Seeing Home through a Visitor's Eyes

Sometimes a friend’s visit helps you see your home with fresh eyes.

Don Gagner – my friend and father-in-law – visited from Japan for a few days this week. He isn’t Japanese. He’s a New Englander who played semi-pro football, got drafted by the Yankees, and worked as a lumberjack, a high school teacher, and a coach. He’s also lived the last 18 years in Japan. The last eight years he’s been happily married to a Japanese lady named Midori.

Some of his reactions to Las Cruces were unsurprising: the sky sure is big when it ain’t blocked by a bunch of buildings with 10 or 20 or 60 stories. (He lives in Osaka, which is similar in population size to New York City.) The portions on your plate in any restaurant here are gargantuan compared to Japanese portions. (He liked the quality of the food here too.) People’s hearts are pretty big too, in terms of friendliness toward strangers.

The Organ Mountains looked almost artificial, he said: as if someone had just painted ‘em there, and not all that realistically. Which reminded me that when I first arrived in August 1969, I said they looked like out-sized cardboard backdrops left behind by some Hollywood film company shooting on location. To each of us, they just looked too danged stark and vertical to be real, until you climb up into them.

In Bar Canyon and just walking around at sunset behind our house he marveled at the odd flora and fauna you don’t find in New England or Osaka (and as I write these words he passes the door marveling at the sunset).

Visiting White Sands was fun. Near the entrance, when he marveled at the sight of some modest white dunes amongst the cactus and scrub, we marveled with him – then sort of strung him along by saying long before we really got into the dunes, “Should we turn around?” and “Yeah, probably. Or maybe go just a little further,” as if there wasn’t much more to see. This enhanced his surprise when the world turned wholly gypsum and we shed shoes and wandered off into the whiteness. (And the coolness: “It’s so cool!” he exclaimed, thinking of the hot sands of New England and Florida.)

On the other hand, the Rio Grande was even more disappointing to him than it was to me in August 1969. Back then, it wasn’t all that Grand, compared to rivers like the Hudson and a bunch of others with far more modest names, but at least it was a Rio until it shut down for the winter. I suggested he and Dael drive down to it, just so he could see the famous river up close. When we reunited, he grinned and reported – “. . . and we had a little swim in the river. Incredibly refreshing!” Then he grew serious and asked if the phantom river was a big topic of conversation and concern here.

Driving to the radio station Wednesday morning, I mentioned that same-sex marriage might come up during the second hour, when N.M. Senator Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) would call in. Don had two reactions. Personally, he figured marriage was one form of relationship between two people, and whether or not people got married, whether or not they did so in some church, and whether or not they married someone of the opposite sex were all up to the couples involved – not up to him, and not up to the State. On the other hand, he knew Japan, which is quite conservative in many areas, was unlikely to legalize same-sex marriage any time soon. He’s hardly older than I am, and we remarked on the fact that 50 years ago we wouldn’t have thought of any such thing as same-sex marriage.

At restaurants, at shops, at the Farmers’ Market, he enjoyed the openness of the people he met – as well as finding unique gifts for his wife, students, or friends, including an old license plate to hang on the fence and a “soap-saver” (made locally by NewMexicoSoap.com) for his thrifty mother-in-law..

Perhaps above all he enjoyed the ability to travel back and forth in a very short time between the natural world of beauty and solitude and the human world where nice people in pleasant restaurants serve tasty food at reasonable prices.

There are things we all enjoy about Las Cruces. Those of us who haven’t always lived here notice them consciously each time we return, then enjoy them unconsciously until someone else visits.

The dark, looming shape of the mountains after dusk, the colors in the twilight sky, the peace that helps us find sleep, after a hectic schedule of work or travel elsewhere. The interesting, often quite talented, and incredibly varied friends we get to know so much more deeply here than we’d be able to in some large city. The evening’s first star, sitting high above the mountains in that darkening sky, and then its uncountable brethren in all their splendor, undimmed by millions of streetlights, headlights, and office buildings.

I’d sound pretty sappy running on about all this each week; but elements of the magic of this place do cross my mind at odd moments. It’s refreshing to have a friend’s visit bring it all back up to consciousness.

                                                           -30-

[The above column appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, 29 September.  It's worth noting that Don Gagner, who's since arrived safely back in Osaka, read it and remarked that our visit to Osaka last year had a similar effect on him, refreshing his appreciation of some of its wonders.]
[If you're a Las Crucen, it might also be worth noting that among the establishments to which we took Don were Milagro's (for excellent coffee and fine pastries), Spirit Winds (for a black-bean veggie-burger or a tuna sandwich), Luna Rosa (where we like the salmon salad, Don chose the pizza, and we all ate more gelato than we should have), and Habaneros (on Solano, and easily passed without noticing it, but worth a stop some time.  Don enjoyed not only the food but a thoughtful conversation with the proprietor.)  Think we also made it to Mountain View kitchen at 130 Water St.  (Tasty and healthy food.)  We often do.
Not that the foregoing exhausts our list of favorite eateries . . . ]

 

"Speak Up, Las Cruces!" - What We Hope to Do

“Speak Up, Las Cruces!”

