ELECTIONS 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014 THE NEW MEXICAN
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Rael says he knows best the ins and outs of government By Milan Simonich The New Mexican
Lawrence Rael, who has spent his working life as a government employee, says he knows how to make the trains run on time. Rael, one of five Democrats running for governor, wastes no time in making that point with voters. He knocked on the door of Annie and Tom Goodwin of Santa Fe one recent Saturday, then described himself in a couple of declarative sentences. “I was the city manager in Albuquerque. I built the Rail Runner,” Rael said of the commuter train that runs between Belen and Santa Fe. Rael, 56, says he knows more about government — how it works and how to make it work for the public good — than any other candidate. Early this year, Rael tried but failed to knock Democratic rival Howie Morales off the ballot. Rael since has shifted his focus almost exclusively to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, saying he is the one Democrat who can defeat her. “She’s got a pretty bad record and no plan,” he says. Rael has worked in various levels of government, from the city of Albuquerque to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jim Baca, a former mayor of Albuquerque, called Rael the best-qualified candidate because of his deep knowledge of government and of New Mexico. “He can actually get things done,” Baca said. Rael’s résumé is chock full of details about his government experience, but some of his listings and claims have come into question for being wrong or exaggerated. For instance, Rael in one published version of his résumé said: “In 1990, he became the chief administrative officer for the city of Albuquerque. He went on to hold that position for 12 years, the longest anyone has held that senior role, serving with three different mayors.” But in another version, Rael
Jobs. That is the issue in this “ state. This is about results, and I have a proven track record.” Lawrence Rael, gubernatorial candidate
listed himself as a deputy to the chief administrative officer for the first four years he worked in Albuquerque’s government. Asked about the discrepancy, Rael said he had not padded his résumé. He said he could not exactly remember when he received the title of chief administrative officer, which some consider equivalent to a city manager. Rael said there was good reason for his imprecision on the date. The man who held the title of chief administrative officer when Rael went to work for the Albuquerque government became sick with cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy, keeping him away from work frequently, Rael said. He said he assumed the workload and responsibilities of the chief administrative officer, and at some point he also received the title under then-Mayor Louis Saavedra. “We corrected the bio to be more reflective of the dates” when he actually had the title of chief administrative officer, Rael said in an interview. Rael served in that capacity under two other mayors, Martin Chávez and Baca, before accepting the job of executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments in 2001. The multi-county agency is responsible for regional planning and transportation, and it oversees the Rail Runner Express commuter train. Rael worked at the council for eight years, then took an appointment as a state executive of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rael resigned from the $130,000-a-year federal job last fall to run for governor. This is Rael’s second try for
elected office. He finished second in a five-way primary for lieutenant governor in 2010. Though Rael’s working life has been spent on government payrolls, he describes himself in ads and speeches as an entrepreneur. “Lawrence Rael has spent 35 years creating jobs and growing our state’s economy,” one of his ads said. Baca said the claim was fair. Somebody has to lead on business ventures that involve public assistance, and Rael has done that, Baca said. A minor-league baseball park for the Albuquerque Isotopes was one example of Rael using his considerable negotiating skills to make possible a project that city councilors were cool toward, Baca said. He said the ballpark has helped the economy through tourism and stadium revenues, and that it has enhanced the city’s quality of life. But it was voters who authorized funding for a $25 million ballpark. Later, while he was with the Mid-Region Council of Governments, Rael said, he played the key role in construction of the Rail Runner, another public project. Rael said his claims of being a job creator hold up by any standard. “I think it’s very fair. Somebody has to create the environment and the infrastructure. I believe a person defines the job.” Others criticize Rael for claiming that he has been creating jobs for 35 years, saying he had little authority or no direct role in any projects for large parts of his career. For instance, Rael was an aide to
