Santa Fe New Mexican, May 29, 2014

Page 1

2013 French champ Serena Williams falls to Spain’s Muguruza Sports, B-1

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Thursday, May 29, 2014

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Ives pushes for property tax hike

PNM ready to meet EPA emissions rules Public Service Company of New Mexico believes it will be prepared to meet any new carbon standard if its plan to shut down San Juan coal units is approved. PAge A-6

New rail hub opens along border in N.M.

Councilor introduces proposal to generate $7M for annexation costs

A sprawling, $400 million railroad hub opens in Southern New Mexico with the promise of transforming the border area into an international trade zone. PAge A-7

Acclaimed author — known for celebrated works including her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — dies at 86. PAge A-5

Leader of state Dems chastises Wertheim

ELECTION AD WATCH

In Martinez attack, rivals morph into Richardson By Steve Terrell

The New Mexican

The subject line on a news release Wednesday announcing Republican incumbent Gov. Susana Martinez’s latest campaign ad states, “Governor Susana Martinez Lays Out Positive Record & Vision For The Future.” However, the TV spot is an attack ad — at least the first part of it — in which the faces of all five Democrats running for governor in the June 3 primary election — Gary King, Alan Webber, Howie Morales, Linda Lopez and Lawrence Rael — change into former Gov. Bill Richardson before your eyes. Running against Richardson worked for Martinez in 2010, even though the Democrat whose name was on the ballot that year was former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, not Richardson. The majority of the ad talks about Martinez’s education policies. In most public opinion polls, in New Mexico and elsewhere, education usually comes in near the top when voters are asked about issues important to them. Here’s a look at the ad: Title: “Same” Duration: 30 seconds Text: Narrator: “Five politicians, same old failed agenda. Like social promotion, passing children

Councilor Peter Ives, speaking during a council meeting Wednesday, has introduced a proposal to increase property tax rates to cover costs associated with a recent annexation. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

By Daniel J. Chacón

The New Mexican

E

ven as the city of Santa Fe prepares to issue $18 million in bonds to pay for a host of capital improvement projects, a city councilor wants to raise property taxes to cover other projects, including some associated with the recent annexation on the south side. City Councilor Peter Ives introduced a proposal Wednesday to raise Santa Fe’s property tax rate by 2 mills, generating an additional $7 million annually. “We clearly have some significant needs across the city, and we have some future needs that we know we are going to have, especially in connection with annexation,” Ives said. “When you do property tax, it’s probably the most consistent, regular type of income that comes in, as opposed to GRT [gross receipts tax], which obviously varies significantly across the economy,” he said. The city relies heavily on gross receipts tax revenue to pay for day-

Please see AD, Page A-4

By The nUmBeRS

2 mills

Rate at which the city’s property taxes would increase under a proposal introduced by Councilor Peter Ives.

$7 million

Amount the proposed tax increase would generate annually, which would be used to pay for projects associated with the south-side annexation.

to-day operations. The city’s gross receipts tax revenue has fallen from $88.5 million in fiscal year 2007-08 to $84.2 million in fiscal year 2012-13. Under Ives’ proposal, the owner of a home valued at $300,000 would pay an additional $200 in property taxes annually, Ives said. The proposal doesn’t identify specific projects that would be funded with the additional revenue, but it says the funding would be used for information technology

New terror groups pose threat, Obama tells cadets In West Point address, president outlines U.S. role in post 9/11 era

InSIDe

By Mark Landler

misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.” But for a president who has promised to take the U.S. off a permanent war footing, Obama painted an unsettling portrait of the world, 13 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The nation, he said, had, in effect, traded al-Qaida in Afghanistan for a more diffuse threat from extremists in Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Mali and other countries. A day after announcing that the last U.S. soldier will leave Afghanistan at the end of 2016, Obama told a new class of Army officers that some of them would be sent on murkier missions, helping endan-

