One employee is facing two misdemeanor charges and four were placed on leave this week as a result of a New Mexico State University investigation that has identified a number of problems in the Office of Facilities and Services.
In addition, authority over OFS has been moved from a senior vice president to a team led by an administrator who works directly for the president as the university begins to address the problems.
The action taken this week follows the completion of an audit and a months-long investigation by the university police department into a host of complaints about abuse at the department. Christina Chavez Kelley, the senior assistant to President Michael Martin who was placed in charge of OFS this week, confirmed that the audit and an internal review revealed problems including “unauthorized use of NMSU property and equipment, time card accuracy, excessive use of overtime, control of inventory, use of petty cash and conflicts of interest.”
The criminal investigation, in which the NMSU police were assisted by the sheriff’s department and FBI, quickly narrowed in May to focus on allegations that a few employees used university equipment, funds and resources for construction projects at their homes.
That investigation is complete, District Attorney Susana Martinez said, and her office is currently reviewing it to determine whether further criminal charges are warranted. The misdemeanor charges already brought against roofer Rene Quezada were filed by the NMSU police, not the district attorney, Police Chief Jaime Chavez confirmed.
Quezada is charged with misdemeanor larceny and embezzlement. I was not immediately able to get information about his employment status, but he is not listed as an employee in NMSU’s online phone directory.
In an e-mail, Kelley did not answer a question about whether employees were placed on leave this week, but multiple sources confirmed that four have been placed on leave, though I don’t know their identities.
In May, the university placed five employees, including Associate Vice President Richard MacRorie, on leave. At least one, former roofing and construction division supervisor John Salopek, was fired after he admitted to using a university dump truck without permission.
The university said at the time that MacRorie was placed on leave not because he was accused of wrongdoing, but “to ensure the investigation would be as effective as possible.” He returned to work after a few days.
The university released no information in May about the other employees who were placed on leave at that time.
Review is ongoing
Martin’s decision to place OFS under Kelley moves the office out from under Ben Woods, senior vice president for planning, physical resources and university relations. The university police department also reported to Woods when its investigation began several months ago, but Martin decided early on that police would report directly to him on this investigation to ensure its integrity.
Woods said the most recent move was appropriate.
“It indicates that New Mexico State University, under Mike Martin, if they have any suspicion of wrongdoing, they’re going to go in and look at it,” he said, adding that, by “isolating any of those of us that have touched that,” the university is “doing exactly the right thing.”
Asked if the changes are permanent, Woods said that will “depend on what they find over there.” Kelley said some changes are temporary.
“Once our review is completed, we will determine what changes should be made permanently,” she said.
Kelley said she is in charge of a “temporary transition team” created to implement the university’s “plan of action to address the issues raised” by the audit and the internal review. In addition, the university has given the business office control over all “business and system functions” at OFS. The team will also consider whether to hire a consultant “to assist in developing and evaluating controls, systems and procedures at OFS.”
Woods said the review is necessary.
“It’s evident that there are a few people over there who have done some things that weren’t right,” he said.
Hundreds of people work for OFS, and Woods said the vast majority of them “are good folks who work really hard.”
“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not proud of the events that are happening right now… but we’ll come out of this a stronger organization.”
A prior version of this posting misspelled Quezada’s name.