{"id":205,"date":"2006-04-20T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-21T05:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/04\/shady-carruthers-decision-revealed-governor-defends-spaceport-and-cervantes-in-the-hot-seat\/"},"modified":"2006-04-20T23:25:00","modified_gmt":"2006-04-21T05:25:00","slug":"shady-carruthers-decision-revealed-governor-defends-spaceport-and-cervantes-in-the-hot-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/04\/shady-carruthers-decision-revealed-governor-defends-spaceport-and-cervantes-in-the-hot-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"Shady Carruthers decision revealed, governor defends spaceport and Cervantes in the hot seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So the governor wants an ethics task force to recommend to him and the legislature sweeping changes that will clean up state government. And he appointed New Mexico State University Business Dean Garrey Carruthers and University of New Mexico Law School Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia to head the effort.<\/p>\n

One source with a long memory snickered at the appointment of Carruthers to head a committee that will suggest how to properly deal with our ethically challenged state law book. That\u2019s because Carruthers had a shady way of dealing with allegations against him when he was governor.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the scoop from a Feb. 18, 1991 Associated Press and Las Cruces Sun-News article:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026a secret probe ordered by former Gov. Garry Carruthers revealed no wrongdoing regarding Carruthers\u2019 alleged involvement in a proposed port of entry in Southern New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a nutshell: The creation of the Santa Teresa port of entry was finally gaining the support that would later make it a reality, but was delayed significantly when Carruthers got on a helicopter with then-Chihuahua Gov. Fernando Baeza to tour the border in 1989. When they landed, Carruthers said he would support a port at Santa Teresa or nearby Anapra, which was being pushed heavily by Mexican developers.<\/p>\n

That came to the dismay of those on the American side, including Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who had been working tirelessly for the Santa Teresa port until Carruthers threw a wrench in things.<\/p>\n

Rumors swirled about secret deals in choppers. So Carruthers ordered an equally secret probe by the Department of Public Safety \u2013 people who work for him \u2013 to be done \u201coutside normal law enforcement channels. No reports were filed,\u201d according to the Associated Press and Sun-News article. Way to be transparent.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the probe found no wrongdoing on the part of the boss of the investigators.<\/p>\n

Go figure.<\/p>\n

These are the type of ethical quandaries that need to be cleaned up. Such an investigation should have been handed over to the attorney general or FBI. State law needs to require that.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Richardson found himself defending his spaceport plans at the Thursday luncheon in Las Cruces, where he spoke to Common Cause about ethics law reform.<\/p>\n

Someone in the audience asked whether more practical uses could be added so that the Southwest Regional Spaceport isn\u2019t just a launch pad for \u201cjoyrides for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an investment in the future,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cSeveral states wanted it, so I became suspicious this was a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he listed what he said will be other benefits: \u201ctrans-Atlantic travel,\u201d \u201cspace research,\u201d \u201cspace commercialization,\u201d and the Rocket Racing League. As for the joyrides, he said ticket prices will drop from the current $200,000 apiece.<\/p>\n

The exchange indicated there are still some roadblocks. There were several snickers and chuckles from the mostly-Democrat group of about 100 people when the man made his \u201cjoyrides\u201d comment. Richardson is counting on those very people to support a local tax increase to help pay for the spaceport.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Richardson also put Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, in a tough spot Thursday. The governor is currently blaming legislative leaders for several of his agenda items failing in the session this year, and especially pointed the finger Thursday because most of his anti-corruption package wasn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n

But for Cervantes there was only praise. The governor thanked him for sponsoring legislation that would have opened conference committees to the public, if not for those rogue legislators who weren\u2019t willing to do their business in public and killed the bill. He then called on Cervantes to elaborate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll probably need an office on the fourth floor,\u201d Cervantes said before blaming the leaders in the legislature for opposing the bill because they want \u201cto exclude members of the legislature\u201d from the final decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the dark, just like you are, and I think the budget is done in the dark at the last minute to exclude the legislature and the public,\u201d Cervantes said.<\/p>\n

I think Cervantes was right: He might need a new office on the fourth floor. But it should be noted that he has upset the governor in the past, perhaps most notably for voting against GRIP.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading my special Friday posting. You can read the article I wrote on the governor\u2019s ethics task force announcement by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s already shaping up to be an interesting time next week, with lots of activity by Democrats and Republicans that will warrant comment. And, I\u2019ll wrap up the week Thursday morning on the Michael Swickard<\/a> show.<\/p>\n

Have a great weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So the governor wants an ethics task force to recommend to him and the legislature sweeping changes that will clean up state government. And he appointed New Mexico State University Business Dean Garrey Carruthers and University of New Mexico Law School Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia to head the effort. One source with a long memory snickered […]<\/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-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","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=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}