Since becoming president of New Mexico State University in July 2004, Michael Martin has spent more than $225,000, some of it on out-of-state trips to visit donors, from a fund designated for entertainment, travel and other expenses.
That included two trips to
The money comes from a public fund the Board of Regents approved in Martin’s contract to be used for “reasonable entertainment, travel, and other expenses incurred by the president in the performance of his duties as president.” Such funds have been provided to university presidents for years.
The fund is separate from one provided by the NMSU Foundation, the non-profit whose mission is to raise money for the university. That fund is to be used for “entertainment and travel” for “enhancing the goals of the university,” according to the university’s agreement with the foundation.
The fact that the foundation has its own fund for the president raises a question about why NMSU, not the foundation, paid for the trips to visit donors, given the fact that the university and foundation assert that they are two separate organizations. Martin refused to answer that or any other questions for this article, responding in an e-mail this way:
“Interesting questions,” he wrote. “I’ll answer them in next week’s (
Martin wrote in a subsequent e-mail that until I want to “learn how universities work” he will ignore my questions and request that other university administrators do the same.
Keeping NMSU, foundation business separate?
As courts in other states have considered in recent years whether such educational foundations can legally keep their donor records secret, one factor has been whether the foundation and university were operating as truly separate organizations that kept their business separate.
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, Martin spent $81,830.90 from the expense account provided by the regents. The next year, he spent $61,712.25, and for the fiscal year that ended June 30 of this year, he spent $83,431.89.
That included an overnight trip in July 2006 to
And in August 2004, Martin flew to Jackson Hole and
That form indicates that the foundation paid for Martin’s hotel in
The university records reveal that Martin is also using the foundation fund for a number of expenses. Though NMSU asserts that foundation records aren’t public, and the foundation did not respond to my request to view records from Martin’s foundation expense account, the president frequently used his foundation credit card for expenses later reimbursed by the university, creating a public record for at least some foundation activity.
For example, the university, out of Martin’s expense account, reimbursed the foundation for expenses totaling more than $10,000 in June 2005. In June 2006, the total was about $9,000.
Sometimes costs are split between the university and foundation. An Oct. 23, 2006 dinner with officials from El Paso Electric at the Double Eagle Restaurant in Mesilla cost $399.90. A handwritten note on a copy of the receipt indicates that the foundation was to pay $156 of the cost.
Included in the documents are records of some payments by the foundation to Wells Fargo for Martin’s use of his foundation credit card. In August 2006, for example, Martin charged a little more than $1,000 to his foundation credit card. In November of that year, he charged almost $2,900 to it.
Open Meetings Act questions
Documents provided in response to my records request also raise questions about compliance with the
Of that cost, $208 was paid by the university, and $179.48 was paid by the foundation.
The Open Meetings Act requires that any “formation of public policy” and votes be conducted in public meetings that are properly noticed so the public has opportunity to attend.
The act does not forbid a quorum of members of the five-person board from meeting in social settings, but it does not allow them to in any way discuss business in such settings. In the past, the attorney general’s office has recommended that governments send out notices of potential quorums when such gatherings may occur to keep the public informed. Members of most governing bodies in
A notice of a potential quorum does not allow governing bodies to discuss public business in such settings, but is intended to avoid even the appearance that board members are meeting in secret.
The university did not send out a notice about either event. In addition to Martin refusing to answer questions about the events, university Attorney Bruce Kite did not respond to a request for comment on questions including whether the regents discussed public business at the events.