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.
The office of Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez bought more than $60,000 in office supplies without a contract or competitive bidding process from a company owned by one of Martinez’s then-top deputies and a political ally, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.
A former state auditor now questions whether state law was followed in the purchases, which were made from 2003 to 2005, according to the paper.
Martinez, who is the Republican nominee for governor, told the paper that the arrangement was legal and had approval from two state agencies. In addition, it saved the taxpayers money, Martinez is quoted as saying.
She would do it all over again as governor, “so long as there was transparency in that transaction” and a cost savings was the result, Martinez told the paper.
The deputy district attorney involved, Janetta B. Hicks, also a Republican, is now the elected district attorney in the Fifth Judicial District based in Roswell, according to the paper. Martinez said Hicks’ company, Titan Office Supply, is no longer in business, the Journal reports.
It will be interesting to see how the Journal’s findings play out in the race for governor going forward. Martinez has made combating corruption in New Mexico a cornerstone of her platform in her run for governor, including fighting conflict of interests which she has said are pervasive in the administration of Gov. Bill Richardson. Martinez is running against Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.
Will it be a blip — a one-day story in media speak? Or a story with staying power — has legs as we in the media say — either because of additional findings or because Denish’s campaign latches onto it as a retort to Martinez’s critiques concerning corruption in the state.
