{"id":90789,"date":"2015-10-13T09:56:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T15:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=90789"},"modified":"2015-10-14T10:35:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-14T16:35:36","slug":"heres-why-im-not-calling-for-durans-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/10\/heres-why-im-not-calling-for-durans-resignation\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s why I\u2019m not calling for Duran’s resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>When the Martinez Administration froze funding<\/a> to 15 behavioral health agencies in 2013 without any proof of fraud \u2013 and put many of them out of business \u2013 I was part of a team of journalists watchdogging the situation for the news organization New Mexico In Depth.<\/p>\n

\"Heath<\/a>

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

We reported that the Martinez Administration didn\u2019t have to freeze funding<\/a>, in spite of its claims to the contrary. We and others documented<\/a> that the Medicaid freeze sparked a chaotic transition<\/a> and disrupted critical services<\/a> for the most vulnerable New Mexicans.<\/p>\n

To date, the attorney general has cleared several of the 15 agencies of criminal wrongdoing. One employee of one agency has been charged with fraud<\/a>. Several investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n

The exonerations, some say, are proof that Gov. Susana Martinez violated the due-process rights of the health providers. Regardless of whether they are legally correct, they\u2019re right that Martinez killed some longtime New Mexico businesses and nonprofits without giving them the chance to defend themselves \u2013 and that she didn\u2019t have to make that choice.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the attorney representing Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who\u2019s facing criminal charges<\/a> related to abusing the state\u2019s campaign finance system, says the media has already convicted her client<\/a>. Instead of resigning \u2013 as many<\/a> of the state\u2019s<\/a> newspapers<\/a>, politicians<\/a> and others<\/a> have demanded \u2013 Duran is choosing to remain in office and defend herself in court<\/a> and before the Legislature, which is considering impeaching her<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fine. That\u2019s Duran\u2019s right. I\u2019m not going to add to the calls for her to resign.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear: I feel betrayed by Duran, who was allegedly committing crimes even as she smiled and promised me in 2010<\/a>, while campaigning for office, that under her leadership New Mexico would have a \u201cscandal-free Secretary of State\u2019s Office.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been unimpressed by Duran since 2011, when I wrote that her long-anticipated investigation of alleged voter fraud should have been transparent and bipartisan \u2013 but instead, disappointingly, led to \u201ca snarky report we can\u2019t trust.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Most importantly are the criminal allegations. Even if Duran is acquitted in a court of law, we now know of donations others reported making to her campaigns that she never disclosed. The official charged with administering our state\u2019s campaign reporting system \u2013 and enforcing violations \u2013 apparently wasn\u2019t reporting all of her own donations.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that explains why she\u2019s done such a horrible job of holding other candidates accountable when they violated campaign reporting law. The Farmington Daily Times reported earlier this year that Duran had collected only 4 percent<\/a> of almost 2,000 fines her office issued for violations during the 2012 and 2014 election cycles.<\/p>\n

And in January, five years into her tenure as secretary of state, Duran hadn\u2019t referred any violations to the attorney general for possible prosecution.<\/p>\n

So please don\u2019t hear me defending Duran. I\u2019m not. I have zero confidence in her ability to do the job New Mexicans have now twice given her.<\/p>\n

But I do believe in due process.<\/p>\n

The House should proceed with its investigation. The criminal case against Duran should move forward. Both are formal, legal processes that could lead to her removal from office.<\/p>\n

It might be easier and cheaper for taxpayers if Duran resigned, but she has the right to stay and fight. I suspect in the end that\u2019s only going to make things more painful for her, as the evidence, including details about her personal life, is on display.<\/p>\n

But if that\u2019s what Duran wants, OK.<\/p>\n

Just as I believe Martinez should have let the 15 behavioral health agencies keep doing their jobs while the AG investigated them, I support Duran\u2019s right to finish her term\u00a0in office unless\u00a0a felony conviction disqualifies her or the Legislature removes her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as I believe Gov. Susana Martinez should have let the 15 behavioral health agencies keep doing their jobs while the attorney general investigated them, I support Dianna Duran\u2019s right to stay in office and fight.<\/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":[142,1191,117,705,107],"class_list":["post-90789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-crime","tag-dianna-duran","tag-health-care","tag-money-in-politics","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90789","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=90789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90789\/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=90789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}