Ethics Hall of Shame Charter Members: Chavez, Sanchez, Mayer, Loy

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Ken Sanchez

It's a sad day when a Democrat is the deciding vote that kills a meaningful ethics reform package. Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez did just that yesterday when he voted with Republicans Sally Mayer and Craig Loy against Brad Winter's bill to clean up city elections and government.

The measure needed at least 7 votes to pass because it would change the City Charter. It only got 6 because of Sanchez. Evidently doing the dirty work of Mayor Marty Chavez, Councilor Sanchez came down on the side of pay for play and against clean government. He therefore is a charter member of our new Ethics Hall of Shame. We'll use the Hall to spotlight those whose votes and actions serve to hold back the forces of government ethics and campaign finance reform, or those whose personal corruption merits a showcase. Since our Hall of Shame is bipartisan, the names of Craig Loy and Sally Mayer, have also been added.

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Sally Mayer

Those councilors who voted FOR the ethics reform measure were Republicans Brad Winter and Don Harris, and Democrats Debbie O'Malley, Martin Heinrich, Ike Benton, Don Harris and Michael Cadigan (although councilors run for office on a nonpartisan basis). A heart-felt shout-out of praise goes out to all of them!

According to an article in the Albuqueque Tribune, Winter's bill would have amended the City Charter to:

• Clarify the power of the city's ethics board.
• Set guidelines for reporting campaign contributions.
• Protected city workers from being forced into campaign work.
• Set rules aimed at preventing contractors from influencing politicians through campaign contributions.

Councilor Winter was justifiably angry and upset about the defeat of his bill, and pledged to put the matter to the voters in the form of a referendum in the next city election in 2007. He said the loss would make ethics the dominating issue of the next municipal election, according to an article in the Albuquerque Journal. He added:

"I am appalled. ... I am in shock that this failed, and the people of Albuquerque ought to be very disappointed. I guess that's ethics and politics."

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Craig Loy

It's telling that the three councilors who voted against these reforms have all been known in the past for their allegiance to Democrat-in-name-only Mayor Marty Chavez on a variety of controversial issues. From their 'No' votes, we can assume that Mayor Moneybags was really the force behind this effort to keep things just as they are -- with those who "donate" money to his campaign getting preference on contracts and more, with city employees pressured into supporting candidates, often on City time, with "gifts" galore paying off politicos and with an ethics board with no real power to enforce compliance. So, you guessed it, Mayor Chavez is the fourth charter member in our new Ethics Hall of Shame.

Into the Ethics Hall of Shame: Marty Chavez

The excuses being offered by those who killed the bill are, well, priceless. As quoted in the Tribune article, here's Ken Sanchez:

Sanchez said while "there is definitely a need for ethics reform at the state level," it isn't as necessary for Albuquerque.

"I feel we've done a great job," Sanchez said. "We live up to the highest standards of ethics."

I guess he's already forgotten about the ABQPAC scandal, among others. And all the rumors about how and why Mayor Chavez got such extravagant "contributions" from the corporate development community and others who seek to do business with the City.

Meanwhile the Journal article had this to say about Sally Mayer:

Mayer raised several questions about Winter's proposal, but she was especially critical of provisions that would prevent the mayor and councilors from trying to steer city contracts to their campaign contributors when an independent review committee recommended a different bidder.

Oh me, oh my, Sally. I completely understand. It's so difficult to attract "pay to play" bucks when you can't promise anything in return!

The Journal also reported:

Winter's legislation would have explained whose gifts must be rejected. It said city officials should not take gifts from city employees, contractors and certain other people who have dealings with city government.

The legislation defined the gifts that should be rejected, offering a list that ranged from real estate to restaurant meals, discounts, the use of property, tickets to events and nearly everything else with identifiable value.

Imagine having to conduct city business without "gifts" to show the way! You can't tell the players without a scorecard or, in this case, without a list of who gave what to whom.

Not surprisingly, I'm with Matt Brix on this one:

"You really have to ask yourself, where is the sincerity in ethics reform?" said Matt Brix, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, which worked with Winter on the bill. "The public needs to question why there was not a unanimous decision in favor of amending the charter."

I'm questioning alright, along with many others on both sides of the aisle. And we'll keep it up until we get some real reform locally and statewide. With all the corruption and cronyism that's been exposed within our ranks in NM, we can no longer ignore those who work to keep it that way, in either political party. Hear that Democrats? No free lunch for you anymore. Enough is enough. We'll be watching very closely, especially when the NM Legislature considers ethics reform in January. Count on it.