Bill McCamley will continue the great work Tim Keller began as State Auditor. The blog includes info on his priorities and 3 short videos on how he will use the Auditor position to oppose Trump’s immigration polices and accelerate the transition to renewables. Also, we need Steve Fischmann for PRC. Thanks to Judge Thomson, you can vote for him. Read on.

Victory! Judge David Thomson Rules!  Judge Thomson issued a strong ruling indicating that Steve Fischmann is, indeed, qualified to run for PRC Commissioner. I sat through the hearing and the case presented against him was laughable, but we should expect more from the PNM funded and supported campaign of Sandy Jones. Now we have to get started supporting Fischmann’s candidacy. Write to Daniel Garcia, his campaign manager, to find out how you can help: dagabq@gmail.com. Time to get to work! Click here for more info and to RSVP for the Retake Reception for PRC Candidates Janene Yazzie and Steve Fischmann, next Monday from 5:30-7pm. Or simply write to me at paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. We need a pretty solid head count as we are providing food and drink. There is more info on our Actions & Events page, as well. Thanks

Mayor Webber Introduces, TrueConnect Loan Program, First Policy From Retake’s People’s Platform. The program would offer City employees low-interest emergency loans as alternative to predatory payday loans. The ordinance unanimously passed through Finance Committee. Click here. To review the full 24-policy People’s Platform, click here.

Retake Our Democracy Potluck Community Conversation:  Discuss & Prioritize Our 24 Policy People’s Platform: A Path to Equity in Santa Fe. Thursday April 5, 5:30-7:30pm at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de la Familia, Santa Fe, NM 87501.  Enter from the backside (not facing the railroad tracks.  Click here to RSVP via Facebook or write to me at Paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org.

Great story about why you need to take the survey and especially why you should share it with others. We now have 1000 people who have taken the survey, from throughout NM. Today at court Steve Fischmann asked if I knew anyone in Valencia County who could help organize distribution of lawn signs. After the hearing I checked the responses to the survey and found that about 8 folks in Los Lunas had completed the survey and one said she would help organize a local lobbying group in Los Lunas.  I called her and she agreed to work with Fischmann.  So by taking the Speak Up New Mexico! survey you not only get to register your views on 29 great bills that died in 2017 and will be reintroduced in 2019, you can indicate you want to be active.  So, if you haven’t taken the Speak Up New Mexico! Legislative Priorities survey, please do so today to tell your legislators what bills you want to see become law.  Click the blue button at left to take the survey. If you want to read about our 2018-2019 Election and Legislative Strategy, click here.  And if you really want to help out. Please forward this post to 10-20 folks, especially if they live in Valencia, Doña Ana or San Juan County. We really need to hear from those counties. And in sending out the plea to take the survey, you will also spread the word about: Bill McCamley. Read on.

And Now: Meet Bill McCamley Our Next State Auditor!

I am fortunate enough to know Bill McCamley very well. When Retake Our Democracy developed our 2019 Legislative Priorities, he was one of a few legislators who reviewed it. Boy did he review it. We spent over an hour on the phone going over his suggestions (and his painstakingly detailed copy edits). That focus on detail is precisely what you want in an Auditor. But you also want a person with values, who will use the Auditor’s position, as Steve Keller did, to advance progressive values by ensuring that our state and local agencies are working as efficiently and effectively to advance the well-being of New Mexicans. How?

To give just two examples, as Auditor, Tim Keller:

• Identified the shameless Rape Kit Backlog, prepared a scathing report detailing the thousands of unexamined rape kits that women had expected would be used to prosecute their perpetrator and protect them. The report shamed the Roundhouse and the Governor to increase funding to address the backlog;
• Identified extensive financial control problems at state-sponsored charter schools overseen by the state’s Public Education Department and called on the agency to take corrective action. Keller identified deficiencies at charter schools during an annual audit that included missing files on teacher background checks and licenses at 15 schools. At six charter schools, auditors concluded that financial statements were unreliable. The state auditor is asking for a corrective action plan from the Public Education Department. “The problems that have been identified are far from technicalities, they are serious shortcomings in our state’s ability to ensure quality education to students across the state,” Keller said.

At a recent reception in McCamley’s honor, Bill spoke of his plans should he be elected State Auditor.  He promised to:

• Use the Auditors position to make the case for why government should be investing in renewables instead of remaining tethered to fossil fuels;
• Make the fiscal case for using more of the permanent funds to expand and improve early childhood education; and
• Audit the State’s litany of corporate tax giveaways to determine which actually have been creating the jobs promised when the tax credits were passed.

A State Auditor working hard to ensure that our state’s funds are being used to best serve New Mexicans is an extraordinary asset for those of us who have been frustrated at the pace of change in the state. If we want to ever stop being 50th on all things good and first or second on all things bad, we have to get better at how we use our scarce resources. I am confident Bill McCamley will do that.

Below are three videos from McCamley’s YouTube station that describe how he would operate as an Auditor and how he would use his office to oppose Trump’s immigration policies and how he would advance green energy. Bottom line, in McCamley we have a self-acknowledged “nerd” with a passion for numbers and a deeply felt sense of progressive values, a tremendous combination for a State Auditor.

Who is McCamley running against in the Democratic Primary?  Brian Colon, former DPNM Chair who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Tim Keller for ABQ Mayor. He lost despite raising over $700,000, and benefiting from a massive and horribly negative and misleading media campaign led by sprawl developers targeting Tim Keller. During the campaign, Colon said he did not support sanctuary cities, a minimum wage increase, and would not say if he would support a massive sprawl development on Albuquerque’s westside.

McCamley faces one serious challenge: The Auditor is a down ballot race and Colon has far greater name recognition and name recognition is HUGE in down ballot races, so we need to share, share, share to win this primary. For McCamley to win, people like YOU will have to forward this email to a dozen friends and then send an email to McCamley’s campaign and offer a donation or to phone bank. Retake will be announcing how you can canvass in and around Santa Fe soon. You can find out more about Bill and can donate for his campaign by clicking here.  You can reach the campaign to offer to help by writing to  billmccamley14@gmail.com.

Below the summary of all things good about Bill McCamley you will find a series of three videos. This is not a newly found campaign strategy. Bill would post video regularly on his Facebook page throughout each legislative session telling his constituents what was going on at the Roundhouse: transparent, honest, hard-working and principled. Not a bad combo for a State Auditor.  Check out his positions, below and then the videos that follow!

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What Does an Auditor Do?

As State Auditor, What Can McCamley Do to Promote Green Energy?

As State Auditor, What Can McCamley Do to Oppose Trump’s Immigration Roundup?

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