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Denish has stood up against corruption
Heath Haussamen
I recently heard Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez say Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has done nothing during her tenure to combat or speak out against corruption, “not even a whisper.”
Martinez isn’t alone in making that claim. One of her primary opponents, Allen Weh, has made similar accusations, as have a number of other Republicans who are trying to tie Denish to corruption and other problems that have plagued the Richardson administration.
Martinez, Weh and the others, however, are wrong. Whether Denish has done enough to combat corruption is up for debate, but to say that the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor has done nothing in 7.5 years as lieutenant governor is patently false.
I know because I watched Denish publicly stand up against corruption within her party three years ago when no other Democrats would.
Speaker tried to kill housing authority reform
It was during the 2007 regular legislative session. I and other journalists had spent months writing about the scandal in the state’s affordable housing system that exploded when the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed the state in 2006. The controversy centered on a former legislator who was a close ally of House Speaker Ben Luján.
Denish had taken the lead in lobbying for approval of legislation that would reform the housing authority system and fund an audit. But Luján and others, including state Rep. Joe Campos of Santa Rosa, were working to kill the proposal.
Campos was doing it openly, using outdated audits to argue that the housing authorities didn’t have problems even though I and other journalists had already documented the issues.
Luján was working behind the scenes – you know, doing what he does. He walks into a committee meeting and whispers in a committee chair’s ear, and then a bill dies. The speaker was working to protect a political ally who was in a heap of trouble.
Luján already had a committee kill the House version of the reform bill, and the Senate version was coming before the same committee. Some Democratic lawmakers complained to me that the Senate bill was headed for the same fate and asked me to shine light on it so the bill could get a fair hearing.
I called around asking someone – anyone – who believed that Luján was trying to kill housing authority reform to go on the record. None would, until I spoke with Denish’s office.
Denish stood up to Luján
Denish’s spokesman told me it appeared that Luján was attempting to kill the bill sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, just as he had killed the bill from Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones.
Denish speaking with Sen. Mary Kay Papen about the housing authority reform bill in 2007. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
“The overall impression we’re getting is that this bill is following in the footsteps of Rep. Arnold-Jones’ bill,” Denish spokesman Michael Henningsen said.
Denish also spoke up against Campos’ efforts to kill the reform proposal using outdated audits. And she was working to help coordinate efforts between representatives and senators to find a compromise.
Denish succeeded. Her work, along with public threats from then-House Minority Whip Dan Foley and some intense behind-the-scenes politicking by a handful of House Democrats, combined to create a greater force than Luján. The speaker was eventually forced to accept a compromise and allow the reform bill to pass.
Denish speaking with Rep. Al Park about the housing authority reform bill in 2007. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Denish later signed the reform bill into law.
Denish made a difference
The state auditor has released a damning report on what happened in the housing authorities. The AG has indicted several people in the scandal – including former state Rep. Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, the close friend of Luján.
Let there be no doubt that there was an attempt to bury corruption in this instance, and that Denish stood up against it.
Let there also be no doubt about the speaker’s ties to the scandal. In 2006 we learned that a top aide to Luján was living rent-free in a home owned by the Region III Housing Authority, even though she was earning more than $71,000 per year. The agency was supposed to be providing housing for low-income New Mexicans.
Gallegos became a lobbyist after he left office in 1996, and he spent a lot of time in Luján’s office during legislative sessions. The aide, Luján’s office manager, later said that’s how she and Gallegos came to work out a deal for the house. She claimed she and her boyfriend were “defrauded and victimized” by the housing authority.
There’s no doubt in the minds of most people who were involved in this situation – and in my mind – that the speaker tried to kill housing authority reform. Denish stood up when other Democrats would not and challenged the speaker, the second most powerful official in state government and a leader in her own political party.
Her willingness to do so made a difference.
GOP claim is false
I understand why Republicans want the public to believe Denish has never fought corruption. It would be easier to tie her to the scandal-plagued Gov. Bill Richardson if she had never spoken a word against the powers-that-be in Santa Fe and in her own party.
Tying Denish to corruption – or at least convincing voters that she stood by and did nothing while it was happening – would help Republicans win the governor’s race in November.
There are other situations Republicans will cite in claiming Denish hasn’t done enough to fight corruption. But to say she’s done nothing is simply untrue.
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Dr J .. todays smell is always the worst … Richardson HAS to be near the top of this list, but one of the things he shares with the early governors is, frankly, the lack of coverage of his administration – how scarey is that? He bought the decent journalists and put them to work in the administration – which created a void, which Heath has helped fill. But – as an example of the competition … a governor prior to Cargo is quoted as saying, “if you don’t leave office with a million dollars, you aren’t trying …” Gotta love the high standards of the office.
“I can find no articles or evidence any had the taint and smell of Richardson.”
Well, of course not. That just wouldn’t serve the narrative, now would it?
