NM Capitol Report | A view from the New Mexico state capitol

Flip-flop by Franchini

State insurance superintendent reverses his story about pay raises 

UPDATED

New Mexico Insurance Superintendent John Franchini offered a new account Wednesday of whether he tried to give himself and fellow executives large pay raises.

Franchini, right, previously denied any knowledge of a budget maneuver to increase his salary and those of select employees that he supervises.

Public Regulation Commissioner Patrick Lyons in May publicly accused Franchini's deputy, Jolene Gonzales, of attempting to add the raises to the state budget in a backroom maneuver.

At the time, Franchini said he was unaware of any planned raises until Lyons complained about them during an open meeting of the PRC.

"I was surprised. I didn't know anything about it, and I'm stopping it," Franchini said in an interview that same day.

Franchini changed his account Wednesday when appearing before the Insurance Nominating Committee, the body responsible for hiring a superintendent of insurance as the division is broken apart from the PRC. Franchini is one of five finalists for the job undergoing interviews.

He told the committee that insurance division employees are underpaid, and that he had authorized a review of salary increases for "a budget draft."

Franchini said the pay scale for his staff was "immorally and disgustingly too low."

Then he told the committee that Lyons, right, engaged in political opportunism by complaining about raises that were justified. Franchini said Lyons turned the salary issue into "a political tool at a meeting."

The budget plan that Lyons uncovered in May showed Franchini would have received a $19,000 raise, to $120,000 a year.

Gonzales listed herself for a raise of $6,000, Lyons said. That would have made her salary $90,000 annually.

A handful of Franchini’s other executives also were listed for salary increases, Lyons said.

Lyons said certain insurance division employees deserved raises, but that Gonzales and others at the top end of the pay scale were looking only to help themselves.

The budget plan from the insurance division contained proposed salary increases that were in Gonzales' handwriting, Lyons said. Moreover, he said that Franchini's executive staff hoped any increases would not be noticed during the agency's transition from the PRC to that of a stand-alone agency.

After Lyons complained, Franchini said he ordered that any raises be removed from the insurance division budget.

For her part, Gonzales said that the controversial budget draft was prepared in concert with the PRC's chief financial officer, Matthew Lovato. But Lovato said that he played no part in proposing any salary increases. He said the insurance division staff did that on its own.

The job of state insurance superintendent has opened because of the division's new status separating it from the Public Regulation Commission.

Other finalists are Howell Palmer, Kent E. Paul, Milton R. Sanchez and Kimothy Sparks.

Ag secretary to be in Albuquerque

Rural economy, immigration reform among topics

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Albuquerque on Thursday to discuss his agency's initiative for rural growth.

Vilsack also will talk about the Obama administration's proposals on immigration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that 90 percent of all "persistent poverty counties" are in rural America. The department has what it calls a StrikeForce Initiative to increase investment, technical assistance and other resources in impoverished communities.

A former governor of Iowa, Vilsack is scheduled to be at La Montañita Coop Central Distribution Center at 1:30 p.m. The center is at 901 Menaul Boulevard NE.

The Big O of El Paso

Incoming Mayor Oscar Leeser will be magnet for national attention

Hizzoner with his mother, Rhoberta Leeser

 

THE COLUMN

Immigration reform is a burning topic in Congress, and that means one brand-new mayor from the Southwest will be on the national stage.

Oscar Leeser, born in Chihuahua City, Mexico, in 1958, will take office Sunday as mayor of El Paso. His by-the-bootstraps success, first as a businessman and then as a politician, may influence debate on how to craft immigration policy.

Leeser won the nonpartisan mayoral election with almost 75 percent of the vote, trouncing an eight-year city council member in the runoff.

With that heady triumph, Leeser will become mayor of the second-largest city on the U.S.-Mexico border, El Paso’s population only less than San Diego’s.

Leeser’s roots in Mexico played little part in his election. Voters embraced him for his business acumen and civic pride, his auto dealership having  sponsored the annual Sun Bowl game, El Paso’s signature event of wintertime.

But it will not be long before reporters and television news producers from around America take notice of Leeser’s background as a hardworking  immigrant who made a splash in his adopted hometown.

