Husband’s pay is a private matter, Denish says

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish won’t reveal how much her husband, Herb Denish, has been paid as a lobbyist and consultant during her tenure as lieutenant governor.

“Herb is a private citizen who owned his own business. Diane and Herb have always kept business and personal separate. He did not lobby the state,” Denish campaign spokesman Chris Cervini said. “Therefore, this is not a question of increased transparency, it’s a question of a private businessperson being able to expect a modicum of privacy.”

NMPolitics.net asked if Diane Denish would disclose her husband’s client list and pay as part of a series of questions aimed at exploring how the two have dealt with times when their relationship created a potential conflict between their jobs.

Cervini also declined to release a full list of clients Herb Denish has represented as a lobbyist and consultant during Diane Denish’s time in office, but he pointed to Albuquerque disclosure forms that list clients Herb Denish has represented before the city as a lobbyist.

Herb Denish’s work has been especially relevant in the governor’s race lately because of an attack ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez highlighting his lobbying for the builder of the Mesa del Sol development in Albuquerque.

Forest City Covington, the developer, has received approval for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increment development district financing from the Board of Finance, Legislature and governor while Diane Denish has been lieutenant governor and Herb Denish has been a company lobbyist.

Meanwhile, the company has contributed at least $16,000 to Diane Denish’s campaigns. While she has avoided official discussions and recused herself from official action on Mesa del Sol as a member of the Board of Finance, Diane Denish has appeared at public groundbreaking and other ceremonies to praise the project.

Herb Denish’s lobbying for Forest City Covington, or any other company, doesn’t affect Diane Denish’s public decisions, Cervini said. Neither do campaign contributions, he added.

“Herb has been clear in telling clients that by working with him, it does not mean access to Diane, and clients have understood that. Diane has also been clear in her recusals that she is committed to avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest,” he said.

“Diane Denish has never let campaign contributions influence any public decision she has made,” Cervini added. “This is evidenced by her consistent effort to recuse herself and avoid any public decisions related to clients her husband represented.”

Herb Denish is a ‘private businessperson’

As I’ve reported previously, Diane Denish’s annual financial disclosure forms state that Herb Denish lobbied the New Mexico Department of Transportation for Forest City Covington and another company. But Cervini has said Herb Denish didn’t actually lobby DOT. He says Herb Denish simply attended meetings and reported back to his clients on DOT action.

Diane Denish reported that as lobbying, though doing so wasn’t required, to “exercise an abundance of caution,” Cervini has said.

Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo confirmed that Herb Denish has never registered with his office as a lobbyist. If Herb Denish were lobbying any state body – such as DOT or the Legislature –he would be required to register with the secretary of state.

Herb Denish is a registered lobbyist with the City of Albuquerque and, in that capacity, represented Forest City Covington for years. Registering with the city means that he lobbied the city council or other city departments or boards on behalf of the company.

State GOP Chairman Harvey Yates has challenged Diane Denish to disclose the amount of money Herb Denish was paid by Forest City Covington, saying her speaking publicly in favor of the Mesa del Sol project while her husband lobbied for it “raises serious concerns and warrants further scrutiny.”

Cervini initially ignored NMPolitics.net’s questions about whether the campaign would release a full list of Herb Denish’s clients during his wife’s tenure as lieutenant governor and disclose how much he was paid by those companies.

When pressed, Cervini provided City of Albuquerque disclosure forms listing clients Herb Denish has represented before the city. Cervini said, to his knowledge, that it’s a “pretty exhaustive” list of clients Herb Denish represented before public bodies.

“Clients that he did not represent before public bodies don’t seem to be germane to this discussion,” Cervini said.

And Cervini refused to disclose how much companies have paid Herb Denish during his wife’s tenure as lieutenant governor, saying the “private businessperson” should be able to expect some level of privacy.

Herb Denish’s ‘primary work’ done on the local level

Apparently, Herb Denish did work on behalf of clients that didn’t require him to formally register as a lobbyist, and at least some of that work was on the state level. At the very least, he was attending and reporting back to two clients, including Forest City Covington, about DOT commission meetings.

But Cervini said Herb Denish “has not consulted a business about state-level strategies or actions.” He said Herb Denish and Diane Denish “have both taken great care to separate their professional from personal lives.”

In his 35 years in business “as an urban planner and consultant,” Herb Denish has “not worked at the state level and has never represented clients before the Legislature,” Cervini said.

“Herb’s primary work was done in the permitting and planning process on the local level – working with organizations such as the Albuquerque Environmental Planning Commission,” he said.