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…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
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.
Doug Brown, who stepped in as state treasurer after the resignation of Robert Vigil in 2005, has been tapped to head the search for a new State Investment Officer, Gov. Bill Richardson’s office announced today.
The search for a new investment guru comes days after Gary Bland resigned from that high-profile position amid a growing scandal over investments made by the State Investment Council (SIC) and the Educational Retirement Board.
A private law firm hired by the SIC found that Bland had “pressured investment firms doing business with the state to hire certain third-party marketing or placement agents,” state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons told The Associated Press last week.
Bland’s resignation preceded by a day an emergency meeting of the SIC at which members were expected to take a no-confidence vote in Bland.
Lyons’ public disclosure pulled Bland into the center of the national pay-to-play investment scandal that has rocked New York and New Mexico. Already, Saul Meyer, the former investment adviser to New Mexico’s SIC and Educational Retirement Board, has admitted to recommending “investments that were pushed on him by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico.”
Lyons declined to identify the third-party marketers, telling the AP last week he didn’t want to jeopardize ongoing investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Securities and Exchange Commission.
The third-party marketer who has received the most attention in recent months is Marc Correra, the son of a big supporter of the governor and a man who shared in $22 million in fees for helping investment companies win contracts in New Mexico. Correra’s attorney has said Correra did nothing criminal.
Richardson named Bob Jacksha to replace Bland as interim State Investment Officer during the search. Jacksha, who currently serves as Chief Investment Officer for the Education Retirement Board, previously served as Deputy State Investment Officer for the State Investment Council, the governor’s office said.
This isn’t the first time Richardson has tapped Brown for public service.
Richardson chose Brown as a replacement for Vigil, who resigned as state treasurer in 2005 after being indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Vigil is currently serving time in a federal prison after he was convicted of attempted extortion.
Brown is currently the Dean of the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management.
“Doug Brown has a history of unselfish service to the state and I appreciate the fact that he is willing to head the search for one of the most important positions in state government,” Richardson said in a press release.
