{"id":2012,"date":"2007-07-24T14:55:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-24T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/auditor-tells-task-force-he-should-remain-independent\/"},"modified":"2007-07-24T14:55:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-24T20:55:00","slug":"auditor-tells-task-force-he-should-remain-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/auditor-tells-task-force-he-should-remain-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Auditor tells task force he should remain independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>State Auditor Hector Balderas<\/a> urged the Task Force on Ethics Reform<\/a> during a meeting Monday in Socorro to recommend that his office remain independent of the governor. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The task force didn\u2019t make a final decision on whether to recommend that the auditor become an appointed, instead of elected, position. The group is also considering whether to recommend, if the auditor remains independent, placing requirements on who can run for the office.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I wrote last year<\/a> that I believe the auditor should remain an elected position. But Monday\u2019s discussion shed some interesting light on the debate about how to improve the system.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Balderas, during the meeting at the Joseph R. Skeen Library<\/a> on the campus of New Mexico Tech, said independence is critical to the auditor\u2019s ability to do his job.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we limit my ability to be independent, we may be limiting my ability to look into the 300 allegations that we have of fraud and mismanagement,\u201d he told the group.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Balderas, who is an attorney, not a certified public accountant, talked about his attempts to be aggressive in the pursuit of fraud and mismanagement since he took office in January, including the implementation of a fraud hotline and the use of the subpoena power the office is granted but has not utilized in the past.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last 6-7 months, we have begun a new vision for this office,\u201d he said, adding that he could not have done that without independence.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Independence<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> versus qualifications<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Task force members seemed to agree that, in principle, the auditor should be independent, but many also said the auditor must be qualified for the job, and making the position an appointed one might ensure that candidates with better qualifications are selected. Some members agreed that new criteria might need to be put in place \u2013 such as requiring that the auditor is a CPA, fraud examiner or attorney \u2013 but others argued that such a change wouldn\u2019t be enough. Such requirements would have to be added to the New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> constitution by voters and could become outdated over time and need amended again.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Task force member Geno Zamora pointed out that the attorney general has to be an attorney.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere need to be requirements that relate to the specialized need of the auditor\u2019s office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Several members of the task force agreed that Balderas is doing an excellent job in the auditor\u2019s office, but expressed concern about what happens when he leaves office if new requirements aren\u2019t in place. Currently, there are no special qualifications required to run for state auditor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Task force member Jim Noel, director of the state\u2019s judicial standards commission, said he believes the auditor should remain independent, but the problem \u201cis that the elections are held every four years and so, in the interim, if something happens there\u2019s really no forum, there\u2019s no venue\u201d for addressing problems except impeachment. An appointed auditor could be disciplined for offenses that don\u2019t rise to the level of requiring removal, but there\u2019s currently no mechanism in state law for discipline of statewide elected officials.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Noel said that\u2019s one reason to support the creation of a state ethics commission, \u201cbut it needs to have the teeth and the ability constitutionally to sideline a public official\u2026 while there\u2019s a problem that\u2019s being addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when someone is in there that isn\u2019t as good or as conscientious or as ethical as you?\u201d Noel asked Balderas.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Balderas, who as a former lawmaker participated in the preparation of impeachment proceedings against former state Treasurer Robert Vigil, who resigned before proceedings commenced, said the system worked.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the independent check that was the genius and gave us the balance to be deliberate and fair,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Will increased funding be necessary?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Balderas also said his office, if strengthened through additional funding, could become a powerful tool for preventing problems. He said that, by the time indictments and impeachment proceedings come around, \u201cwe\u2019ve already lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe state auditor can be a very, very important tool in bringing accountability in government, which is really what I think we\u2019re all trying to get at,\u201d he said. \u201cI only hope that you would look at me and my office as a potential solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In addition to increased funding, Balderas said the penalty for malfeasance should be increased. Right now, the penalty is a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s ludicrous when I oversee $60 billion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Throughout the day, the discussion turned toward a need to more adequately fund the auditor, the attorney general\u2019s division that tracks public corruption and the secretary of state\u2019s ethics division, which is responsible for public disclosure of money in state politics. The task force is also taking a look at a number of reform proposals made by Attorney General Gary King<\/a> that would strengthen his office\u2019s authority, and potential changes in the secretary of state\u2019s office to increase transparency.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

House Majority Leader Ken Martinez<\/a> of Grants said the task force should consider a recommendation to the governor \u201cthat we fully staff these issues across the board \u2013 transparency, investigation and prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The task force discussed a number of other proposals, including elections and ethics commissions and transparency and procurement issues. The group plans to meet again on Aug. 7 and 30 in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, and hopes to finalize its recommendations to the governor by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more to analyze from Monday\u2019s meeting. I\u2019ll probably write about specific ethics reforms being considered throughout the rest of this week, so check back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Auditor Hector Balderas urged the Task Force on Ethics Reform during a meeting Monday in Socorro to recommend that his office remain independent of the governor. The task force didn\u2019t make a final decision on whether to recommend that the auditor become an appointed, instead of elected, position. The group is also considering whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}