Board to hear complaint against auditor
Focus will be on a donation made to Wayne Johnson during 2017 mayoral run
The Bernalillo County Code of Conduct Review Board will hear a complaint filed against former County Commissioner, Albuquerque mayoral candidate and current State Auditor Wayne Johnson on Thursday.
The complaint, filed by Dennis Maez in January, alleges Johnson accepted a $2,500 donation from a “restricted donor” during his 2017 mayoral run. Restricted donors may contribute only up to $1,000. The donation was made by Kevin Yearout, CEO and owner of Yearout Companies, which wholly owns and operates Yearout Energy Service Co., also known as YESCO.
As a county commissioner, Johnson voted in December to enter a nearly $14 million contract with YESCO to improve energy efficiency at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Johnson argues that the county’s Code of Conduct does not cover municipal elections and that it does not prohibit a person affiliated with a company contracted by the county from contributing to campaigns.
But he also is convinced he won’t receive a fair hearing Thursday, as the chairman of the review board ran the campaign of his former opponent, Mayor Tim Keller.
“The fact is, he’s got a conflict,” Johnson said of board chairman Alan Packman during a meeting with Journal editors and reporters on Monday. “He should’ve stepped aside on this one.”
Packman did recuse himself from a similar complaint filed last year involving Johnson allegedly receiving contributions from restricted donors that was ultimately dismissed after the time limit of 90 days for addressing complaints passed.
Johnson said he doesn’t understand why Packman recused himself from that complaint, but not this one.
Board attorney Robert White said Packman is prohibited from discussing the specific details of complaints outside of formal proceedings as the board operates in a quasi-judicial way.
“The work of this board is critical to holding public officials accountable and we have operated in a nonpartisan fashion from the beginning, with nearly all of our decisions receiving unanimous support — no matter the political affiliation of complainants or respondents,” Packman said in an emailed statement. “Any suggestion to the contrary is simply unfounded.”
White said the board received no formal objections or requests from Johnson or his attorney regarding Packman’s participation by the March 9 deadline previously set forth.