For two weeks now I’ve been saying that a lot, mostly during the hours of 8-10 a.m., Monday through Friday.

Keith Whelpley and I co-host a daily two-hour radio show called “Speak Up, Las Cruces!” on KOBE 1450. We first aired on Labor Day.

We took it on in the perhaps foolish hope that it could become a useful tool in the community’s ongoing dialogue with itself.

We discovered that we share certain assumptions: first, that we live in a community.  That community members can and will disagree, sometimes vigorously, without necessarily leaving – or tossing someone else out of – the community.  That communities, both in elections and otherwise, make decisions that affect the lives of their members; that decisions are better made when a community has the fairest, and most complete information; and that this sort of information is often best found, or developed, in frank but reasonably courteous discussion and debate.

While there will be shows in which Keith and I tallk with each other and our listeners who call in, we frequently bring in guests.  With a controversial issue like the gross receipts tax hike, the funding freeze on mental health providers, and same-sex marriage, we bring in knowledgeable people who disagree.  Aside from specific issues, we’re inviting community members we disagree with to spend time with us, if they’re willing, and let the listeners figure out what it all means, if anything.  (Among those count Neal Hooks, Tea Party representatives, and Steve Pearce.)

Wednesday we discussed same-sex marriage with: the newly famous Lynn Ellins, our County Clerk; Republican State Sen. Bill Sharer, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against Ellins; Neal Hooks, a Sun-News Op-Ed Columnist who disagrees with Ellins as strongly as Sen. Sharer; and Carrie Hamblen, who’s the President of PFLAG Las Cruces and one-half of a newly-married couple.  Callers were free to question anyone, or comment.

Earlier that day, we had an hour-long, reflective conversation with the new Bishop, Oscar Cantú.  We wanted to introduce listeners to a prominent member of the community whom many, particularly non-Catholics, haven’t met.  (I’m far from being a Catholic, but thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and tend to think Bishop Cantú is a pretty good guy.)

Our vision, if I may over-dignify our hopes with that word, is that through honest and sometimes bold reportage, but with courtesy and respect toward guests, we can examine facts or situations – or bring together others who’ll do so – in a way that’s useful for all of us.

That’s a challenge.  We also want to have fun doing it and make it fun for our listeners.  We’ll do that through occasional flippancy and irreverence, a lot of goofy news items when we’re without guests, and an openness to all sorts of guests and all sorts of subjects.  We’ll have the mayor and senators on, but also a number of people who are lot less well known but just plain interesting.  The college basketball coach who went to Ireland to coach, so as to learn Irish fiddling, and ended up a writer, teaching at NMSU.  The guy who felt like making rainbows, and did, and now gets flown around to foreign countries to make rainbows.  A former Hollywood stunt man who as a youth gained a wealth of knowledge from the Mescaleros, is now developing an interesting breed of horse, and has also recently put out a book that isn’t really about any of those subjects.

Tuesday after a spirited discussion of the gross receipts tax with City Manager Robert Garza and City Councilor Miguel Silva, we talked with three members of Crossroads City Roller Derby.  Who would have supposed that a conversation about roller-blading would lead us into frank talk about how their sport had helped each of them in some profound way in their careers, including helping one of the three guests recover from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after eight years in the military?

If you’ve tune in, you know that our two weeks on radio have featured a comical series of mistakes (by me) and misfortunes in the technical end of what we’re doing.  Like most things, hosting a radio show takes a little more than outsiders might imagine.  The variety of things that can go wrong (including forgetting to put on headphones and then construing the silence as being off the air – or forgetting to turn off everyone’s mikes the moment a commercial starts and everyone mistakenly thinks s/he’s off-air and might say anything.)

But it’s fun.  Keith and I are both curious.  We’re also experienced reporters. Sometimes we feel like a couple of curious kids just given free reio their town and ask folks all sorts of things, serious and silly.

And there are light moments. Wednesday when I invited Keith to read the list of our sponsors, I led into it by asking him to “remind us who brings us here” – and instantly realized that when you use a phrase like that around the bishop, it’s capable of meaning someone other than your sponsors.  He’d had the same thought, and we kidded about it with the bishop.

But then, what do I know about who brought us there?

What started in hopes we could contribute to our community also turns out to be enough fun that we’ll keep letting it turn out lives upside-down for awhile, and see where it leads.
                           -30-

[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News today, Sunday, September 15.

