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.
Freelance journalist and occasional contributor to the The Independent, Peter St. Cyr says that Gov. Bill Richardson’s office has been ducking inspection requests related to pardon applications in New Mexico. This comes as Richardson is considering a much-publicized posthumous pardon of Billy the Kid.
St. Cyr says he began searching for the information about the requests for pardon in November. His initial request was put off as being too burdensome. St. Cyr amended his request but was again rebuffed; he was told that the information he was looking for was already in boxes awaiting archiving.
St. Cyr requested the information using the Inspection of Public Records Act, or IPRA.
“The Inspection of Public Records Act is intended to provide the public with access to information about governmental affairs,” said St. Cyr in an e-mail to The Independent.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported, “The Governor’s Office did not say why the request was burdensome and/or broad. In general, the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act gives a public agency 15 days to respond with information, unless records are already in archives, for example, and it will take longer to retrieve them.”
The New Mexican has also faced problems in looking for the information using IPRA.
“Open government — that is, the public’s access to government actions — is a crucial aspect of a functioning democracy. Frankly, their claim the records are in boxes for archiving is not a reasonable excuse to deem the request burdensome, especially since they announced they had received a request to pardon Billy the Kid just last week,” said St. Cyr.
Gov.-elect Susana Martinez, who will be sworn in on Jan. 1, has already been criticized for her transparency after her transition team denied the Santa Fe New Mexican’s request for information on applicants for the New Mexico State Police chief and head of the state Department of Public Safety.