New Mexico has been called “The Patron State” for decades for a reason, DJ.
Thinker, perhaps you can enlighten us as to the history you quote as saying the Richardson regime is not anywhere close to the most corrupt and crony filled in the last 98 years? Which ones were worse? Johnson, KIng, Carruthers, Anaya, Apodaca, Cargo, Campbell, Bolack, Mecham, Burroughs, Simms, Maybry, Dempsey, Miles, Tingley, etc.? I can find no articles or evidence any had the taint and smell of Richardson.
She showed up for a battle or two, she no showed the war.
If she was the crusader against corruption that she would have us believe she is, she would have been in more fights. It’s not like the Roundhouse isn’t a target rich environment.
Nice write up. I appreciate the serious, factual, even handed approach this site takes in reporting on the politics of our great state. On a personal note, being sandwiched between two of nuttiest, nut job states in the southwest is bad enough. A trifecta would be a nightmare! If NM republicans have swung as far to the right as ongoing trends nationwide indicate, even facts won’t stop them from pushing hasty generalizations and the guilt by association fallacy. But thanks for trying.
I look forward to following you and your team’s good work up to the primary and beyond.
Heath – I agree that Denish isn’t Richardson … thank heaven … and that she wasn’t his pick as Lt Gov back in 2002 – Denish bulled her way in using (in part) slanders and inuendo againt lead dog Jerry Sandel. She proved to be a very capable insider in that primary, and won. Richardson excluded her from almost everything, so while she was isolated, she isn’t stupid and she isn’t without connections … so she had a pretty good idea what was going on during the past 7.5 years while she waited to take the throne.
As Lt Gov … she was chair of the Mortgage Finance Authority and served in that capacity from 2003 on … so she should’ve seen, or known, what was transpiring and should have led the fight – earlier – to fix the wrongs. Papen and Arnold-Jones figured it out for Regions 7 and 3 (respectively), compared notes … and started swinging. Denish had no choice but to stick her nose into it.
Denish is not the unindicted coconspirator the lead Republicans make her out to be and they are making a big mistake in trying to paint her with the Richardson brush … she has plenty of paint of her own and they really should focus on THAT.
Great job! The truth stands will out.
I also recall an instance, I think it was in the 2008 session, when the Senate was trying to get Richardson to act on a (House) bill that they had just passed, and she had it delivered to his office over the weekend. Richardson’s office refused to accept it, and the next thing I recall was her making a wry comment that she would “have to check with my superior.” (Sorry I can’t be more specific, but it wasn’t a bill I was interested in.)
As I’ve written before, Richardson is not a team player. Fortunately, Denish is.
“the Richardson regime is the most corrupt, crony-filled government in New Mexico history”
Oh, DJ, PLEASE… you can pull your hand off your forehead now.
Yes, it absolutely has serious issues, no denying. But, c’mon, the MOST corrupt in all of NM History? Really? How in depth an historical investigation have you done to decide that? Hyperbole like that is more a reflection of party politics than history, and it’s just not helpful or accurate. I’ve see much worse in other states I’ve lived in, not to mention all the other places in the US with genuinely entrenched corruption in their political systems–whether they’re run by Democrats or Republicans.
Ask yourself where you’d rather live today, New Mexico or Louisiana? How about New Jersey? or Illinois?
Indeed thank you Heath, for setting the record straight. Too bad the electorate doesn’t much care about records, much less electing people who are more straight than crooked. The old adage about where there’s smoke there’s fire doesn’t mean much these days. An entire mountain range has to be burnt to cinder before the electorate even notices trees missing. That smoke coming out of speaker Lujan’s office? Oh, that’s just a control burn; kind like the one that nearly wiped out Los Alamos a few years back. No need to worry though. Just put on your oxygen masks and keep pretending it’s all under control.
Heath, thanks for documenting the two instances Ms. Denish has fought the La Politica corruption so rampant in our state. I would, however, feel more convinced of her values and determination to take on the La Politica machine if she were to just acknowledge what we all already know, that the Richardson regime is the most corrupt, crony-filled government in New Mexico history. If she were to start now by recognizing and admitting she should have been more vocal and up-front about taking on Richardson for all the things he has done over the last 8 years that violates her values (I assume they do), I would be conviced of her principles. She could always say she was powerless to stop him, but by just acting like nothing was done wrong, she dooms herself to being tied to Richardson’s actions while Guv. She can’t sit on the fence on this issue and claim to be a “corruption fighter”.
These are minor, compared to the corruption she said nothing about. It takes more than token efforts to qualify her as fighting corruption Heath. She closed a few holes in the fence, but left the front door of the hen-house open.
Heath, good job in reporting this article. I support Gov. Denish, I think she
is doing a fine job and would make a great Governor!
I didn’t remember all that (probably wasn’t paying attention). Thanks for setting the record straight.
I remember that… thanks for reminding me.
AU