Even though Mayor Javier Gonzalez issued a statement after a state audit of the city’s $30.4-million parks bond spending, saying no fraud was committed, the Albuquerque Journal says it has found some procurement irregularities. State Auditor Tim Keller did a special audit after a general audit found problems with the way the parks bond money was spent. The Journal report shines a light on audit findings that a city worker whose relatives owned a company profiting from bond money had authority to decide who would be awarded contracts for parks work. The total of those contracts over several years, according to the Journal’s investigation, was more than $115-thousand. The money was awarded to Ulibarri Landscaping, and the employee – Ben Gurule – is married to the daughter of the late Alfonso Ulibarri, the owner of the company. The Journal found Gurule was directly involved in executing the bond. The city’s spokesman says City Councilors will be looking at tightening the purchasing manual so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest in the future. The audit stated city leaders were aware of a potential conflict of interest, but records don’t indicate the city took action, according to the Journal.
The founder of a mail-order green chile club says he has every intention of getting people their money back since the business never heated up. Jaime Dubuar Dean said Sunday that he is working on securing capital to give out refunds and owed chile shipments to dozens of subscribers. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/1VgrobQ) that people purporting to be customers recently posted accusations on Facebook that they never received orders from Dean's Green Chile Club after paying into it. Dean told The Associated Press that he suspended all shipments in December when it became clear his subscriber base was not big enough. Dean says he owes about 80 customers between $35 and $100 each, depending on if they had signed up to receive chile for one or three months.
Last week Mayor Javier Gonzales banned city travel to North Carolina and other states where laws have been passed endorsing discrimination. But on Friday the mayor’s spokesman told the Santa Fe New Mexican that he is headed to the country of Qatar – a country the US State Department says discriminates against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people “under the law and in practice.” After questions about that discrepancy, the spokesman said the mayor wasn’t sure yet whether he actually would travel to Qatar, according to the New Mexican – but he added that the trip was to be funded by the government of that country, not Santa Fe taxpayers, and that if he did go, he would raise the issue of inequality with government representatives he’d be meeting with there.
Utility regulators are launching three weeks of hearings today to decide if Public Service Company of New Mexico can charge customers nearly 15 percent more on their electricity bills. The Albuquerque Journal reports environmental and consumer groups have opposed the plan as an attempt to push more rate responsibility from industrial and institutional customers to residential and commercial users. Public Service Company of New Mexico says the new revenue will pay for electric system investments it has made since the last rate hike was approved in 2010. Only a few members of the public gave comments to the PRC last Thursday. Those who spoke mostly said they didn’t want to see a hike in rates.
Control of the New Mexico House and Senate are at stake as candidates and political committees stockpile cash in advance of a June primary and November general election. Political candidates and committees are filing campaign finance reports as a midnight deadline approaches for disclosing contributions and expenditures for the past six months. The filings give the public its first glimpse at campaign fundraising accomplishments since candidates for statewide and local elections registered in March. Republicans hold a 37-33 majority in the state House or Representatives, while Democrats control the Senate 24-18. The November election also will decide on a new Secretary of State to complete the 2015-2019 term started by disgraced Republican Dianna Duran. Duran resigned in October and pleaded guilty to felony fraud and money laundering charges.
A system that provides drinking water for a Santa Fe hospital is among several in New Mexico where testing has turned up elevated levels of lead. An Associated Press analysis of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department found that 20 small water systems across the state have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once in the last five years. Nationally, nearly 1,400 water systems serving 3.6 million Americans have exceeded the federal standard at least once between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2015. In New Mexico, the systems include St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, elementary schools in Santa Fe and Quemado and the state prison in Roswell. Other private systems that serve neighborhoods in rural areas also are on the list.
Dona Ana County Treasurer David Gutierrez has pleaded not guilty to charges related to public corruption. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that court records indicate that Gutierrez's attorney filed a waiver of arraignment, allowing Gutierrez to formally plead not guilty. A grand jury indicted him last month. He now faces one of three possible violations of the state statute on ethical principles of public service. He is charged with using public office to obtain personal benefit or failure of a public official to disclose a conflict of interest or a lack of integrity. In a separate hearing, a grand jury last month formally accused Gutierrez of corruption in office or gross immorality by a public official. If found guilty, he could be removed from office.
A Four Corners college that borders the Navajo Nation is joining the ranks of higher-learning institutions across the country in recognizing "Indigenous Peoples Day." The Daily Times in Farmington reports San Juan College recently approve the change following a resolution by the Associated Students of San Juan College. The action came after a group of students approached the student government last year with concerns about Columbus Day and shared its reasons for recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day on campus. The college does not list Columbus Day on its academic calendar, and the campus in Farmington remains open during the federal holiday. According to the student government resolution, adopting Indigenous Peoples Day is "not to be misconstrued as an effort to supplant any existing federally recognized holidays."
A University of New Mexico medical student says the school unfairly punished him for a Facebook post that was critical of President Obama's re-election and compared Democrats to Nazis. A lawsuit filed last week in federal court claims Paul Hunt's free speech rights were violated after the school forced him to revise his profanity-laced, ant-abortion rant in 2012 and still left negative references about the episode in his academic file. His lawyer says the references could jeopardize his chances at getting into a good residency program after graduation. But attorneys for the University of New Mexico School of Medicine say Hunt violated the school's social media and professionalism policies. The lawyers say he was given due process to address the complaints. Hunt is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Fifteen former presidents of the American Bar Association are joining the push to urge Republicans to consider President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee. In a letter to Senate leaders, the 15 argue that the GOP blockade is injecting politics into the courts that "materially hampers the effective operation" of the judiciary. The group calls Chief Judge Merrick Garland, Obama's pick, as "one of the most outstanding judges in the country."