Rey Garduno - To Get Public Campaign Finance Funding
by: suz
Wed May 23, 2007 at 15:39:48 PM MDT
( - promoted by LP)If Rey Garduno’s current level of organization is any sign of how he will run his campaign for Albuquerque City Council's District 6 seat, other candidates will have quite a race on their hands. Yesterday Rey turned in exactly the required 271 signatures and $5.00 donations in order to qualify for public campaign financing. Albuquerque City Clerk, Millie Santillanes, said the official announcement won't be made until May 31st, but unofficially Rey's signatures have been accepted.
Rey becomes the first person in NM, and Albuquerque specifically, to quality for public campaign financing. He attributes a portion of his early success to his use of a walk-list of voters in District #6. Rey also noted that he was able to turn in the required number of signatures in two weeks, about half the time given to candidates to collect signatures.
Rey Garduno said that he delivered the signatures in three batches, an initial set of 90, a second set of 175 and a third set of 28. Rey stayed at the City Clerk's office for the counting and validating or "vetting" of the final batch of signatures. The City Clerk's office went through all of the gathered signatures in each batch carefully and eliminated those that could not be identified as registered voters in District 6. Garduno stated that only 8% of the signatures he turned in were rejected while other candidates had rejection rates between 23% and 40%. He also indicated that if he had fallen short of the 271 signatures needed, several people were waiting in the wings to give their signatures and donations.
Rey and Debbie O'Malley, candidate for Albuquerque City Council's District 2 seat, will be guests on the New Mexico Blog Radio show at 4:30 PM Thursday, May 24th to discuss their experience with the new public campaign finance law. Listeners are invited to call in and ask questions during the half hour show. The call-in number is (718) 664-9717. The show will be hosted by Democracy for New Mexico's Barbara Wold, and Suzanne Prescott, who produced the radio show, Insight New Mexico during the NM Legislative session.

Democracy Lives! Clean and Ethical Elections Supported by District 6 Voters

Rey Garduño’s family, friends and supporters have made clean elections a viable democratic process. By gathering the required $5 contributions and signatures, 10 days ahead of time, Garduño is the first candidate in this inaugural publicly financed election to qualify. He will be taking this momentum into his candidacy, knowing that his support is widespread and community-based.

Garduño has pledged not to take money from Special Interests, by utilizing public financing he will be able to concentrate on discussion of the issues with his constituents. Rather than wasting time making deals with powerbrokers for large donations, he will be listening to his constituents in District 6.

When asked what this meant to Albuquerque, he said, “The city spoke loudly last election when they voted for Clean and Ethical Elections, by a margin of 72%. My qualifying this early means the people in my district have also spoken; by their own actions they have determined that a $5 contribution to the Clean Elections Fund is a small price to pay for Democracy. This is historic, yet this is the way all democratic elections should be conducted.”

Garduño, a progressive candidate, will be gathering petition signatures beginning June 1st for his candidacy and preparing for the campaign to fill the City Council District 6 seat being vacated by Martin Heinrich. Heinrich has announced his candidacy for the U.S. House Seat in New Mexico District 1.

Rey is going strong on Campaign Trail

Candidates canvass for public funding

By Peter Rice (Contact)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Signing up to be among the first publicly financed City Council candidates in the history of Albuquerque comes with a time-consuming chore: explaining just what the new system is all about.

That's what Rey Garduño discovered Monday as he took a break from ringing doorbells.

"It's not a matter of selling it. It's a matter of explaining what it is," he said.

Garduño, who is running for the District 6 seat now occupied by Martin Heinrich, is one of eight candidates trying to prove to voters they're worthy of a publicly funded campaign war chest.

Under the financing system that debuts this year, candidates are charged with gathering $5 contributions from 1 percent of the registered voters in their respective districts. That works out to about 300 contributions, depending on the district.

If candidates can pull it off, the city will give them campaign funding equal to $1 for every registered voter in their respective districts, or about $30,000.

And the clock is ticking. Candidates have a month - May 1-31 - to gather the donations, but some filed the initial paperwork as late as May 10.

Garduño is going door to door soliciting the donations and estimates that five minutes elapse by the time he introduces himself, gives a thumbnail sketch of the brand-new financing system, records the donation, and hands over a receipt.

"Seven minutes, if they need a little bit of background talk," he said. "It's still a process of people having some trepidation."

And while Garduño seems happy to spend the time explaining the city's new system, fellow District 6 candidate Joan Griffin wishes something could be done to help the education along.

"Somehow, we need to educate the public about how this works," she said. "People have no clue what this is, and people think it's a fund-raiser."

The donations go into a special city election fund, and not to the candidates themselves. The city also chips in to the fund. From there, the campaign money is disbursed to whomever qualifies.

Griffin estimated that she's halfway to the 271 signatures she needs. Garduño said he would turn in between 110 and 120 to the Office of the City Clerk today.

While the candidates report that people are receptive to the idea once they know the facts, coming up with the $5 can sometimes prove a big hurdle.

