The New Mexico Supreme Court has rejected a petition for discipline of a judge tied to the state housing authority scandal because the requested punishment wasn’t harsh enough.
In an order issued today, the high court rejected the Judicial Standards Commission’s petition for discipline, which sought a reprimand for Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Theresa Gomez and a requirement that she pay $17,000 in back rent to the Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority. The court suggested that Gomez be required to pay the back rent and be suspended for two weeks, but sent the matter to the commission for further consideration.
The commission made the request earlier this month because Gomez lived rent-free, for 20 months, in a home owned by the housing authority, an organization whose mission is providing housing for low-income people. At the time, Gomez was making $93,000 per year.
Gomez also dismissed traffic citations and cancelled an arrest warrant for Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, the man who ran Region III at the time.
As part of an agreement with the commission, Gomez admitted that her actions violated the ethical requirements of her job and agreed to the reprimand and to pay the back rent. But the high court asked why the recommended discipline wasn’t worse and asked the commission to justify its request.
Commission Director Jim Noel responded in writing that the “primary mitigating circumstance that affected this case from the outset is an absence of substantial documentary evidence. There is no evidence demonstrating any additional or more serious impropriety.” That’s because, an accompanying affidavit from the new director of Region III states, someone destroyed or took records from the public agency.
In today’s order, the Supreme Court said there was enough evidence to justify a suspension. Gomez admitted to ex parte communications with Gallegos before she dismissed his citations and cancelled the warrant. Though the other misconduct was a factor, the ex parte communication was “of particular concern,” the court wrote in its order, adding that it warrants “a period of suspension.”
The court stated that if the judge and commission agreed to a two-week suspension and the requirement that Gomez pay the $17,000 in back rent, it would issue such an order.
The state’s affordable housing system collapsed last year when the Region III authority defaulted on $5 million in bonds it owed the state. Those bonds were to be spent on affordable housing projects, but almost $900,000 went to Gallegos as salary, benefits and a questionable loan, and some $700,000 was loaned to the
The state auditor is currently conducting a review to try to determine the extent of the problems, and the attorney general is investigating.