NM Gov. Lujan Grisham says public safety special session likely

Provided she can reach agreement on some issues with legislative leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a visit to Farmington last week, that she is likely to call a special session of the Legislature soon to deal with public safety.

“I feel like we are weeks away (from calling a session) or even quicker,” the governor said during an interview with The Daily Times following her April 11 town hall meeting with citizens at Animas Elementary School. “It could be one week or two.”

Lujan Grisham said public safety issues will be the only items on the agenda, and she is working with leaders of both parties to develop a platform for the session and make sure partisan bickering doesn’t sidetrack the gathering.

She noted that governors in other states often call a special session out of frustration without ensuring ahead of time they have the votes to get certain measures passed. Lujan Grisham said she won’t call a special session until she has the platform “nearly buttoned up,” but she said she is very confident that will happen.

The governor said public safety is a major concern of most New Mexicans regardless of political affiliation, and she noted that crime across the state is trending in the wrong direction.

“If we don’t do something immediately, we’re in a lot of trouble,” she said.

Sitting atop the governor’s to-do list for a special session would be the passage of a measure addressing how the competency of criminal defendants is determined and ensuring that those who need it are receiving mental health assistance. She also wants lawmakers to address the issue of panhandling, noting that people camped in the medians of high-traffic areas have become a major problem, especially those who aggressively try to solicit money from motorists.

“We have the highest pedestrian fatalities in the country,” she said, adding that such situations also contribute to road rage incidents.

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She said it also is imperative that the legal system be able to keep frequent offenders off the street. She noted that it has become common for police officers in some cities to arrest an individual for openly using a controlled substance on the street or for a misdemeanor retail theft offense in the morning, then see that person back on the streets committing the same offense later that same day.

“This goes on over and over and over again,” she said, explaining that such offenders typically are released quickly because they have not been deemed a danger to society.

But that kind of revolving-door element in criminal justice emboldens other bad actors who do commit violent acts and erodes trust in the system, she said.

Lujan Grisham also wants lawmakers to establish a statewide platform for reporting and tracking crime. That would help the state make better-informed decisions when it comes to awarding grants to law-enforcement agencies and determining which approaches work and which one’s don’t, she said.

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'We want people to trust us'

The governor was in Farmington as part of her Cabinet in Your Community program, through which Lujan Grisham brings her Cabinet secretaries and other agency heads with her to meet with constituents and listen to their concerns.

Before the town hall meeting was held, workers from dozens of state agencies were set up in the gym at Animas Elementary School helping qualified people enroll in state programs or address issues they had been experiencing. That event drew hundreds of attendees, many of whom carted home free food boxes in addition to registering for state assistance.

The Cabinet in Your Community program has been a staple of Lujan Grisham’s administration since she took office for her first term in 2019.

“We want people to trust us,” she said, acknowledging that many people have lost faith in government’s ability to solve problems in recent years. “We’ll lean in and try to make these rigid programs work for them.”

Too many New Mexicans who deserve and need help don’t take advantage of what the state offers because they are intimidated or frustrated by the process of enrolling online or even waiting to speak to someone on the phone, she said.

“These in-person visits can spark folks’ interest in what we can do to improve their quality of life,” she said.

The town hall meetings are even more valuable, she said, explaining that the feedback she got from San Juan County voters years ago helped shape the provisions of the 2019 Energy Transition Act. That measure led to the closure of the San Juan Generating Station and its accompanying mine in 2022 in favor of a statewide move toward renewable energy, but it also provided for $20,000 cash payouts to each displaced worker and made job training programs and other benefits available to them.

“It really made a difference,” she said.

Lujan Grisham noted that San Juan County is a Republican stronghold, and many voters here may not share her Democratic sensibilities. But she said situations in which folks of different political persuasions meet face to face to try to iron out their differences happen far too infrequently these days.

“We don’t talk to each other — we talk at each other as a nation,” she said.

The governor pointed to the example set by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican who serves as the chairman of the National Governor’s Association.

“That’s a hard gig to get,” Lujan Grisham said of the NGA chairmanship, noting that Cox is a good fit for the job because he is committed to working in a bipartisan fashion. “His No. 1 thing is, we’ve got to disagree better.”

The governor said she shares Cox’s assertion that the way forward is to put Democrats and Republicans together and take those who stake out an extreme position out of the equation.

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“It’s inspired me to do more of these community events around the state,” Lujan Grisham said.

The governor said she has made numerous trips to San Juan County over her six years in office and has never felt disrespected as a Democrat. She cited the county’s natural beauty and praised local leaders for their leadership in trying to build an outdoor recreation-based economy — a lead other New Mexico communities would be well advised to follow, she said.

“It’s a good place to highlight that New Mexico is different,” she said.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Lujan Grisham says public safety would be focus of special session