We really are interested in suggestions, criticisms, and what-not that could help us improve the show.  We have a Facebook page (if you're on Facebook, please search "Speak Up, Las Cruces" and "Friend" us or "like" us or post a comment) and even an email account at KOBE (send to peter and/or to keith  at  @bravomic.com).

The Sun-News headlined the column "More than a Radio Show."  That bothered me, although I had to admit maybe that was what I was saying.  But I wasn't, exactly.  What I hope I said was that we hope it'll be a damn good radio show -- and, yes, more than a radio show.  A community water well where folks from all walks of life stop to drink, and gab.  A chance for each of us to connect with a whole lot of interesting folks with whom we share this valley but whom he don't know at all.  

But I'm selfish, too.  I'm curious, one of those guys who's always watching everything, overhearing everything, wondering how folks got the way they are and where they dream of going from here, and how the world looks to 'em.  I'm a curious guy, and journalism has often served as a way to satisfy curiosity without being impolite.  It gives me a socially acceptable reason to ask all sorts of folks all sorts of things.

Just walking through the market yesterday talked to half a dozen potential guests.  A fellow named Jerry whose mission is helping veterans with PTSD fit back in to our community.  An artist whose work we thoroughly enjoy, who stressed when I asked him about being on radio that God was a big part of what he does, and that if he came on the show that's something he'd be wanting to talk about -- that helping spread the Word would be why he'd come on.  I urged him to think about it, and he gently corrected me:  "I'll pray about it, he said."

I don't happen to share his religious views, or those of our delightful guest last Wednesday, Bishop Cantú; but I've noticed, in working sporadically on a documentary about folks who produce healthy food and sell it at the market here, that God is a major part of what they're doing and why they're doing it.  I find that interesting.

Rush Limbaugh (aside from wanting to promote Rush Limbaugh) has a set of positions he wants to convince you to take.
Well, I have some views too; but I also find a whole lot in the world that fills me with wonder, or sparks my curiosity, and so I want to check things out -- and, by doing so on radio, invite you to check 'em out with me, and share your thoughts by calling in.  
It's tough not to sit at home mornings with the hummingbirds and the beautiful morning light, rather than in a studio so small Lynn Ellins announced he had bigger closets; it's tough to be somewhere by 8 a.m. with some semblance of brains turned on; it's tough to crash early night after night; but the show is fun.  And I'm learning a new trade.]

County Commission Knocks One Out of the Park

I had planned to devote this column to our new radio show (“Speak Up, Las Cruces!” weekdays from 8-10 a.m., starting tomorrow, Labor Day, on KOBE-1450) and our lunatic hope that it will improve the quality of our community’s dialogue with itself.

But Tuesday’s County Commission meeting hijacked my day, and my column.  I’ve criticized the Commissioners and likely will again, but I was glad that they chose to express their consciences in a non-binding resolution supporting Lynn Ellins’s acceptance of marriage-license applications from same-sex couples.

When I arrived at the meeting, I was startled to hear that they’d just voted 3-2 to remove the item from the day’s agenda, but would hear the public input from the overflow crowd.

There were two lines: one (in which probably half the folks were pastors) opposed the resolution; and the other (which also contained quite a few pastors) favored it.  After awhile the first line ran out of people, while the second line seemed inexhaustible.

There’s more to say about the subject than space permits, but . . .

First, Ellins – aided and abetted by a small group of advisors – did nothing more than his job.  He took an oath to uphold the Constitution.  Particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act and the NM Attorney General’s comments, it’s a reasonable interpretation of the the U.S. Constitution and/or the New Mexico Constitution that both prohibit discrimination against same-sex couples.   New Mexico law is silent on the subject. (So, by the way, was Jesus Christ, although he was frequently mentioned by opponents at the Commission meeting.)

Ellins, the two judges who’ve ordered other counties to follow suit, and the handful of other clerks doing so are all acting appropriately (as are clerks who, in the judicial and legislative silence, interpret the constitutions differently).  The appropriate way to challenge his actions would be a lawsuit, by someone with legal standing.

The Commission also acted appropriately.  It didn’t pass an ordinance.  It passed a resolution.  That’s basically an expression of opinion.  With the Legislature trying so hard not to face the question, Commissioners felt that such an expression might help.  Before making up their minds, they listened to hours of argument from citizens.

Folks on both sides spoke passionately.  I sympathize with the fear of change that ran through the comments by folks opposing the resolution.

I was a kid a long time ago.  Homosexuality wasn’t a major topic, but it was something most people disapproved of.  Same-sex marriage would have been almost as unthinkable as a black President.

So in one scale we have those fears: I won’t be able to tell my children gay love is unthinkable; I might have to see a gay couple holding hands or kissing, or have to decide whether my kid can stay overnight with a friend whose parents are same-sex.