Lawrence Rael speaks May 3 during a Democratic Party forum in Albuquerque. Rael, a former administrator of local, state and federal government agencies, said New Mexico needs more services for the mentally ill and to treat substance abuse. ‘It is more expensive to put them in jails than it is to provide the services they so desperately need and rightfully deserve,’ he said. CRAIG FRITZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
then-U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman from 1987-90. During another seven-year stretch, he administered a taxpayer-funded youth employment program. Undaunted, Rael has stuck with his theme. “Jobs. That is the issue in this state,” he said. “This is about results, and I have a proven track record.” Rael’s supporters also are sensitive to the jobs issue. More than one tried to turn the tables by pointing to one of Rael’s opponents in the primary and saying, “How many jobs has Alan Webber created in New Mexico?” Much of Webber’s professional life has been spent in the private sector. He is a businessman perhaps best known for founding Fast Company magazine before he moved to Santa Fe. Those who believe in Rael are passionate in saying he would be the antithesis of Mar-
tinez — a governor who would work with everyone for the betterment of all. Backers are traveling with Rael in his campaign bus, a 1991 Blue Bird model that once carried school kids. Tiny Sanchez, Rael’s brotherin-law, drove the eye-catching, yellow-and-rust bus while Rael knocked on doors. Supporters say Rael’s is the classic story of a man who rose to prominence through brains and force of will. Raised in Sile (pronounced SEE-lay) in Sandoval County, Rael was the third-youngest of seven children. His father died in a car crash in 1961, when Rael was 3 years old. That left his mother to raise the family alone, something Rael said she did heroically. Rael said he also learned about the value of community as a boy. “We were poor,” he said. “A lot of folks would help us out.” Another life lesson for Rael
was his arrest for shoplifting at age 16. No public record of the case seems to exist, but Rael readily admitted to it when asked if he had ever been arrested. He said he stole a cassette player from the old Montgomery Ward store in Santa Fe. His supporters say the case was minor and so old that nobody would have known about if Rael had not been honest enough to disclose it. Baca said Rael is straightforward, hardworking and unusually skilled in bringing opposing factions together. Rael’s life experiences have prepared him well to be governor, Baca said. If Rael gets the nomination, he gives Democrats a chance, Baca said, although Martinez’s war chest, already at $4.2 million, makes her the favorite in Baca’s view. Contact Milan Simonich at 986-3080 or msimonich@ sfnewmexican.com.
Webber: Business skills are important for state’s leader By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
The job of the governor goes beyond just running executive departments, Alan Webber says. “Part of being governor is being CEO of the state. Part of it is being chief marketer of the state and telling the stories about New Mexico’s history, culture, traditions all across the country,” he said. A governor should be involved in “branding, marketing and shining a light on all our successes.” Coming from the world of business, Webber’s vocabulary is popping with words like branding, marketing, leveraging, stakeholders, opportunity — and phrases like “economy of ideas” and “improving the readiness of our workforce.” It’s his experience as an entrepreneur, Webber says, that sets him apart from the other candidates. In a primary contest in which the biggest problem for most of the Democrats is name recognition, Webber started out as the most unknown of all. A native of St. Louis, he has only been in the state for a little over a decade, moving to Santa Fe from Boston in 2003. He worked for city government in Portland, Ore., in the 1970s — and has held other government jobs like working in the U.S. Department of Transportation and writing speeches for Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis before Dukakis ran for president. But this is Webber’s first run for office. “I didn’t move to New Mexico to run for office,” he said in a recent interview. “I moved to New Mexico because I wanted to live the rest of my life here and I love the state.” Shortly before moving here, Webber made millions when he sold Fast Company, the business magazine he had co-founded a decade before. While he has said he won’t self-finance his gubernatorial bid, Webber said he’d be
I didn’t move “ to New Mexico to run for office. I moved to New Mexico because I wanted to live the rest of my life here and I love the state.” Alan Webber, gubernatorial candidate
Alan Webber speaks May 3 during a Democratic Party forum in Albuquerque. Webber said it is a disgrace that New Mexican ranks poorly for child welfare. ‘There should not be a child in New Mexico that goes to bed hungry,’ he said. CRAIG FRITZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
