I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
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Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
In a statement released today, Albuquerque mayoral candidate Richard Berry says he’s already released additional financial information about his finances to disprove what he calls incumbent mayor Martin Chavez’s “smears and lies.” But NMI and at least one additional reporter have been requesting such information for days and haven’t received a thing.
Berry states that he’s complied with “all transparency requirements required by law in the mayoral race” and that he’s filed his sources of income with the city clerk. NMI published a photograph and described that financial disclosure form for the public earlier this week, and again this morning. It’s a one-page form on which Berry listed five sources of income.
A request that all three candidates in the mayoral race provide their personal tax returns for review was made earlier this week by reporter Peter St. Cyr of KKOB 770 AM.
In the statement, Berry says he will not release his tax forms because they contain personal information about his family. They aren’t running for office, he says, so they should not be subjected “to this invasion of privacy.” The other two candidates in the race–Chavez and former State Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero–have agreed to release their forms.
The subject of Berry’s finances arose because of the “family business” he frequently mentions in his campaign speeches. Berry says his business experience makes him the best candidate to be Albuquerque’s next mayor. The family business he refers to is actually owned by his wife, and the degree to which Berry’s own business–R.J. Berry Enterprises–is in business is unclear.
NMI requested information about R.J. Berry Enterprises specifically, rather than personal tax returns. We’ve also asked to what degree Berry is involved in his wife’s company, Cumbre Construction. But Berry has not provided us with any details about the company, or answered any questions about the work he does for Cumbre.
Here is Berry’s statement in it’s entirety:
Richard Berry has complied with all transparency requirements required by law in the mayoral race and has disclosed his sources of income on the candidate financial disclosure statement. He has also voluntarily made additional information available to disprove dirty political smears and lies being spread by the Chavez campaign. Now, less than two weeks before the election, Marty Chavez wants Berry to release tax returns that include personal information pertaining to his family. This is not required by law and Berry’s family members are not running for mayor, therefore he will not subject his family to this invasion of privacy by releasing their personal information. Chavez is once again engaged in dirty politics and a whisper campaign against a successful businessman with a solid reputation. Chavez knows this race is tightening and is grasping at straws to divert attention away from the real issues that Albuquerque faces.
