Film location manager seeks legislative seat

SANTA FE — Democrat Rebecca “Puck” Stair, a former teacher who works in the film industry, announced plans this week to run for the state Senate seat now held by Republican William Payne. The district covers part of northeast Albuquerque, including the Sandia foothills.

Stair said Thursday that her work as a movie scout and location manager has taken her to the doorsteps of people throughout the state.

She has spent years “knocking on doors and talking to New Mexicans about what’s important to them and what they care about,” Stair said. “… My platform comes directly out of those conversations.”

Stair said she would work at the Roundhouse to support the transition to renewable energy and green jobs in

the state, and to improve the quality of education and health care.

The primary election is June 2. Payne, a lawyer and retired rear admiral in the Navy, has represented District 20 since 1997. As minority whip, he is part of the GOP leadership in the Senate.

Democrats, of course, will be trying to replicate the success they had in the state House in 2018, when they flipped eight seats, including several in the Albuquerque area.

Every seat in the Legislature will be on the ballot in 2020. Senators serve fouryear terms; only members of the House ran last year.

Democrats hold a 26-16 majority in the Senate and a 46-24 edge in the House.

ETHICS RECOMMENDATIONS: New Mexico’s new Ethics Commission is ready to comply with the transparency recommendations of a national watchdog group — for the most part.

In an annual report, the nonpartisan Coalition for Integrity studied ethics enforcement in all 50 states during 2018, finding tremendous variation in enforcement power and basic operations.

It listed New Mexico as one of five states without an independent ethics agency — a distinction that will change when the new Ethics Commission begins accepting and investigating complaints next year.

The group recommends that state ethics agencies publish annual reports on their work, open their proceedings to the public once there’s probable cause to believe an ethics violation occurred and make their findings of wrongdoing accessible to the public.

New Mexico’s Ethics Commission will generally comply with those recommendations.

Senate Bill 668, passed on the final night of this year’s session, calls for making complaints and related documents public 30 days after a notice of probable cause is issued to the person accused of wrongdoing.

The law also calls for quarterly and annual reports on the commission’s work and public disclosure of its final decisions in cases in which probable cause is found.