King joins task force probing investment scandal

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N.M. Attorney General Gary King has joined a national task force that is investigating the third-party marketer scandal that is spreading across the nation. Attorneys general in more than 30 states have joined the task force, and King spokesman Phil Sisneros confirmed to The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell that King is one of them. However, Sisneros said he doesn’t yet know what the level of participation will be from the New Mexico AG’s office. “The question is how much this is affecting New Mexico,” Sisneros was quoted as saying. The New York and New Mexico AG offices were in touch late last month about the possibility of King joining the probe of the scandal that began in New York but has spread to several other states, most prominently New Mexico. Continue Reading

Bingaman, Udall release earmark requests

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For the first time, U.S. senators are required disclose their earmark requests before they can be considered by the appropriations committee. New Mexico’s two senators, Democrats Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, complied with that requirement. I wish their requests were online in a searchable format (they’re non-searchable PDF files), but at least they’re online. Click here for Bingaman’s requests and here for Udall’s. Continue Reading

George W. Bush to speak in Artesia on Thursday

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Former President George W. Bush will be in Artesia on Thursday to speak at a reception for high school seniors who are receiving a college scholarship, the Artesia Daily Press is reporting. Winners of the 2009 Chase Foundation Scholarship will be announced at the reception, which will be held from 4-5 p.m. at Artesia High School. For more information, or to obtain tickets, the newspaper reported that people should contact the Chase Foundation’s Richard Price at (505) 746-4610 or richardprice@chasefoundation.com, or call Rob Saliterman at The George W. Bush Foundation at (214) 692-4300. Continue Reading

Pacheco hopes to improve NMSU during brief tenure

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Manuel T. Pacheco says he’s not looking to shake things up as interim president at New Mexico State University, but he has been asked to help improve the school during what he and others plan to be a brief tenure. “I want to be very proactive in ensuring that the university continues to move forward in those areas where it has terrific strengths,” Pacheco said today in a phone interview. “During my time there, the board has asked me to look at where the institution is, from my perspective.” As expected, the NMSU Board of Regents unanimously approved a one-year contract with Pacheco today that can be amended to end earlier if the board hires a permanent president sooner than that. He’ll receive a base salary of $325,000 plus be allowed to live in the president’s residence on campus. Pacheco will not be allowed to apply for the permanent president job. Continue Reading

ValueOptions, OptumHealth both gave big to guv

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Contributions to Richardson’s presidential campaign aren’t the full extent of his relationship with companies whose battle for a state contract is under investigation By Gwyneth Doland and Heath Haussamen Both companies involved in a controversy over the awarding of the state’s behavioral health services contract — a process that’s under investigation by a federal grand jury — gave big to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign. A political action committee and executives tied to UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of OptumHealth New Mexico, gave at least $15,300, according to the money-in-politics Web site OpenSecrets.org. That included $5,000 from the company’s PAC and more than $10,000 from executives of the company. OptumHealth is scheduled to take over the massive state contract on July 1. Meanwhile, ValueOptions New Mexico, which is being replaced by OptumHealth, also gave big. Continue Reading

Feds subpoena health-services contract documents

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A federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents related to the state’s pending shift from a contract with one behavioral health services company to another, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. The state’s Human Services Department has until next week to respond to the subpoena, which seeks “any and all documents, to include but not limited to specifications, score sheets, and cost proposals” related to the state’s awarding of the new contract to OptumHealth New Mexico, a subsidiary of United HealthCare. The subpoena was sent in April. The awarding of the contract is already being challenged in court by the company being replaced, ValueOptions New Mexico. But the involvement of a grand jury that’s investigating potential criminal matters raises the stakes significantly. Continue Reading

NMSU confirms likely hire of Manuel Pacheco

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New Mexico State University confirmed today what reports on this site and elsewhere already indicated: The regents are expected to name Manuel T. Pacheco interim president on Tuesday. The regents are “expected to vote Tuesday to approve the appointment” at a meeting that will be held on the Las Cruces campus at 10 a.m., a news release from the university states. Pacheco, in the release, says he would consider it “both an honor and a challenge” to step into the job. “My job would be to position the university for even greater accomplishments once the new president arrives and to provide continued stability and support of current initiatives,” Pacheco said. “Obviously, this is not a job that a president does alone, and I will be dependent upon the cooperation of the many capable leaders already involved with NMSU.” Though the news release doesn’t explicitly state it, sources confirm that Pacheco isn’t interested in and won’t be allowed to apply for the permanent president job at NMSU. Continue Reading

Paul urges backers to help NM congressional hopeful

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An Iraq war veteran and anti-war activist who is considering challenging U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., next year is getting some help from a politico whose followers are among the most enthusiastic around. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas and a former presidential candidate, sent an e-mail to his supporters today urging them to help Adam Kokesh, who has formed an exploratory committee as he considers running against Luján. Paul suggested supporters give money, volunteer to help or pass on information about Kokesh to friends and family. “Adam Kokesh has been a tremendous supporter – of both me AND you! As a leader of Iraqi Veterans Against the War, Adam has spent years traveling the country to spread our message of peace, a strong national defense and limited government,” Paul wrote in the e-mail. Continue Reading