Spanish was Leeser’s first language. In interviews across the years, he admitted that he had difficulty learning English after he moved with his parents to El Paso as a 9-year-old in 1967.

This makes Leeser’s story all the more inspiring. A stranger in a strange land, he set goals, pushed himself to meet them and worried about making a difference.

Leeser may have critics, but anybody who talks about the American Dream could use him as the poster child for it.

Years ago, we would run into one another at a dry-cleaning store on El Paso’s West Side. Leeser had no idea I was a newspaperman but he was unfailingly friendly.

I knew him because of his television commercials for his auto dealership. Leeser’s mother, Rhoberta, costarred in the ads and contributed to his becoming a figure known by his first name. Anybody in El Paso who mentioned Oscar probably was not talking about de la Hoya or Robertson.

Name recognition was only part of Leeser’s rise. Plenty of businesspeople appear in advertisements. Not many can parlay that sort of attention to success in the political arena.

Leeser did it because he oozes both intensity and goodwill toward others.

This is not to say that he will find the going smooth as he takes office. It could be choppy, challenging, even maddening for him.

El Paso’s form of government is built around a city manager who has much more day-to-day power than either the mayor or the city council. Leeser will have to be careful not to let the nature of the beast neuter his natural desire to lead.

I have never cared for the city council-city manager form of government, and I suspect Leeser will like it even less. My complaint is that the system lacks accountability.

If a mayor is running the city, voters have a clear idea of his record and of the city council’s. But when a city manager is added to the mixture, the lines of responsibility blur. Part-time council members have a built-in excuse for any failings. The mayor’s agenda takes a back seat. Voters do not get to hire or evaluate the city manager because that is the council’s purview.

With all of these layers of bureaucracy to navigate, Leeser will have to find his way. It make take him a month or six weeks.

Nonetheless, he will start his political career as an important symbol. A border city of 665,000 elected him as its top politician. Now the whole country will take notice of him.

Leeser will be sterling when he sits down with The New York Times or The Washington Post. He is ambitious without any sign of arrogance, serious-minded but with a sense of humor, dedicated but not a grind.

National stories about El Paso in recent memory have focused mostly on corruption -- criminal convictions of politicians and a cheating scandal in the largest public school district, orchestrated by the former superintendent no less.

Leeser will draw attention for other, more uplifting reasons.

He arrived in El Paso as an immigrant, made friends, built a business, kept his word to customers and won election as mayor in resounding style.

It is easy to lose faith in government. Leeser’s story shows us that we should never lose hope.

More heat for veterinary board

Game Fowl Association president says agency ignored federal law, cleared one of its own in case linked to Attorney General Gary King

 

COMMENTARY

The New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine is one of the most secretive government agencies anywhere.

It disguises its public meeting agendas through codes, concealing the names of veterinarians facing complaints of misconduct or malpractice. This policy is awful for the taxpaying public, which intentionally is kept in darkness by the board.

One man is fighting the secrecy. He is Ron Barron, president of the New Mexico Game Fowl Association.     

Barron twice brought complaints of professional misconduct against Dr. Patricia Norris, above, who killed thousands of chicks, hens and roosters as a member of Attorney General Gary King's Animal Cruelty Task Force. (King is pictured at right).

Barron said the Board of Veterinary Medicine whitewashed the case against Norris, claiming that she euthanized "fighting roosters." This broad-brush treatment made it seem as if Norris had broken cockfighting rings. Barron said Norris and King's other raiders killed birds en masse with no proof that they were involved in cockfighting.

Now Barron has made another complaint against Norris, 52, who works as the veterinarian for the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office.

He points out that Norris traveled all across the state to poison birds during raids by the AG's Animal Cruelty Task Force. Barron says the veterinary board itself knows that Norris carried drugs onto far-flung ranches, violating federal law.

On its own website, the Board of Veterinary Medicine has embarked on a lobbying campaign to try to change the drug laws for veterinarians.

This is its pitch: "The Controlled Substances Act and resulting federal regulations make it illegal for veterinarians to transport controlled substances for use outside of their registered locations. A statutory change to the Controlled Substances Act will allow veterinarians to legally provide complete veterinary care at the offsite locations of their patients..."