In the other scale, we have the tremendous joy and relief of the newly-wed couples, many of whom have lived together for literally decades, loving each other and feeling their love trampled on by the law and public opinion; and the shared joy and relief of “straight” couples like Dael and me who couldn’t resist marrying but felt uneasy that not all couples could do so; and finally add the love and care I’ve seen in the eyes of gay friends with adopted children who, but for their two dads, would have grown up in an orphanage or on some Guatemalan street.

It ain’t close.

Two arguments I don’t credit are that Jesus wouldn’t approve and that marriage between same-sex couples somehow undermines the value or beauty of heterosexual marriage.

I feel that the beauty of marriage is undermined more by excluding otherwise loving and faithful couples from it because they’re same-sex.   If my marriage were so fragile that what other folks were doing in their marriages could affect it, I guess I’d be in trouble already.

And (aside from issues of separation of church and state) I can’t recall Jesus discussing the subject.  Mostly he seems to have favored including folks the surrounding society excluded, honoring the poor and the downtrodden, and offering love and gentleness in response to most kinds of provocation.  I heard one pastor Tuesday thank Ellins for allowing her to fulfill a career-long dream by marrying a same-sex couple.  Jesus as the Gospels portray him might have approved.

I do wonder what folks elsewhere think of a state that makes the national news first for a confederate flag in an Independence Day parade and then for starting to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Me, if I didn’t love the place already, that eclecticism would appeal to me – without endorsing the idea of putting up Confederate flags.

Tuesday the Commission put the resolution back on the agenda, and passed it by a 4-1 vote.  The endless chain of human stories, some told in tears, I found moving; but more moving was the realization that for once I was watching public sentiment help commissioners trying to decide what was right.

Six counties – including Santa Fe and Bernalillo, on judges’ orders – have followed our county’s lead.  Ultimately, acceptance of same-sex marriage is inevitable,  but Mr. Ellins may have materially altered the timing, at least in New Mexico.

Meanwhile I hope folks on both sides will express and discuss their views with us on the new radio show.

-30-
[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News today, Sunday, September 1.]

I  had meant to write an extended blog post concerning the meeting, and the issue; but other commitments haven't left me the time.  I still hope to do that, because it was an important and interesting moment, whatever one's views, and also of some interest beyond the borders of Dona Ana County.
Those time constraints include starting some new legal work, putting up two photo shows, recuperating from knee-replacement surgery, and, above all, starting the new radio show.
The photo shows: "Fire and Ice", images from Iceland, opens Friday evening during the Art Ramble, September 6th, at the Big Picture on Main St.  I'll be there for the Opening; but I'm also putting up a show at Creative Harmony, a block away on Campo Street.  That one will be up fir three months and the formal "Opening" will be on the first Friday in November.  That one is from a series matching photographs with tanka poems.
The radio show:  I'll supplement this with a more detailed piece on what we hope to accomplish, but the basics are that I'll co-host "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" with Keith Whelpley on KOBE 1450 AM.  It's a news discussion show with listener call-in, but will also touch on the arts, sports, theater, gardening, the environment, interesting people we know around here, and just about everything else.  We're committed to getting diverse points of view represented on public issues, and to giving everyone a fair hearing.  We'll ask tough questions -- and encourage listeners to do the same -- but we believe that we can challenge others' ideas and political positions without rejecting those folks as people.  We're a community.  A community, like a family, ought to be able to talk frankly and hash out problems.  We hope that our radio show will contribute to our community's internal dialogue.
But it'll be a challenge!  We welcome suggestions -- for topics, for guests, for specific questions to scheduled guests, for additional features -- and invite folks to visit our Facebook page, where we'll have a schedule of upcoming topics and guests.  Go to Facebook and search Speak Up, Las Cruces if this link doesn't work:
Speak Up, Las Cruces
I'll try to post schedule here too later today.
Wish us luck!
                                                         

County Commission Muffs One

Maybe I should apologize for giving the Board of County Commissioners the benefit of the doubt regarding allegations of misconduct by county managers.

Some of those allegations won a unanimous jury verdict against the County in Granados.  Jurors found the County had created a hostile work environment for Mr. Granados, and ordered us to pay him $250,000 – plus his attorney fees.  This week the County lost its post-trial motions, and must now decide whether or not to appeal.  I’d guess that any appeal would merely delay the payoff and have us paying two sets of attorneys to argue arcane legal points.

It’s unlikely that an appeal would result in overturning the verdict.

Other allegations appear in complaints in several other lawsuits now headed toward trial. Serious findings appear in a 2010 Audit.  Other charges have been made to me privately, sometimes quite credibly.  I wasted substantial time sharing some of that information with the Commissioners on the lunatic hope that they had some sincere interest in doing the right thing.

