Former House Minority Whip Dan Foley says he wasn’t aware that state law required him to return his legislative license plate when he left office almost six months ago.
Right.
In case you missed it, KRQE-TV in Albuquerque has the story. Foley, a Republican who represented a southeastern New Mexico district but now lives in Rio Rancho, was recently caught by a red-light camera in Albuquerque driving 11 miles over the speed limit in a silver Toyota Tundra registered to his wife.
Police had to do some hunting to figure out who owned the vehicle. They checked the license plate in the picture, the District 57 state representative plate. So they called the current representative of that district, Republican Dennis Kintigh, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. But Kintigh doesn’t have a legislative license plate or own a Tundra.
Which led to Foley.
State law requires that government plates be immediately removed and returned to the Motor Vehicle Division when an official leaves office, KRQE reported. Foley wouldn’t talk with KRQE on camera, but the station reported that Foley said he wasn’t aware of the law and planned to return the plates when his registration expired so he wouldn’t have to pay an extra MVD registration fee.
There’s no penalty for breaking that state law.
Foley’s no dummy
Foley is an intelligent man. He was in the Legislature for 10 years and could best just about all of his colleagues in a debate. He was at the height of his influence in early 2007 when, as minority whip, he led his caucus to work with a group of moderate Democrats to win parity in capital outlay distribution and approval of reform of the state’s scandal-plagued housing authority system.
That was work that was all about fairness and ethics and integrity. Foley was a leader during that legislative session in improving state government.
But in June of 2007, it all began to come crashing down around Foley.
He was arrested and slapped with misdemeanor charges after rushing the court and shouting profanities when a fight broke out at his son’s Gus Macker basketball tournament game. Foley disputed the charges, which were later dropped, but the incident was immortalized by a booking mug and the damage was done.
Last year he faced a bitter, bloody primary battle against Kintigh, whose campaign was funded almost exclusively by Roswell oilman Mark Murphy. Foley’s arrest, the infamous military flyover of a Roswell car dealership Foley organized in 2006 and other incidents came back to haunt him.
Now this.
Playing fast and loose with the rules
After Foley lost last year, I wrote that he “is a fighter. Whether it’s using his debating skills to single-handedly filibuster legislation on the House floor or rushing a Roswell basketball court in June after a fight broke out among teens, Foley has often found his way into battles.”
Those skills served him well as a lawmaker, and they also served the state well, particularly during the 2007 session.
But Foley is apparently also someone who plays fast and loose with the rules, which has proven to be his undoing. He’s spent a great deal of time over the years criticizing Democrats for unethical behavior. Perhaps he should spend some time examining his own.