Norris in 2009 helped kill about 730 chicks, hens and roosters during a raid in Bloomfield in San Juan County. The poisonous drugs she used were transported from her practice, which then was in the Albuquerque area, Barron said.

No criminal charges were filed against the ranch owners, despite claims by Norris and others on King's task force that they killed birds involved in cockfighting. Even without proof of wrongdoing, Norris and others on King's task force slaughtered the birds with injections of drugs.

Barron has written to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seeking an investigation of Norris.

"Dr. Norris has broken the Controlled Substances Act. Carrying controlled substances away from her site of registration violates the law, even if the veterinarian maintains DEA recordkeeping requirements. Dr. Norris did this all over the state of New Mexico, killing thousands of healthy poultry," Barron said.

On another front, state legislators should disinfect the Board of Veterinary Medicine with sunshine. Lawmakers must end the board's self-serving practice of cloaking investigations in anonymity.

The public ought to know which veterinarians are being investigated, what the allegations against them are, and exactly what the fact-finding process uncovered.

Ray Powell, a veterinarian and prominent Democrat who formerly chaired the Board of Veterinary Medicine, said the agency's secrecy was intended to prevent prejudgment of cases.

This is nonsense. Judges in small towns across New Mexico often know everybody who walks into their courtroom -- lawyers, defendants and jurors. They must still preside and work for justice, realizing that they could be overturned by an appeals court if they show favoritism to one side or another.

But there is no appropriate check-and-balance system for the veterinary board. It can drag out cases, hide the names of veterinarians who are being investigated for malpractice, and fail to account for abuses of federal drug laws. It has nothing to fear except news coverage about its imperial methods.

The only reason Norris' case became a matter of public knowledge was because she was tied to Attorney General King, a Democratic candidate for governor.

King is trying with all his might to separate himself from the Animal Cruelty Task Force that he created and chaired. The task force is being sued by ranchers for vigilantism and killing of healthy animals. King was sued in personally in one of the cases.

King did more than launch the task force. He tolerated its abuses and allowed Norris to present herself during raids as a state veterinarian, which she was not.

At some point, King will have to explain himself to voters, even as the Board of Veterinary Medicine continues to hide itself from public scrutiny.

Estrada pleads not guilty

Gov. Martinez's ex-campaign manager mostly lets lawyer do talking

The political insider accused of stealing the emails of Gov. Susana Martinez and her aides pleaded not guilty Monday morning.

Defendant Jamie Estrada answered a few perfunctory questions during his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque but said nothing to reporters assembled outside.

Estrada's lawyer, Zach Ives, made the only comment.

"Jamie Estrada is not guilty of the charges against him. This is just the beginning of a process that should allow us to expose the significant legal and factual problems with the allegations against Mr. Estrada," Ives said.

Estrada, dressed in a blue suit and smiling, then left the courthouse.

The U.S. government has charged Estrada with 12 counts of stealing the Martinez camp's emails and two counts of lying about it to FBI agents.

For about six months in 2009, Estrada managed Martinez's nascent campaign for governor. She was still district attorney of Dona Ana County then, hoping to move up. 

Martinez says she fired Estrada in December 2009, but he maintained access to an Internet account that she and her aides used for political and personal email.

The federal indictment of Estrada alleges that he refused to turn over usernames and passwords for the account when he left the campaign.

Prosecutors say that Estrada then pirated the emails of Martinez and others. They allege that he even created a false identity -- calling himself Sylvia Tacori of Denver -- to re-register the Internet account so he could continue collecting messages intended for Martinez and her staff.

Estrada, 40, previously said Martinez never fired him, and that he did nothing illegal or improper.

After his split Martinez's campaign, Estrada unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the state Public Regulation Commission in a district that stretches from Los Lunas to Dona Ana County.

He later wanted to work for Martinez as her secretary of economic development, but she gave that job to Jon Barela, who had just lost a race for Congress.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lorenzo Garcia F. Garcia said Estrada could remain free on his own recognizance.

District Judge William P. Johnson will preside in Estrada's case.