Actually, I still think they did.

My first reaction to Tuesday’s “Memorandum” urging sainthood for Sue Padilla was that someone has been secretly remaking Invasion of the Body Snatchers here in Doña Ana County.  (Either that or Commissioners were stealing my pain-killers while I recuperated.)  People who had spoken movingly of their hope to do the right thing then signed onto a whitewash.   Did the Commissioners get intimidated or get conned or just figure to leave it for the next county manager to clean up?

I don’t like writing this.  I have tremendous respect for Billy Garrett, and also great affection.   He’s a smart guy with good ideas and the County’s interest at heart; but if you’ll forgive me another silly analogy, he reminds me of the Tarot card that pictures a happy idealist wandering off a cliff.   He may be so intent on dealing with the serious problems and opportunities facing the County that he can’t force himself to look squarely at the internal problems alleged – like a guy so obsessed with getting where he’s going that he forgets to make sure his car has oil.

So what happened?  Maybe someone sold the Commissioners on the idea that the County’s chance of success in the upcoming trials hinges on the appearance that they unanimously believe that the jurors in Granados blew it.  That’s a reasonable position, though I’m not sure it’s the right one.  In effect, the Commission is circling the wagons – despite the cost to internal morale.  This could also hinder clear analysis of settlement possibilities in pending cases.

Their written statement seems to say that the County’s lawyers blew it.  They say that at the Granados trial the bad things said about Interim County Manager Sue Padilla were not rebutted.  Well, lawyers got paid $150 per hour or so to present such rebuttal.  I thought the lawyers tried hard to do so.  Therefore I have some difficulty understanding the Commissioners’ “Memorandum.” on this point.  There was “little testimony offered to dispute the negative characterizations of senior county managers”?  Well, either the lawyers missed it, and should be fired, or there really wasn’t much credible testimony of that sort to be had, in which case the Commission shouldn’t issue a Memorandum impugning the jurors or the court.  And since I didn’t see any Commissioners at trial, except one who testified briefly, how do they know what witnesses did and didn’t say?

The Commission thinks it’s “unfortunate” that there’s a “suspicion that some County managers may be unprofessional and vindictive”?  Well, it is unfortunate.  Trial testimony strongly indicated that such suspicion might be well-founded.  The Commissioners had a chance to do something about it: a truly independent investigation, not one run through the County Counsel’s Office.  They chose instead to rely on a report that some or all of them knew to be tainted and to make a strong statement that the jurors and the complaining former employees (many of whom are not plaintiffs in lawsuits) were all wrong.   Excuse me, but doesn’t the Commission’s conduct guarantee that suspicions will linger?

The Commission is concerned that “a second supposition is that poor employee performance and bad behavior will be tolerated because of the Granados verdict.”  Well, yeah.  The Commission has one employee, Sue Padilla.  Extensive sworn testimony to her poor performance will cost the county more than half a million bucks once it’s all added up; and the Commission is tolerating it.

Writing this column I feel a deep but vague sort of sadness.  Of course I empathize with present and former county employees who, when the Commission responded to Granados with an appearance of openness to face facts, felt unexpected hope things might improve.  Sure, I regret wasting substantial time trying, within the limits of journalistic confidentiality of sources, to share information with the Commission.  Yet neither explains quite why I feel so personally sad.

Above all, I feel sad for the Commissioners.  Barring the Body Snatchers explanation, some of them got conned or intimidated into a statement that ran against what they knew and felt.  That can’t feel good.

And I sympathize.  Commissioners were in a tough position – and getting advice from folks whom trial testimony tended to implicate in the problems they were deciding how to handle.  Me, I think they jumped the wrong way.

                                                           -30-

[The column above appeared this morning -- Sunday, 18 August -- in the Las Cruces Sun-News. Or at least, I'm told it did. I haven't yet seen my copy of the paper this morning.  I know the column appeared because I received a comment: 

"Your column made me cry actually. But, then again, after all they have put me through, I cry easily now. I have worked a lot of places in my lifetime but DAC has some wonderful and very capable employees. I guess what sets them apart to me from my past experience is that most of them "have a heart." You will hear them say things like, "what our constituents would like to see..." I have never heard a word about constituents from the top tier mind you, but definitely from clerks downstairs to the custodians to those filling our potholes. Many of them know who they work for (the constituents) and take pride in that trust placed with them. They don't take it for granted as I have seen in so many government settings in my life. As I have said countless times now, they deserve so much better."

They do.  I think things will improve in the foreseeable future, despite my disappointment with the commission's conduct described in the column.]

State Freezes Funds and Leaves Public in the Dark

Let’s work this one out together.  Is the move by Governor Martinez to destroy several southern New Mexico mental health care providers good government or something else?

