Don Wiviott, A Progressive for NM-03

[asdjrocky]

Don's wife Kelley Owen Wiviott, 48, is a prominent Santa Fe realtor. They share their lives with two children: Jonathan Owen, age 26, and Hillary Owen, now 24 years old. The family also has a four-year-old dog named Scooter, who often joins Don when he drives his hybrid car around town.

Are you looking for more Green Collar candidates to support? I’ve found the perfect candidate; Don Wiviott is running in New Mexico’s Third Congressional District.

Don Wiviott has made his mark in New Mexico finding solutions. He worked his way through college as a union laborer pouring concrete, and he received a master’s degree in business. As a developer Don has pioneered “Green Building.” He served on Governor Richardson’s task force to plan for better use of New Mexico’s land and water.

Don began his green building career in the mid-1990s when he purchased an abandoned eight-acre site in Santa Fe. Recognizing the economic potential of the area, Don overcame political hurdles to create an energy-efficient community called "The Lofts." Today, the Lofts is an integral part of the Santa Fe economy and home to over 100 businesses and residents, including numerous artists and technology companies.

From Press release March 5 2008-

“With hardworking Americans feeling the squeeze of an uncertain economy and oil prices climbing past $100 a barrel, it is more important than ever that our federal budget reflect reality and deal with the economic challenges confronting middle-class families,” said Wiviott. “We don’t need another Republican budget that takes care of special interests. We need a budget that is consistent with America’s values and that lifts up the middle class.”

Citing skyrocketing energy costs, Wiviott said its time Washington crafts a budget that invests in practical, renewable energy solutions that will provide relief to families, create jobs and move America towards energy independence.

“For years, the federal budget has included fiscally irresponsible tax breaks for a powerful few,” said Wiviott. “This year, it’s time to change course. Before any budget passes, members of Congress must put it to this simple test: does it provide relief to those who need it? Does it help families struggling to fill their tanks and heat their homes? If the answer to these questions is no, the budget shouldn’t pass and lawmakers should go back to the drawing board.”

Don Wiviott on the Issues-

Iraq:
Don will call for an immediate phased redeployment of our troops.
Don will champion legislation to make sure our troops will have health care, housing, education and job training.
Don will call for a “diplomatic surge” to bring about political reconciliation in Iraq and strengthen the central government.

Health Care:
One in five, over 400,000 New Mexicans have no health insurance.
Don will call for high quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Education:
Don will work in Congress to radically reform No Child Left Behind to insure that the right kind of accountability mechanisms are established, not unfounded mandates.
Don will advocate for Universal early childhood education.

Honoring Work:
Don is a proud supporter of New Mexico’s Unions.
In Congress, Don Wiviott will work for additional increases to the minimum wage because hard working wage earners deserve a raise.
Don Wiviott supports smart trade – trade deals that include enforceable labor and environmental standards.

Energy Independence & Global Warming:
America needs to commit itself to a major investment in the development of the clean energy technologies of the future.
Don Wiviott will not only work to make sure that America commits itself to energy independence with a massive new investment, but, he will also work toward bringing some of that investment – and the jobs that it will create – back to New Mexico.
Don believes Global warming is a crisis that cannot be ignored.

Civil Rights & Liberties:
In Congress Don will work to insure the rights enshrined in the American Constitution will be protected at all costs. Neither Congress nor the President should ever be allowed to trample on or abridge our guaranteed freedoms.
Don opposes illegal wiretapping of American citizens because government must not be allowed to spy on our citizens. He opposes granting amnesty to corporations who illegally wiretap our phones.
Don believes that the law must not discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, gender, creed or sexual orientation.
Don Wiviott supports net neutrality believing in the free flow of information is vital in our society.

Veterans Issues:
Don Wiviott will fight to increase the VA budget to make sure that the Veteran's Administration has the resources it needs to provide physical and mental health care to our veterans.

I met some great people while working for the Edwards 08 campaign that are currently on Don's staff, and they are now working very hard toward the March 15 state convention, and the 20% Don needs there to be on the ballot.

Take a look at the website, and remember people, look for Progressives in your own back yard. Can you volunteer? Can you write a letter to the editor? Can you give to the Don Wiviott campaign?

I’ve extended an invitation through campaign manager Theresa Trujeque, an Edwards Supporter with Iowa scars, to Don Wiviott guest blog on DU, and I’m still waiting for confirmation. In the meantime, I encourage you all to take a little time from your day, and get to know Don Wiviott NM-03.

The fight to take back America from the special interests starts here, in the Congress, help Don Wiviott go to Washington, and help all of America.

Get to know Don Wiviott, following is a list video links for Don.
How do you say Don Wiviott?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UivEpTghNFI
Meet Don Wiviott-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05jW7zdl7Mo&feature=related
Change for New Mexico-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-arraTfsNIw&NR=1
New 'Wiviott in Depth' Video
http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/democracy_for_new_mexico/2008/03/nm-03-wiviott-i.html


http://donfornewmexico.com/

[asdjrocky]

1. Kick for Don.

[Fireweed247]

2. Thanks for the info

I wish his position was a little stronger on Iraq.
We are collecting names of candidates such as him at www.peacecandidates.com. You can add his name to the list
here http://peacecandidates.com/peace_candidate_list
The ultimate goal would be to elect Kucinich to Speaker of the House and pass his platform of ending the war, real universal health care, end NAFTA etc.