"I'm finding that in the poorer neighborhoods - like mine - it's actually a great disadvantage," said Feroza Jussawalla, who is also running for the District 6 seat, that represents the Southeast Heights.

When asking one potential constituent for a donation, "they said look at my roof," Jussawalla said. It was starting to cave in.

Other voters seem to be distracted by the other bits of political news swirling around the nation.

"Everyone is preoccupied with the presidentials," said Paulette déPascal, who is running for a seat held by incumbent Councilor Brad Winter.

Overall, the process of collecting signatures is proving to be a difficult and time-consuming affair. Joseph García, who was running in District 6, said it was a factor in his recent decision to drop out of the race.

"The process looks really tedious in terms of the public finance situation," he said. "The way this is set up is not fostering greater participation."

Rey Highlighted in Democracy for New Mexico

Rey Garduño Seeks Public Funding for ABQ District 6 City Council Race

Long-time community activist, public information specialist and small businessman Rey Garduño (right) has decided to pursue public funding for his campaign to replace Martin Heinrich on the Albuquerque City Council in District 6 in the Southeast Heights. Heinrich has plans to run for Congress in CD1 against Repub incumbent Heather Wilson and will resign his seat on the Council when his terms ends. City Council elections are set for even numbered districts this coming November.

Garduño currently serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Common Cause NM. He's also a member of the Board of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), and operates Rey Garduño Photography. He retired in 2005 from his post as head of marketing for UNM Hospitals, and he was a Public Affairs Representative at Carrie Tingley Hospital for nine years. Click to see his extensive resume detailing 25 years of professional experience in managing staff and resources, as well as his many years of service to the community on various boards and professional organizations. Rey has also worked hard in support of various initiatives including passage of minimum wage and clean elections legislation, the Better New Mexico campaign and ethics reform.

Like Debbie O'Malley, who's running for reelection to her North Valley City Council seat in District 2, Garduño is currently in the process of collecting signatures and $5 donations from registered voters in his district so that he can qualify for public funding. He has to gather more than 250 before the May 31 deadline. If you live in District 6 and would like to sign up, you can contact him at 266-4424 or reygarduno@gmail.com. He's also looking for people to help collect the signatures and donations. You don't need to be a resident of District 6 to help out.

Other reported candidates for the District 6 seat include UNM graduate student Joe Garcia, who is president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association, and Joan Griffin, who owns a local ad agency and operates a dating service franchise. Griffin served as Mayor Marty Chavez's press person during his 2005 reelection campaign.

Read more

The Clean Campaign Begins

City Council hopefuls try public financing
Decreases look of corruption, advocates say

By Peter Rice
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Four City Council candidates are taking on the role of political guinea pigs, pursuing public financing in the debut year of the program.

Public financing of political campaigns requires some extra legwork of candidates, but advocates say it decreases both the perception of and actual corruption, and promotes greater faith in the electoral process.

Incumbent Councilor Debbie O'Malley was the first to sign up in recent weeks, followed late Friday afternoon by Katherine Martinez, who is also running for the District 2 seat that covers the North Valley.

In District 6, which covers the Southeast Heights, Joan Griffin and Rey Garduño are starting the process of landing public funds.

Thus far, the participation only involves two of the four council seats open this fall. Incumbents Brad Winter and Craig Loy (who hasn't committed to running again) said they wouldn't use the program.

But former City Councilor Eric Griego, who originally sponsored the measure, is tickled by the results anyway.

"Even if one candidate uses it, I think it's great," he said, adding that he was especially happy to see O'Malley, who is in a position to raise plenty of private money, on board.

Public-finance candidates must jump through some hoops to get their money. By the end of this month, they have to collect $5 donations from 1 percent of the registered voters in their districts. They also must collect signatures from 2 percent of the registered voters, though the same is required of all candidates.

Advocates of the system say it will help candidates avoid conflicts of interest, either real or perceived. It also works to even things out, said Martinez, who by day works for the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. She is going up against a high-profile incumbent, O'Malley, but she will do it with an equal warchest.

"We're already starting off with the exact same amount of money," she said. "I think that's important."

Don't expect the infant program to function without a hitch. It's not clear, for example, just how much the program will cost from year to year. That depends on how many candidates use it. Also, if other candidates raise more than the publicly financed candidates, then the city will try to match it, but only if money is available.

Right now, the city's campaign fund stands at $450,000. If all four candidates qualified, that would cost the fund $117,400.

Assistant City Clerk Kelli Fulgenzi also points to this potentially sticky situation: If a candidate gets the required $5 donations, then he or she will receive the campaign funds. But if they then fail to collect enough signatures, "you have to give the money back," she said.

That puts the city in the awkward position of collecting money that may have already been spent.

"Compared to not having a system I think that's a reasonable price to pay," Griego said. "We should expect that there are things that we have to overcome."

But one person's glad tidings is another's harbinger of a big fat bill.

"It could become very expensive for the taxpayers of Albuquerque," Loy said.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on council candidates who want public funding. They can sign up for a few more weeks, but they must assemble their $5 contributions by May 31.

"I think you may get a few more," Griego said.