City's independent watchdog to be replaced as several reports remain under wraps

Yahoo

a day ago

Jun. 13—The city of Albuquerque's inspector general is out of a job after months of conflict with an oversight committee that has yet to make public six completed investigations into alleged misconduct or malfeasance at City Hall.
The city's Accountability in Government Oversight Committee put Inspector General Melissa Santistevan on administrative leave with pay on May 13 after deciding not to recommend she be retained for another four years. Her contract expires June 21, and three new OIG candidates are up for City Council consideration.
At the same time, the committee sent the six OIG reports to an outside contractor for a "quality assurance review," according to a city spokeswoman. The city will pay the firm REDW up to $30,205 for the work as an "independent consultant."
The reports may be made public after the committee's next meeting on July 29 but could conceivably be revised by the next inspector general. The City Council is set to consider the OIG appointment at its meeting Monday.
"Rather than thanking the IG for pointing out problems regarding waste, fraud and abuse so the city could address them, they have chosen to get rid of her for doing her job," said her attorney Edward Hollington on Thursday.
Her departure comes as city spending is at an all-time high, with $1.5 billion budgeted for the next fiscal year, and elections for mayor and five council seats set for November.
Santistevan was appointed in 2021 after owning an accounting firm and working for the State Auditor's office. She supervised three city investigators.
"Although I was not given the opportunity to serve a second term as Inspector General, I remain proud of the work accomplished to promote accountability, transparency, and integrity in local government," Santistevan said in a statement released to the Journal.
The OIG in recent years has looked into violations of nepotism, misbilling, abuse of authority and leave policies, and abuse of power.
Last November, for instance, the OIG reported uncovering nearly $300,000 in bonuses from a federal child care stabilization grant that went to 27 ineligible city employees, some high-ranking. The program was supposed to help child care providers defray unexpected business costs associated with the COVID pandemic. However, top city officials took issue with the findings and the oversight committee voted 5-0 against approval.
The five-member oversight committee, whose volunteer members are appointed by the mayor and City Council, oversees the Office of Inspector General and its employees and conducts searches and screens candidates for the top job. It also oversees the city's internal auditor.
Under city ordinance, once the committee receives an investigative report from the OIG, it can approve, defer until the next meeting or vote not to approve the report. Unless deferred, the reports become public. City officials say the committee isn't considered a public body, so its meetings aren't open to the public or advertised.
Committee Chair Victor Griego, internal audit director at the University of New Mexico, couldn't be reached on Thursday. Other committee members are Robert Aragon, an Albuquerque attorney; Johnny L. Mangu, a certified public accountant; Esteban A. Aguilar Jr., who serves as vice chair; and Lia Armstrong, an at-large member. Ex-officio members include two top city administrators and two city councilors.
The decision to hire someone new for the nonpartisan job comes after Santistevan went public with a notice March 31 noting that the committee had failed to consider and release a total of nine completed OIG investigations.
Santistevan stated at the time that the pending reports dealt "with fraud, waste, or abuse that impact our City. Some of these reports have been completed for months without citizen awareness."
One investigative report, still unreleased, dated back to October 2024.
She urged release of the reports, but Griego, the committee chair, responded in an April notice that the committee had "multiple concerns regarding the quality of the reports and the underlying investigations."
The committee released three of the reports in April, deferring action on the rest until May. But no release occurred at that time.
Instead, Santistevan was placed on administrative leave, which Griego wrote in a May 13 notice "is in no way a reflection of her work product or job performance. She was an effective manager of the OIG's day-to-day operations, represented our community well as a certified member of the Association of Inspectors General, and is a strong advocate for transparency in government. Rather, the AGOC made this difficult decision to preserve the confidentiality of the work of the OIG and to ensure that work continues unabated during this transition period." An interim member of the office is in charge until a new inspector general takes over.
City officials said neither REDW nor the oversight committee has the authority to edit the six pending OIG reports.
Asked whether the incoming inspector general will be able to change the reports once appointed, a city spokeswoman said in an email, "The Office of Inspector General has the authority to make any changes to its reports that the Office deems necessary and appropriate, until such time as a report is published."
During Santistevan's tenure, her office concluded the city had made an inappropriate purchase of artificial turf for the benefit of a privately owned entity; and determined that a contractor improperly billed the city for services to the homeless and near-homeless.
"The work of independent oversight is vital," she stated, "and I remain hopeful that the office will continue to build on the strong foundation we've laid."