To put it another way, did Governor Martinez have to do this – or was her Administration looking for an excuse?  Score each paragraph below from 0 to 10.  Note down zero if it doesn’t at all tend to show this was a good-government move, 10 if the paragraph gives you serious pause for thought, or something in between.

The State hires an audit group, Public Consulting Group, to investigate possible fraud by the agencies, knowing that in North Carolina, Public Consulting did a similar audit and claimed $38 million in recoverable overpayments, but North Carolina’s state auditor found that the true figure was a little less than a tenth of that.

While most auditors discuss issues in detail and invite the subjects of the audit to point out facts or address possible problems, Public Consulting, according to folks here who got audited, made  no such efforts, but just came in to get files and folders without ever inviting or permitting any dialogue regarding the contents.

When the audit finishes, the State – knowing that a freeze of funds will essentially kill the mental health providers involved –  freezes funding, claiming the freeze was legally required, when in fact the federal laws and regulations gave the State discretion whether to freeze funds pending further inquiry.

Although experts would suggest that mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention clients might be those most in need of continuity in providers, the State determines that future needs here will be served by certain Arizona companies.

The State claims the audit (which started in mid-March, as far as one company knew, and reported a few weeks ago) requires it to engage folks from Arizona, on an emergency basis, when in fact the State had been talking with the Arizona folks as early as January, apparently well before any audit findings and perhaps before the audit even started.

The State claims that Optum Health, which had been overseeing the providers, reported the providers as fraudulent right from the start, but others say that’s not so – and point out that Optum’s own record-keeping inadequacies made Optum a nightmare to deal with and had elicited a $1 million fine a few years ago.

Although the New Mexico Public Records Act would appear to require release of the audit findings as a document of public interest, the State refuses, claiming that since it’s now turned the audit findings over to the Attorney General, the audit report is exempt as a criminal investigative report.

When the New Mexico State Auditor wants a look at the report, the State refuses; that is, the audit is good enough to destroy companies and perhaps lives over, but not solid enough to show trained and neutral eyes; and when the New Mexico judicial system orders the State to show the Auditor the report by a certain deadline, the State ignores the deadline – displaying a clean-cut scorn for legal constraints while insisting the mental health providers follow the law to the letter.

A competent, neutral examination of the detailed findings of the audit shows . . . oops, forgot.  We have no way of knowing what such an examination would show, because the State doesn’t think we’re grown up enough to have a look for ourselves.

If you’re scoring home, it can’t look too good for those of us looking for good government.

Many people are appalled.  When I ask folks about this situation, they reply with words like “hit” and “rape” and “scary.”

I don’t know how it’ll all turn out, or how it should.  

I do know that, to keep payroll going, Roque Garcia put up $50,000 he can’t well afford to lose.

However, it may turn out that his group and some or all of the others have been stealing.

But if the audit and funding freeze were righteous, why is the State so unwilling to show us so?  Can’t be fear that the mental health providers will have a better defense, because if the facts were so unmistakably damning, letting opposing lawyers see those facts today instead of next month oughtn’t to make much difference in the ultimate result.

Of course, too, given scarcity of funds, the State could reasonably have guessed that any providers which were wronged wouldn’t have enough chips to say in the game another round.  How can folks who can’t keep their doors open pay lawyers to do a top-notch job seeking justice for them?

I can’t help guessing that that disparity of resources played a role here.  Susana and Sidonie can spend your money and mine lawyering this for a decade.  They likely figure Roque and the others can’t.

These things touch our lives, sometimes deeply.  I don’t want to see this end without a full hearing.  Not only the mental health providers but you and I deserve to see this one well-lawyered on both sides.  If we were being taken, we deserve to know that.  If this is all a political attack, with very little real justification, we deserve to know that too.

Meanwhile, the providers have asked the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal to enjoin the State from freezing funds pending some showing of justification.  The State is due to respond before this column appears.

                                              -30-
[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, 4 August 2013.]
        In case the column doesn't make this clear enough: I'm not saying the mental health providers aren't guilty.  I have no idea.  Some or all may be guilty of intentional fraud.  Some or all may be guilty of the kind of negligence and confusion in billing that amount to inaccuracies warranting some refund to the public coffers but not worth driving 'em out of existence.  Or maybe none are guilty of anything.
        Even the fact that the existing precedent (the North Carolina audit done by the same Boston consultant that got whittled down to less than 10 per cent of the claimed over-payments once the state auditor got a look at it) doesn't mean the same will happen here.
       What concerns me is the high-handed process.  What concerns me is the refusal to be reasonably frank with the public or even the New Mexico State Auditor.  What concerns me is the irregularities already apparent in the state government's conduct in this matter -- and its apparent refusal to follow the orders of a New Mexico court order mandating disclosure to the auditor.  
       Maybe everything the Martinez Administration did will turn out to have been justified; but if so, we deserve to know that.   (Unfortunately the spokesperson for the Department hasn't yet gotten back to me, so I can't even add in here the Department's best responses to some of the questions suggested in the column.)

