Mayor Martin Chavez’s Finance Committee Fiasco

The fact that two of three Democratic heavy hitters (the third is apparently just staying away from the phone) are contradicting Mayor Martin Chavez’s assertion that they are serving on his finance committee is nothing short of extraordinary:

Since the names were published on Thursday, accusations have surfaced on the Internet and within Democratic circles that Chávez may have exaggerated or lied about their involvement in his campaign.

Not so, Chávez said today.

“They’re all on,” he said of Blanchard, Cope and Gonzales. “I talked to them yesterday. They’re all on.”

But Blanchard, when I reached him today by telephone, refused to talk about whether he’s a member of Chávez’s finance committee – a clear indicator that something unusual is afoot.

“At this point, I don’t want to comment on anything,” he said.

And Gonzales said today that he is not a member of Chávez’s committee.

What makes this so bizarre is that Mayor Martin Chavez is a seasoned politician. We’re talking about a man who should know better than to assert publicly that someone is on his finance committee when they aren’t.

My guess is that this is the first of many mistakes we are going to see from the Mayor in the coming months.