Looking Forward Looking Back. Next Week’s Actions Last Week’s Blogs

By paulgibson51 on December 18, 2017 • ( 0 )

Despite multiple calls and emails to the Mayor, no response on amendments for PNM resolution or response to multiple sources pointing to City staff actively undermining RCV implementation. Retake actions planned for TODAY through Weds. Blog also includes other actions for the week, including an emergency response plan if Mueller is fired which now appears imminent.

This blog includes updated info on the status of the City’s foot-dragging and information on how you can mount pressure on the City, yet again. Over the past week to ten days, community pressure has carried the day in Sandoval County and here in Santa Fe. But our City appears to be willing to do just about anything to stall implementation of RCV. The hearing at 3pm below is structured for the Council to determine how RCV will function in the City, an important step toward implementation. But, as noted in Saturday’s blog, multiple reports from very credible sources point to the City Attorney and City Clerk dragging their feet. How do you direct staff to seriously implement RCV while simultaneously working hard to undermine it? At 5pm, the City Council will hear public comment and our message is simple and reflected below.

This blog also includes summaries of all of this past week’s blogs with links to each of them and an array of looming actions, including a developing Santa Fe plan for aligning with the national Resist plan for a rapid response should Mueller be fired, which as an article below reveals, appears to be imminent. Read on.

Actions on Ranked Choice Voting. Wednesday, Dec 20, 3pm & 5pm. Mayor-City Council Public Study Session, 3pm and Public Hearing with Opportunities for Comment. at 5pm. Even if you are coming to either or both of these sessions, please this morning write to the Mayor and City Council to ask them to stop stalling and withdraw their Supreme Court Appeal and begin to implement Ranked Choice Voting. There are multiple reliable sources claiming that the City Attorney and City Clerk are undermining implementation of RCV. In Sunday’s New Mexican, Frank Katz, the City Attorney who was in office when RCV was passed provided an excellent My View explaining why RCV is constitutional and how the City Attorney is at fault for leading the City down a rabbit hole. Click here for details and contact information for the Mayor and City Council: The basic message: pass the RCV ordinance being voted on at 5pm and make sure that the City reinserts the “continuing ballot” language from the original ordinance which ensures a majority plus one vote is achieved through RCV and eliminates the need for the ill-conceived second runoff proposed initially by the Mayor–which he now opposes. Click here for Frank Katz’s My View as it gives a very clear description of why with continuing ballot procedures, a majority vote is guaranteed with RCV.

Saturday, Dec. 16 11am. Retake Our Democracy, KSFR 101.1. FM. Paul Gibson interviews Mariel Nanasi on PNM’s efforts to monopolize Santa Fe solarization and to extort $350 million from rate payers via a backdoor around PRC regulation. On Dec. 23 I have recorded an interview with Tom Solomon on state policy in relation to renewables. Both are excellent shows. If you miss any of the shows, they are available on the KSFR website by podcast, so you can go back and binge listen to Retake Our Democracy by clicking here. It usually takes a few days for a new show to be posted, so be patient.

Retake Takes Action. Dec. 12, 6pm-7:15pm RSVP for location. Retake’s Local Research and Activism Team is shifting from research to direct community service. Join Jennifer Johnson & Tracey Enright who are co-chairing this shift and explore options for direct community group service on projects in Santa Fe, with a lens on under-served communities. This is the kickoff of what could become just another way that you can get in the game and work with others to advance justice in New Mexico. RSVP by writing to Jennifer Johnson at gridded@mac.com.

Jan 4, Jan 11, and Jan 25, 5:30-7:30. Roundhouse Advocacy Team. New Energy Economy Conference Room. 343 E Alameda St, Santa Fe, We will review the final list of priority bills and the survey format that will be used to get community input. We will also finalize a preliminary list of Roundhouse districts in which Retake wants to support Democratic candidates who are incumbents and face stiff challenges in 2018, a very limited number of Democratic Primary candidates who will challenge seated Democrats who have not been consistently supportive of progressive legislation; and new Democratic candidates seeking to take vulnerable GOP seats. We are also going to begin planning for advocacy in the 2018 session, as despite this being a short session, there are a number of bills we will be pushing. Come find out how you can get involved. RSVP by writing to me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org.

January 24, 7pm, The Lensic. Nomi Prins. $8. Tickets went on sale Saturday and the floor is half sold out already. Prins is a writer, investigative journalist, and public speaker. The author of six books, she is well-known for the exposé It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street and All the Presidents’ Bankers, a narrative about the relationships between presidents and key bankers over the past century and their impact on domestic and foreign policy. Her new book, Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World,which explores the rise of central bank power and influence in the global financial, economic, and geopolitical hierarchy, is forthcoming in 2018. Clck here to purchase tickets.

National Action If Mueller is Fired. We will need to be ready at a moment’s notice. Read On for Santa Fe Plan. RISE Stronger New Mexico has scheduled a rapid response #Resistance Action in Santa Fe if special prosecutor Robert Mueller is fired. The local event details will mirror national plan which can be found here: https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/?source=MFT/ The Santa Fe rally will begin hours after news breaks of a Mueller firing: If Mueller is fired BEFORE 2 P.M. local time —> events will begin @ 5 P.M. local time, If Mueller is fired AFTER 2 P.M. local time —> events will begin @ noon local time the following day. Our gathering place will be the bandstand on the Santa Fe Plaza. Click here to RSVP for this event. It is not a Facebook event, so anyone can sign up. For an article speculating that Mueller will be fired on Dec 22, click here.

A Look Back at Last Week’s Blogs

City Council Questions Mayor’s PNM Partnership. Call the Mayor to Stop this Plan. Tue. Dec.12 This was a terrible plan t a partnership that is very likely to be illegal, and even if legal it provided absolutely no assurance that the City was getting a good deal and saddled us with PNM as our solar partner, the arch enemy of all things renewable energy. As a result of pressure from Retake and our partner New Energy Economy, the Public Works Committee asked the Mayor to pull this resolution from the Wednesday, Dec 20 consent calendar. The Mayor buckled and pulled the resolution, promising amendments that would be introduced in January. This blog summarizes the multiple problems with partnering with PNM. Click here.

Red Nation Anti- Fracking Action at Sandoval County Administration Today and Another Win at City Hall. Wed. Dec. 13. Things happen fast lately. Today’s blog reports on a Red Nation rally today to protest opening virtually unrestricted fracking in Sandoval County and after testimony and a barrage of pressure, the Mayor withdrew his resolution to partner with PNM. On the other hand, the City files its RCV appeal with the Supreme Court. The blog summarizes in bullets the last week of actions and victories with the City Council and includes an excerpt from a New Mexican article on the City’s Supreme Court appeal . It also provides background information on the battle with Sandoval County to implement strong regulations limiting fracking in the county and protecting residents from the impacts of fracking. Click here.

Sandoval County Commissioners Listen to Community, Withdraw Weak Ordinance and Order Staff to Develop a Stronger One. Santa Fe Continues to Drag Its Feet on RCV. A mixed report today with unexpected good news from Sandoval County who reversed course after hours of testimony. The blog also reports that Santa Fe is seriously undermining the Court Order & the Council 9-0 directive to proceed with RCV. Retake, VoteNM and the Secretary of State are all concerned that the City Attorney and the City Clerk are actively undermining the implementation process. We also excerpt passages from a scathing New Mexican Op-Ed on City mishandling of RCV. We also include frightening video from Democracy Now discussing the fragility of Trump’s mental health & another video wondering if impeachment possible? Click here.