Inspector General's COVID bonus report sparks renewed political clash
May 8—City Councilor Dan Lewis has once again called for a federal investigation into Albuquerque's use of COVID-19 relief funds.
The request is nearly the same as one Lewis made in January. But this time, the recipient is different. Lewis asked recently appointed U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison to investigate the city five months after the city's Office of Inspector General found that some $300,000 in federal COVID-19 relief money was used for bonuses, something the mayor's office has disputed.
Lewis said he renewed his call since the office had new leadership. Alexander Uballez, the former U.S. Attorney now running for mayor, stepped down after Donald Trump's election. The president then appointed Ellison, a former assistant U.S. attorney for New Mexico in Las Cruces, to lead the office.
"It's very clear that our Inspector General found some very problematic conclusions from her investigations," Lewis said. "Because these are federal funds, and because the U.S. attorney would normally investigate things like this, I think it's appropriate for them to take a look at it."
Mayor Tim Keller's administration has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the Inspector General as "little more than an opinion writer."
"This Inspector General lost credibility long ago. Her own oversight board — made up of legal and accounting experts — has repeatedly flagged her for misrepresentation, lack of peer review, audit violations, and clear bias. At this point, she is little more than an opinion writer who has dragged her office into the depths of rumor and factless interpretation," Dan Mayfield, spokesperson for the city, told the Journal in an emailed statement.
When reached by phone, Inspector General Melissa Santistevan said her office would not respond to the comments from the mayor's office.
The money in question was a portion of the federal funds Albuquerque received from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. ARPA was a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill meant to accelerate the country's recovery from the pandemic and subsequent recession.
Specifically, the OIG raised concerns about child care stabilization grants, which provided financial assistance to child care providers to alleviate unforeseen expenses related to the pandemic and stabilize their operations.
The OIG's report was completed in October. It concluded that the city's Family and Community Services Department issued $280,000 worth of bonuses to 27 employees between 2021 and 2023. The report found at least 10 recipients, including top managers, received nearly $20,000 each.
However, the same report was not approved by the OIG oversight committee, which had appointees from the mayor and City Council. The Accountability in Government Oversight Committee said the OIG "lacked sufficient jurisdiction under the city's Inspector General ordinance to investigate one or more of the allegations" but did not explicitly recommend disciplinary action.
A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesperson confirmed that they had received Lewis' complaint. However, they said the office could not confirm whether they had launched an investigation.
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