Audit hits lab group, House candidate

Agency approved reimbursements that were deemed improper

An agency of New Mexico municipalities surrounding Los Alamos National Laboratory approved improper reimbursement for alcohol, food, travel and baseball tickets, the New Mexico state auditor announced Tuesday.

The released audit especially hits Andrea Romero, former Regional Coalition of LANL Communities executive director, over unlawful reimbursements and found a lack of adequate documentation to support many expenditures “in violation of the published travel policy and state law.”

The scathing audit comes as Romero is seeking to win a seat in New Mexico’s House of Representatives after defeating Rep. Carl Trujillo in the June Democratic primary. Trujillo was facing allegations of sexual harassment. In the November general election, Romero faces write-in candidate Heather Nordquist,

who supported Trujillo in the primary.

State Auditor Wayne Johnson undertook the audit after allegations surfaced of misspent public money by the government coalition also known as RCLC. He said the governing board of the group has now conceded to yearly state audits.

“The RCLC is just one example of a state agency that has been ignored over the years by the state auditor’s office,” Johnson said.

Romero, in a statement, said she welcomed the audit findings which confirmed “what was already known – that there were errors made by me, RCLC Board members, and Los Alamos County concerning the reimbursements in question.” The county has served as the coalition’s fiscal agent.

“I did not knowingly or deliberately violate any standard for reimbursement. When my errors were brought to my attention, I made immediate repayment.”

The coalition is made of nine northern New Mexico cities, counties and pueblos surrounding the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos lab.

The group promotes the economy in connection with the lab and contracts associated with lab work.

The report also said there was “potential non-compliance with the Department of Energy Grant Award with regard to explicitly prohibited lobbying” and could result in the agency, with an annual budget of about $200,000 from local and federal government sources, having to pay back around $372,000.

The audit found that Romero was improperly reimbursed $286.78 for a meal at the Bull Ring Restaurant in Santa Fe that included 10 alcoholic beverages and $10.81 for a mirror at Ross Dress for Less. A separate audit previously found Romero as executive director spent $1,850 on a dinner in Washington, D.C. attended by RCLC board members, $307 for a dozen Major League Baseball tickets and at other events where alcohol was paid for.

The coalition’s travel policies prohibit alcohol as an allowable expense.

Among the expenses listed in the audit is $70 for a meal at La Fonda for three or four people, including Journal North editor Mark Oswald, who had lunch with the RCLC director who preceded Romero and one or two other people.

The audit says more than $50,000 in improper payments were made to Romero, members of the coalition’s board and thirdparties since 2014.

More than half, $26,862, went to Andrea Romero Consulting. Many reimbursements did not have prior board approval, the audit states.