Balderas launches inquiry into UNM golf trip spending
AG: violation of governmental conduct act grounds for discipline including dismissal
ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has launched a formal inquiry into the spending of public money by The University of New Mexico on a 2015 golf trip to Scotland that included athletics officials and private donors.
Balderas sent a letter Thursday to the university’s acting president, saying he’s committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in state government and that public admissions by UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs indicate possible violations of conduct laws and the anti-donation clause in the state Constitution.
Balderas said Krebs knew in 2015 when the golf trip was booked and recorded instead as a men’s basketball tournament that public funds were used to pay for the expenses of private donors.
“This acknowledgement, in and of itself, demands swift and appropriate corrective action by the university,” Balderas wrote.
The attorney general noted that violating the state Governmental Conduct Act by any public officer is grounds for discipline, up to and including dismissal.
University officials have said that discipline against Krebs was being considered.
Krebs has said the $65,000 trip was meant to strengthen relationships with donors and that UNM had not planned to pay for the donors’ expenses. He acknowledged in a statement made this week that the original plan was to be reimbursed for the travel costs but that a review of documents showed that never happened.
The attorney general’s action comes a day after the state Auditor’s Office confirmed it also was reviewing the spending.
Krebs said Thursday that he looked forward to working with state officials.
Interim University President Chaouki Abdallah said UNM will cooperate with auditors and the attorney general’s office and looks forward to having both assessments done in a timely manner.
“As a public institution, the University of New Mexico welcomes the oversight of state offices charged with protecting taxpayers’ interests,” Abdallah said in an email Thursday.
Abdallah previously told KRQE that Krebs came to him and acknowledged that UNM picked up the tab for the boosters. He described it as a serious omission and said that’s not how university funds should be spent.
The inquires by the state’s top auditor and prosecutor come as The University of New Mexico and other state colleges and universities consider tuition increases and other spending cuts due to a statewide budget crisis.
Balderas said he will await the findings of state auditors but noted his concerns about discrepancies in documents related to the golf trip.
Records show the junket cost more than $39,000 for Krebs, former men’s basketball coach Craig Neal and Lobo Club executive director Kole McKamey, but the university did not immediately reveal what it paid for the private donors to attend the trip. That tab ended up totaling another $24,000.