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.
Since June, Martinez has attempted to tie Denish in the public’s mind to Richardson and his administration’s numerous scandals, from pay-to-play allegations, federal criminal inquiries and charges of cronyism. The question is, with two months to go before the November election, does another headline-grabbing scandal strengthen the Martinez campaign’s efforts?
Bruce Malott, chairman of the Educational Retirement Board (ERB), abruptly resigned his post Wednesday after media inquiries from the Albuquerque Journal about a loan he received from the father of a man who received $22 million in so-called third-party…
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…
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 state judge has tossed one of two lawsuits filed by whistleblower Frank Foy, the Journal reports today, saying the suit targeted actions that occurred prior to the enactment of a 2007 state law that the suit relies on…
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.
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.
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.
Gov. Bill Richardson’s office is being secretive … again.
According to a story in the Albuquerque Journal today by Mike Gallagher, the governor’s office won’t even say whether it has received subpoenas from a federal grand jury or…
An attorney for high-profile whistleblower Frank Foy charged Monday that the State Investment Council is resisting handing over e-mails and other documents that show the state’s former state investment officer, Gary Bland, pressured firms to hire a politically connected third-party marketer.
Former State Investment Officer Gary Bland testified this fall before the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its own “non-public, fact-finding inquiry” into the investment scandal that is mushrooming, documents show.
Doug Brown, who stepped in as state treasurer after the resignation of Robert Vigil in 2005, has been tapped to head the search for a new State Investment Officer, Gov. Bill Richardson’s office announced today.
The search for a new…
The state’s top investment officer has resigned amid a pay-to-play scandal that’s the subject of federal and state criminal investigations. Gary Bland resigned Wednesday in a letter to Gov. Bill Richardson.
Saul Meyer admitted Tuesday to pushing certain deals to New Mexico’s two investment agencies as the state’s investment adviser because politically connected individuals here recommended them. He didn’t name names. But the guilty plea thrust another scandal onto the front burner in New Mexico, just after Gov. Bill Richardson and former staff members escaped criminal charges but not a cloud of suspicion.
New Mexico has lost another $27 million in an investment involving the son of a friend and fundraiser for Gov. Bill Richardson, Marc Correra, who shared in more than half a million dollars in fees for the deal. Correra also shared $2 million in fees on a 2006 investment deal that cost the state $90 million after it went sour.
Both the Albuquerque Journal and the Associated Press are reporting that Marc Correra shared in $22 million in third-party marketer fees, a much larger total than the $16 million previously reported.
Frank Foy on Tuesday added a Texas-based firm that caused New Mexico teachers’ pension funds to be indirectly invested in what some are calling one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history.
A lawyer for whistleblower Frank Foy has asked a state judge to hold Amanda Cooper — Gov. Bill Richardson’s former deputy presidential campaign chair — in contempt of court. At the heart of a motion filed Tuesday is a contention that Cooper hasn’t turned over subpoenaed records.
Hmm, all the state officials who’ve pleaded ignorance about the hefty fees third-party marketers were paid over the years because of their involvement in state investments may have only themselves to blame.
It appears New Mexico isn’t the only state interested in Marc Correra’s role as an investor in a gambling proposal.
