{"id":40347,"date":"2012-05-28T07:54:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T13:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=40347"},"modified":"2012-05-29T06:47:07","modified_gmt":"2012-05-29T12:47:07","slug":"illustrating-the-need-for-campaign-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/illustrating-the-need-for-campaign-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrating the need for campaign reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_40348\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 270px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-40348 \" title=\"Heath horizontal\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Heath-horizontal3.jpg\" alt=\"Heath Haussamen\" width=\"270\" height=\"256\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>The controversy surrounding Sen. Phil Griego\u2019s campaign spending is one of three situations brought up during the current primary election season that raise ethical questions and point to the need for reform.<\/h4>\n<p>State Sen. Phil Griego says he\u2019s confident that all of his campaign spending is in compliance with state law.<\/p>\n<p>The law is so lax that he may be right. But his is one of three situations brought up during the current primary election season that raise ethical questions and point to the need for campaign reform.<\/p>\n<p>To recap, Griego opponent Jack Sullivan has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/senators-spending-fails-the-smell-test\/\" target=\"_blank\">filed a formal complaint<\/a> with the secretary of state over Griego\u2019s campaign spending on NFL tickets, fixing a truck, paying off his credit card, buying furniture and playing golf.<\/p>\n<p>Griego has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/complaint-against-griego-looms-large-in-state-senate-race\/\" target=\"_blank\">dodging the media<\/a>, so he hadn\u2019t responded to the allegations until Friday. In <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/Documents\/05.25.12.PhilGriegoResponse.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">a formal response<\/a> filed with the Secretary of State\u2019s Office on that day, Griego said the campaign bought Denver Broncos tickets to auction off at a campaign fundraiser; that it held a golf tournament as a fundraiser; that it paid off his credit card to reimburse him for expenses from \u201cconstituent events held during the legislative session;\u201d and that he owns an \u201cantique\/historic 1955 Chevy Truck that I use exclusively for campaigning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The truck is popular at parades and other campaign rallies, he said, and requires maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI routinely have the account pay all related expenses as the campaign has sole use of the vehicle,\u201d Griego said.<\/p>\n<p>As for the other two interesting situations that raise ethical questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sen. John Sapien <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmtelegram.com\/2012\/05\/26\/sos-says-sapien-followed-governmental-conduct-act\/\" target=\"_blank\">didn\u2019t violate the state Governmental Conduct Act<\/a> when he held a town-hall meeting two weeks before the primary and invited voters who, because of redistricting, won\u2019t be his constituents unless he wins re-election this year. He sent out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmtelegram.com\/2012\/05\/17\/opponent-accuses-sapien-of-using-state-funds-for-campaign-purposes\/\" target=\"_blank\">an invitation<\/a> on legislative letterhead. Sapien told NMPolitics.net he paid for costs of mailing the invitation himself. The phone number listed has a voicemail message that directs people to e-mail Sapien at his campaign address.<\/li>\n<li>Some have said State House candidate David Coss, also the Santa Fe mayor, will have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/govt-experience-an-issue-in-race-between-coss-trujillo\/\" target=\"_blank\">a conflict of interest<\/a> if he\u2019s elected to both jobs and representing areas with different boundaries. Others say there would be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/some-say-no-conflict-in-coss-holding-two-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\">no conflict<\/a>. The House seat Coss is seeking includes part of Santa Fe but also stretches outside the city limits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Sapien and Coss<\/h3>\n<p>First let\u2019s tackle the issue with Sapien, who has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/11\/senator-apologizes-for-using-gov%E2%80%99t-e-mail-to-promote-company%E2%80%99s-giving\/\" target=\"_blank\">apologized before<\/a> for using state government e-mail to promote his company\u2019s giving. It appears he took steps to comply with the law this time, and the secretary of state may be right that he did comply.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>However, there\u2019s a line in the sand that exists between legislators\u2019 official work and campaigning because they\u2019re not paid, don\u2019t have staffs, and run small organizations that generally don\u2019t have the resources to set up separate systems. So Sapien, on his personal phone that he lists for official business, directs people to his campaign e-mail address.<\/p>\n<p>Is that ethical?<\/p>\n<p>And he held an official town-hall meeting a couple of weeks before one of the toughest election fights of his life.<\/p>\n<p>Should he be allowed to do that, when holding such a meeting will undoubtedly benefit him politically?<\/p>\n<p>These are questions lawmakers need to consider.<\/p>\n<p>As for Coss: Those who say there\u2019s no ethical issue to consider are, in my opinion, wrong. What happens when Coss the legislator has enough money to fund one more capital outlay project, and residents of a rural area outside Santa Fe but in his legislative district need money for a new water project, but residents in Santa Fe want Coss to appropriate money for a gazebo at a park? And say this all happens while Coss is up for re-election to his mayoral job?<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s certainly an ethical problem there. It\u2019s a dilemma that others who have held two elected jobs at the same time have already faced.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not saying Coss shouldn\u2019t be able to hold the two jobs \u2013 maybe he should, maybe he shouldn\u2019t \u2013 but there certainly is an ethical issue that needs to be considered. I think it\u2019s a gray area lawmakers should address.<\/p>\n<h3>Back to Griego<\/h3>\n<p>What about Griego, the big campaign spender? He chairs the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=SGRIE\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee<\/a>, so big contributions from lobbyists and others fall into his lap. It\u2019s no surprise that he has lots of campaign cash to spend and can afford a campaign vehicle and office.<\/p>\n<p>Has he complied with the law? Maybe. New Mexico\u2019s campaign laws are so lax that there\u2019s a good chance Griego didn\u2019t break any rules \u2013 even if his spending pushes ethical limits.<\/p>\n<p>Can you pay off your credit card without distinguishing between personal and campaign expenses? Can you list lots of money going to general campaign expenses, like $2,600 for a trip to Silver City, without breaking down the costs that added up to $2,600? Can you spend another $2,600 on a matanza without explaining why it cost $2,600? Can you reimburse yourself $800 for the \u201c2011 session\u201d without explaining what added up to $800?<\/p>\n<p>Griego did all of those things.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll see what the secretary of state concludes. Regardless, I have no doubt that there are lawmakers using their campaign accounts <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/01\/legislators-oops-creates-appearance-of-impropriety\/\" target=\"_blank\">to pay for personal expenses<\/a> because they can get away with it.<\/p>\n<p>Again, this is just one more area in campaign law that needs the attention of legislators.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe someday the Legislature and governor will take a serious look at cleaning up this broken system. Maybe not. For too many, that would mean biting the hand that feeds them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/haussamen\" target=\"_blank\">Haussamen bio<\/a>\u00a0\u2502\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/heath-haussamen\" target=\"_blank\">Commentary page<\/a>\u00a0\u2502\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/category\/haussamen-columns\/feed\" target=\"_blank\">Feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The controversy surrounding Sen. Phil Griego\u2019s campaign spending is one of three situations brought up during the current primary election season that raise ethical questions and point to the need for reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[156,223,109,107],"class_list":["post-40347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2012-election","tag-campaign-finance","tag-ethics-reform","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40347","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=40347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}