State Sen. John Arthur Smith said on Tuesday at a legislative hearing about the controversy plaguing the state’s investment boards that he’s “embarrassed” to be a public official in such a scandal-plagued state.
No kidding. I would think all public officials in New Mexico would be embarrassed.
Officials convicted of corruption-related felony crimes in the last few years include two former state treasurers, a former deputy insurance superintendent and a former Senate president pro tem. Those currently caught up in controversies — some involving criminal probes — include the governor, the land commissioner, the former head of the state’s affordable housing system, the former secretary of state and the investment boards.
It’s overwhelming.
So here’s what Smith, a Deming Democrat and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said at Tuesday’s hearing, according to the New Mexico Independent:
“As an elected official here, I am embarrassed to serve in New Mexico,” he said. “I thank God I am not up for election next time.”
The federal pay-to-play investigation that ended the governor’s bid to be commerce secretary and the investment controversies have earned New Mexico attention in the national media, and Smith also made note of that.
“There’s a real atmosphere of suspicion,” he said at Tuesday’s hearing, according to NMI. “Not only are we getting slammed here in New Mexico, but we are getting painted with a brush nationally. It’s not a pretty picture.”
Not pretty at all. But also not undeserved.