Knee Replacements, Spine Replacements, etc.

    The doctors, nurses, and staff seem to be doing a splendid job with me today and tonight, and although I'm experiencing some pain, that's inevitable -- and perhaps exacerbated by trying to stay alert long enough to write something about the county.  That effort's been hindered by tiredness, pain, computer problems, brain problems, etc.  So I should write anything.
     Certainly I shouldn't write that the available evidence so far could be read to suggest that while I was in here getting a knee replacement some county commissioners should have been in here for a spine transplant.

•      Their apparent public silence frustrates a large set of employees (as well as a lot of vendors, former employees, and contractors with strong feelings on the issues) who briefly had hopes for a fair investigation and serious consideration of whether or not serious management change(s) are necessarily; and
•       At a time when they're (reasonably) asking citizens to vote to pay the County more money, they're shooting themselves in all their ten feet by not deigning to say anything about serious and debatable issues they had intended to take a deeper look at; and
•        So far as the public aware, they're maintaining that silence and perhaps inaction based on the advice or lack of advice (or acquiescence) of a county counsel whom at least some of them would appear (fairly or unfairly) not to trust fully. Certainly those employees / ex-employees who thought that that County Counsel had some commissioners intimidated or otherwise under his control will read the present apparent inaction as further evidenced supporting their beliefs.  Particularly if everything now appears to them to be on the up-and-up and Mr. Caldwell and Ms. Padilla are doing a great job, the silence is unfortunate because it doesn't clear the least bit of air, while undermining people's receptiveness to some information if and when it's forthcoming.  That is, even if the present appearance isn't precisely accurate, the appearance itself is doing or compounding harm.

      I'm sure many citizens and vendors and employees hope things aren't as they seem.

      At the same time, the fact that they were in closed session for quite a long time (assuming it was not all discussing the collective bargaining issue) is good news, suggesting that they (or many of them) are working hard toward a fair, just, and sensible next step or set of next steps.  As I've said in other posts and columns, they're in a tough spot, perhaps a uniquely tough spot.
       Maybe the available facts -- that they apparently took a very long time, and were extraordinarily silent about the result -- should tell us that they have set in motion an appropriate step or steps and folks like me should shut up.  On the other hand,  they'd have needed to step delicately along the edge of the laws on open meetings.  Beats me!

       I'm far too tired now (and, yeah, in some pain and fighting technological difficulties) to write more, which is probably a good thing for all concerned. 

        Love you all!

                                                                            - p.

ps:  soon after turning computer off for the night, i had a further thought, though not the energy to try to add it.  that thought, which may seem kind of obvious or may seem rather odd in light of the tone and content of the post, depending upon your point of view, is simply that whatever with this particular issue, or any particular issue, i have tremendous respect and appreciation for the five commissioners.  Just watching a bit of yesterday's events real-time, I had the same reaction I often do: those commissioners do a tremendous volume of work on our behalf; beyond what we see, the time it takes to be prepared for such a variety of issues is significant; and, by and large, they are a sharp, diligent, and well-intentioned lot.  That doesn't get said as often as it should.  I sure wouldn't want to have to try to do all that they do.  
They met yesterday at 9 a.m.  Around 11:20 they still hadn't gone into closed session.  I heard from someone that the closed session itself lasted five hours or something.  Each of us gets to say our particular piece for a few minute then go home.
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Sunday Column: Doña Ana County

I hope and believe that the Doña Ana County Commission is moving toward a full – and fully independent – investigation of the problems with top-level county management.

Jury verdicts in Slevin and Granados are but the tip of the iceberg.  The Slevin verdict was huge, but the Granados verdict more significant, because much of the testimony pointed to systemic management problems.

Privately, employees and former employees had described working in “a climate of fear.”  In Granados, loyal employees testified to fears of retaliation for their testimony.

Employees had told me of intimidation.  Several witnesses looked intimidated.

People had spoken of the management styles of Sue Padilla and Silvia Sierra as based less on performance than on who’s “in” or “out” with the boss.  Some trial testimony portrayed the same thing.

How significant is the problem?

I’ve spoken with many employees and former employees.  I’ve tried to keep an open mind.  I’ve assessed credibility and tried to verify things independently.  Since I do not have access to all the documents and some folks are not free to talk to me, my information is necessarily incomplete.

