{"id":39270,"date":"2012-04-26T06:45:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-26T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=39270"},"modified":"2012-04-27T06:21:32","modified_gmt":"2012-04-27T12:21:32","slug":"the-good-old-days-in-sunland-park-i-think-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/04\/the-good-old-days-in-sunland-park-i-think-not\/","title":{"rendered":"The good old days in Sunland Park? I think not"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Heath<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

Jesus \u2018Ruben\u2019 Segura\u2019s 12-year tenure as mayor does not represent the good old days in Sunland Park. It\u2019s just another page in a scandal-plagued chapter in the city\u2019s history that needs to come to an end.<\/h4>\n

Listening to former Sunland Park Mayor Jesus \u201cRuben\u201d Segura speak recently, you\u2019d think his tenure as leader of the scandal-plagued city represented better times.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that then-Gov. Bill Richardson and the state pumped a bunch of money into Sunland Park while Segura was mayor, but that doesn\u2019t mean the city\u2019s government was acting with integrity and transparency.<\/p>\n

No, Segura operated in the dark and was a master of backroom deals; he contributed to the culture in which the scandal currently plaguing the city was born.<\/p>\n

Segura opted against seeking re-election to the mayor\u2019s office in 2008. Now, with the city in turmoil<\/a> because of the recent criminal charges brought against the former mayor pro tem, city manager and nine others \u2013 and with Segura hoping Sunland Park will elect him to the state Senate seat being vacated by Cynthia Nava<\/a> \u2013 he\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

He showed up a recent city council meeting, which ended up being delayed because the crowd was too big for the venue and got rowdy, and demanded that the council set up a microphone for those outside to hear what was going on. Not doing so, he correctly pointed out, would violate the Open Meetings Act, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a>.\u00a0 You can watch Segura shouting at the council courtesy of KFOX-TV<\/a> in El Paso.<\/p>\n

In a separate interview<\/a> with KFOX, Segura said the city needs \u201ca change in governance,\u201d talked about the days when he was mayor, and said seeing what\u2019s happening now \u201creally hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said, in response to a question about possible state takeover of some city functions, that, \u201csometimes Sunland Park is a forgotten community, and sometimes I feel the state needs to get more involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

State could have, but didn\u2019t, take over in 2003<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s what I wrote in February<\/a> about the time the state could have, but didn\u2019t, take control of the city away from Segura in 2003:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t Sunland Park operate this way? It\u2019s done it before, been caught doing it, and somehow avoided consequences. In 2003, the State Auditor\u2019s Office released a damning report\u00a0that included findings of fiscal mismanagement surrounding a $2 million loan and violations of the state Open Meetings Act, procurement code, and nepotism laws. Then-State Auditor Domingo Martinez recommended that the Department of Finance and Administration suspend elected officials and take over the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut an investigation that began before\u00a0Bill Richardson\u00a0took office instead went away quietly during Richardson\u2019s first year as governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see, in Sunland Park they\u2019re masters of political theater \u2013 as evidenced by strippergate and other recent incidents. A town full of Hispanic Democrats opposed Richardson\u2019s involvement in its battle with Do\u00f1a Ana County over water. Led by the mayor, residents burned Richardson campaign T-shirts in front of El Paso TV cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd \u2013 surprise! \u2013 the special audit went away, and Richardson and Sunland Park officials\u00a0became friends again. Martinez was appalled, but also powerless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m oversimplifying the way it went down, but the reality is that Richardson had the evidence to justify stepping in and the authority to clean up this mess, but he chose not to do it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Details of the 2003 special audit<\/h3>\n

I recently got my hands on the 2003 audit report. You can read it here<\/a>. Then-State Auditor Domingo Martinez\u2019s office found that Segura and the city council:<\/p>\n