Kent Cravens is no healer

  Kent Cravens, lobbyist for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, described   himself last fall as someone who can bring people together.

 Hardly.

 A Republican from Albuquerque, Cravens (left) quit the state Senate in September for his new, more lucrative career in lobbying. The lobbying job was in his back pocket while he was still casting votes as a legislator.

This is not the track record of a healer who can help people find common ground. But Cravens, 52, could not care less.

If he cared at all, he would not have abandoned his constitutents with more than a year left on his term.

Now, much to his dislike, Cravens will stay in the news because of legislation he helped inspire.

Various lawmakers and Republican Gov. Susana Martinez want a one- or two-year delay before a legislator can become a lobbyist.

Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, has introduced a bill for a one-year moratorium. Feldman for years has been pushing for such reforms without any success.

Perhaps her long-shot bill will get a boost from the fact that the governor wants a two-year ban on lobbying by former legislators.

As for Cravens, he was working a committee room last week, complaining to Sen. Carroll Leavell about the criticism he has received.

Nobody reads that stuff, Leavell told Cravens. Leavell also referred to Cravens, in a friendly way, as "a traitor."

It was clear to all of us watching this exchange that Leavell, R-Jal, was not bothered by Cravens' career move.

Cravens made his reputation in the Legislature as a fighter to strengthen the state's drunken-driving laws. Perhaps that is how former colleagues choose to remember him, so as to diminish his ethical breach of quitting in midterm to fatten his wallet.

The other factor, of course, is that various sitting legislators want to make the exact move that Cravens did. They do not want to slam the door on their own chances of quickly becoming lobbyists.

This alone will limit criticism of Cravens and diminish any small chance that Feldman's bill has of becoming law. Her proposal is Senate Bill 103.

Comments

[Fred]

"As for Cravens, he was working a committee room last week, complaining to Sen. Carroll Leavell about the criticism he has received. Nobody reads that stuff, Leavell told Cravens"

Thank to the author of this blog we are reading it now. Cravens and Governor Martinez have shown hypocrisy since day 1 on this issue.