Green Party Watch

In the ongoing heated war of words between Green Party candidate Rick Lass and Democrat Jerome Block, Jr., it now appears that Democrat Block lied on a candidate questionnaire about his educational background. From the Albuquerque Journal:

There’s just one problem with Democrat Jerome Block Jr.’s claim to have earned an associate’s degree at the “UNM Anderson School of Banking.”

Such a school doesn’t exist. The District 3 Public Regulation Commission candidate listed the purported degree on a Journal candidate questionnaire during the primary campaign in May. Block also told the Santa Fe New Mexican that he attended New Mexico State University but did not graduate and received the “equivalent” of an associate’s degree from the banking school at the University of New Mexico.

UNM spokeswoman Leslie Venzuela said UNM’s Anderson School of Management does not offer associate’s degrees.

Block appears to be referring to a 16-day professional development program for bank employees that was for years affiliated with Anderson. It’s known as the Western States School of Banking, and students do not receive academic credit for participation in courses like bank profitability and team building.

“I think it’d be a stretch to refer to it as the Anderson School of Banking,” school executive director Mark Fidel told the Journal.

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The New Mexico PRC race is covered by the Albuquerque Journal with this interesting take on the race:

The battle began last week when Green Party candidate Rick Lass challenged his Democratic opponent Jerome Block Jr. to a series of debates. The candidates are vying for the northern New Mexico seat on the Public Regulation Commission, whose various duties range from pipeline safety to pocketbook issues, such as by how much utilities can hike energy bills.
Block responded to the challenge in an e-mail Tuesday that was forwarded to reporters.
“Regardless of your motivation or agenda in conducting debates, I do not intend my campaign schedule to be influenced by a minor party candidate who had to be ‘drafted to run,’ ” Block wrote.
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The race for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission District 3 between Democrat Jerome Block, Jr. and Green Party’s Rick Lass has been aggressive and borderline nasty so far, and that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. Lass and Block have already traded shots about each other’s past infractions with the law, and now the debate is on their education (or lack of) and experience (or lack of).

But use the word “debate” loosely, because their won’t be one if Jerome Block gets his way.

This article (Santa Fe New Mexican) can catch you up on this race, “Block, Lass forgo debate but not battle”:

Responding to Block’s public refusal to debate — in which Block belittled Lass’ past jobs as a “pizza delivery person” and grocery clerk — Lass on Wednesday released an open letter in which he raises questions about Block’s education and his job in the title-insurance business.
[...]
“Your only qualification seems to be your employment by the title insurance industry, which represents an enormous conflict of interest given the PRC sets the price of title insurance in New Mexico,” Lass wrote. “How can the voters trust you to represent them on rate hearings involving an industry for which you were on the payroll and may still be?” (Before the primary Block took a leave of absence from his job as sales manager for the Land America title insurance company.)

Keep your eye on this race.

Bits found around here and there:

According to the Providence Journal Bulletin (June 26: “most incumbents to seek re-election”), the Green Party is running Jeffrey Johnson against U.S. House of Representative Democrat James Langevin in the Second CD.

At Ballot Access News, interesting discussion in the comments following the story about the UK Green Party out polling the British Labour Party in a House of Commons Special Election.

The Albuquerque Journal reports on June 25 that New Mexico Green Rick Lass submitted over 3,000 signatures to get on the ballot for a seat on the Public Regulation Commission:

“For too long, these big corporations have been given a free ride by the commission,” Lass said in a news release. “I will be an unwavering advocate for ratepayers, small businesses and our local economies.”

Ralph Nader’s campaign has filed 50,000 signatures to get him on the ballot in Illinois, one of the most difficult states to both get on the ballot and stave off ballot challenges from Democrats.

And finally, the Catholic News Agency is going after the Green Party and Socialists in Spain for supporting the “Great Ape Project”, which the article states will grant Great Apes rights equal to humans. Don’t worry, I’m sure the chimps won’t be given a right to vote. (But if they could… )

New Mexico Green Rick Lass announced that he is running for the Public Regulation Commission (PRC). This brings up a question I have had for some time.

While I am not looking for a fight about the value of running for higher office vs running for more local offices, I do wonder why so many of these sorts of seats go without Greens in the race. I am assuming, which I know can be dangerous, but I assume that the PRC regulates things like electricity and phone rates. What better post to run for on an anti-nuke, anti-coal, pro-solar, pro-wind, pro-consumer platform? Surely voters will respond to a Green who is trying to protect their pocketbooks.

By the way, Lass must gather about 1400 signatures in the next couple of weeks to get on the November ballot. If you live in or will be visiting New Mexico, why not chip in for democracy?

Lass founded Voting Matters. His email address will be posted as soon as I can get it. To learn more about Lass, click here.

According to messages posted to a Cynthia McKinney supporter’s email list, results of polling in both New Mexico and New York City are now in hand.

According to Rick Lass, New Mexico Greens got 11 of 17 votes cast, with kat swift, Kent Mesplay and Jesse Johnson securing one each. Four voted “none of the above”.

According to Colby Hamilton, the votes counted in NYC will bring McKinney 9 more delegates, Mesplay 1 and Johnson won 2.

A handful of stories out there in the press mention former Green Party candidates for Congress – but why are they in the news now?

Tre Arrow, who took in 15,763 votes in his 2000 bid for the U.S. House in Oregon (placing 3rd of 5 candidates) is going to prison:

Tre Arrow, 34, pleaded guilty to the destruction of concrete-mixing trucks in Portland in April 2001 and to firebombing logging trucks at a contested logging sale near Mount Hood in June 2001.

Arrow was considered a fugitive at one point, and the FBI claims he is an agent of ELF (Earth Liberation Front). Arrow has a colorful past.

In Montana, Bob Kelleher, who ran for US Senate in 2002 (2.3%) and Governor in 2004 (1.9%) as a Green just won an upset victory in the Montana Senate primary yesterday…as a Republican:

The new nominee’s views are far from the mainstream Republican party in Montana. He has run as both a Democratic and a Green Party candidate, and he has advocated more gun control. Kelleher did not return several calls seeking comment on Election Night.

And in New Mexico, former Green Party activist and candidate Carol Miller, who in 1997 took 17% of the vote in a special election to fill U.S. House seat running on the Green Party ticket, is poised to submit 12,000 signatures to run for Congress this year as an Independent.