Board clears veterinarian

It finds no violation of law in mass killings of farm birds

UPDATED

The state Board of Veterinary Medicine decided Friday that a veterinarian who killed hundreds of chickens in raids on ranches  did not violate any law or practice code.

The ruling for Dr. Patricia Norris means she remains in practice without any blemish on her license.

Norris, 52, immediately left the hearing with her lawyer. She is now the veterinarian for the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, but during the raids she practiced in the Albuquerque area.

In characterizing the complaint against Norris, the veterinary board’s review committee said she had euthanized “fighting roosters.”

The board’s description of the case was a whitewash, said Ron Barron, who filed complaints with the board against Norris in 2009 and again last year.

Barron, president of the New Mexico Game Fowl Association, said Norris killed healthy roosters, chicks and hens and destroyed all their eggs without  evidence of any wrongdoing by the ranchers who owned them.

“You can’t get justice in New Mexico,” Barron said. “They’re just lucky somebody didn’t get killed in those raids.”

Norris killed birds en masse when she was part of state Attorney General Gary King’s Animal Cruelty Task Force. It raided ranches across New Mexico, saying that it was breaking up illegal cockfighting rings.

After seizing the birds, Norris and other task force members killed them. They said they suspected the birds had been fed steroids and could contaminate the food chain if  they were left alive.

One of the biggest raids in 2009 targeted father-son ranchers Reyes and Mario Marin of Bloomfield in San Juan County.

The Marins have sued Norris, King, San Juan County and others involved with the attorney general’s task force.
The Marins claim in their lawsuit that King ran a vigilante group that destroyed at least $300,000 of their poultry and eggs after falsely accusing them of having a cockfighting operation.

The San Juan district attorney, Rick Tedrow, never charged the Marins with cockfighting or any other crime based on the raid.

Marcy Britton, an Albuquerque woman who works on animal causes, supported Barron in his complaints against Norris. Britton said she had asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate Norris for transporting controlled euthanasia drugs or other poisons that she used to kill animals.

Britton said Norris and others on the task force created a public health hazard by leaving piles of poisoned carcasses on the ground for the ranchers to dispose of.

Members of the Board of Veterinary Medicine never mentioned the drugs Norris used to kill birds, nor did they divulge any details of the investigation into her professional conduct.

But, they said, they reviewed every allegation and found no violations by Norris.

King, a Democrat now running for governor, in recent weeks has tried to distance himself from the animal cruelty task force that he founded.

In a federal court affidavit, King said a task force member named Heather Ferguson may have orchestrated raids that he knew nothing about. King filed the affidavit as part of his request that a judge dismiss him from the lawsuit brought by Marins.

“I did not have any knowledge at the time of the alleged raid on the Marins’ ranch that Ms. Ferguson or the task force had violated, or were violating, anyone’s constitutional rights,” King said.

Barron said he filed his first complaint against Norris with the veterinary board in September 2009. He said that complaint was blocked because of the influence of Ray Powell, a colleague of King’s in Democratic politics, who then chaired the Board of Veterinary Medicine.

Powell, now the state public land commissioner, said in an interview that he never interfered with any complaint against a veterinarian. He said he had met Norris but did not know her, and he did not even remember any complaint being brought against her.

After Powell left the veterinary board, Barron revived his complaint against Norris.

The heat's on state parks

Drought a factor in tourism; director hopes monsoon season delivers

Perhaps nothing would boost tourism in New Mexico like a series of rainy days.

Visitors at state parks over Memorial weekend declined 40.6 percent from last year, to just under 315,000. Tommy Mutz, director of New Mexico’s 35 state parks, said unrelenting drought played a part in the drop-off.

With fewer visitors, revenue at state parks fell by 41.3 percent, to a weekend total of about $157,000, Mutz said.

Signs of the drought are easy to spot, even without examining the bottom line.

Conchas Lake is at its lowest level since 1940, when readings began. Conchas, in San Miguel County, is one of four state lakes that are closed to motorized boating. Clayton, Morphy and Storrie are the others.

Paddle crafts are still allowed, one sign that the hot, dry weather has not dampened every opportunity for outdoor recreation.

