© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
Someone moves to our state and comes to you for advice. He wants to get a contract or an appointment from someone who runs the state government. What advice would you give him?
Do you tell him to follow the published bid or application procedures, or do you tell him additionally that he must “grease the wheel” to do business in this state?
If you want him to be successful you will tell him that in small ways and large New Mexico is a “pay-for-play” state. It is not everywhere and always, but smart money knows he will have to contribute to the right political coffers to get noticed and pony up money to the right power brokers or he is wasting his time.
Understand that the pay-for-play rules are not in writing. You will not find a power broker’s rate card. But if we analyze successful seekers, pay-for-play is the only way to assure success.
There has been a rash of media stories and allegations about a culture of pay-for-play in New Mexico. Occasionally there are even indictments and convictions. Being ensnared by the law, though, is not the norm. Usually, the powers-that-be go about their business very quietly. The law of the land: To get business done with the state, people must pay the pipers in Santa Fe.
For those with doubts, there is no way to know for sure what happens between consenting adults in state government because when both the pay and the play are happy, where is the kick? The only way we know about corruption is when someone is not happy and rats them out.
Lacking a turncoat, we must use logic. Example: If we look for pay-for-play in the governor’s office, we might see if almost every successful bidder or applicant for appointment gave money to Gov. Bill Richardson beforehand.
We know how the wind blows
That said, I must caution that suspicion is not proof. Unless someone turns nose on the governor, they are all just happy people who got what they wanted — the best governor in office. What bribe? No, they all gave a political contribution just to have the best of all governors.
It is hard to prove. Still, if almost everyone wanting something from the governor gives him money first, we might conclude: no contribution, no contract or appointment. We then can reasonably know that Richardson must get his money first for us for us to get what we want. It is the method of doing business in New Mexico. That, my friends, is pay-for-play.
Even if someone does not explicitly say that he must get his political contributions first, we know how the wind blows. Every business that wants to do business must ante up first. It does not assure success, but it puts the contributors in the game.
Most, but not all, of those in charge of contracts and appointments require the right grease. Some just want dinner, others want cash. It is a multigenerational way of life in our political landscape, here before Bill Richardson and remaining afterwards. In New Mexico corruption is only corruption if you get caught.
Some power brokers will be taken down by the corruption investigations, but not many. Perhaps Bill Richardson will avoid any more smears to his reputation. The only thing I know about New Mexico and Richardson is that he does not have a lot of cousins to protect his flanks, which is dangerous.
So there will be a big who-ha in the media about cleaning up state government and then it will be back to things as they were, where, as far as the people in Santa Fe see it, if you do not donate to the right party and the right people you may as well be living on the moon or in southern New Mexico.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.