Luna County settles procurement violation
Christie Ann Harvey was hired as the county's community and economic development director, a staff position, in 2021. The following year, she resigned and founded the Luna County Economic Opportunity Council, a nonprofit for which she serves as executive director. She then continued working for the county under a no-bid contract.
That violated the state's procurement code, the SEC alleges. Its investigation found that Harvey participated "directly or indirectly" in the bidding for her services while she was an employee. Moreover, working for the county through the council within one year of her departure as an employee, including contract negotiations, violated the state Governmental Conduct Act, the complaint alleges.
Harvey told the Journal the noncompliance was "a horrible mistake and a learning experience."
In the settlement, she agreed to pay a $500 penalty to the state without admitting any wrongdoing, and for the council to pay $1,000 to Luna County. The county agreed to cancel the council's current $125,000 contract and launch a bidding process, with county officials to undergo training in the state procurement code.
The ethics commission found that the county awarded four contracts to Harvey's organization, totaling $412,328, without issuing a request for proposals or reviewing competitive bids. Procurement code requires contracts for such services to go out for bid if they exceed $20,000.
The most recent of these contract awards was on July 1, 2024, four months before Harvey, a Republican, was elected to Luna County's three-member board of commissioners last November. Harvey is also a board member of the New Mexico Border Authority, appointed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2022.
County Manager Chris Brice told the Journal his office cooperated fully with the SEC investigation: "We went in with the attitude, 'If we screwed up, you tell us where, and we'll fix it.' We're not hiding anything."
Brice said the prospect of working with Harvey as a contractor for economic development initiatives came about after she resigned as a county employee. The arrangement made sense, he said, because "she does a lot of stuff outside the realm of what a normal employee would do."
Now that Harvey is an elected commissioner, Brice said she must recuse herself from votes having to do with the council and its contract. This potentially presents an obstacle, because the county has just three commissioners and no provision for breaking a tie vote.
Harvey said she enjoyed serving on the county board and the Border Authority, and that she "may or may not" bid for a new contract.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
American Press
24 minutes ago
- American Press
Appeals court throws out massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump
A New York appeals court on Thursday threw out the massive financial penalty a state judge imposed on President Donald Trump, while narrowly upholding a finding he engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. The ruling spares Trump from a potential half-billion-dollar fine but bans him and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. Trump, in a social media post, claimed 'total victory.' 'I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State,' he wrote. The decision came seven months after the Republican returned to the White House. A sharply divided panel of five judges in New York's mid-level Appellate Division couldn't agree on many issues raised in Trump's appeal, but a majority said the monetary penalty was 'excessive.' After finding Trump flagrantly padded financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million. Additional penalties levied on some other Trump Organization executives, including Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. — bring the total to $527 million, with interest. An 'excessive' fine 'While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants' business culture, the court's disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,' Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of three opinions shaping the appeals court's ruling. Engoron's other punishments, upheld by the appeals court, have been on pause during Trump's appeal, and the president was able to hold off collection of the money by posting a $175 million bond. The court, which split on the merits of the lawsuit and Engoron's fraud finding, dismissed the penalty in its entirety while also leaving a pathway for an appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. Trump and his co-defendants, the judges wrote, can seek to extend the pause on any punishments taking effect. The panel was sharply divided, issuing 323 pages of concurring and dissenting opinions with no majority. Rather, some judges endorsed parts of their colleagues' findings while denouncing others, enabling the court to rule. Two judges wrote that they felt New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against Trump and his companies was justifiable and that she had proven her case but the penalty was too severe. One wrote that James exceeded her legal authority in bringing the suit, saying that if any of Trump's lenders felt cheated, they could have sued him themselves, and none did. One judge wrote that Engoron erred by ruling before the trial began that the attorney general had proved Trump engaged in fraud. In his portion of the ruling, Judge David Friedman, who was appointed to the court by Republican Gov. George Pataki, was scathing in his criticism of James for bringing the lawsuit. 'Plainly, her ultimate goal was not 'market hygiene' … but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump's political career and the destruction of his real estate business,' Friedman wrote. 'The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.' In a statement, James focused on the part of the case that went her way, saying the court had 'affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud.' 'It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit,' James said. The appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state's trial court, took an unusually long time to rule, weighing Trump's appeal for nearly 11 months after oral arguments last fall. Normally, appeals are decided in a matter of weeks or a few months. Claims of politics at play Trump and his co-defendants denied wrongdoing. At the conclusion of the civil trial in January 2024, Trump said he was 'an innocent man' and the case was a 'fraud on me.' The Republican has repeatedly maintained the case and the verdict were political moves by James and Engoron, both Democrats. Trump's Justice Department has subpoenaed James for records related to the lawsuit, among other documents, as part of an investigation into whether she violated the president's civil rights. James' personal attorney Abbe D. Lowell has said investigating the fraud case is 'the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president's political retribution campaign.' Trump and his lawyers said his financial statements weren't deceptive, since they came with disclaimers noting they weren't audited. The defense also noted bankers and insurers independently evaluated the numbers, and the loans were repaid. Despite such discrepancies as tripling the size of his Trump Tower penthouse, he said the financial statements were, if anything, lowball estimates of his fortune. During an appellate court hearing last September, Trump's lawyers argued that many of the case's allegations were too old and that James had misused a consumer protection law to sue Trump over private business transactions that were satisfactory to those involved. State attorneys said that while Trump insists no one was harmed by the financial statements, his exaggerations led lenders to make riskier loans and that honest borrowers lose out when others game their net worth numbers. Legal obstacles The civil fraud case was just one of several legal obstacles for Trump as he campaigned, won and segued to a second term as president. On Jan. 10, he was sentenced in his criminal hush money case to what's known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him jail, probation, a fine or other punishment. He is appealing the conviction. And in December, a federal appeals court upheld a jury's finding that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, affirming a $5 million judgment against him. The appeals court declined in June to reconsider. Trump still can try to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. Trump also is appealing a subsequent verdict that requires him to pay Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamation claims.
