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.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) issued a report today naming what it considers the nation’s “most incompetent and unethical governors.”
And Gov. Bill Richardson‘s name is on it thanks to recent scandals and federal investigations into his administration’s actions involving state contracts.
According to a thumbnail description of the governor’s transgressions, CREW said Richardson:
Used state investments to benefit political allies
Allowed pay-to-play scandals to plague his administration
Rewarded close associates with state positions or benefits, including providing a longtime friend and political supporter with a costly state contract
Failed to make state government more transparent
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Independent for a response to CREW’s putting him on the list.
Most of CREW’s charges today stem from the ongoing investment scandal that has centered on the State Investment Council and Marc Correra‘s sharing in $22 million in so-called placement fees for playing matchmaker between state investment agencies and funds looking for clients.
Correra is the son of a Richardson friend and fundraiser.
That scandal has produced some interesting connections to New York and California, with New Mexico’s former investment adviser, Saul Meyer of Aldus Equity, pleading guilty to securities fraud last fall as perhaps the most striking.
In pleading guilty to the charge in New York, Meyer admitted that on numerous occasions, contrary to his fiduciary duty to New Mexico, his company had “recommended proposed investments that were pushed on him by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico.” Meyer went on to say in that statement he knew “that these politically-connected individuals or their associates stood to benefit financially or politically from the investments and that the investments were not necessarily in the best economic interest of New Mexico.”
Meyer’s admission and guilty plea was one of the factors that led members of the New Mexico State Investment Council to pressure New Mexico’s former State Investment Officer Gary Bland to resign. Bland resigned days after Meyer’s guilty plea.
In naming Richardson one of the worst governors, CREW also referred to a federal criminal investigation that resulted in no criminal charges. The probe examined pay-to-play allegations involving his administration and a California firm that received state contracts.
Federal investigators were investigating how CDR Financial Products Inc., of Beverly Hills, Calif., got two consulting contracts in 2004 worth about $1.4 million to advise New Mexico on a large bond issue to help pay for road projects across the state. CDR president, David Rubin, a major Democratic contributor, had given more than $110,000 to two political action committees controlled by the governor from 2003 to 2005.
The largest of those donation, $75,000, was made less than a week before CDR was chosen by the Finance Authority to handle the investment of bond proceeds.
Ultimately the criminal inquiry ended without any criminal charges, although acting U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt sent a letter to those involved saying that action shouldn’t be interpreted as an exoneration of anyone. In the letter Fouratt said the investigation revealed that “pressure from the governor’s office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process so that CDR would be awarded such work.”
The governor’s office at the time said the investigation was politically motivated and pointed to the fact that Fouratt was a Republican to make the case.
Updated 11:30 a.m.: The governor’s office just sent a statement to the Independent. Here it is:
“This report is ridiculous considering Governor Richardson has led the way for ethics reform in New Mexico. It’s also difficult to take it seriously since it relies almost exclusively on the Albuquerque Journal as its source.”