“It’s not all doom and gloom. There’s still a lot to do,” Mutz said one recent day as he assessed the drought’s effects.

Twelve state lakes are open for motorized boating. That is an improvement of one since 2012.

“The monsoons didn’t kick in last year,” Mutz said.

Strange as it may sound to tourists, he is rooting for rainy days.

“I hope the monsoons deliver a little something this year. But after three or four years of good drought, we’re not going to see things change in a hurry,” Mutz said.

One of his pitches is that water is not the centerpiece of every state park.

At Rockhound State Park near Deming, an unusual policy allows visitors and collectors to take rocks home with them.

After a spirited debate over whether it was wise to allow a park’s assets to depart with the tourists, the state kept tradition in place. It established rules to prohibit quarry operators or gravel companies from cleaning out the assets.

Another southern New Mexico park has never been tamed by political correctness.

Pancho Villa State Park is named for the Mexican revolutionary whose soldiers invaded the New Mexico town of Columbus in 1916. A detailed lesson in Southwestern American history is the main attraction at this park on the border.

Volcanic rock formations that cause spines to tingle are at City of Rocks State Park between Deming and Silver City. Another of its features is an astronomical observatory.

Clayton Lake State Park also can lean on history during a stretch when water levels are in decline. Dinosaur tracks mark its prehistoric site.

Mutz said he will make sales pitches for all his parks until the weather cools and the rains help restore lakes to more normal levels.

State parks are structured to be partially self-supporting. They are supposed to make 69 percent of their own operating revenues through visitor spending.

With the drought and poor economy, Mutz said, 70 of 287 state park jobs are vacant. But he added temporary staff for the tourist season, figuring visitors will find their way to outdoor attractions even on sweltering, cloudless days.

“We’ve gone through this before, and we’ll make it this time too. It too shall pass,” he said.

Roundhouse row

Legislators say governor's staff slow to react in funding dispute

State education executives got an earful Thursday from Democratic legislators, who said inaction by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration could cost New Mexico millions in federal funding.

The U.S. Department of Education could penalize the state at least $34.1 million for shortchanging special education programs during the 2011 budget year.

Democrats said the Public Education Department for two years withheld all information about the budget problem from the Legislature. Republican Martinez’s administration, however, said that criticism was inaccurate and unfair.

Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, right, said legislators could have tackled any deficiencies in special education funding two years ago had they only been told by the Public Education Department of the federal investigation.

“Had they been proactive, we might not be in this position of having millions and millions of dollars at stake,” said Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque.

Though the federal government is threatening to strip the state of $34.1 million because of one year of underfunding special education, the financial penalty could be extended to succeeding years, Ivey-Soto said

Rep. Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque, was harsher in her criticisms of the Martinez administration.

“This is scandalous,” she said to Paul Aguilar, a deputy education secretary, who appeared Thursday before a legislative committee on public schools.

Larry Behrens, a spokesman for the Public Education Department, said afterward that Trujillo’s criticism was especially unfair.

Throughout 2011, he said, PED was working with U.S. Department of Education to determine if the state would need a waiver over its special education allocations. Behrens said those discussions lasted more than a year.

“It’s not unusual for state agencies to be frequently in communication with federal agencies about issues like these. Many times they don’t result in the need for legislative action at all,” Behrens said.

He said the state asked the federal government last August to hold it harmless for any funding disagreements. This was five months before the legislative session began. Behrens said the funding issue then was “thoroughly raised and discussed.”

Behrens singled out Trujillo as a legislator who hoped to seize on the trouble in hopes of using it for political gain.

“The resolution of this issue requires leadership on behalf of our students, not partisan grandstanding and political antics,” he said.

Aguilar told the committee that the state at a fall hearing would appeal the federal penalty.

He said the state already had secured a partial victory by receiving a federal waiver for its level of special education funding for 2010, and it might be able to win the second case too.

Trujillo, right, had a tart response: “The spin coming from the PED is that we have a victory here, but we don’t. The problem has gotten worse.”

Hanna Skandera, secretary-designate of public education, was not at the legislative hearing. But in a previous interview, she said she inherited the budget that now is being challenged by the federal government.

