For Immediate Release Contact: Scott Forrester

November 8, 2011 505-923-5681

Governor Martinez For Pay-to-Play and Reaps Reward of $70,000 Donor

Disregards "Bold Change" Promised To New Mexicans

Albuquerque, NM - Today's ABQ Journal digs deeper into the shady dealings around the proposed Casino at the State Fairgrounds, finding Governor Martinez and shadow governor Jay Mcleskey awarding the lucrative NM Downs contract to a donor who gave her $70,000!

Below is a statement from DPNM Executive Director Scott Forrester:

"While running for Governor, then-candidate Martinez led the charge on getting rid of pay-to-play in Santa Fe, but it turns out the Governor just wanted a piece of the action. This is pay-to-play at its worst. The insider dealing involved goes back years, and there is much more than meets the eye.”

"Defined Fitness - where Traci Moore Wolf is President - used to have Jay McCleskey on the payroll and lists Paul Blanchard as a part-owner. But Traci is also the Vice President at the Downs (also co-owned by Blanchard). Every step in the contract process was directly controlled by the Governor and her minions. To even pretend to be unbiased is completely ridiculous."

"This contract should be revoked and the RFP process re-opened for a truly open and transparent process. To ignore such an obvious conflict of interest is an ethical failing of massive scale, and an blatant flip-flop from what was promised to New Mexicans when running for Governor. The Governor's actions are politics as usual in New Mexico and not the "Bold Change” promised to New Mexicans."

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See Journal article below and background on Susana's stances on pay-to-play in Government when running for Governor in 09:

Downs Interests Gave Gov. $70,000
Abq Journal – 11/8/2011 - http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/11/08/news/downs-interests-gave-gov-...
By Charles D. Brunt and Sean Olson

People connected to the Downs at Albuquerque ponied up at least $70,000 to Gov. Susana Martinez’s campaign while competitor Laguna Development Corp. gave $1,000, according to campaign finance reports filed with the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.
People with ownership interest in the Downs also gave more than $50,000 to Martinez’s general election opponent, Democrat Diane Denish, since 2006.
The Downs and Laguna Development, the tribal-owned company that operates Route 66 and Dancing Eagle casinos west of Albuquerque, were the only two businesses that submitted bids to build a new multimillion-dollar casino and sign a 25-year lease with Expo New Mexico, home to the racino and the New Mexico State Fair.
Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said the lease was put out to a competitive bid and campaign donations had nothing to do with any decisions regarding the Downs.
“The Governor makes decisions based on merit, as is evidenced by her appointment of an independent to the (Public Regulation Commission) and the fact that she has, at times, placed Denish contributors into key roles in her administration,” Darnell said in an email.
After reviewing the proposals, a three-member evaluation committee appointed by Martinez recommended that interim Expo general manager Dan Mourning — also a Martinez appointee — negotiate a contract with the Downs.
The governor-appointed State Fair Commission is set for an up-or-down vote Wednesday on whether to give the Downs, which has leased the 93-acre racino tract at Expo since 1985, another 25-year lease as part of the new deal.
Bill Windham, a Louisiana businessman and part owner of the Downs, gave Martinez’s gubernatorial campaign $15,000.
Windham and fellow Louisianan John S. Turner, who also owns part of the Downs, each owns about 25 percent of SunRay Park, a racino between Bloomfield and Farmington.
SunRay Gaming, which operates SunRay Park, gave Martinez’s campaign $45,000 in three contributions between June 2010 and January 2011.
Traci Moore Wolf, who became vice president of the Downs in May after Windham replaced then-majority owner Paul Blanchard as president, contributed $10,000 to the Martinez campaign.
Wolf also is president of Defined Fitness, a chain of gyms owned in part by Blanchard.
Blanchard still retains some ownership in the Downs, but Pat J. Rogers, an attorney representing the Downs in its negotiations with Mourning, has declined to say what percentage of the racino Blanchard, Windham and Turner currently own.
Prior to Windham becoming president, Blanchard owned 50 percent, and Windham and Turner owned 25 percent each. Turner remains the Downs’ secretary/treasurer.
Windham and Turner also contributed a combined $12,000 to Martinez’s challenger, Democrat Diane Denish, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Between 2006 and 2010, SunRay Gaming gave Denish’s gubernatorial campaign $28,000, and the Downs at Albuquerque gave Denish $24,000 during that period. Blanchard, a close political ally of former Gov. Bill Richardson, donated $5,000 to the New Mexico Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee last year, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The State Fair Commission meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the UNM Continuing Education Center Auditorium, 1634 University NE.
The Downs was recently criticized in a Legislative Finance Committee audit for problems blamed in part on poor oversight by Expo officials. Among the criticisms was that the Downs owed Expo hundreds of thousands of dollars in racing revenues and increases in its $2 million annual lease payments that were required when the Legislature approved two one-year lease extensions.
Mourning said the Downs paid $215,000 it owed for race meet revenues last week, and plans to pay $420,000 it owes in lease increases on or before the end of the current lease, which he said expires Jan. 11.
According to a summary of the new lease, the Downs agreed to increase its lease payments from the current $2 million to $2.75 million beginning in 2014. Laguna Development had offered to pay $3 million by that year.
The Downs also has agreed to pay Expo additional revenues based on its “net win,” the amount of money wagered on slot machines less payouts and approved regulatory fees.
The Downs also agreed to: drop nearly $2 million in unspecified claims it says is owed by Expo; pay for all maintenance of the leased property, an expense currently paid by Expo; pay all electric bills on the leased property; pay $300,000 per year in cooperative advertising that cannot be used to “offset” lease payments; sponsor and pay rent for 12 events a year at Tingley Coliseum and four events per year at the horse arena; conduct the 17-day live horse racing during the State Fair; and make a number of specified capital improvements.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal

