Heath Haussamen

Diane Denish’s frequent use of a state jet and Susana Martinez’s purchasing of office supplies from a business owned by an employee create negative appearances that will harm their credibility with voters.

Denish’s use of state jet

In Denish’s case, KRQE’s Larry Barker reported three weeks ago that the Democratic candidate for governor had tallied a bill for state aircraft usage of $367,236 over the past four years. There’s a state regulation requiring at least three passengers on such flights for cost-efficiency – and Denish flew 39 times with fewer than three passengers.

From Barker’s report:

“For example, on Oct. 3, 2008, the lieutenant governor and her husband were the only passengers on a flight to Shiprock. Because there were fewer than three passengers on board, the $3,315 flight violated regulations. And the Denish was the only passenger on a flight to Las Cruces last year that cost taxpayers $4,845.”

But General Services Secretary Art Jaramillo was quoted as saying the lieutenant governor is exempt from the regulation because she’s not a member of a board or commission and the department doesn’t have the authority “to require her to comply with these requirements.”

However, according to Barker’s report, there’s nothing in the regulation that exempts the lieutenant governor. Former Assistant Attorney General and State Sen. Duncan Scott was quoted as saying no elected or appointed state official is exempt.

A Denish spokesman told Barker that Denish wasn’t aware of the regulation. The campaign refused to make Denish available for an interview.

Martinez’s office supply deal

In the case of Martinez, the Republican candidate for governor, the Albuquerque Journal reported a little more than a week ago that the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Las Cruces, which Martinez runs, had purchased more than $60,000 in office supplies from a company owned by one of Martinez’s top aides, Janetta Hicks.

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There was no contract or competitive bidding process. Martinez says neither was required because no single purchase was large enough. Martinez told the Journal the deal saved taxpayers money and had approval from two state agencies. She provided documentation to NMPolitics.net to show that buying paper from Hicks’ company was cheaper than other options.

And though the Journal questioned in its initial article whether the deal violated state law, a follow up article pointed out that current laws barring such arrangements weren’t in place at the time of the purchases from 2003 to 2005. From the Journal:

“Because of changes to the Governmental Conduct Act in July 2007, it is now illegal for a state employee to knowingly sell goods to his or her employer. Another section of the law was amended to bar small and sole purchases involving employees.

“Neither of those prohibitions was in effect at the time of the transactions between Hicks’ company and the DA’s Office.

Both candidates take hits

Soon after KRQE’s report, Martinez said she would sell the state jet, winning her points. Denish was damaged by the situation, and her credibility took a further hit when she tried to explain why she wouldn’t sell the jet.

Democrats have hammered Martinez over the office-supply deal she had with her employee, which puts a dent in Martinez’s anti-corruption campaign. Martinez has said she would do the same thing as governor – if it saved money and was transparent – further defending the arrangement by pointing out that auditors found no fault with it.

Some questions remain in the situations involving Denish and Martinez, and I’m currently looking into both.

Newspaper hammers both candidates

The Journal has hammered both candidates in editorials.

“It is unconscionable for New Mexico politicians and appointed officials to use sick kids and rural residents to justify keeping up their jet-setting ways,” the Journal wrote in an Aug. 1 editorial. “But that’s exactly what they are doing.”

The editorial points out that Denish says, “to advocate for rural New Mexico, sometimes you have to get out to rural New Mexico” but states that Martinez is right to want to sell the plan because it’s “too much a symbol of government excess.”

Selling or mothballing the plane, the Journal writes, “might give state officials a closer look at the communities and taxpayers they purport to represent.”

The Journal was equally harsh about Martinez in a Sunday editorial.

“What Martinez misses is the point,” the editorial states. “It isn’t whether the deal… was good for the taxpayers and legal. … The point is that it flunks the smell test.”

“…while $60,000 worth of copy paper and Sharpies is peanuts compared to what has gone on in Santa Fe, it smacks of the kind of insider dealing voters are sick of and that the crime-fighting Martinez vows to clean up,” the editorial states. “The fact she still sees nothing wrong with the office supply arrangement, or how it looks, begs the question of whether she’s up to the task of turning around New Mexico’s culture of corruption.”

The bottom line

The Journal’s editorials accurately represent the way many voters will look at both situations.

Denish has spent years working to build a reputation of being in touch with New Mexicans. But the pricey jet trips around the state – potentially in violation of state regulations and at a time when people are feeling the pain of a bad economy – will appear to many voters as government excess and make Denish look like a politician who’s out of touch with people.

Martinez has built her campaign on ending rampant corruption in state government. But many will view the office-supply contract as another instance of cronyism.

This is politics, and appearances mean a great deal. Politicians from both parties and at all levels of government have given the public every reason in the world to view the actions of government officials in the worst possible light. Fair or not, that’s what is happening in these situations.

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