{"id":433913,"date":"2017-09-28T08:30:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T14:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=433913"},"modified":"2017-09-28T08:30:30","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T14:30:30","slug":"money-out-money-in-candidate-returns-money-to-city-contractors-then-their-owners-give","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/09\/money-out-money-in-candidate-returns-money-to-city-contractors-then-their-owners-give\/","title":{"rendered":"Money out, money in: Candidate returns money to city contractors, then their owners give"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albuquerque bans contributions to candidates for elective office from businesses or individuals who make money from city contracts, but that doesn\u2019t prevent owners of those companies from giving to candidates in a different way.<\/p>\n

\"Money\"<\/a>

Pictures of Money \/ Creative Commons<\/p>

An Albuquerque law that bans contributions from individuals who make money from city contracts doesn’t prevent owners of those companies from giving in a different way. (photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

The practice is on stark display in a recent campaign report filed by mayoral candidate Brian Col\u00f3n, who returned contributions from several companies with city contracts on Sept.\u00a012 and then accepted contributions from the owners of those companies about a week later.<\/p>\n

Owners are allowed to give as individuals or through other companies they own.<\/p>\n

In his report filed Sept.\u00a022, Col\u00f3n showed he had returned contributions from contractors identified previously to him by KOB Channel 4, which was\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0by KOB on Sept.\u00a019.<\/p>\n

The report also reflected that Col\u00f3n had accepted contributions from the owners of those companies, as either individuals or through their other companies.<\/p>\n

He returned contributions of $5,000 from both\u00a0Ekore<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mechanical Control Solutions<\/a>, both of which have contracts with the city. He accepted contributions, in turn, from two companies that don\u2019t have city contracts but share the same owner as Ekore and MCS,\u00a0Steve Chavez<\/a>. Those contributions, also for $5,000 each, were from Chavez companies\u00a0SC3 International<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Wisepies<\/a>\u00a0Franchise Services.<\/p>\n

The city checkbook, which is searchable online, shows the city has paid Ekore $57,210 since 2016. Mechanical Control Solutions entered into a maintenance contract with the city in 2016.<\/p>\n