BACKGROUND:

Susana on Pay-to-Play: People want to know what the rules are and if you have pay to play then it depends who your with, not what you bring to the table. It depends on what you are willing to pay and not what your willing to do to provide to New Mexicans as far as jobs are concerned. So corruption is number one and the removal of every aspect of our government. [54 Candidate Forum, Roswell, 19:00, 4/30/10]

Martinez: Running For Governor Because Tired Of Corruption. In a September 2009 op-ed, Martinez wrote, “One of the main reasons I have decided to seek New Mexico’s governorship is because I, along with so many of you, am sick and tired of reading about scandal after scandal and instance after instance of corruption. As someone charged with not just upholding the law – but also enforcing it – I feel like the bad actors in state government have left a stain on our great state and completely lost sight of their responsibilities.” [Martinez op-ed, Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics, 9/9/09]

Martinez Attacked Denish – “Public Will Have To Weigh Her Self-Serving Campaign Rhetoric” Against “Unethical Behavior Of The Richardson/Denish Administration.” In September 2009, Martinez wrote, “Now that she is running for governor, Denish is singing a different tune and claiming to be a champion of ethics reform. The public will have to weigh her self-serving campaign rhetoric against the overwhelming evidence of unethical behavior of the Richardson/Denish administration and determine whether her newfound positions are borne out of political convenience or true conviction. I look forward to having that debate. [Martinez op-ed, Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics, 9/9/09]

Campaign Donations Questioned
By Sean Olson / Journal Staff Writer on Fri, Oct 14, 2011

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has been facing criticism from political opponents over contributions found in new campaign finance reports, but the governor’s political representatives said the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of State’s Office reversed its interpretation of a new campaign contribution cap law, leaving Martinez, as well as numerous Democratic political action groups, in the clear.

Democratic Party of New Mexico Executive Director Scott Forrester said this week that Martinez possibly broke state law when she accepted more than $60,000 for her campaign and more than $13,000 for her political action committee, called Susana PAC, during the Sept. 6-24 special legislative session.

“Such a large amount of money raises serious questions about whether Susana Martinez or her ‘agents’ solicited funds throughout the special session, breaking the very laws she vowed to uphold,” Forrester said.

State law prohibits soliciting donations during a legislative session. It does not prohibit accepting a donations during a session.

Martinez political consultant Jay McCleskey said Martinez did not solicit any of the questioned contributions during the session, nor were the donations given by supporters during that time.

“In raising resources, the governor’s PAC operates transparently by disclosing all donors, limits contributions, and adheres to both the spirit and letter of the law, including only soliciting contributions during appropriate times and not during any prohibited period,” Susana PAC spokesman Danny Diaz said.

In the controversy over campaign contribution caps, Ken Ortiz, chief of staff for Secretary of State Dianna Duran, said Thursday that his office changed its policy by allowing candidates for statewide office to accept up to $10,000 – other candidates can accept up to $4,600 – at one time, as long as the money is dedicated evenly between spending for primary and general elections – $5,000 for each cycle.

A new state law that took effect following the 2010 election puts a cap of $5,000 per donor eligible to go to a statewide candidate. Other candidates have a cap of $2,300. Donors can give up to the contribution limit in both the primary and general elections.

The Associated Press reported that the policy reverses a position taken in January, when a Democratic official was told by Duran’s office that a campaign or PAC had to gather separate donations for each election or risk violating the law.

Thomas Dow, a lawyer with Duran’s office, said he began reviewing the policy after several PACs reported accepting donations of more than $5,000 in April, including a donation from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

Martinez also reported accepting several $10,000 contributions starting in May.

Dow said that after the review, “We came to the understanding that the intention of the legislation was to mirror the federal election law,” which allows candidates to accept primary and general election funds at the same time.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerque - During the 2010 election, Susana Martinez took $15,000 from Clayton Williams Jr. That's the same Clayton Williams who, during his own campaign for Governor, compared rape to bad weather, stating, “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” [AP, 6/14/08] 

Under pressure from multiple groups including the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Martinez donated the money to charity.

Current Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Wiener - whose inappropriate sexual comments to elected county officials and county employees have been making headlines recently, is also a contributor to Susana's campaign, giving $700 last year.  Gov. Martinez needs to return the campaign contribution immediately and use her influence as Governor to demand Commissioner Wiener's resignation.

"If it was the right thing to do in on the campaign trail in 2010 then it is still the right thing to do now that you are Governor," said DPNM Chairman Javier M. Gonzales. “The time has come for Governor Martinez to  return the donations of Commissioner Michael Wiener. Trivializing rape is never acceptable and Governor Martinez needs to join us in taking a clear stand against this type of behavior, especially by elected officials. How many times is the Commissioner going to get away with just an apology?”