A look at other issues on the ballot

From the Oval Office to the New Mexico Legislature to numerous county offices, local voters have to make decisions on plenty of candidates in the general election.

But there are plenty of other items for consideration on the Nov. 3 ballot, including constitutional amendments that could overhaul the Public Regulation Commission, bond issues that could mean nearly $14 million for area entities and decisions on whether district and appeals court judges stay on the bench.

Here is a look at some of those ballot items:

Bonds

Voters will be asked to approve three separate bonds — A to benefit senior facilities, B to benefit libraries and C to benefit higher education.

The bond issues total $199,200,000 in statewide spending. If approved by voters, tax rates would not change. The bonds are reflected as approximately $10.99 per $100,000 of property value. Of that $10.99, Bond C accounts for $8.62 of that, followed by Bond A at $1.83 and Bond B at $0.54.

Bond would have a significant impact for Clovis’ plans to begin building a new senior center at Hillcrest Park next year. Bond A would apportion $4.7 million for the senior center, and the Hillcrest Senior Center construction is almost double any of the other nearly 100 requests covering about 70 senior centers. Included in the list is $30,000 for vehicles for the Melrose Senior Center. Total requests are about $33.3 million.

Bond B includes $9.5 million to go to libraries, including $3 million each to the Cultural Affairs and Higher Education and Public Education departments, for various purchases including library materials and furniture and broadband Internet upgrades.

Bond C is by far the largest overall, and the most impactful to local entities. Of the estimated $156 million statewide, a total of $9.075 million is earmarked for Eastern New Mexico University’s main campus in Portales and Clovis Community College. Proponents argue the bond would benefit 23 different cities and create 1,500 jobs that would largely fall in the construction industry.

Eastern New Mexico would see $8 million, and would dedicate $7 million to a a previous bond award to renovate the Roosevelt Science Hall. The other $1 million would go to general infrastructure.

Clovis Community College’s $1.075 million includes $750,000 for roof and parking lot improvements and $325,000 for security improvements.

The ENMU system would receive a total of $10.3 million, with the Roswell campus getting $1.8 million for surveillance and lighting upgrades and the Ruidoso campus receiving $1.5 million for the second and third phases of its Nexus infrastructure project.

Constitutional amendments

Voters can decide between a pair of constitutional amendments concerning the Public Regulation Commission and a simplification of what elected offices are covered in which elections.

Constitutional Amendment 1 would reduce the number of Public Regulation Commission to three members, with no more than two members from the same political party. Members would no longer be elected, but instead appointed for six-year terms by the governor, with the consent of the Senate, from a list of nominees submitted to the governor through a new PRC Nominating Committee.

The voter guide indicates arguments for the move include an increased focus on ratepayer interest and a renewal of public trust in the PRC, and it is noted most states — including Utah, Colorado and Texas — have a similar procedure. Arguments against include a lack of change in how the PRC functions and a removal of the electorate’s ability to hold PRC commissioners directly accountable.

Constitutional Amendment 2 would “adjust the term of a state, county or district officer to align or stagger the election of officers for a particular state, county or district office throughout the state. No statewide elective office would be subject to adjustment. The proposed amendment also clarifies that officers elected to fill a vacancy in office shall take office on the first day of January following their election.”

In July 2019, the Secretary of State’s Office, through authority provided in House Bill 407, put in place a system where all odd-numbered districts for elected boards appeared on presidential election ballots and all even-numbered districts appeared on the gubernatorial election ballot. The move would have required changing some district numbers, but not the representation areas, and some elected officials saw their terms granted an additional two years via lottery.

That was undone two months later, after the New Mexico Supreme Court invalidated the process. A group of eight district attorneys, including Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb, sued to prevent implementation. The DAs feared term extensions granted during the lottery process could later be struck down and any convictions won during those additional years would be at risk.

The state’s voter guide indicates arguments for the move include uniformity and balance in elections, while arguments against included expansion of the Legislature’s role in election policy, inequitable changes to elected officials’ terms and unclear benefits to voters.

Judge retentions

To remain on the bench, a judge must face a non-partisan retention election every eight years and receive at least 57% of the vote. That applies to six judges serving Curry and Roosevelt counties — district judges Ninth Judicial District Court Judges Matt Chandler, Donna Mowrer, David Reeb, Drew Tatum and Fred Van Soelen; and Jacqueline R. Medina of the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

The nonpartisan New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in September recommended all five district judges be retained. Medina was given no evaluation, as the commission requires at least two years on the bench.

Of the 70 district judges in New Mexico, the commission recommended retaining 61 and not retaining three, with the other six serving insufficient time in office.