Richardson Asks State Workers for Help

[951-Riverside]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson has a Christmas wish for some of the state government employees in his administration: pack your bags and head to Iowa.

The two-term governor is asking governmental appointees and other state employees to volunteer to help his campaign by traveling to Iowa before the Jan. 3 leadoff presidential contest.

Several of the governor's top administrators already have hit the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire. Others plan to be in Iowa for the critical final days before the caucus.

"I've got quite a few friends in Iowa so I am looking forward to going back up there and campaigning hard enough to keep my butt from freezing," says Environment Secretary Ron Curry.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RICHARDSON_STATE_WORKERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-06-18-44-55

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Is this legal?

[Horse with no Name]

1. It's hard to say No to the boss

I would think that it might be a tad illegal--but at the very least, it is very unethical.

[alarimer]

12. It is illegal here in Texas

Not that it doesn't happen anyway. But state employees (like myself) are not allowed to campaign for anyone. We cannot volunteer to work for anyone; I can't so much as stuff envelopes, even on my own time. New Mexico law might be different though.

[AnneD]

13. Are you sure about that...

You can't do it on state time, and you can't do it with state property, you have to abide when you are at work...but what you do on your time is your business. Just because you are a state employee doesn't mean you give up your right to free speech. And I work as a state employee-school district employee (with a union). I think that could be challenged in court.

[seasat]

2. The workers asked were ones that had contributed or volunteered on his campaigns

From the article:

The campaign hasn't made a blanket appeal to all state workers to volunteer, Shipley said. Instead, requests for help went out to those who have made campaign contributions, volunteered their time in the past or indicated they wanted to help.

State employees have contributed at least $468,000 to Richardson's campaign through the end of September.

[salib]

3. Does not matter

I do not know State Law on this. But, if they were Federal workers, they would be violating law.

How would YOU like it if people who went down to Florida to keep Dade County, and others, from counting the vote, were Texas Government Employees who "contributed" to Bush's campaign and Bush had publicly asked for them to go there?

How would you like it if the CEO or Board Chair or Owner of the business you work for contacted all the people who supported her/his favorite candidate and said "work for that person in x"?

Think about it.

Honestly, I am surprised that state does not have laws that were just broken by Richardson. If not, there should be.

I would drop Kucinich in a second if he were still Mayor and announced that all workers for the city should go to Iowa if they "supported" him in the past.

No question!

[Michael101]

4. Ditto...

Richardson is a Hillary butt licker and should drop out of this race.

[seasat]

5. They have to take time off and provide their own transportation

At the meeting, "it was stressed that everybody who wanted to go would have to take time off, use their annual leave and pay their own way. The campaign would help if they wanted to make arrangements or car pool or that sort of thing," said Gallegos.

Are you saying that anyone that works for a candidate should be barred from contributing or working on their campaign? While there can be abuse, it appears that this is a nonstory. The campaign covered the bases by contacting only folks that previously volunteered or contributed and required them to pay their own way. He did not ask all workers.

[salib]

6. Are you seriously going to defend this?

Based upon what I know so far, it is so immoral on so may levels.

I do not know all the details, so I can give you the benefit of the doubt. I can assume that Richardson was simply not distinguishing between all of his supporters, whether they work for him or not. If that is the case, it is a poor example, but perhaps not immoral. May still be illegal, though. Do not know the laws there.

However, you should really reassess what you are saying here. You say "While there can be abuse." That is sufficient, to me, in term of immorality. It is also sufficient in term of ethics investigations, in most cases.

You know that it is the "appearance" of impropriety that matters, because he is in a position of power and public service. He should know better. He is Governor!

SO, I still do not know everything, but everything you have presented says immoral and perhaps illegal.

On edit: You say that these Government workers have to provide their own expenses. To me, that sounds like exploitation. If I were on the Government staff and I did not go to Iowa to support Richardson, I would be worried that I would not get that next promotion, next opportunity, alienated by those who did, etc.

Do you not see this?

[seasat]

7. Of course I'm defending it. Staffers of all the candidates are working on their campaigns.

As long as you insulate it from being a requirement and they volunteer, there is nothing wrong with it. Kucinich's congressional staff are helping out with his presidential campaign as are the staffs of the other candidates. When one of our candidates become president or if they receive an appointment, then some of these staffers will get a shot at a better appointment in Washington. The article mentions only about a 100 staffers out of thousands of state employees that showed up for the event. They're not forcing the entire group of state employees to go to Iowa.

[olddad56]

8. In Ca, if Arnold would ask, all of the high ranking state officials would go...

After all, ythe way most of them got their high ranking state jobs to begin with was by working on his campaign for governor. Not because they were qualified for these positions. They have never even quit working for him politically, he has just stashed them in high paying state jobs so they could continue to work for him, at the taxpayers of Ca's expense. Might have something to do with why so many of the state bureaucracies are in shambles.

[BenDavid]

9. I think Bill should consider a run at the U.S. Senate seat to be

vacated by old man Pete D. The only one that has said they would run is none other then Rep. Heather Wilson who also called the U.S. Attorney's office to check on indictments against Democrats before the 06 election. If the Dems do not put someone in this seat that can win then I say the Dems really should be the minority party.

Ben David

[Orangepeel]

10. Tom Udall is running

Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) Officially Announces Senate Bid
November 30, 2007 2:07 p.m. EST

Udall will be campaigning against Democrats Leland Lehrman and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez for the first open Senate seat in New Mexico in 36 years. A fourth Democrat, Jim Hannan, has withdrawn his candidacy and endorsed Udall. Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Steve Pearce of Hobbs (R-NM) are running against each other for the GOP nomination.

Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado's 2nd congressional district is seeking the Senate seat of Republican Sen. Sen. Wayne Allard, who announced in January that he would not be running for a third term.

Tom Udall is in his fifth term as representative of New Mexico's 3rd congressional district. He is the son of former interior secretary Stewart Udall, and the nephew of Rep. Morris Udall (D-AZ), and cousin of Sen. Gordon Smith (D-OR). He is supporting Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.



http://www.feedsyndicate.com/articles/7009319379

[immerlinks]

11. Udall's Senate Bid

I live in Albuquerque. I do not see Chavez capturing the nomination. He will have significant support in Albuquerque but the rest of the state will be opposed. Udall should capture the nomination easily, which means capturing the seat. There is no possible way any Repug can hold this seat; that party is finished in New Mexico.

Martin Heinrich will take Wilson's vacant seat. In January of 09, only Pierce's House seat will be in the hands of extremists. By 2012, I doubt if the Repug party will even exist in New Mexico.

As for the Gov. He is the most qualified candidate, although not the most telegenic. I am biased as I've supported him for several elections. Nevertheless, I realize that he's unlikely to get the nomination because he doesn't project as well as some of the other candidates. I urge everyone to take a long look at Bill Richardson and consider his platform carefully.

[janx]

14. Two portions of this article stand out immediately:

Critics say Richardson's appeal for campaign volunteers makes it difficult for state workers to say no to their ultimate boss.

"You just hope that none of these employees are feeling compelled to do this out of fear of what might happen if the governor doesn't win the presidency and comes back to the state and then starts trying to count who helped him and who didn't help him," said Scott Darnell, a spokesman for the state Republican Party.

...


The campaign hasn't made a blanket appeal to all state workers to volunteer, Shipley said. Instead, requests for help went out to those who have made campaign contributions, volunteered their time in the past or indicated they wanted to help.

State employees have contributed at least $468,000 to Richardson's campaign through the end of September.