Diane Denish (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish reported to the Secretary of State’s Office for years that her husband was lobbying the New Mexico Department of Transportation (DOT) on behalf of developers.
Now, with Herb Denish’s lobbying becoming an issue in the governor’s race, Diane Denish’s campaign says the Democrat’s husband wasn’t really lobbying DOT. A spokesman says Herb Denish was attending DOT meetings only “as an observer,” and that Diane Denish reported that he was lobbying to go above and beyond disclosure requirements and “exercise an abundance of caution.”
Republican candidate Susana Martinez made an issue of Herb Denish’s lobbying in a new TV ad her campaign began airing Friday.
“Developer contributed $320,000 to Richardson and Denish. Got millions in special deals. But it gets worse,” the ad’s narrator states. “Turns out, developer had Denish’s husband on the payroll. Mr. Denish was developer’s paid lobbyist. Mrs. Denish’s administration gave developer special tax deal worth $500 million.”
“Denish got paid,” the narrator states. “Developer got rich… with our tax money.”
Denish’s campaign called the Martinez ad “false,” saying Herb Denish “never lobbied the state – he represented his clients at the municipal level.”
Records confirm that Herb Denish is a registered lobbyist with the City of Albuquerque and that he represented Forest City Covington before the city from 2006 to 2009. Forest City Covington is the developer of the Mesa del Sol community on Albuquerque’s southeast side – and is developer highlighted in Martinez’s attack ad.
But in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, on financial disclosure forms she’s required to file annually as an elected official, Diane Denish stated that Herb Denish was representing clients before DOT, a state agency.
All four years, the disclosure forms listed Forest City Covington as a lobbying client and stated that Herb Denish was a representing the company before DOT. The 2005 form also stated that Herb Denish represented Hunt Development Corp. – the developer of the ABQ Uptown shopping center in Albuquerque – before DOT.
Asked about the disclosure forms, Denish campaign spokesman Chris Cervini said Herb Denish “did attend some DOT commission meetings as an observer, not as a participant.”
“That’s not lobbying, that’s attending a public meeting,” he said, adding that, “Just as Diane Denish has gone above and beyond the rules for reporting campaign contributions, she made a decision to exercise an abundance of caution with these disclosures.”
A DOT spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Were Herb Denish lobbying DOT, he would have been required to register with the secretary of state and list his clients. The Denish campaign says Herb Denish has “never been a lobbyist at the state level.” The Secretary of State’s Web site does not list Herb Denish as currently being registered as a lobbyist.
Reached late Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo said he would find out today whether Herb Denish has ever registered as a lobbyist with the state.
The money
Diane Denish’s disclosure forms and Albuquerque lobbyist records reveal that Herb Denish was working for Forest City Covington from at least 2004-2009. And, according to those records, he worked for Hunt Development Corp. in 2002 and from 2005-2009.
The companies were both lobbying state government for controversial tax increment development district (TIDD) financing for major development projects in Albuquerque. Hunt won approval of a $164 million Tax Increment Development District deal from the Legislature and governor in 2009.
The New York Times wrote last year about what Mesa del Sol has received during Gov. Bill Richardson’s tenure:
“…the University of New Mexico’s board of regents, controlled by Mr. Richardson’s appointees, and the state land office engineered a complicated three-way deal that made it possible for the developer to buy a 3,000-acre piece of the tract from the university for $9 million and a share of future profits. Overseeing the deal was the regent’s board president, Jamie Koch, a Richardson appointee and former state Democratic Party chairman.
“The Legislature, with strong urging from the governor, also changed state law to let the developer divert tax receipts to underwrite bonds that would be used to pay for infrastructure on the site. In April 2007, Mr. Richardson signed off on legislation authorizing the developer to issue up to $500 million in bonds.”
Meanwhile, the Times reported that, from 2002 to 2007, Richardson’s campaigns and political committees received more than $290,000 in contributions from Forest City Covington and “members of the families that control the company.”
Diane Denish, according to the money-in-politics Web site FollowTheMoney.org, has received at least $16,000 in campaign contributions from Forest City Covington and $8,466 from Hunt Development Corp.
The amounts the companies paid Herb Denish have not been disclosed publicly. NMPolitics.net is awaiting answers from the Denish campaign to a number of questions related to Herb Denish’s lobbying while Diane Denish has been lieutenant governor, including whether Diane Denish is willing to disclose how much Herb Denish has been paid by clients who have lobbied the state during her tenure.
Skipping votes, but not public speeches
Diane Denish has acknowledged that a conflict exists between her position on the New Mexico Board of Finance and her husband’s lobbying on behalf of Forest City Covington. The board has a role in giving approval to TIDD projects before they go to the Legislature.
Board of Finance minutes indicate that Diane Denish skipped some meetings at which Mesa del Sol business was considered. She also recused herself from voting on Mesa del Sol issues at least twice.
But that hasn’t stopped the lieutenant governor from speaking publicly about her husbands’ client over the years. For example, a February 2007 newsletter from Forest City Covington included an article about the groundbreaking of a DOT project to extend Albuquerque’s University Boulevard to provide access to Mesa del Sol.
“The University Boulevard extension is an important milestone in the development of Mesa del Sol,” the article quoted Diane Denish as saying at the Dec. 16, 2006 groundbreaking ceremony.
And when a solar plant broke ground in Mesa del Sol in 2006, Diane Denish was there.
“This is a momentous day for Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and for the state of New Mexico,” the Albuquerque Journal quoted her as saying that day.
Diane Denish also attended the 2008 signing of an agreement between Mesa del Sol and Sandia National Labs, according to a photograph on Sandia’s Web site.
Cervini defended Diane Denish’s public statements and attendance at events related to Mesa del Sol.
“Diane Denish’s public comments in support of Mesa del Sol or projects located there are akin to statements any elected official would make in support of any project that has the potential to create high-wage jobs in New Mexico,” Cervini said. “This is much like Denish’s strong public support of other economic development projects in every corner of the state.”
Update, 11:55 a.m.
Martinez Campaign Manager Ryan Cangiolosi sent this statement through a staffer:
“Diane Denish has now been caught misleading the public and press about her husband lobbying her administration,” Cangiolosi said. “It is time for Diane Denish to come clean and disclose exactly how much she and her family profited from a corporation that her administration awarded a tax deal worth $500 million.”