COMMENTARY:
Change election needed at both national and local levels
After two years of single-party rule in Washington, D.C., most voters understand the importance of this year’s election at the national level. But for voters in Dona Ana County, the local elections are just as important.
County government is a mess. Last month, the state Department of Finance and Administration informed county officials they could no longer be trusted to handle state funds. And so, whenever the county receives capital outlay money or special appropriations from the state, those funds will now go through a fiscal agent to ensure they are used properly.
The fiscal agent will also be responsible for rewriting the county’s policies and procedures for appropriating funds, and for training staff on the new way of doing business. The fiscal agent will remain in place until all 42 deficiencies identified in a recent state audit have been addressed in a way that will ensure compliance moving forward.
That audit laid bare a governing structure that has been operating without needed checks and controls for many years.
The DFA focused on 19 audit findings that were specifically related to spending and procurement policies. They found a lack of internal controls, combined with multiple conflicts of interest.
“Fraud, waste, abuse and misuse of public funds could occur and remain undetected,” the report warned. That would be worrisome under the best conditions, But, it is particularly alarming at a time when proponents of Project Jupiter are spending lavishly in an attempt to find new friends for a data center that most country residents don’t want.
There will be two members selected to the County Commission this year. Neither of the incumbents who voted for Project Jupiter chose to run for re-election. In District 1, Democrat Daisy Maldonado and Republican Samantha Barncastle Salopek will be vying to replace Christopher Schaljo Hernandez.
In District 3, Susie Kimble was appointed to complete the term of Shanon Reynolds, and is running without party affiliation after a successful campaign to gather signatures following the primary election. She will face Democrats Willie Madrid, who was unopposed in the primary, and Julia Brown, who is running as a write-in candidate.
The failures and weaknesses uncovered in the recent audit were nothing new. The county has been doing business that way for years. In 2016 county taxpayers shelled out $1.59 million to settle a lawsuit brought by then-internal affairs investigator Kim Stewart for violations of both the Human Rights Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act. The jury found that she had been subjected to months of retaliation, before being fired, after investigating claims of racial discrimination within county departments.
The fact that we will now have an outsider scrutinizing every transaction is both comforting and embarrassing. It’s good to know that controls will finally be put into place, but humiliating that we couldn’t responsibly handle that ourselves.
Voters need to ask hard questions before making their decision in this year’s county races. More of the same isn’t acceptable. We don't need platitudes, we need a plan. Anybody running for County Commission needs to understand the history that has led to this audit, and have a plan to ensure that improvements required by the state will endure once the watchdog is gone.
Walter Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com
Walt Rubel's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.