As part of Martinez's administration, Skandera took office in January 2011, the middle of the budget year for which the state could be penalized. Funding of special education for that year already had been established by the staff of then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat.

This explanation did not appease Ivey-Soto.

“They inherited what they inherited, but a change of administration is the perfect time to do an audit,” Ivey-Soto said. “Waiting until 2013 to tell us there was a problem was not the right way to handle this.”

Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico, said he also was disappointed that the Public Education Department did not inform the Legislature of the federal inquiry in a timely way.

But, Roch said, he did not want to overreact to the federal government’s threat to take away money from New Mexico. He said the state has a school funding formula that is a model for the country and works well.

“I'm not willing to let the tail wag the dog,” Roch said of federal dictates.

Rep. Mimi Stewart, who taught special education for 30 years, said she did not want to cast blame.

The state cut school funding during a terrible recession, said Stewart, D-Albuquerque.

But, she said, she was worried that the Public Education Department has since continued to “lowball” the money needed for special education.

Instead of declaring victory in its disagreement with the federal government, Stewart said, the Public Education Department should be making certain this spring that essential special education funding is in place for the coming year.

All four Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation this month introduced a bill to protect the state from federal funding penalties, other than the one year in dispute. 

Culture of celebrity

On occasion, a non-politician runs for governor

 

Jesse Ventura's path to a governor's mansion was atypical

Few Democrats in New Mexico are excited by the prospect of state Sen. Linda Lopez or Attorney General Gary King as their party's candidate for governor.

Sens. Michael Sanchez, Howie Morales and Joseph Cervantes would be more charismatic candidates. But all three are still on the sidelines of the governor's race. They say maybe they will run or that summer 2013 is not the time to announce a 2014 campaign.

This has created a political vacuum. On occasion, a celebrity will jump into the breach.

Jesse Ventura did it most successfully, going from small-town mayor to governor of Minnesota in 1998. More impressive was that former pro wrestler Ventura won as a Reform Party candidate.

Ventura had a better resume than people give him credit for. He served in the Navy as a frogman during the Vietnam era, but it is still stunning that a man who patterned himself after scandalous Superstar Billy Graham could be taken seriously by voters.

California, where movies are king, had two celebrity governors, both Republicans. Ronald Reagan knocked out incumbent Democrat Pat Brown in 1966 and Arnold Schwarzenegger won the job in 2003 after a messy recall of Democrat Gray Davis.

Former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann tried to follow the Reagan, Ventura and Schwarzenegger roadmap, running for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006. Swann, a Republican, was a big name but he did not inspire confidence. He had bothered to vote only about half the time, even as he prattled about the importance of participation.

Swann was no Ventura. He lost big to Democrat Ed Rendell, a vociferous fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Usually celebrities just talk about running.

Charles Barkley announced in 2008 that he would enter the race for governor of Alabama in 2014. Barkley backed out two years ago.

Another basketball star, Jerry West, said he regretted not returning to his native West Virginia and becoming governor. He assumed he would win, but West does not have a sunny disposition and he is so shy he would have struggled on the rope lines.

New Mexico Democrats, with few celebrities to choose from, would have to recruit actress Ali MacGraw. She is 74, but that only means she is four months older than Garrey Carruthers, a former governor and the state's newest university president at New Mexico State.

If Sanchez, Morales and Cervantes dawdle until fall, anything is possible.

Newly elected Democratic State Chairman Sam Bregman promised excitement. The primary election would not have a pulse if King and Lopez were the only Democrats seeking their party's nomination.

5 contenders on deck

Insurance Nominating Commission sets interviews with finalists

Public interviews with the five finalists for state insurance superintendent are scheduled for June 19 at the Capitol.

Insurance regulation is being moved from the state Public Regulation Commission to a stand-alone operation. This was done by a vote of the people because of criticisms that the PRC had too many other responsibilities with utilities and telecommunications.

The sitting superintendent, John Franchini, right, is one of the finalists. He will be the first to be interviewed at 8 a.m. June 19.

His competition includes:

Howell Palmer, 9:15 a.m.

Kent Paul, 10:30 a.m.