“putting my own skin in the game.” His first campaign finance report, filed last month, showed Webber and his wife, Frances Diemoz, contributed or loaned the campaign more than $450,000. But even without his own money, Webber raised more contributions than all his primary rivals, much of it from out of state. During his first decade in Santa Fe, Webber did little to call attention to himself. A search of The New Mexican’s archives yielded few mentions of Webber during his early years here. In 2011, the paper published a letter to the editor from him that was critical of Santa Fe Public Schools. In June 2013, the paper listed him as a speaker, talking about education, at the Kids Count Conference in Albuquerque. Three months later, he was
running for governor. One of Webber’s top campaign contributors, Bill Miller, board chairman of Creative Santa Fe, a nonprofit that promotes the city’s creative industries, said he didn’t really know Webber well until he asked him to help with Creative Santa Fe. The two have a mutual friend, former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste, who now lives in Colorado, Miller said. Webber, he said, “was kind enough to lend his expertise” to the nonprofit when Miller took over as board chairman in 2011. “He knows a lot of people. He was a resource for me.” While his name recognition is low, Webber has one advantage that most his rivals don’t: money. Perhaps it’s his financial resources that seem to worry Martinez’s campaign. While the Martinez campaign has
attacked other Democratic opponents as well, Webber seems to have attracted the most fire. From the beginning, the governor’s organization has been relentless in trying to define Webber before he gets a chance to introduce himself to voters. Only minutes after Webber announced his candidacy last year, a spokesman for Martinez blasted out a news release saying Webber represents “the extreme fringe of the Democratic Party” because of his “radical ideology.” Team Martinez immediately pointed to a memo Webber had written more than 40 years ago advocating decreased automobile usage in Portland. They also attacked Webber over a March 2012 column in USA Today, in which he wrote, “I want higher gas prices. At least for a while.”
In the piece, Webber explained he wanted higher prices long enough “for us to get the market signals right and to continue to wean ourselves off our fossil fuel addiction. The way I see it, every time we’ve been confronted by an energy crisis, Americans have … figured out for ourselves how to be innovative, resilient and sensible.” Webber now says he was trying to be “a little provocative” when he said he wanted higher gas prices. He said his main point was to use the spike in gas prices to encourage a serious national discussion about a long-term energy policy. Martinez spokesmen have accused Webber of calling for a 50-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax increase. Webber said when he worked for the federal Transportation Department in the late ’70s in the Carter administration, there were proposals for gradually increasing the gasoline tax to 50 cents. But these never came to pass. Webber said he’s never advocated raising the state tax. But Webber has had to face a whisper campaign with insinuations far darker than arguments over gas prices. When he was in Portland, he
was a policy adviser to Neil Goldschmidt, who later went on to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation and governor of Oregon. Decades later, it was revealed that Goldschmidt had been involved in an illegal sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. There’s no evidence that Webber knew about this before the story broke in 2004. But he’s caught grief for a blog post he wrote in 2008 saying his former mentor — who he didn’t name — was involved in a “sexual scandal.” Shortly before the Democratic pre-primary convention in March, an anonymous email began to circulate blasting Webber for downplaying the seriousness of the offense. Webber sent his own email to delegates saying, “I used the wrong words. It was a terrible crime. That’s what I should have called it.” Finding out about Goldschmidt’s predatory relationship was “a complete shock,” Webber said recently. “I still get a stomachache when I think about it.” Last month, Martinez’s campaign ripped into Webber for accepting the endorsement of Mark Rudd — a former member of the radical group Weather Underground — who taught math at an Albuquerque community college for 27 years and long ago renounced the Weathermen. Webber’s campaign shot back with a fundraising letter that brought up old scandals and criminal cases involving some of Martinez’s aides, calling them a “fraternity of misogynistic thugs.” Asked about that counterpunch, Webber said, “I’m not going to launch attacks against anyone. But I’m not going to take lightly ad hominem attacks from bullies.” Contact Steve Terrell at sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.