Latest news with #NewMexicoStateEthicsCommission
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico State Ethics Commission settles with Cuba mayor
The New Mexico State Ethics Commission has reached a settlement with the mayor of the village of Cuba over alleged violations of the Governmental Conduct Act. 'Following an investigation, the Commission found reason to believe that [Mayor Denny Herrera] improperly benefitted from a village directive requiring employees to exclusively refuel Village vehicles' at a gas station Herrera owns, the commission wrote in a news release announcing the settlement Wednesday. Herrera, who is serving his first term as mayor, said in an interview Wednesday the directive was issued by 'prior administrations.' 'I should've caught it sooner, since Day 1,' he said. 'It's something that slipped by me, and it shouldn't happen.' Herrera said the village has long had a charge account at his gas station. 'Once this was brought up, I issued credit cards to everybody in the whole city and released an internal statement stating that they could purchase fuel at any location that accepted WEX cards,' he said. 'All we did was recommend that they purchase it within city limits if they could to keep the fuel tax in the city.' As part of the agreement, Herrera formally notified the village May 14 of his ownership interest in DDH Inc. Fuel Service Station 'and clarified that village employees are free to purchase fuel from any station that accepts WEX cards, in compliance with state and local procurement rules,' the news release states. Herrera also agreed to pay $2,500 to the state and $1,000 to the village within seven days of the agreement's execution. 'New Mexico's Governmental Conduct Act broadly prohibits a public officer from using the powers and resources of their public office to obtain a private benefit, and the Act specifically forbids public officers from selling goods, services or construction to public employees under their supervision,' the release states. 'The Commission works so that New Mexicans can trust that public officers will adhere to those basic principles.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Complaint alleges Gallup-McKinley Schools superintendent violated state ethics laws
(Image via New Mexico In Depth) Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Mike Hyatt is under scrutiny for alleged violations of state procurement and government ethics laws, following a complaint filed Monday with the New Mexico State Ethics Commission. Submitted on behalf of Stride, Inc. and its online education subsidiary, K12 Virtual Schools, the complaint alleges Hyatt sought a $235,000-per-year salary as Stride's Vice President for Academic Innovation, while the company had an active contract with the school district—and when he was not hired for the position, Hyatt sought to terminate that contract. K12 provides online education for the district's Destinations Career Academy of New Mexico. This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth. 'Superintendent Hyatt is apparently knowingly and willfully abusing his public position, at the expense of ~4,200 New Mexico students' who are enrolled in online schooling, the complaint alleged. In an email to New Mexico In Depth, Monday, Hyatt refuted the allegations, saying the company, not he, behaved in 'illegal' and 'unethical' ways, because of inadequate student-teacher ratios for their online courses. 'We have recently found out the illegal [and] unethical practices of Stride and how they are profiting and increasing revenue by breaking the law in our online program,' Hyatt wrote. 'We notified them of their wrongdoing and had previously notified them to not break the law when it comes to students teacher ratios.' The ethics complaint letter alleges that Hyatt potentially violated the New Mexico Government Conduct Act (GCA) and state procurement code. 'The GCA has specific prohibitions against a public officer or employee seeking employment with a contractor who has a contract with the public officer or employee's employer,' according to the complaint. 'The Procurement Code similarly prohibits an employee who is participating directly or indirectly in the procurement process to become, or to be, while such an employee, the employee of any person or business contracting with the governmental body by whom the employee is employed.' The complaint was filed by attorney Laura E. Sanchez of the law firm Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A., in Albuquerque. The New Mexico State Ethics Commission declined to comment on the complaint or its investigation plans. On Monday, Deputy Director Amelia Bierle told New Mexico In Depth in an email that the Commission does not comment on alleged ethics violations before investigations are concluded. Gallup-McKinley signed an Educational Products & Services Contract with K12 in June 2020. Hyatt was district superintendent. According to the company's complaint letter, Hyatt applied for the company's VP position on December 11, 2024 and was initially interviewed on Jan. 21, 2025. On Feb. 21, the company's senior vice president of schools, Adam Hawf, spoke with Hyatt by phone to let him know he had not been hired. 'Mr. Hawf called Superintendent Hyatt, as opposed to issuing him a formal letter, due to the sensitivity of the relationship and fear that Superintendent Hyatt would adversely affect the District's relationship with the Contractor,' the complaint letter states. In his email to New Mexico In Depth, Monday, Hyatt confirmed, 'I applied for a job there in 2024.' Less than a month after the call with Hawf, at a routine monthly meeting with the company on March 10, Hyatt's demeanor had become 'completely different than it had been in past meetings,' according to the complaint letter. '[T]he meeting was hostile […] instead of amicable and collaborative.' On April 1, Hyatt sent a breach of contract and termination letter to the company, citing several alleged contract breaches, including inadequate student-teacher ratios, teacher licensure, and problems with student achievement in Destinations Career Academy students. Three days later, Gallup-McKinley issued a request for proposals to find a new contractor. The termination letter violated a 45-day 'cure' period for contractual disputes, the company contends. The complaint further alleges that Hyatt directed the district to issue the new request for proposals for virtual education services while Stride's contract was still in effect, potentially violating its exclusivity provision. Hyatt knew previously about student-teacher ratio concerns, according to the complaint letter. 'Superintendent Hyatt's conduct after he was denied employment … shows that he is potentially abusing his authority, and not acting in the public interest,' the ethics complaint states. 'He was aware of the alleged student-teacher ratios and the licensure issues prior to submitting his application for employment with the Contractor. He also served as a positive reference for the Contractor with the New Mexico PED [Public Education Department] on February 6, 2025 and for Ohio as recently as February 25, 2025, despite knowledge of the concerns he later raised in the letter to the Contractor on April 1, 2025.' The firm submitted 18 supporting documents with the ethics complaint, including emails and correspondence, the termination letter, and the request for proposals. The company has tried to address Hyatt's concerns within the 45-day 'cure period' set out in the contract but has been hindered by Gallup-McKinley since receiving the termination letter, according to the complaint. Examples include the district delaying teacher criminal history fingerprint clearances and refusing to sign off on teachers' license extensions. 'Out of desperation they are attempting to deflect the harm they have done […] and are trying to create a narrative that I by myself am trying to break a contract for personal reasons,' Hyatt wrote in his email to the news organization. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Luna County settles procurement violation
Mar. 27—DEMING — A Luna County commissioner who is also a contractor for the county agreed last week to pay a civil fine to settle violations investigated by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission. 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.
