GRIPgate

Today the local blogosphere is obsessed with two things: Swine flu and how to write about the investigation into Gov. Bill Richardson’s pay-to-play allegations.

The media has already reported on one connection between New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the scandal-plagued former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich: Richardson’s re-election campaign gave $20,000 to the campaign of Blagojevich in 2006.

Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill today that will require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state.

Developers who want to convert Albuquerque’s dreary Winrock Mall into a showcase of New Urbanism, where people live, shop and work, got a big boost Wednesday.
Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law a bill authorizing $137 million in public bonds that will provide the developers money upfront to help pay for the infrastructure for Winrock Town [...]

The newest SurveyUSA poll has Gov. Bill Richardson’s approval rating at 42 percent.

A bill that would require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state passed the Legislature and is awaiting action from the governor.

The Senate voted on Thursday 40-1 to pass legislation that caps the amount of money contributors could give to political candidates and elected officials.

Frank Foy’s lawsuit alleging a pay-to-play scheme is an attempt to benefit from the “near collapse” of global financial markets and the resulting “devastation” to some of New Mexico’s investments, says one of the suit’s primary targets, State Investment Council Officer Gary Bland.

A bill that would require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state has cleared the House and is awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee.

CDR, the firm at the heart of New Mexico’s GRIPgate pay-to-play scandal, is also at the center of a nationwide investigation into whether the firm, along with banks, overcharged local governments for its services.

Pauline Turner, who Frank Foy’s attorneys describe as ‘a key witness’ in Foy’s pay-to-play case against the state, says the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board made hasty and risky investment decisions that weren’t understood by some board members. Malott is the embattled ERB chairman.

Open government and press advocates say a public records bill larded up with exemptions from state agencies would define public records “out of existence,” according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
And a no-confidence vote against top officials at the University of New Mexico by faculty sends a strong message that faculty believe the university is [...]

In the wake of of a potential pay-to-play scandal and economic unrest, Gov. Bill Richardson is less popular in New Mexico than ever before, according to a recent poll.
The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for KOB-TV, showed Richardson has the approval of just 41 percent of New Mexicans.

The governor’s office says an ongoing federal probe into allegations of pay to pay isn’t the reason Bill Richardson skipped a weekend meeting of the National Governors Association.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has named a special envoy to North Korea, and it isn’t Gov. Bill Richardson.