New Mexico News
| STATE SENATE DISRICT 15 CANDIDATE Q&As |
| Posted by () on May 21 2008 at 5:15 PM |
John Blair
POLITICAL PARTY: Democratic
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Albuquerque
AGE: 34
EDUCATION: B.A., Communication Studies & Political Science, University of Kansas, 1996; J.D., University of New Mexico School of Law, 2004
OCCUPATION: Principal, The Payroll Company, Inc., 2007-present
FAMILY: Single
POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: Chief of staff, State Auditor Hector Balderas, 2007; Judicial clerk, Justice Edward L. Chavez, New Mexico Supreme Court, 2004-2005; Campaign manager, Ed Chavez 2004, 2003-2004; Deputy communications director, N.M. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus, 2001; deputy campaign manager, Bingaman 2000 Re-election Campaign, 2000; Legislative aide, U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, 1999-2000; Legislative correspondent, U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, 1997-1999
MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: Modernizing the State Auditor's Office and revitalizing its fraud unit to fight corruption and waste
MAJOR PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: Raising over $21,000 for the Komen Foundation after my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer
1. What issues would you like to work on most as a member of the Legislature? Strengthen the economy and create good jobs; reduce the cost of health care and prescription drugs; strengthen our public schools; protect our environment; make Albuquerque a safer community; enact ethics and campaign finance reform.
2. Would you support or oppose a state law creating domestic partnerships that would give heterosexual and homosexual couples the same rights and benefits as married couples? Support.
3. Would you support or oppose giving the state engineer authority over drilling deep wells for brackish water? I support placing some State control over who is drilling deep wells and where the drilling is taking place because we need a coordinated and coherent plan for our future water usage.
4. Would you support or oppose opening legislative conference committee meetings to the public? Support. We need to shine more light on the way the people's business is conducted in the Legislature.
5. Would you support or oppose civil penalties for government officials who violate the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act? Support.
6. How can state government expand health care coverage to uninsured New Mexicans and still adequately fund Medicaid? We need to make current programs more efficient to eliminate waste and make it easier for eligible people to enroll. Medicaid needs to be fully funded so we don't lose available federal matching funds.
7. Would you support or oppose creation of an independent state ethics commission to oversee the conduct of elected officials, including legislators? Support. We must restore integrity in government and rebuild confidence in our elections.
8. What does New Mexico need to do to see significant improvement in student test scores and graduation rates? We must fully fund education at all levels, provide additional support to schools with high dropout rates and work closely with the Public Education Department to reform No Child Left Behind.
9. What should New Mexico do to deal with the problem of repeat DWI offenders? We need additional enforcement of our existing laws, increased penalties for offenders and greater public education as to the dire consequences of DWI; any and all options to combat this problem should be considered.
10. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No.
11. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No.
12. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? No.
Tim Eichenberg
POLITICAL PARTY: Democratic
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Albuquerque
AGE: 56
EDUCATION: B.A., University of New Mexico
OCCUPATION: Realtor, Licensed General Contractor
POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: Bernalillo County Treasurer (elected to 2 two-year terms); City of Albuquerque Environmental Planning Commission (6 years); Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (elected to 3 terms)
MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: Director, Property Tax Division and multi-million dollar producer as Realtor for 32 years.
MAJOR PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: Married 28 years, raised 2 successful, happy children and still a bogey golfer!
1. What issues would you like to work on most as a member of the Legislature? My top priorities: Provide affordable, quality health-care coverage for all New Mexicans. Pass clean elections and ethics reform. Make New Mexico a leader in clean, renewable energy and green job creation. Improve public education.
2. Would you support or oppose a state law creating domestic partnerships that would give heterosexual and homosexual couples the same rights and benefits as married couples? Support. It's an issue of human decency. Decisions regarding medical care, hospital visitation, child custody are all impacted by this issue. Domestic partners should have the same rights and responsibilities.
3. Would you support or oppose giving the state engineer authority over drilling deep wells for brackish water? Support. Our future depends on careful conservation and management of all of our water resources.
4. Would you support or oppose opening legislative conference committee meetings to the public? Support. The public interest is not served by secrecy or closed-door deals. All bills should be subject to open debate and public scrutiny. The legislature should play by the same rules it imposes on others.
5. Would you support or oppose civil penalties for government officials who violate the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act? Support. There should be a personal liability for a public-body member who violates open government laws. Otherwise, the taxpayer ends up paying the fine for the offender.
6. How can state government expand health care coverage to uninsured New Mexicans and still adequately fund Medicaid? For starters, we need to fully fund Medicaid in order to ensure New Mexico receives its full federal matching funds. You can't expand coverage by losing the federal funding to which our state is entitled.
7. Would you support or oppose creation of an independent state ethics commission to oversee the conduct of elected officials, including legislators? Support. The Treasurer's scandals exposed the current system's flaws. An ethics commission would have unearthed this corruption sooner. There is no check and balance when the legislature is charged with policing itself.
8. What does New Mexico need to do to see significant improvement in student test scores and graduation rates? First and foremost, we must invest in teachers and teacher training. The state Funding Formula Task Force made many sound recommendations to address revenue shortfalls. We need to encourage parental involvement.
9. What should New Mexico do to deal with the problem of repeat DWI offenders? Our justice system must do a better job tracking offenses so that repeaters are prosecuted and taken off the street. And strong treatment and prevention programs are essential to reduce the number of repeat offenders.
10. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens? No.
11. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? Yes.
12. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? No.
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