{"id":2648,"date":"2007-12-17T18:46:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T00:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/12\/ag-guvs-secretaries-cant-govern-and-work-at-schools\/"},"modified":"2007-12-17T18:46:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-18T00:46:00","slug":"ag-guvs-secretaries-cant-govern-and-work-at-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/12\/ag-guvs-secretaries-cant-govern-and-work-at-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"AG: Guv’s secretaries can’t govern and work at schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Attorney General\u2019s Office issued a long-awaited legal opinion today that finds major flaws in the Richardson Administration\u2019s employing of a cabinet secretary and deputy secretary who are paid in part by universities they help govern. <\/p>\n

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

The opinion, which you can read by clicking here<\/a>, says it\u2019s illegal for Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil<\/a> and Deputy Higher Education Secretary Bill Flores to work both in those jobs and as employees of the institutions they help govern.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Earlier this year, the Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> administration gave three new employees huge pay increases over what their predecessors were receiving. Higher Education Secretary Reed Dasenbrock<\/a> was given $257,250 \u2013 the same amount he was paid as provost at the University of New Mexico<\/a>. The university agreed to pay almost $100,000 of the cost for the Higher Education Department.<\/p>\n

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

UNM also agreed to pay $60,000 of the $175,000 annual salary for Vigil, and New Mexico State University<\/a> agreed to pay the entire $220,000 salary for Flores, who left his job as the school\u2019s provost and executive vice president to take the state job.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Dasenbrock had to be fired by UNM to qualify for a sabbatical; then UNM agreed to chip in the money for his new job instead of granting the sabbatical. Vigil, for UNM\u2019s part of his salary, became a faculty member at its medical school.<\/p>\n

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

Flores remained on staff at NMSU as an assistant to the executive vice president and provost who deals with the Higher Education Department, but he holds the state title and reports to the department\u2019s secretary in Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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

Because Dasenbrock isn\u2019t currently working for UNM, his situation isn\u2019t as concerning as the others, Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Glenn wrote in the opinion. But because of changes the Legislature and governor made this year to the Governmental Conduct Act, a state officer can\u2019t hold other employment if he or she has regulatory authority over the position, Glenn wrote.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe Department of Health licenses and regulates health facilities, including UNM<\/st1:placename> Hospital<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>,\u201d Glenn wrote. \u201c\u2026 The Department of Higher Education has extensive review and approval authority over the finances, budgets and programs of state educational institutions, including NMSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Glenn wrote that Vigil\u2019s interest in his faculty position at UNM could conflict with his duties as secretary of health, and Flores<\/st1:place>\u2019 position at NMSU could put him in a similar situation.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis appearance of impropriety alone would lead us to encourage the secretary of health and deputy secretary of higher education to give up their university positions while they hold state office,\u201d Glenn wrote.<\/p>\n

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

In the opinion of the AG, however, giving up the university positions would preclude Vigil and Flores<\/st1:place> from being paid with money from the universities. According to Glenn\u2019s opinion, using university money to help pay the employees may only be permissible if the Legislature appropriates it for that purpose or if they are being compensated \u201cin return for the officers\u2019 services to the universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Since the AG says they can\u2019t work for the universities and hold their executive-branch positions, that leaves legislative appropriations as the only option, and the Legislature has appropriated no money to the universities to help pay Vigil and Flores<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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

The governor\u2019s office said a statement was forthcoming.<\/p>\n

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

The opinion was sought by Sen. John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming and chair of the Legislative Finance Committee<\/a>, who expressed concern in July about the arrangements. He said today that his goal is \u201cupholding the legislative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere\u2019s a right way and a wrong way on that, and we are the appropriating body,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

\n

\n

The legal opinion ends with a footnote stating that the AG understands \u201cthat the governor\u2019s office and the universities have taken steps, consistent with this opinion, to address the constitutional and conflict-of-interest problems stemming from the cabinet officials\u2019 compensation and employment arrangements.\u201d It doesn\u2019t provide details. I assume that\u2019s what the statement from the governor\u2019s office will address. I\u2019ll have an update when it is released.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 8:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:City> spokesman Allan Oliver said the governor decided several weeks ago to terminate the agreements with UNM and NMSU regarding the funding for cabinet secretaries, and since then the salaries of Dasenbrock, Vigil and Flores<\/st1:place> have been paid entirely \u201cfrom state government funds.\u201d They are now classified as exempt employees.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cBoth the issue of who paid their salary and dual employment made up the bulk of the attorney general\u2019s analysis,\u201d Oliver said in the statement released tonight by the governor\u2019s office. \u201cBut the opinion relied on some inaccurate, outdated assumptions. None of the secretaries worked for the universities while serving as a state official.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

That contradicts what the Higher Education Department\u2019s spokeswoman told me in June<\/a> \u2013 that Flores<\/st1:place>, from May 1 to June 30, pulled double duty as NMSU provost and deputy higher education secretary, and that he would be paid during that time entirely by NMSU.<\/p>\n

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

I\u2019ve asked for clarification from the governor\u2019s office, and will let you know if I receive it.<\/p>\n

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

Oliver also stated that, several months ago, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> \u201cdirected his staff to examine the arrangements the state had with the cabinet secretaries in question and to address the concerns that had been raised. This review confirmed that there was no evidence of any unethical behavior or conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Nonetheless, \u201cout of an exercise of caution and in order to remove any doubts regarding potential conflicts,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> ordered an end to the arrangements with the universities, Oliver said.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe bottom line \u2013 the people of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> will continue to be served by highly qualified cabinet secretaries with extensive experience in their field,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Attorney General\u2019s Office issued a long-awaited legal opinion today that finds major flaws in the Richardson Administration\u2019s employing of a cabinet secretary and deputy secretary who are paid in part by universities they help govern. The opinion, which you can read by clicking here, says it\u2019s illegal for Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil and Deputy […]<\/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-2648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648","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=2648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}