KRQE Playground story highlights New Mexico politics at its very worst
Especially if you have kids, the story below from KRQE Channel 13 will make your blood boil. It details how a planned playground was killed by one politically-connected individual (former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish) who used her friendship with Gov. Lujan Grisham to kill funding for the park in the recent capital outlay bill.
The episode highlights several issues:
- Diane Denish is not a nice person. This is not an ideological issue. We disagree w/ retiring Sen. Ortiz y Pino (also featured) on many issues, but he has always been gracious and friendly. Not Denish and not the Gov. and we’re willing to say it publicly.
- This was part of New Mexico’s capital outlay process which is deeply flawed (as we’ve discussed). The idea that one friend of the Gov. can call and get a project killed highlights the hyper-political nature and lack of vetting and accountability of the capital outlay process.
- Of course, the kind of power wielded by the Gov. and her close friends is the kind of thing that will continue unless or until New Mexicans decide they are sick of this kind of petty politics.