Scandal seems to permeate politics these days.
As the nation becomes more polarized, allegations monopolize the headlines. Many are deserved. Former state Treasurer Robert Vigil needed to be ousted. So did Eric Serna, the outgoing state insurance superintendent.
There are a lot of problems with our political system. Corporate money has too much influence. The media rarely scrutinizes what’s happening. Many citizens aren’t involved.
But some scandals and allegations are born when polarized politicos assume the worst about each other.
When that happens, the debate and compromise upon which our system of government is dependent breaks down. The public becomes even more distrustful of its leaders.
District Attorney Susana Martinez, a Republican, recently told me she is supporting Democrat Gary Perez in the race for Doña Ana County assessor. When I asked why, Martinez said the Republican candidate isn’t qualified, and Perez has spent years proving himself.
After I wrote about her endorsement on my blog, many Democrats cried foul. The most prevalent conspiracy theory is that Martinez, whose husband is the undersheriff, wants to appear moderate to help her husband and the sheriff take Democratic votes away from their opponent in this year’s election.
That’s silly. The vast majority of voters don’t know that Martinez is married to the undersheriff, or that his name is Chuck Franco.
The reality is that Martinez and I were discussing several candidates when assessor hopeful H.F. “Junior” Adams came up. She said she heard him speak and didn’t believe he was qualified for the job. I asked if that meant she supported Perez, and she said yes. I asked if she would say that for the record. She hesitated, then agreed.
I steered the conversation toward her doing that. If anything, she was reluctant to do so.
Another example: Many Republicans are up in arms about the recently released special audit of county government. It found widespread problems as recently as 2004, but the state auditor says it appears the problems have largely been fixed.
An audit next year will check that. The New Mexico State Police are still investigating three audit findings.
Many Republicans aren’t satisfied. They want County Manager Brian Haines fired. They assume that, because he worked for the commission that committed many of the violations, he’s a criminal.
Why would the commission fire the man who has worked tirelessly to fix most of the problems revealed by the audit? It’s for prosecutors and a jury, not the commission, to decide whether he is a criminal.
Treasurer Jim Schoonover is a victim of the same assumptions plaguing Haines. He bought some pencils with his name on them using taxpayer money and gave them to kids. The county attorney says they have no public value and accuses Schoonover of a felony crime. The pencils will likely result in an audit finding, as will the allegation that he used county staffers and equipment to record minutes for the Elks Lodge, if it’s true. He’ll probably have to reimburse the county for the costs.
If you’re assuming the worst, Schoonover and Haines appear to be criminals. Many Democrats have said for years that Martinez is a criminal.
The reality is that these people work hard for us. They could move to the private sector, make more money and work less.
Like the majority of public officials, they care about doing good. That doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes.
If we quit assuming the worst about each other, we could accomplish more. The commission, with three Democrats and two Republicans, accomplished a lot in the past 18 months, including the settlement of a longtime water battle with Sunland Park that had stymied economic development. It worked with the Republican sheriff to approve a tax increase to pay our officers more.
These weren’t political actions. They were accomplishments made only when officials put politics aside and worked together.
Our community could use more of that.
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