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BUFFETT'S BULLET 90A
July 6, 2004

Our hard working Governor?

The headline in the Albuquerque Journal on Friday, June 25, 2004 read, "Richardson A Boston VIP." It went on to say that our Governor who is chairman of the Democrat National Convention had made a quick visit to Boston to plan for the Democrat National Convention this month. First on the agenda for Richardson, according to the news article, was a Massachusetts State Police motorcade to Fenway Park where there was a sold out Red Sox game against the Minnesota Twins. The group went in through the players' entrance and had second row seats on the 1st base side.

The story also said that New Mexico Senate Majority Leader and newly named Highlands University President Manny Aragon was there. Also, major Democrat fund raiser and former Ambassador for Clinton, Ed Romero of Albuquerque; Andrew Athy Jr., a partner in a Boston law firm; Richardson's aides; and a Journal reporter all attended the game with our governor.

After the game the group returned to the motorcade, then onto P.F. Changs for lettuce wraps, kung pao shrimp, and Chinese barbecue with cold bottles of Chardonnay. It said Romero picked up most of the $400 tab.

At midnight the entire group took the motorcade to a fancy cigar bar a few blocks away. One hour later Richardson returned to his hotel, the upscale "Boston Harbor Hotel." This is definitely not a Motel 6. The rooms run $342-$806 per night according to the hotel's web site. The hotel advertises the following:

Each evening, thoughtful members of our hotel staff perform the following courtesies for an enjoyable and peaceful night rest:

It even has a Governor's Suite and a Presidential Suite.

Richardson woke up and was in the hotel's restaurant by 7 a.m. for a meeting with an unnamed top official from the Democrat National Committee to discuss convention business.

At 8:30 a.m. he was off to the Four Seasons with Aragon to meet with Dan Glickman, a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary who is dean of JFK School of Government at Harvard. They talked about bringing Highland University Political Science School into partnership with Harvard. However, in the July 3, 2004 Albuquerque Tribune, it was reported that Dan Glickman had agreed to become the film industry's top lobbyist in Washington. He replaced Jack Valenti to head up the Motion Picture Association of America. So Manny must make this very tough, hard-working trip again when Harvard replaces Glickman.

A half hour later the group arrived at Boston City Hall so Richardson could talk to the Boston Mayor, Tom Menino (who is nicknamed Mumbles by his friends), about the Democrat National Convention. Then Richardson's entourage went to the airport to board the private jet that takes them to Washington D.C. and a "flurry" of Thursday afternoon fundraisers (the recipients of the fundraisers were not stated in the newspaper article) and a speech to a meeting of the "National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials." Then they returned to Santa Fe.

This was the 54th day Richardson has been out of the state at least part of a day since last July. This means 1 out of every 7 days in a year's time he has been out of state. The Lt Governor, Diane Denish according to the Albuquerque Tribune gets a pay check for a whole day for being Governor even if Richardson is only gone for 2 hours or more, and she might do nothing for it's only the state's money. $250 per day times 54 days = $13,500!

The Lt. Governor must feel a little "guilty" about this money because she told the press that she is going to donate this money, if it goes over $15,000 per year, to some NM Charities at the end of the year. (Your tax dollars at work.)

The details of this trip bring up many questions since the only stops on the trip that I would call "state business" was the discussion with the Dean of the Harvard Law School.

Some of the questions are:

A year ago, on June 12,2003 in the Santa Fe New Mexican a political reporter, Steve Terrell, questioned Bill Richardson's use of private jets to travel out of state. In his column he said he had called Billy Sparks (one of Richardson's many spokespeople) to ask if Richardson used private jets for his travels and whose jet did he use? It took over 3 weeks for Terrell to get this answer from Sparks. "New security requirements prevent us from giving specific details on every trip." "This is the official word from the governor's legal staff," Sparks said. In Steve Terrells article he also quoted Bob Johnson of the Foundation for Open Government, "under the inspection of the Public Records Act, Richardson isn't required to have such a list..." "But I believe each trip the governor makes is public business..." "He's the governor and the public has the right to know when and how he is traveling..." "They should send you (the media) each individual records of every trip."

I don't think it was ever done.

Last year when a big Democrat conference was held in Albuquerque a Washington Post reporter wrote that he was riding with Bill Richardson for a day. During that time Richardson had to go from the Convention Center to a fundraising reception east of Albuquerque around 4 p.m. The State Police officer driving Richardson was going over 100 M.P.H. east on 1-40 in a 65 M.P.H. zone and was told to speed it up by John Denko, the Secretary of Public Safety. Later when reporters questioned him about this, Denko said it was done (speeding) for security reasons.

"Security sure can cover a lot of sins" my old Swedish Grandfather would say.

This trip and others that our Governor takes brings up a lot of questions. The biggest question is: Why don't more people ask questions?

1. Why didn't the Albuquerque and other newspapers report the whole story?
2. Why didn't the television news ever look into this?
3. Why doesn't Common Cause (and other do gooder groups) question this?

I think Denko (Secretary of Public Safety) and the Governor's legal staff should be insisting that their boss follow the law rather than breaking the law for the Governor's own convenience.

We need a true two-party state if we ever want to be truly the "Land of Enchantment."

Sincerely,

George D. Buffett
Republican National Committeeman-Elect

P.S. In the July 3, 2004 Albuquerque Journal headline on the editors' page said, "Richardson fund-raiser in Boston shaping up to go nowhere." A column by Boston Globe writer Adrian Walker goes on to say how "Richardson... approached Latino activists in Boston last fall about throwing a bash celebrating Richardson during the convention."

It was to be a major event held in a big-league venue and featuring world-class Latino entertainers such as pop singer Shakira. A budget of $250,000 was discussed. ..."Richardson said he would take care of the fund raising." The article continues on with, "informed that little, if any of the cash for the party appears to be in hand, Masss was less sunny." (J. Masss was one of the organizers.) "If not, it will just be a good idea that never went anywhere, perhaps like talk of Richardson for Vice President."

I wonder...Is that what the meeting at 7:00 a.m. with a so-called unnamed top official was all about?

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