{"id":86033,"date":"2015-09-23T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=86033"},"modified":"2015-09-24T16:22:59","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T22:22:59","slug":"we-shouldnt-accept-conflicts-in-our-legislative-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/09\/we-shouldnt-accept-conflicts-in-our-legislative-system\/","title":{"rendered":"We shouldn&#8217;t accept conflicts in our legislative system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>COMMENTARY:<\/strong> New Mexico\u2019s lawmakers are the only in the nation who aren\u2019t paid. Many have day jobs on top of volunteering in our Legislature.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_55852\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-55852\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1-336x222.jpg\" alt=\"Heath Haussamen\" width=\"336\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1-336x222.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1-771x510.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1-1170x773.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Haussamen-Heath1.jpg 1262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n<p>With this system, New Mexicans have created a structural problem: Unless we pay a reasonable salary, we can\u2019t expect lawmakers to always avoid conflicts between their jobs and legislative duties.<\/p>\n<p>But we can demand that they try to avoid conflicts. When they can\u2019t, we should expect them to be honest with us about it.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Keller sidestepped one conflict when he was a state senator. Laguna Development Corporation, which runs two casinos west of Albuquerque owned by Laguna Pueblo, lobbied against a proposed gaming compact between the state and the Navajo Nation in 2014. Laguna argued the market was saturated.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate rejected the Navajo compact. Without giving much explanation, Keller, an Albuquerque Democrat, recused himself from that vote.<\/p>\n<p>At the time Keller was working for California-based Blue Stone Strategy Group, which advises tribal communities on issues including economic development and governance.<\/p>\n<p>Keller has never publicly disclosed a list of clients. But as NMPolitics.net reported <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/08\/docs-may-reveal-potential-keller-conflict-on-state-fair-lease\/\" target=\"_blank\">on Aug. 24<\/a>, a document given to me by a former Blue Stone employee, which appears to be a Blue Stone client list, includes Laguna Pueblo in 2010 and Laguna\u2019s utility agency in 2013. It also lists the Navajo Nation in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>That contradicts what Keller has said about Laguna Pueblo. \u201cThey\u2019re not a client of mine,\u201d he said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zvxkOrvJqls\" target=\"_blank\">in 2011<\/a>. He told me the same thing on July 29.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Regardless, Keller was right to recuse himself from voting on the Navajo compact. \u201cI just felt that it would be best to not pick a side because I\u2019d worked with some of the folks that could be impacted,\u201d Keller, who is now state auditor, told me in July.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Keller apparently didn\u2019t employ similar logic in another situation.<\/p>\n<p>As a state senator Keller repeatedly criticized the Martinez Administration\u2019s awarding of a 25-year lease to The Downs at Albuquerque to operate a casino and racetrack at the state fair grounds. He accused Republican Gov. Susana Martinez of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jVvO8e9PcSw\" target=\"_blank\">pay-to-play<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The state fair grounds are located in the Senate district Keller represented. His constituents had a direct interest in The Downs deal.<\/p>\n<p>So did Laguna Pueblo. Even as he pushed for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmtelegram.com\/2014\/02\/10\/keller-wants-ag-to-investigate-downs-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\">an attorney general investigation<\/a> into The Downs deal, Keller didn\u2019t mention Blue Stone\u2019s apparent tie to the losing bidder \u2013 Laguna Development, the same company that fought the proposed Navajo compact.<\/p>\n<p>It was in the context of The Downs deal that Keller claimed Laguna Pueblo wasn\u2019t a client.<\/p>\n<p>I understand the difficulty of balancing a job that requires client confidentiality and a legislative position that demands disclosure. Many policymakers \u2013 Democrat and Republican \u2013 fail to reveal conflicts. I\u2019m not accusing Keller or Laguna Pueblo of corruption.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m singling out Keller because, as auditor, he\u2019s responsible for policing the ethics of other government officials. His past failure illustrates a cancer in our system \u2013 a pervasiveness and acceptance of conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>We need to demand that our lawmakers avoid or at least disclose conflicts. We also need to design a better system that discourages conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>When they\u2019re doing legislative work, we deserve to know our lawmakers are acting in the interest of their constituents, not their employers. Our current system gives us no such assurances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When they\u2019re doing legislative work, we deserve to know our lawmakers are acting in the interest of their constituents, not their employers. Our current system gives us no such assurances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[109,107,1189],"class_list":["post-86033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-ethics-reform","tag-roundhouse","tag-tim-keller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86033","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=86033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}