Gov. candidates call transparency priority

Lujan Grisham, Pearce vow to push for more openness in state government

SANTA FE — With Election Day less than a week away, New Mexico gubernatorial candidates Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce both say they would push for more openness in state government, including posting the governor’s schedules online and updating the state’s Sunshine Portal.

The two candidates have also expressed support for legislation requiring more disclosure of funded public works projects. Under the state’s current system, which has been criticized for its secretive nature, lawmakers are not required to disclose

their final allocations.

However, as recent New Mexico governors have found out, it’s often easier to promote transparency than consistently provide it.

Both of the state’s last two governors — Republican Susana Martinez and Democrat Bill Richardson — faced lawsuits over their handling of public records requests.

Pearce campaign adviser Kevin Sheridan said the Republican is committed to increasing public trust in state government after a series of ethics scandals involving public officials.

“He is committed to transparency in government and will hold every agency accountable for the people of New Mexico,” Sheridan said. “He will welcome collaboration, new ideas and input from every corner of the state and give voice to every citizen that interacts with state government.”

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has also advocated for a more transparent state government.

At a March forum hosted by the Foundation for Open Government, she said documents created by government agencies should generally be available free or at low cost to the public.

“If you are denying access because people have an inability to pay for copies or administrative time, then you’re not meeting the spirit of sunshine laws or transparent government,” Lujan Grisham said.

While touting transparency, both candidates suggested certain limits should be allowed when it comes to publicly releasing police incident reports and videos of arrests and crime scenes.

In response to a Journal questionnaire, Pearce said there should be a standard process involving judicial oversight to determine whether the records and footage should be released.

“We need be careful that the rush to release information does not compromise individual rights and ongoing investigations,” he said.

Lujan Grisham, in response to the same question, said simple incident reports and videos should be made public — with a few possible exceptions.

“I support police body cameras, but there may be exceptions to public release to provide for the safety and privacy of victims and because of fear of retaliation in some gang-related crimes,” she said.

Sunshine Portal

On the subject of the state’s Sunshine Portal, an online database that was launched in 2010, both Lujan Grisham and Pearce say they support updating it to ensure it’s accessible and contains accurate information.

State law requires the posting of many financial documents, contracts and other data on the Sunshine Portal, but critics say much of the required information has not been posted for years — or is woefully outdated.

The two gubernatorial campaigns also told the Journal they favor maintaining — and possibly expanding — state government webcasting.

Martinez launched a webcasting initiative in 2011 that provided public access to legislative hearings — angering some lawmakers in the process — before lawmakers enacted their own webcasting and archiving functions. The Governor’s Office also webcasts the meetings of various state boards and commissions.

Lujan Grisham campaign spokesman James Hallinan said the Democratic candidate backs the practice, but he did not directly respond to a question about whether Lujan Grisham would continue the webcasting of board and commission meetings.

“Transparency in government is paramount, and as such, Michelle will work with the Legislature to find the best plan to make legislative committees more accessible to all members of the public,” Hallinan said.

Pearce’s campaign adviser said webcasting allows voters to keep track of legislative actions while increasing accountability and transparency.

Transparency problems

Both of two New Mexico’s most recent governors encountered turbulence caused by transparency-related issues.

Martinez, who is barred from seeking a third consecutive term and will step down at year’s end, was sued by The Associated Press in 2013 for refusing to release records about her work and travel schedules, cellphone calls and expenses of the security officers who travel with the governor. That lawsuit was settled in 2015 after the Martinez administration agreed to release some of the requested information.

She also faced a 2013 lawsuit by the Santa Fe Reporter, a weekly newspaper, claiming that her office discriminated against it and delayed public records requests.

A district judge in Santa Fe ruled last year that the Martinez administration did not violate constitutional rights by not providing information to the newspaper, but she did rule that the Governor’s Office violated the Inspection of Public Records Act.

Meanwhile, Richardson faced a lawsuit for failing to disclose the identities of 59 appointed state employees whose firings were announced in 2009. That lawsuit was ultimately settled after Martinez took office in 2011.

Richardson’s administration also faced scrutiny for at times declining to update reporters — and his lieutenant governor — about his whereabouts.

Pearce and Lujan Grisham are competing to be New Mexico’s 28th governor since statehood, and their showdown represents the first time in modern state history that two sitting members of Congress have run against each other for governor.

Early voting is underway statewide and runs through Saturday. Election Day is Nov. 6.