State Treasurer Doug Brown painted a bizarre picture Wednesday of the way the office operated under Robert Vigil.
He said he found bugged telephones, rigged security alarms, altered personnel files and more when he was appointed in November to the job, according to an Associated Press article you can read via the Albuquerque Journal.
Brown was speaking to the state ethics task force, of which he is a member, during a meeting of the group at which he suggested the treasurer should be an appointed, not elected, position.
With no oversight, Brown said, a “rogue clique” was running the office, making inappropriate investments and ignoring personnel and procurement policies, the Associated Press reported.
The new details provide insight into the severity the situation under Vigil. It sounds almost like a bunch of middle school students would act if they had unlimited taxpayer money to waste and no accountability while on the job.
Brown said the office’s security alarm system had been tampered with and security cameras were positioned to watch employees. He said listening devices that weren’t planted by law enforcement were discovered in five phones, including his own.
In addition, the personnel files of nine employees were altered to lower job-performance ratings, and it appeared a worker’s computer was “hacked into in order to plant inappropriate material on it,” the news service reported.
“There was just all kinds of mischief going on to try to discourage employees who weren’t with the program,” the Associated Press reported Brown as saying.
Acts of vandalism that still occasionally occur include scratching or writing obscenities on employee’s cars, Brown said.
Fortunately, Brown told the group, morale has improved since he’s been in office because nine people resigned or were fired. He said they aren’t missed because they “were doing nothing productive, but making mischief,” according to the Associated Press.
It appears the task force is focusing in on some specific recommendations, though these aren’t yet set in stone:
• Prohibiting gifts of more than $250, or $100 during legislative sessions, to public officials and candidates for office, who would be required to report all gifts of more than $100 twice each year, the news service reported.
• Asking voters to change the state constitution to allow lawmakers up to $1,000 per month for constituent-related expenses, including phone calls, mailings, gasoline, staff and office space rental, but also tightening laws to prohibit them from using campaign funds for other purposes.
That, unfortunately, appears to be taking the place of the proposal to pay legislators, which would open the positions up to many more New Mexicans. You can read my argument for paying legislators by clicking here.
Under the new proposal, instead of creating a situation that would mean more New Mexicans could afford to serve in the legislature, current legislators would essentially be given slush funds that could be abused.
Don’t get me wrong: Many lawmakers spend a lot of their own money on phone calls and other legislative-related business, but $1,000 per month? Most aren’t spending that now. Office space? How many legislators rent offices now? Mailings? I don’t recall ever receiving one from a legislator that wasn’t campaign-related.
Instead of justly compensating legislators, we’d be encouraging them to spend more taxpayer money on stuff we don’t need.
What would such a monthly allowance actually do to help clean up state ethics?