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Bernalillo County — fresh off a yearlong storm of controversy, upheaval and secret dealings — has taken an important step toward making government more accountable and transparent. But instead of a long stride that treads on new ground, it is a measured one on familiar territory.
This week the County Commission approved a sunshine portal that will provide information on county — i.e. public — dealings and spending. The website will include vendor contracts, real estate holdings, a checkbook-like ledger, year-to-date spending, agendas and other records.
But it doesn’t go as far as its sponsor, newly elected Commissioner Wayne Johnson, wanted. While the site will list job titles and annual pay for most workers, it will include the names of only those who are department heads and above. Johnson wanted all names posted.
The scaled-back version follows in the footsteps of the city’s ABQ View portal (which also posts names and year-to-date pay for political appointees but just titles and salaries for others) and the state’s sunshine portal (which provides names with the salaries of exempt employees but not classified ones). While all three efforts are to be lauded for finally helping taxpayers connect the dots of where their money goes, all should go further and list names of all employees.
County officials know better than anyone the pitfalls of unchecked nepotism. Flagrant — and until recently hidden — violations of county policy include former Public Safety Director John Dantis, whose son, Jaime Dantis, was hired as a detox intake counselor despite having a recent history of substance abuse, was in his father’s chain of command and was given favorable treatment despite allegations of serious misconduct. And former Metropolitan Detention Center Director Ron Torres, who had several relatives under his chain of command at the jail. And former Sheriff Manny Gonzales, who at one point said his brother would be a candidate for his old captain’s spot and handed his sibling several career boosts.
Johnson understands that boogeyman claims of identity thieves, Internet scam Nigerian princes and stalker exes using the portal are just that — boogeymen — and that transparency and accountability will hasten the end of favoritism, nepotism and quid pro quo. The new portal is a step in the right direction and complements the county’s new ethics ordinance.
Commissioners, along with city and state officials, should step their efforts up to the next level.
