If not for convicted felon Donald Trump, the politics of summertime would be entirely predictable. Waste and redundancy remain central parts of the local and state governments.
Let’s begin with the men and women in charge at Santa Fe’s City Hall. Mayor Alan Webber and the eight city councilors can’t seem to open public swimming pools on the hottest days. But Webber and a couple of councilors found time to authorize a resolution designating city buildings as “bullying-free zones.”
They didn’t seem to know Santa Fe already has an anti-bullying measure on the books. Resolution No. 2013-84 was adopted 11 years ago. It states in part: “The Governing Body condemns bullying, harassment and intimidation within schools and throughout the community.”
The sitting mayor and councilors were either ignorant of a long-standing position, or they are intent on restating the obvious: City officials disapprove of bullying.
It’s easy to assign publicly paid lawyers to draft a resolution covering old ground. Making sure city pools are accessible is harder. Too often city politicians leave real work undone as they reinvent the wheel.
State officeholders can be just as stubborn and inept as the mayor and city councilors.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham would be smart to cancel the special legislative session she has scheduled to begin next month. But her ego won’t allow it, so she and lawmakers will plunge ahead on the broad topic of public safety.
Special sessions are expensive, costing more than $53,000 a day. That’s why they are supposed to be brief. But New Mexico lawmakers and governors have a track record of sloppiness when they’re fast-tracking legislation.
Lujan Grisham’s predecessor as governor, Republican Susana Martinez, in 2013 wanted a bill to cut corporate taxes approved in the final two hours of a regular session. Legislators slapped together a lengthy, complicated proposal that included other tax breaks.
Martinez’s administration miscalculated how much revenue initially would be lost because of the reductions in corporate taxes. Three years later, state government was so broke it reclaimed money from school districts to pay the bills.
Some proposals Lujan Grisham wants green-lighted in the special session are equally complicated. Others are retread bills that need not be considered in the heat of summer.
The Legislature will begin a 60-day regular session in January. It should spend the interim preparing bills that are well thought out. Instead, Lujan Grisham’s special session will heighten the chance of errors.
Legislating is supposed to be methodical. It usually works that way unless there’s a rushed session or lawmakers are ramrodding a bill to increase their own pensions.
A sure bet is between $110,000 and $300,000 will be spent on a special session lasting a few days. The possibility for waste cannot be underestimated.
That brings me to Trump, lawbreaker and presumptive Republican nominee for president. In one way, he defies the pattern of predictability. Trump might choose any of two dozen sycophants as his running mate.
A few of the possibilities are long shots, but anything seems possible if a criminal who drove up the national debt can return as the Republican candidate for America’s highest office.
Trump denigrated Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida when they each ran for the Republican presidential nomination eight years ago. “Little Marco,” Trump sneered at any opportunity until Rubio quit the race.
Now Rubio gushes about Trump, calling him someone with wealth and comforts who entered politics because of a desire to serve. Rubio studied at the Mike Pence School of Flattery.
Many more apologists for Trump want the second spot on the ticket.
Trump could revive the political career of lapdog-Bulldog Herschel Walker by choosing him for vice president. A storied football player at the University of Georgia, Walker in 2022 lost a U.S. Senate race as Trump’s anointed candidate. But Trump still fawns over jocks, even dim ones.
New Mexico, Trump claims, is a state he can win this year after twice losing it. Santa Fe resident John Eastman was the lawyer who plotted a wild scheme in which Pence would block certification of Biden’s victory and Trump would remain president.
Though Eastman is fighting disbarment and facing criminal charges, those aren’t disqualifying factors to run with Trump. Eastman would drive turnout in New Mexico, a prospect Democrats would enjoy.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas are all deferential enough to meet Trump’s standard for being vice president.
An underdog with heft is former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He has criticized Trump, often harshly.
With the build of a sumo wrestler, Christie as the vice presidential candidate might make Trump seem thinner. Like any veteran of reality television shows, Trump appreciates optical illusion.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
