Posted on 08/08/2003 8:25:43 PM PDT by Libloather
Counterparts have `cordial' meeting
By Shea Andersen
Tribune Reporter
CIUDAD CHIHUAHUA, Mexico - Despite numerous sources of tension between them, the governors of New Mexico and Texas tried to focus on common concerns rather than differences in a meeting this morning.
The two were attending the annual Border Governors Conference with the governors of eight Mexican states in this northern Mexico city.
Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, and Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, are far apart on political matters at home, and tension between the two simmered just below the surface over the 11 Democrats from the Texas Legislature who have taken refuge in Albuquerque and received Richardson's welcome. The Democrats have shut down the Legislature by depriving it of a quorum, and Perry wants them back to vote on a Republican-pushed redistricting plan under consideration in a 30-day special session.
After his first-ever meeting of any substance this morning with Perry, Richardson described the session as "cordial."
Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst filed suit Thursday in the Texas Supreme Court seeking a ruling that would force the Democrats to return. The Democrats filed a countersuit in Texas state District Court, requesting an order that would prohibit their arrest if they return to the state and also challenging the governor's authority to call a special session for redistricting, which is at the core of the political dispute.
Richardson said he and Perry discussed the matter briefly. "We both agreed it was in everyone's best interest to get this issue resolved," he said in an interview in his hotel room in Chihuahua.
"I define `resolved' in very broad terms," Richardson said.
While there are arguably larger, more important issues - water, border crossings, security - the Texas 11 situation has the potential to sour their relationship.
Richardson welcomed the 11 with open arms, and has said Republicans should "back off" on the plan to redistrict Texas congressional district maps.
But in part because there are more pressing issues, and partly because the two men barely know each other, Richardson said they didn't get too specific about the 11 senators.
"We purposely, I think, both kept away from making the Texas 11 issue divisive," Richardson said. "That's more of a legal and political process that maybe he and I don't have much of a role in."
For Richardson the career diplomat, keeping the exchange friendly could pay dividends on other fronts.
"We connected well. We have a lot in common," Richardson said. Perry, he said, has family ties to Ruidoso. And artist R.C. Gorman is a mutual friend.
Other things the two states have in common include dwindling water supplies and overtaxed border crossings.
Richardson said Perry agreed to more meetings to discuss the Pecos River system, which involves a water delivery commitment between the states, and the Oglala Aquifer, which spans their borders.
And, they've agreed to jointly seek federal funding for a railroad loop around Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso. A key stop in that loop would be New Mexico's border crossing at Santa Teresa.
Lastly, the two cornered a U.S. State Department official in Chihuahua for the meetings, to urge speed on the development of a fourth port of entry between New Mexico and Mexico. Richardson said Dennis Linskey, coordinator for U.S.-Mexico Border Affairs for the State Department, was in a morning meeting today, and he urged Linskey to get his department involved in facilitating the crossing. Richardson had written to Secretary of State Colin Powell about the matter in late July.
The crossing would be just eight miles west of El Paso, between Sunland Park and Anapra, Mexico, something Richardson and Perry both see as a huge boost to improving border traffic.
"I just urged (Linskey) to make it happen sooner than later," Richardson said.
Perry was not available for comment after the meeting. He has repeatedly refused to discuss the Texas 11 situation with reporters on this trip.
Round one - cordial.
Round two could come to blows.
Ding!
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