GOP wants Rep. Richard Vigil to resign

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State Rep. Richard Vigil has taken a lot of criticism in recent years, from me and plenty of others, because of the situation that led to his wife’s conviction on felony charges last week. Now the Republican Party of New Mexico is calling for the resignation of the Democrat from Ribera, pointing out that some of the money Roberta Vigil was convicted of misspending was directed to the program she ran by her husband through a capital outlay appropriation. “Mrs. Vigil’s trial revealed that Rep. Vigil used his elected position to steer money to his wife, money that she ultimately misspent,” GOP Chairman Harvey E. Yates said in a news release. “Richard Vigil has betrayed the trust of the citizens of New Mexico and should step down immediately. These hard-earned taxpayer dollars were intended to improve education for New Mexico youth. Continue Reading

Meet NMSU’s next interim president

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The New Mexico State University Board of Regents are expected to name Manuel T. Pacheco, a former university president in Arizona, Missouri and elsewhere, as NMSU’s interim president at a special meeting on Tuesday, sources familiar with the search process confirmed. Pacheco is a former president of the University of Arizona and the University of Missouri System, and served as interim president at his alma matter, New Mexico Highlands University, for a time earlier this decade after the school’s Manny Aragon era ended. The NMSU regents meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the main campus in Las Cruces. Click here for the meeting’s agenda. Pacheco isn’t interested in and won’t be allowed to apply for the permanent president job at NMSU, the sources said. Continue Reading

Educational Retirement Board also gets subpoena

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We already knew that federal investigators had subpoenaed the State Investment Council (SIC) for documents related to its investment deals. Now we learn from the New Mexico Independent that the Educational Retirement Board (ERB) has also received a subpoena. An attorney for the ERB, Chris Schatzman, “would not discuss the contents or subject matter of the subpoena, other than to say that the agency received it last week,” the Friday NMI article states. This is a widening scandal that began in New York and has expanded to some 30 other states — most prominently New Mexico — and the subpoenas indicate it may expand further in the Land of Enchantment. Citing the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act, I’ve requested copies of the subpoenas received by the SIC and ERB. Continue Reading

Investment council takes issue with NY Times article

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The spokesman for the State Investment Council (SIC) is taking issue with a recent New York Times’ article related to the controversy surrounding third-party marketers in New York, New Mexico and elsewhere. The newspaper, citing minutes of a 2005 SIC meeting, quoted David M. Leuschen, a go-between who helped The Carlyle Group get big contracts, as saying this while helping the company win a $40 million investment in New Mexico: “We may be slow, we may be old, we may be plodders,” Leuschen said, according to the SIC minutes, “but we think we know the right people, and this is very much a relationship business.” In my own posting about the Times article, I called the newspaper’s reporting “stellar” and “contextual.” Charles Wollmann, the SIC’s public information officer, said it “may or may not be stellar,” but it’s definitely not contextual. He said the article implies that Carlyle and Riverstone, another company involved in that deal, won investment contracts “because they knew people.” But Wollmann pointed out, the Times left out the context of the quote from the 2005 meeting. Here’s the full quote about the energy-related investment: “If you take any large private equity firm or any hedge fund, they have somewhere between zero and one guy from the energy business. We have seventeen,” Leuschen said, according to the minutes. Continue Reading

Want stimulus cash? Check out these meetings…

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Gov. Bill Richardson wraps up his town-hall meetings to talk about federal stimulus money on Monday with stops in Carrizozo and Reserve, but even after that there will be two more chances for local-government officials and others to learn more about applying for cash. Meetings will be held Wednesday in Albuquerque and Thursday in Las Cruces to “learn the nuts and bolts of where the money is and how you can apply for it,” according to a letter sent to various groups about the meetings, which are sponsored by Richardson’s grant team, the state’s seven councils of government and other organizations. The Albuquerque meeting will be held Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd St. NW. The Las Cruces meeting will be held Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, 4100 Dripping Spring Road. Continue Reading

Voters in poll split on regents’ decision on Cruzado

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Voters were split in last weeks’ non-scientific poll on this site asking whether the New Mexico State University regents were right to remove Waded Cruzado from the interim president job. Of 185 voters, 76, or 41 percent, said the regents made the right decision, while 75, or 41 percent, said they did not, and 34, or 18 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Know ‘the right people,’ get investment contract

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The New York Times continues its stellar, contextual reporting on the investment scandal spreading in that state and New Mexico today with an in-depth look at a go-between who helped The Carlyle Group get big contracts. The article is relevant in New Mexico because of this recount of David M. Leuschen’s involvement in the Land of Enchantment: “‘We may be slow, we may be old, we may be plodders,’ Mr. Leuschen told New Mexico officials when making a pitch (on behalf of Carlyle) for their business in 2005, ‘but we think we know the right people, and this is very much a relationship business.’ He walked away with a $40 million investment from the New Mexico State Investment Council on that day, according to the minutes of the meeting.” The Times article comes on the heels of Thursday’s news that Carlyle has agreed to pay $20 million and reform the way it does business to avoid prosecution in the New York investment scandal that has spread to a number of other states, the most prominent being New Mexico. “We think we know the right people?” And that helped Carlyle win a lucrative investment deal in New Mexico? Interesting… Continue Reading