OPINION: Native groups hope to nullify 2-year-old election result

Sep. 12—Former President Donald Trump isn't the only one still whining about the 2020 election.

Three Native American groups are suing New Mexico's government to invalidate the votes of more than 445,000 state residents who approved a constitutional amendment. Their long-shot litigation claims the public was duped in the election.

At issue is the amendment to convert the state Public Regulation Commission from five elected members to three commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. This change is to take effect in January.

The groups trying to overturn the election result are Indigenous Lifeways, Three Sisters Collective and the New Mexico Social Justice Equity Institute. They want the state Supreme Court to hear their case.

The court last week notified the organizations their 8,000-word petition is too long. The arguments must be streamlined if the justices are to consider the case.

In their lawsuit, the advocacy groups claimed the ballot issue to reform the commission failed to cover crucial points. For instance, it did not mention state residents had been electing public regulation commissioners from five geographic districts.

"The ballot text nowhere indicates that a vote 'for' is a vote to relinquish this important constitutional right and transfer it to the Legislature and the Executive," the lawsuit states.

Their arguments are a stretch. Proposals printed on a ballot have to be boiled down. What the Native groups say was necessary reading might cover a chapter in a novella.

There's an even bigger flaw in their lawsuit second-guessing voters. The Native groups could have sued before the election instead of waiting almost two years to complain.

The petitioners also ignored a 25-year history of sloth and corruption at the Public Regulation Commission. Many party hacks with no expertise or interest in regulating monopoly utility companies ran for the PRC because of the $90,000-a-year salary.

One was former Commissioner Jerome Block Jr., D-Española. His father, also named Jerome Block, had served on the commission. Having a familiar name helped Block Jr. win a close election against a Green Party candidate.

While in office, Block Jr. was convicted of felonies for fraud, embezzlement and violating election laws. A self-described drug addict, Block Jr. had no credentials to handle utility regulation, nor did he bother trying. He often skipped work.

In another embarrassing episode for the agency, then-Commissioner David King, R-Alamogordo, was sued for sexual harassment by his onetime female assistant. A jury awarded the woman $842,000.

Ethics controversies also plagued the PRC. Then-Commissioner Tony Schaefer admitted to staying more than a dozen times in the guest wing of a home owned by a lawyer who had cases before the commission. Schaefer, D-Las Cruces, stopped voting on those matters only after his lodging arrangement received extensive newspaper coverage.

There were and are good commissioners, too. One is Stephen Fischmann, D-Las Cruces. He was instrumental in stopping Connecticut-based Avangrid's attempt to acquire Public Service Company of New Mexico. The proposal was more favorable to energy company executives than to consumers.

Overall, though, state residents believed the system of electing commissioners to handle highly technical jobs was flawed. They said so, and loudly, by voting for a commission with appointed members.

"The need for PRC reform was evident to many in the Legislature and to the voters," said state House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe. "I suspect the Supreme Court of New Mexico will respect the will of the voters."

Politics will still be in play with the new system. But there's less chance of a unqualified applicant such as Jerome Block Jr. slipping into office.

Native Americans who are suing to maintain an elected commission claim that issue holds special importance to them. They say their lands are rich in energy resources and Natives are the majority in one district from which commissioners were elected.

In fact, the Public Regulation Commission's work is just as important to every consumer and utility company. The commission's core mission is to strike a fair balance between a company's economic needs and the cost to consumers for electricity or water.

Of the groups that filed suit, Three Sisters Collective is the best-known in Santa Fe. Its leaders two years ago pressed Mayor Alan Webber to remove the Soldiers' Monument from the Plaza.

A mob destroyed the 152-year-old monument in October 2020 without resistance from Webber or his police department. The ballot issue to reform the Public Regulation Commission was voted on three weeks after the violence. Three Sisters Collective paid more attention to sanitizing New Mexico's history than to an election it now claims was unfair.

Ole Doc Frankenstein never created a monster like the Public Regulation Commission, a fact most voters understood. Almost 56 percent decided to remake a flawed creation.

That leaves the three Native groups with a tall hurdle. It's fashionable in some places to follow Trump's lead by filing lawsuits in hopes of overturning an election result. New Mexico isn't one of them.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.