[asdjrocky]

3. Thanks for the response Marty-

and welcome to DU :hi:! I'll pass the information along to the campaign.

[asdjrocky]

4. .

[AngryAmish]

5. He pales in comparison to Prof. Wiviott

Though, to be fair, so do we all:

[asdjrocky]

6. That's great.

Now I want to smoke something.

[AngryAmish]

7. What do you smoke with?

I got the WSM last summer, did the 5 step course, now I smoke a lot. What a great way to waste a weekend day!

[asdjrocky]

8. Back when I did commercial fishing-

We built our own smoker for smoking salmon. That was 20 years ago, and I can still taste it now.

[waiting for hope]

9. You are awesome Rocky -

Keep it going - hopefully more will see that the real progressive movement starts from the ground up. K&R!

[asdjrocky]

10. Hiya Hope!

From the ground up, in our own backyards!

[waiting for hope]

11. Hiya back!

Now I'm hungry....think I'll go find me some meat - those smokers look so good! :)

[asdjrocky]

12. I'm having soup.

[NMDemDist2]

13. don't forget Dist 2. We have a great guy running down here too

http://www.billmccamley.com/index.php

EDUCATION

* New Mexico State University (Bachelors of Arts in Government)
* Harvard University (Masters in Public Policy)

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

* Doña Ana County Commissioner (and former Commission Chairman)
* Executive Director, New Mexico Rural Development Response Council
* Instructor, Government Department, New Mexico State University
* Commercial Real Estate Agent, Grubb and Ellis, Las Cruces

POLICY BACKGROUND

Bill earned a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While there,
he was president of the Democratic Party Caucus and submitted an award-nominated thesis on water problems in New Mexico. While on the County Commission he has worked hard to find innovative, middle-ground solutions to issues ranging from healthcare to zoning to law enforcement.
He currently writes a regular column on policy issues in the Las Cruces Sun-News
and the Las Cruces Bulletin, and he appears every other week on a local talk radio
program to debate issues in the news.

# VETERANS ISSUES

“As a nation, we must ask ourselves: Are we providing our Veterans the level of services and support that they need and have earned? I believe that we are not. I believe we must do much more. As the son of a retired Army Lt. Colonel, I pledge that Veterans issues will be one of my top priorities in Congress.”


# IRAQ

"Our brave men and women in uniform have done everything they can in Iraq. It's time for us to create and implement a plan that brings home our troops safely, quickly, and with honor."


# FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

"Every dollar our government spends that it does not have is a dollar stolen directly from the pockets of our children and grandchildren."


# HEALTHCARE

"A functioning healthcare system that provides affordable, quality healthcare to every single American is critical for families."


# JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

"When good jobs are scarce, everyone's quality of life goes down. When there is no way to earn a living, the very existence of many of our small communities is threatened."

http://www.billmccamley.com/issues/

[asdjrocky]

14. Thank you!

And great information! It's stuff like this on DU that I get very excited about. Progressives in our own back yard is what it's all about.

[Lilith0831]

15. Please reconsider Wiviott -- NOT a progressive

I don’t usually post to this forum (or any forum, for that matter), but when I saw the subject line I just had to register and comment.

I live in northern New Mexico, the district Wiviott's running for Congress in – please, please, please rethink any positive thoughts you might have about Don Wiviott as the “perfect” candidate or even a genuine progressive.

He is a millionaire real estate developer who has almost entirely self-funded his campaign because he has little to no support from the extremely progressive grassroots political community in Santa Fe. In addition to the $750,000 he's donated to himself, his major contributors are big corporations like Coors (anti gay, anti environment) and Washington Securities, a multinational corporation. (data available on opensecrets.com)

Don Wiviott is extremely disliked in Santa Fe among the environmental and progressive community -- he has a reputation as a greenwasher -- his projects are not green, but only look that way for good PR. In addition, he has been repeatedly sued by neighborhood organizations for real estate development projects that compromise the livability of a neighborhood and destroy the historical or cultural significance of an area. In all cases, he has used his personal fortune and army of attorneys to terrorize the community organizations and ramrod his “green” projects through.

In addition, his only political experience is a $2100 contribution (the maximum allowable) in the last election to a hard right-wing Republican who was a business colleague of his.

Please don’t let Don Wiviott’s money buy your trust when he hasn’t earned it. All this information is available on Google with just a bit of searching.

He is not a progressive, he is not honest and I am horrified at the snowjob his money is buying. He is a wealthy, corporate-backed millionaire who will NOT work for a progressive agenda.

There are some true progressive candidates in the race for CD3 (Shendo, for one, and maybe Adams, although Adams is probably a fringe candidate), but Wiviott isn't one of them.

Thanks for letting me butt in –

Lily