Daily Lobo new mexico
You voted, here it is
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December 5, 2011
monday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Senate ruling soon to come
victory howl
Make Your Mark slate members appeal punishment by Luke Holmen and Charlie Shipley
candidate and ruled their votes wouldn’t count in the first two fullsenate meetings. The commission news@dailylobo.com also ruled sen.-elect Brandyn Jordan could not take office. The candidates are appealing all three sentences. Montoya said Make Your Mark intentionally misreported a split invoice from a local print shop, and that Jordan then lied about it during elections commission proceedings. Jordan and Fidelmar Rivera, who was not elected, assumed responsibility for the slate. Sen.-elect Joe Stevens spoke to the student court on behalf of the candidates. He said the fliers that went unreported were extras that the candidates didn’t use during the campaign. Stevens said the candiBrandyn Jordan dates shouldn’t be punished. “Brandyn Jordan received 598 The 10 former ASUNM senate candidates accused last month of votes, the highest of any candidate,” misreporting campaign expens- he said. “Is it right to silence 598 ines appealed their initial punish- dividuals’ voices? We did not intenments, and said while they did tionally misreport these fliers, and spend more money on campaign we did not use them to campaign, to materials than reported, the mate- affect the minds of students. Our actions as individuals prove our charrials were never used. Regardless, ASUNM Attorney acter; our actions to help the comGeneral Greg Montoya said the can- munity … Every action we took was for the students.” didates deserve punishment. The court will “The students decide whethof the University of er to uphold the New Mexico were elections commisled,” he said. mission’s original “The elections ruling by Wednescommission and day. If faced with I do not believe fines, Make Your these individuMark candidates als have the inhave 10 days to tegrity to hold ofpay the fines. fice, and I ask the Claire Mize, court to uphold ASUNM elections our decision.” director, said the The ASUNM elections comElectionsCommismission originally sion determined ~Joe Stevens determined canthe Make Your didates didn’t resen.-elect Mark slate candiport $64.84 and dates committed financial misconduct for failing to agreed to fine the candidates $97.26, report $54.28 spent on campaign fli- but the amounts were revised down ers, which put the candidates over to due clerical errors. The canditheir $200 allowed campaign spend- dates are each being fined $81.24, which is one and a half times the ing limit. The elections commission amount the candidates went over imposed an $81.24 fine on each their spending limit.
“Our actions as individuals prove our character; our actions to help the community … Every action we took was for the students.”
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Hugh Greenwood celebrates after making a shot against Missouri State on Saturday at The Pit. The Lobos won the game 76-60, and Greenwood finished with 11 points. See page 24 for story.
Retirement age, compensation in Legislature’s sights by Charlie Shipley
charlieshipley84@gmail.com The New Mexico State Legislature is to vote in January on a measure that would reduce benefits for retirees and establish a minimum retirement age after the measure passed in legislative committee on Friday. The plan, which reduces retirees’ Cost of Living Adjustment from 2 percent to 1.75 percent and establishes a minimum retirement age of 55, narrowly passed 4-3 during the New Mexico Legislature’s Investment and Pensions Oversight Committee meeting Friday.
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The plan now awaits approval by the New Mexico Legislature during the legislative session, which begins Jan. 17. Mary Clark, the UNM Staff Council president, said the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is a percentage of a retiree’s total retirement compensation that increases yearly to combat inflation, and if the proposed decrease is approved, retirees’ yearly cost of living allowance won’t keep up with rising prices. “I’m very disappointed they changed the COLA,” she said. “That’s not fair.” The proposed decrease means retirees receiving the ERB average allowance of
about $20,000 per year would get an average annual increase of $350 instead of $400, said Jan Goodwin, ERB executive director, to the Albuquerque Journal. ERB members don’t receive their COLA until age 65. The proposal establishes a minimum retirement age of 55. Currently, there is no set age; employees can retire after working for 25 years. The proposal includes a “grandfather period” that would allow current workers already eligible for retirement and those that will be eligible within 10 years of when plan takes effect to be exempt from the minimum age requirement.
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Banlow’s farewell
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ERB Chairwoman Mary Lou Cameron said the proposed changes are intended to improve the ERB’s funding ratio, which measures assets against liabilities. The current ratio is 61 percent. “The proposal is consistent with the board’s goal of improving the retirement plan’s funding ratio to 80 percent by 2030 and 95 percent by 2040, and ensuring its long-term sustainability,” she said in a Nov. 21 statement. To read the full text of the proposal visit dailylobo.com
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