Agency says Romero hasn’t met request to repay $7K
Board may abandon effort to recoup money from state representative, ex-director
State Rep. Andrea Romero has yet to respond to a request to reimburse the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities nearly $7,800 in “impermissible expenses” linked to her previous role as executive director of the taxpayer-funded agency.
“The letter [requesting reimbursement] was sent out in May. As of today, we have not yet received a reply,” Eric Vasquez, who succeeded Romero as executive director, said Thursday.
Romero, who has already repaid the agency $2,827.76, did not return messages seeking comment. Romero could get off the hook. The request for reimbursement is just that: a request.
It has been described as a lastditch effort to collect the money from Romero, a Santa Fe Democrat, and also put a 2½-year-old controversy to rest.
“I think that’ll be up to the board to decide if they pursue it any more” if Romero doesn’t respond to the letter, Vasquez said.
“I can tell you that the board is looking at trying to act in the organization’s best financial interest or fiscal interest,” he added. “Continuing to pursue it may just be spending more money than the coalition would even get back.”
At issue are reimbursements that a special state audit found violated the coalition’s travel policy, state law or the Per Diem and Mileage Act. They included “expenditures for alcoholic beverages, personal expenses and entertainment and recreation expenses,” according to the special audit.
The coalition, which is composed of nine cities, towns and tribal governments that surround Los Alamos National Laboratory, describes itself as a conduit for Northern New Mexico communities to have a say in decision-making on regional economic development and nuclear cleanup efforts at the weapons laboratory. The coalition had largely flown under the radar until a watchdog group uncovered the questionable expenditures, which included a $28 glass of WhistlePig whiskey that became a symbol of the coalition’s spending.
The reimbursements, which were approved by the coalition’s board, occurred before Romero was elected to the state House of Representatives in November 2018.
Romero took over as the coalition’s executive director in March 2016. She and the agency parted ways some two years later.
The controversy surrounding the improper spending cast a dark cloud over Romero’s campaign and raised questions about her ethics and judgment. But Romero, who said at the time she was following past practices but acknowledged using bad judgment, scored a stunning upset in June 2018 when she beat three-term incumbent Carl Trujillo in a heated Democratic primary race. She won the seat against a write-in candidate that fall.
The matter, however, continues to haunt Romero.
On May 22, after a meeting with the coalition’s board, Nancy
Long, partner and president at Long, Komer & Associates, the firm that represents the coalition, sent Romero a 14-page letter that included findings from the state audit.
“We realize that there were responses provided by the County of Los Alamos on behalf of the [coalition] that did not necessarily agree with the findings of the Special Audit,” Long wrote in the letter, referring to Los Alamos County’s role as the coalition’s fiscal agent. “However, the Special Audit did not change any of its findings in light of those responses and in some instances, the Findings (Nos. 001 and 002) indicate that the Executive Director actually received cash for items from guests for reimbursements requested or that the guests paid for the charges themselves even though reimbursement was sought by the Executive Director.”
Long didn’t set a deadline for a response but requested a speedy resolution.
“We would appreciate your prompt attention in order to finally resolve this longstanding issue by the payment of the amount requested,” she wrote.