Axios
24 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump planning to join federal agents in D.C. crime patrols
President Trump said he expects to join federal agents on a patrol in D.C. Thursday night as both officers and protesters increase their numbers and rhetoric during the president's crackdown on crime in the capital. Why it matters: The president reaffirmed that he is using D.C. as a "test" to see how federal involvement could play out in other cities. What they're saying:"I'm going to be going out tonight I think, with the police and with the military of course," Trump told conservative podcast host Todd Starnes. The president said he was keeping his movements a "secret" outside of telling Starnes and podcasts' "lots of listeners." The White House did not immediately confirm the president's plans to Axios. Catch up quick: The president previously said he would be intervening in other cities when he first announced that he would be taking over D.C.'s police force. The president specifically called Los Angeles, Baltimore, Oakland, New York and Chicago as "bad, very bad," without going into details. Crime in all five of the cities that Trump mentioned is down overall. On the podcast Thursday, Trump said he would put Memphis, Tennessee "early on the list" of cities he'd be cracking down on, in response to Starnes telling him that the city is run by a Democratic mayor. Yes, but: D.C.'s unique position as an area controlled by both federal and local laws gives the president power in the capital that he lacks in other cities. The president does have the ability to federalize state National Guard members in times of perceived crisis, as he did in response to protests against his immigration lock down in Los Angeles.
25 minutes ago
International Paper to close 2 Georgia mills, cut 1,100 jobs
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- International Paper Co. said Thursday that it would close two Georgia paper mills, including one that has been a cornerstone of Savannah's economy for 90 years. The company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, said it would stop making cardboard in Savannah and Riceboro by the end of September. The company will lay off about 800 employees in Savannah and about 300 employees in Riceboro, according to company statements and filings with state regulators. The announcement came on the same day that the company said it would sell its pulp division to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $1.5 billion. International Paper had previously announced it would consider a sale to focus the company solely on its packaging business. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. International Paper also said it would spend $250 million to expand production of cardboard at a mill in Selma, Alabama. International Paper will take a $700 to $900 million accounting charge to reflect the reduced value of the cellulose fiber business. The pulp is used in towels, tissues and as absorbent filler in diapers and other personal care items. Some specialty pulp is also used in construction materials and paints. Closing the two mills will reduce International Paper's capacity to make containerboard by 1.43 million tons (1.30 million metric tonnes). The company will write down the assets of the two mills by $570 million and expects to spend $158 million on severance payments and other closure costs. The company says its trying to increase sales and profit by simplifying operations. International Paper has said that it's the largest maker of containerboard in North America, but that's it's trying to reverse a trend of decreasing profits and market share. 'While difficult, these decisions are essential to positioning International Paper for long-term success, enabling us to focus on the geographies, customers, and products where we can create the most value,' Executive Vice President Tom Hamic said in a statement. Earlier this year, International Paper closed a mill in Campti, Louisiana, laying off 470 people. Last year, the company closed a 675-worker mill in Georgetown, South Carolina. The Savannah mill was built in the mid-1930s by what was then Union Bag and Paper, with jobs helping to ease the impact of the Great Depression on the coastal city. The mill in Riceboro, south of Savannah, opened in 1968 and was acquired by International Paper when it bought British papermaker DS Smith earlier this year. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he was 'devastated and disappointed' by the decision. Savannah Economic Development Authority CEO Trip Tollison called it a 'terribly sad day for Savannah.' Georgia state House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican whose family has long worked in timber growing and logging, said effects would ripple beyond millworkers to loggers and timberland owners. 'These mill closures will undoubtedly deal a devastating blow not only to Georgia's timber industry but to the economic fabric of the entire southeast Georgia region,' Burns said in a statement.