The New York Times

WEST POINT, N.Y. — President Barack Obama tried once more to articulate his vision of the American role in the world Wednesday, telling graduating cadets of the U.S. Military Academy that the nation they were being called to serve would seek to avoid military misadventures abroad, even as it confronts a new set of terrorist threats from the Middle East to Africa. Speaking at the commencement, Obama disputed critics who say his cautious response to crises like Syria’s civil war and Russian aggression toward Ukraine had eroded U.S. leadership in the world. Those critics, he said, were “either

Index

Calendar A-2

Maya Angelou, a voice for an era divided by race

u Obama administration’s plan for exiting Afghanistan leaves out unfulfilled goals. PAge A-4

Classifieds B-6

Please see OBAmA, Page A-4

Comics B-12

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035

Crosswords A-8, B-7

Today Times of clouds and sun. High 83, low 56. PAge A-12

Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey Saxophone and percussion, 8 p.m., Gig Performance Space, 1808-H Second St., $20 at the door, gigsantafe.com.

Obituaries Emerita Dolores Wallace Ansley, 83, Santa Fe, May 24 Laura Geneva Davalos, May 12

Lotteries A-2

Serafin E. Roybal, May 26 Stella M. Roybal, 47, May 22 Avery Selser PAge A-10

Opinions A-11

Sports B-1

Bregman lashes out at attack ads in heated state treasurer’s race By Milan Simonich The New Mexican

infrastructure, operation and maintenance costs of parks, recreation facilities and libraries, and infrastructure and public safety services related to the annexation of 4,100 acres. “We need a new fire station. We also know we’re going to need more officers both in terms of police and fire,” Ives said. The proposal is scheduled to be considered by the council’s Finance Committee on Monday and by the full council June 11. The proposal does not have to go before city voters, but Ives said he “certainly” wants to engage the public in the discussion of raising property taxes. “In terms of property tax, we are authorized under law to charge up to a certain level,” he said. “Currently, that amount is 2.87 mills, so we have 4.833 mills still left that we have not imposed. And if you compare our tax rate with the property tax rate in some of the other major cities across the state, we’re much, much lower.”

Democrat John Wertheim’s attack ads in the state treasurer’s primary election have cost him the support of his party’s leader. Sam Bregman, chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party, condemned Wertheim in a statement Wednesday. Bregman said he could not take sides in the treasurer’s race, John Wertheim but he essentially did just that in criticisms of Wertheim. Wertheim has been slamming Democratic rival Tim Eichenberg in advertisements. Wertheim, 46, himself a former state Democratic chairman, has accused 62-year-old Eichenberg of bigotry. Bregman, without naming names in his statement, lashed Wertheim. “Character assassination against a fellow Democrat is unacceptable and despicable. Accusing a longtime Democratic elected official of being

Please see TAX, Page A-4

Please see TReASUReR, Page A-4

Report calls VA crisis a ‘nationwide’ problem 1,700 veterans kept on unofficial wait lists at Ariz. clinic, review finds By Wesley Lowery and Josh Hicks The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — An independent review of Veterans Administration health centers has determined that government officials falsified records to hide the amount of time former service members have had to wait for medical appointments, calling a crisis that arose in one hospital in Phoenix a “systemic problem nationwide.” The Inspector General’s report, a 35-page interim document, prompted new calls for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a former general and Vietnam veteran, to resign a post he’s held since the start of the Obama administration. Those calls

Time Out A-8

Scoop A-9

BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

from lawmakers included members of Obama’s own party, complicating what is already a political challenge for a president who has made veterans issues a legacy-defining priority after a decade of war. The report found that 1,700 veterans using a Phoenix VA hospital were kept on unofficial wait lists, a practice that helped officials avoid criticism for failing to accommodate former service members in the appropriate amount of time. A review of 226 veterans seeking appointments at the hospital in 2013 found that 84 percent had to wait more than two weeks to be seen. But officials at the hospital had reported that fewer than half were forced to wait that long, a false account that was then used to help determine eligibility for employee awards and pay raises. The agency has made it a goal

Please see VA, Page A-5

Two sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 149 Publication No. 596-440


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