If I were required to show that there are reasonable grounds for serious disciplinary action against Assistant County Manager Sue Padilla, County Counsel John Caldwell, HHS Director Silvia Sierra, and HR Director Deborah Weir, I believe that with power to subpoena documents and witnesses, I could do so.  On some issues, I probably could do so now. I stop short of stating any misconduct as fact because I haven’t had the opportunity to do a full investigation.

Some issues are somewhat out in the open.  An audit by Milton Duran found that Ms. Sierra’s Department routinely approved fraudulent applications for health services, many with false social security numbers.  Several women who worked under her at that time say that when they raised the question of fraud, Ms. Sierra ordered them, sometimes angrily, to approve all the applications.  They were honest (as Sierra had told them to be) with the auditor, when he came around.  Duran’s audit put the total wrongly spent in one year at two or three hundred thousand dollars.  One woman working there said some fraudulent applications were for “amounts in the tens of thousands.”

Mr. Duran and others say that he was driven from the county employ, in part based on misconduct allegations that may have been trumped up.  No one disproved his audit findings.   The young ladies who were honest – and who were assured of protection as “whistle-blowers” – were retaliated against in various ways, including the elimination of their department and improper interference with their efforts to work in other positions within the county.

That just ain’t right.  (Management delayed filling the audit position, then hired a splendid candidate who took a nine-day look at the way things were run and resigned.  Seven months ago.)   Glenn Thomas, currently investigating matters for the County, reportedly responded to an account of these events by expressing shock that Ms. Sierra still holds her position.

More appalling allegations have been made, less publically but quite credibly, against one or more of the four members of management named earlier. (To protect sources, I wont discuss these in detail.)  I can’t say whether these allegations are true; but it would be dereliction of duty for the Commission not to mount a serious investigation.

The interviews conducted by Universal are well-intentioned.  Interviewees tell me that the investigator did his work appropriately, in tone and manner, and assured them that what they said would not go to Mr. Caldwell – but also that he taped interviews and reported to Mr. Caldwell.  While he reported being flooded with calls from employees, other employees did not speak with him, because of their fears he’d tell Mr. Caldwell what they said.  Others gave only the most muted versions of what they’d have liked to say.  Commissioners should factor in this fear and reticence when assessing the final report.

The Commission is in a tough spot.  It’s only employee is Ms. Padilla.  It must work through her.  It gets its legal advice from Mr. Caldwell.  Commissioners are precluded from the kinds of direct inquiry or action citizens might expect from them.

The facts, testimony, and allegations warrant a special counsel,  an independent and able committee or commission, or an appeal to the state audit department.  Such action could also help ameliorate the related morale problem.

I hope and trust that the commissioners will give serious consideration to such action.  (The EEOC complaint filed by Ms. Sierra should neither motivate nor dissuade them.)  Any inquiry should be fair, both to employees and to upper management.  And it should be conducted discreetly but in a way that not only is fair but appears fair to employees and the public.

Meanwhile citizens should make every effort to keep these issues separate in their minds from the upcoming vote on bonds and taxes.   The commission seems to be headed toward doing the right thing on these issues, if a little later than I might have wished.  The alleged misconduct by some highly-placed individuals, whether the allegations prove accurate or inaccurate, has no relationship to whether or not the County needs the items the vote concerns.  Voters should consider each of the ballot choices on its own merits.

Granados has helped the Commissioners recognize the problem.  They must face it.  I believe they will.

                                                                          -30-
[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 21 June.  If you haven't been following this story, something like ten of my last 12 blog posts concern the County, including a day-by-day account of the Granados trial that ended July 3rd.

      If I seem to have Doña Ana County on the brain recently, sorry; but it's a critical moment for our little county, and an interesting one.

      If I seem to have Doña Ana County on the brain recently, and you've strayed to this blog for nature-writing or photography or some other subject, sorry.

      But it's a critical moment for our little county, and an interesting one.

       Monday the Commission reportedly will receive a draft of the investigation done by Universal Investigations of Albuquerque.  It may not contain as much information as it might have, but I suspect it will contain sufficient information to warrant further action.  Some of the folks who spoke to Mr. Thomas told me about their visits with him.  He said he was receiving great numbers of requests from people to hear their stories or review documents they had.  He visited with one ex-employee at her current place of employment, and (I'm told) walked away shaking his head in amazement over the fact that Silvia Sierra, for example, is still a Director.  He apparently found some of what he was told to be pretty compelling.  He seems to have tried to accomplish his mission successfully, despite very reasonable fears that he'd mostly steer information right to some of the folks he was investigating.

        Tuesday the Commission, following its regular meeting, will meet in closed session "to discuss personnel matters involving the County Manager, the County Attorney, and the Human Resources Director; and threatened or pending litigation involving employment discrimination; and Granados v. DAC."  A lot of employees are holding their breath.]