannah to direct his Civil Car historical thriller ‘‘The Conspirator,’’ set for release next month.
Self said both projects combined brought more than $9 million in spending to Savannah and nearby Tybee Island. And those aren’t the only two. The upcoming ‘‘X-Men: First Class’’ shot scenes on location at Jekyll Island last fall. A film titled simply ‘‘Savannah,’’ starring Jim Caviezel, is now shooting in the city.
‘‘This business doesn’t just benefit farmers, it doesn’t just benefit people in one certain area,’’ Self said. ‘‘There are people in every trade from animal handlers to electricians, carpenters and makeup artists. They hire all kinds of people.’’

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