In an interesting turn of events, Albuquerque’s Mayor Marty Chavez has gained front page headline news by zinging members of the Democratic gubernatorial ticket twice in the past two weeks.
On August 18th, the leading headline in the Albuquerque Journal was “Mayor Lashes Out at Lt. Gov.” (subscription). The Mayor was upset that Lt. Governor Diane Denish weighed in with City Councilors regarding Kendra’s Law:
Chavez said there is enough support to win approval of the ordinance “if we can get the lieutenant governor to keep her nose out of our business.”
Ok, fair enough. Mayor Chavez thinks that the Lt. Governor should focus on state issues and let him worry about the affairs of the city.
There is only one problem…
Yesterday’s Albuquerque Journal headline screamed, “Chavez Tells Gov. to Ban Cockfights” (subscription):
Memo from Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez to Gov. Bill Richardson: Save the roosters or give up the White House.
Chavez told an animal welfare conference Monday that Richardson’s stance on cockfighting could be a deal-killer when it comes to the governor’s presidential aspirations.
“You can’t be president of the United States if you think cockfighting is a good thing,” Chavez said.
So, the Mayor is not only telling the Governor what state laws he should push, he is also moonlighting as a political consultant. What happened to keeping your nose out of other people’s business?