Richardson: Block Jr. faces trust issue

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

7/3/2008 - 7/4/08

It's not clear whether Gov. Bill Richardson, the titular head of the state Democratic Party, will support Democratic Public Regulation Commission candidate Jerome Block Jr. in the general election.

Block, who won the six-candidate Democratic primary in the District 3 PRC race, has in the past week been the subject of controversy involving a past drunken-driving arrest and other criminal citations, about which he apparently didn't tell the truth to The New Mexican and other newspapers prior to the election.

In answer to questions about Block, Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos released a statement saying: "The governor in no way dismisses the seriousness of the charges that Mr. Block faced. In fact, the Governor worked with the Supreme Court to change the six-month rule that allowed some DWI cases to fall through the cracks. It will be up to Mr. Block to explain to voters why he deserves their trust."

Court records show Block beat his 1998 DWI citation by delaying court hearings until the six-month time period for prosecution had passed.

Richardson has been a strong advocate of tougher laws against drunken driving.

Pressed as to whether Richardson would endorse Block's candidacy, Gallegos responded, "He has not even considered making a formal endorsement for a state or district general-election race. It's premature. That doesn't mean he will or he won't."

Block, a Santa Fe resident who is son of former PRC member Jerome Block Sr., couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

Block's only general election opponent in his heavily Democratic PRC district in Santa Fe and northeastern New Mexico is Green Party candidate Rick Lass, who has said he won't make an issue of Block's legal history.

At an event to celebrate the opening of a new Democratic Party office in Santa Fe on Wednesday, Lass showed up, but Block didn't.

Questioned before the primary by The New Mexican and other papers whether he'd ever been arrested, Block answered he'd been arrested "on suspicion" of DWI but was found "not guilty" in court. Actually, the case never was adjudicated.

He also failed to mention a citation for disorderly conduct he received shortly after the arrest, allegedly for urination in a public place. Block, in recent interviews has said he doesn't remember the citation.

A recent Santa Fe Reporter article also documented a 1999 arrest for riding with a drunken driver, to which Block pleaded guilty, and failing to appear at child-support mediation hearings in a 2004 case.

Some Democrats have wondered whether Block, who won the primary with less than 23 percent of the vote, should remain on the ticket. State party chairman Brian Colón told a reporter Wednesday that he hadn't heard of any serious movement to dump Block.

In 2006, party leaders, including Richardson, publicly pushed to get Jeff Armijo, the Democratic candidate for state auditor, out of the race after it was revealed he was being investigated over allegations of making aggressive and unwanted sexual overtures to women. Armijo, after dropping out of the race, was indicted on charges in one of the cases, though the case eventually was dropped for insufficient evidence.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.