GOP Candidate's Wife Says She Was Pressured To Resign (NM - Richardson)

The Santa Fe New Mexican ^ | April 13, 2006 | Steve Terrell

[CedarDave]

Barbara Damron, wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. J.R. Damron, says she was “pressured” to resign from the St. Vincent Regional Medical Center’s governing board by hospital officials who feared retribution from Gov. Bill Richardson.

Barbara Damron said in an interview this week that St. Vincent chief executive officer Alex Valdez told her “he had heard comments around the Roundhouse that my being on the hospital board was jeopardizing the hospital’s getting our requested funds.” The hospital was seeking $4 million to expand the emergency room at Santa Fe’s nonprofit general hospital.

A Richardson spokesman denied the governor, a Democrat seeking a second term, ever pressured anyone to get rid of Barbara Damron or threatened to veto money for the hospital. “It’s ridiculous and a complete fabrication,” Pahl Shipley said Wednesday. “The governor has shown consistent support for St. Vincent.”

Barbara Damron said she was approached by Valdez a few days after her husband went to the Capitol to give a “rebuttal” speech to Richardson’s State of the State address at the start of the legislative session in January.

According to Barbara Damron , Valdez told her he couldn’t tell her to resign. “But I was told to think about it,” she said. “I was told that repeatedly. I felt it was made clear to me that the hospital was not going to get the resources they need for the emergency room if I was on the board,” she said.

On Tuesday Valdez told a reporter who asked about her departure, “She resigned for personal reasons. Mrs. Damron resigned on her own.”

Al Robison, a board member told a reporter “My only comment is, we probably don’t have a better board member than Mrs. Damron.”

[CedarDave]

A little of her biography: Barbara Damron was appointed to the hospital board in 2003, becoming the first nurse to serve on the board. Last year, she was named chairwoman-elect. She is trained as a nurse specialist and psychologist. She has 30 years of nursing experience in oncology and more than 10 years experience as a research psychologist. She has been a head nurse, supervisor, administrator and clinical-nurse specialist.

The entire article is free at the link.

[concerned about politics]

A Richardson spokesman denied the governor, a Democrat...

Yep. It's true. It's democrat power before the American people - again. Never trust a democrat when it comes to their political power. They'd kill their own mothers for a vote.
Why, democrats are so crooked, I'll bet they would even sign up illegal immigrants to vote in future elections and let foreign nations decide our fate.

[CedarDave]

Jeez, you think?

[Paperdoll]

Hmmm....Sounds just like the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, WA.!!!!!

[rod1]

Well I am sure if she had been Monica or another Bubba gal the Gov. would have been offering her a taxpayer- supported job instead of trying to get her off a board.

[CedarDave]

She is very, very well qualified for a board position. Unfortnately for her, neither she nor her husband are FOB (the NM variety).

[elkfersupper]

Gov. Bill is a bully and a thug. He plays hardball.

[jjmcgo]

She should have gone public and let the director deny it and Richardson deny it. And then stayed on the board.
She should have told the director, "What do you have to worry about? When my husband wins, you'll be in great shape. By the way, where is your contribution to his campaign?"
Republicans need to stop resigning, stop apologizing and fight back.