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.
Attorney General Gary King says that the state should not be responsible for the legal fees incurred by former Educational Retirement Board member Bruce Malott.
Malott has racked up at least $300,000 in legal fees using a private attorney. King’s office says that the state isn’t on the hook for the private attorney because the state is already providing Malott with a state lawyer.
“Reading Section 22-11-13(H) in light of the other statutes that provide legal representation to state officers and employees, we do not believe it requires the state to reimburse Mr. Malott and other ERB members for expenses resulting from privately retained counsel, particularly when an attorney has been made available at state expense through RMD,” the opinion by King says.
Malott has also hired a public relations firm to help him.
Malott quit from the ERB after media asked him about a $350,000 loan he received from Anthony Correra, the father of Mark Correra. Mark Correra received $22 million in third-party marketing fees from the state.
The Independent reported at the time:
Malott is no newcomer to controversy. Last year, as The Independent reported, federal investigators subpoenaed “e-mails, including attachments, to or from Bruce Malott from Jan. 1, 2003 to the present” as part of a wide-ranging criminal inquiry related to New Mexico investment deals. Malott also is a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit brought by ERB’s former investment officer, Frank Foy, who has alleged a pay-to-play culture at New Mexico’s investment agencies.
Last year The Independent noted how Malott’s auditing firm, Meyners + Company, had grown from a bit player to a powerhouse in New Mexico government while Bill Richardson was governor.
The Attorney General’s opinion also says that the state is not responsible for any of the expenses Malott has related to the public relations firm he hired or any other “non-legal” expenses.
