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 State Investment Council filed state and federal lawsuits Friday against former investment chief Gary Bland and a number of other people involved in alleged pay-to-play schemes. The state alleges they were involved in steering investments to political supporters of former Gov. Bill Richardson.
The State Investment Council hired the law firm of Day Pitney Tuesday to help it try to recover taxpayer money lost due to questionable deals made in recent years, the Associated Press is reporting. The firm will be paid a…
A prominent fundraiser for high-profile Democrats played a bigger role than previously thought in helping his company land a 2007 deal to manage New Mexico investments, the Albuquerque Journal reported today.
The revelation comes thanks to a court memo…
After months in the hot seat, including being the focus of two federal probes, the State Investment Council decided Tuesday to go after tens of millions of taxpayer dollars lost to potential fraud. A request for proposals (RFP) will be sent out next month with the goal of hiring a firm by mid-September to lead the agency’s effort to recover lost taxpayer money, State Investment Officer Steven Moise said Tuesday.
A current member of the State Investment Council joined two outgoing members Tuesday to accuse Attorney General Gary King of not doing enough recover public money lost to failed or possibly fraudulent investments. King responded by accusing the SIC of trying to shift the “spotlight” from itself and its past investment mistakes.
An executive producer of a film shot in New Mexico and titled “Chooch” pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud in New York. David Loglisci is the former chief investment officer for New York state’s pension fund and the first…
Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday reappointed David Harris and named Catherine A. Allen (of the Santa Fe Group) and Doug Brown (of UNM’s Anderson School of Management) to the State Investment Council (SIC), complying with a new law that re-organizes…
Whistleblower Frank Foy plans to go to court to try and stop the state from defending a former State Investment Officer and at least one public official, his attorney said Tuesday.
“We’re waiting to get hearings,” Victor Marshall said,…
“The Richardson administration pulled out all the stops to keep Gary Bland on the SIC,” Foy’s attorney, Victor Marshall, said at a small news conference Tuesday. But four SIC members said they never felt pressure from the Richardson in the days before the former state investment officer resigned.
The state Legislature on Thursday morning passed a bill that would reform the State Investment Council. The Governor has said he will sign the bill.
A special prosecutor hired by the New Mexico Attorney General would investigate and recover any money lost from state investment funds due to fraud under legislation that unanimously passed the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon. “I believe personally that we…
The House passed its own stab at reforming the State Investment Council (SIC) Sunday. The 68 to 0 vote occurred quickly and without much fanfare on the House floor, and follows by two days the Senate’s passage of its own more aggressive reform bill.
The House’s action now sets up a scenario where the Legislature has dueling SIC reform bills and increases the potential for back-room maneuvering and haggling to see who gets credit for reforming an agency at the center of an ongoing scandal.
Gov. Bill Richardson will lose control of the State Investment Council while the State Investment Officer no longer could hire and fire fund managers under legislation that cleared the Senate on Friday evening. Senators voted unanimously after a short debate to dramatically re-structure how the Council (SIC) is governed.
State senators weren’t agreed Friday about how to reform a state agency at the center of an investment scandal. But one thing’s for sure: they’re spoiling for a fight with Gov. Bill Richardson over who should control the State Investment Council. Three reform bills are being combined into one that could be heard on Monday in the Senate Rules Committee.
A bill that would transfer oversight of the State Investment Council from the executive branch to the state Attorney General‘s office cleared a powerful Senate Committee on Thursday morning. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tim Keller,…
The governor would no longer sit on the state Investment Council if a bill sponsored by Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, succeeds.
The bill is one of three in the Senate aimed at reforming at a state agency at the…
A bill before the Legislature would focus more eyes on State Investment Council’s (SIC) cash register at a time the state agency already has attracted plenty of federal eyeballs.
Changes envisioned in the legislation include a lessening of the governor’s authority over the State Investment Council and a reduction in the portfolio of the agency’s top staff member — the State Investment Officer.
Law firms in Albuquerque, New York City and Washington, D.C. have joined to file a class-action lawsuit against former New Mexico Investment Officer Gary Bland and members of the Educational Retirement Board, according to the Santa Fe Reporter.
An outside review of the State Investment Council recommends significantly reducing the governor’s power over the agency, the Albuquerque Journal reports today.
Gov. Bill Richardson’s influence over the State Investment Council “is more far-reaching than it is for…
Gov. Bill Richardson
As 2009 staggers into the history books, exhausted and a bit lighter in the pockets than when it first appeared on the scene, let’s acknowledge this: the year gave us plenty to write about.
Accusations of pay-to-play, former elected officials getting indicted, electoral surprises and an occasional David toppling a Goliath — 2009 produced it all, giving the year a healthy luster of newsworthiness despite its threadbare look.
The year showed incredible stamina, in fact, with a steady drumbeat of scoops, gotchas and revelations, exhausting many a political junkie and news professional. And 2009 didn’t take long to demonstrate its capacity to shock.
On the fourth day of 2009, an announcement in Washington landed in New Mexico with all the percussive power of a bombshell: Gov. Bill Richardson was withdrawing as President Obama’s commerce secretary, citing a federal corruption investigation into how his administration conducted business.
And the news kept coming.
Some 360 later, the year is ending the way it began — scrutiny, including from federal prosecutors, on how the state invested its money over the past half decade.
In between those two bookends, the state of New Mexico also came to the disturbing realization that it was broke, Albuquerque’s longtime mayor fell short of winning a third four-year term — knocked off by a long-shot two-term GOP state lawmaker — and two former elected officials found themselves on the business end of a criminal indictment.
It’s unclear whether what transpired this year will change the political dynamic here in New Mexico, or lead to more government transparency. But before The New Mexico Independent gets back into the daily grind, let’s take a deep breath and reflect on the busy year that was.