Milton R. Sanchez, 1 p.m.

Kimothy Sparks, 2:15 p.m.

Committee members have scheduled an executive session for 3:30 p.m. to discuss the candidates.

Gary King sees no evil

Attorney general's story of animal cruelty task force strains belief

FOLLOW-UP COLUMN

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King will say just about anything to save his long-shot campaign for governor.

King, a Democrat, concocted an unbelievable story and then last month submitted it to a federal judge in hopes of extricating himself from a civil lawsuit that could strangle his political career.

In his court affidavit, King professes ignorance about the workings of the Attorney General’s Animal Cruelty Task Force. As the organization’s name suggests, King created and chaired this task force. He even put an assistant attorney general in charge of its day-to-day supervision.

But King says in the affidavit that he did not know his task force raided ranches across New Mexico and killed thousands of birds without any proof of wrongdoing or any threat to public safety.

Reyes and Mario Marin, father and son ranchers from Bloomfield in San Juan County, are suing King because of vigilantism.

The Attorney General’s Animal Cruelty Task Force killed about 730 of the Marins’ roosters, hens and chicks. It also stomped 1,000 eggs belonging to the ranchers.

Police officers and task force members armed with guns and even a helicopter bullied the Marins after storming their ranch.

King said in his affidavit that any alleged abuses against the Marins were committed because of a task force member named Heather Ferguson, commanding general of the raids.

“I never delegated any authority of the attorney general’s office to Ms. Ferguson,” King wrote. “I never stated or knowingly implied that Ms. Ferguson had any authority to lead in the enforcement of New Mexico's animal cruelty laws, or to organize law enforcement officials in the enforcement of those laws.

 

Then King made a claim to stretch everyone’s imagination. He said he was blindsided by the misdeeds of his own task force.

“If I had ever been aware that Ms. Ferguson had represented herself as having any authority flowing from the attorney general’s office or the task force, I would have immediately demanded that she cease such representations and I would have informed any relevant law enforcement agencies,” King said.

My, oh my. King says he knew nothing.

We examined his claim by checking emails that Ferguson sent to him and his aides.

Writing King from a raid in Dona Ana County in April 2009, Ferguson said: “Over 300 roosters have been seized, and coverage should be on all 3 stations tonight starting at 5.”

In another email about the AG’s raiders, she said: “I am flying in some personnel from the Humane Society of the United States to assist, and it’s likely that they are going to bring the camera crew from Animal Planet to film our work.”

While in San Juan County for the raid on the Marins’ ranch, Ferguson kept King informed. “Today’s raid has us continuing to make history. So far it’s estimated that there are at least 1,000 birds at the location and evidence that will lead to felony charges.”

The Marins, we should point out, never were charged with any crime by the San Juan district attorney, Rick Tedrow. No matter. The Attorney General’s Animal Cruelty Task force destroyed $300,000 of their poultry and eggs anyway.

Ferguson had a fanciful story as to why King’s task force slaughtered the Marins’ birds and broke all the eggs. “They’re injecting them with unknown and illegal substances that could threaten the food supply,” she said.

Ferguson, a civilian thug empowered by King, must have been prescient. How else would she know that "an unknown substance” was illegal?

In truth, King’s raiders did no tests to determine if the Marins’ birds had been drugged to make them stronger and meaner for cockfighting. They slaughtered the animals right on the ranch, never bothering with lab work.

King’s animal cruelty task force, it seems, specialized in mass killings of chickens.

During the raids of 2008 and ’09, King sat back and reveled in glowing but absurd publicity about how his task force was wrecking illegal cockfighting rings.

King even boasted in a bio that he “received the national Humane Law Enforcement Award for his work to combat animal abuse and his formation of the Attorney General's Animal Cruelty Task Force.”

For King not to know about the raids, as he now claims, he had to be the Rip Van Winkle of politicians, sleeping through his first term.

Being a clueless administrator is not a qualification to be governor, but King has opted for such a defense.

Son of the late three-term governor Bruce King, Gary King lost in two previous campaigns for the state’s top office. The stench from the animal cruelty task force that King professes to know so little about will sink him for a third time.