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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.
New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera
Two former political employees of Secretary of State Mary Herrera who were fired this week will sue their former boss for retaliation under the state’s whistle-blower act, their attorney said Wednesday.
Española attorney Rudy Martin said he notified the state Tuesday of his intention to sue Herrera and her agency on behalf of his clients, James Flores and Manny Vildasol.
“I think what is going to happen is that we will be filing a lawsuit before the election using the state’s whistle-blower act,” Rudy Martin told The Independent in a telephone interview.
Flores and Vildasol, Herrera’s communications director and office manager, were notified Tuesday by separate certified letters (click here and here to see the correspondence) that they had been fired. Both men had been on paid administrative leave while the state investigated them. But the two men knew they had been fired before they got the letters—because they had read read about it on a local political blog that already had the news, Martin said.
Vildasol, Flores and Herrera’s former Elections Director A.J. Salazar all have gone to the FBI to allege wrongdoing at the Secretary of State’s office under Herrera. The allegations range from forcing employees to solicit “sponsorships or donations” from businesses that contract with the state to possible kickbacks on contracts and having office employees campaign for Herrera on state time.
Vildasol’s and Flores’ firings “were basically retaliation for going to the FBI,” Martin said.
Herrera’s deputy, Francisco Trujillo II, denied that claim. Reached by phone Wednesday, Trujillo said Flores and Vildasol were fired for reasons that had nothing to do with their allegations against Herrera. But asked why the two men were fired, Trujillo declined to give a reason, saying “It’s a personnel matter and I won’t go into it.”
Herrera, for her part, has dismissed the allegations made by Salazar, Flores and Vildasol and others as politically motivated.
Vildasol and Flores worked as political appointees
Both Vildasol and Flores were at-will employees, meaning as political appointees they could be terminated without Herrera having to adhere to rules that govern the hiring and firing of most state employees in the classified system.
The firings of Vildasol and Flores are the latest development in a growing scandal of allegations of wrongdoing that threaten the re-election effort of Herrera, a first-term Democrat. Her agency has been in turmoil for months. But now Herrera appears to have a full-blown mutiny on her hands and the steady drumbeat of bad news appears to be helping Republican opponent, Sen. Dianna Duran.
Salazar quit as Herrera’s elections director months ago, creating a brief maelstrom of negative press for Herrera when he alleged wrongdoing in the agency in a lengthy resignation letter. Flores and Vildasol have made similar accusations.
While Trujillo wouldn’t discuss why the men were fired, Martin said that both men were accused of creating a ‘hostile work environment’ at the Secretary of State’s office. But those allegations weren’t proven, Martin said.
“It was a total guise for the firing,” Martin said of the accusation.
Trujillo said the Secretary of State’s office had no immediate plans to hire replacements for Vildasol and Flores termination.
“Between myself and a couple of other members of the management staff we are picking up the additional responsibilities,” Trujillo said.
