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Friday, April 17, 2009
Manny Is Voted Off Torreon
By Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Journal Staff Writer
Former state Sen. Manny Aragon has been stripped of another honor, this time in his own backyard.
The National Hispanic Cultural Center board voted Thursday to remove Aragon's name from the center's torreón, or tower. The center is in Barelas, where Aragon grew up, and he was responsible for securing much of the public funding to build it.
Board member Matt Martinez, who chaired the committee that debated the naming issue, said, "Continued use of the name would compromise the public trust."
The board voted 7-2 to remove Aragon's name. There was no recommendation to rename it. The state Department of Cultural Affairs must approve any name change.
Martinez said the center requires "exemplary character, the highest reputation of integrity and the highest standard of professionalism" of anyone for whom a structure is named. He said that in unique cases such as that of Aragon, the board is permitted to rescind the honor.
In October, Aragon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of mail fraud for his role in the Albuquerque Metropolitan Courthouse construction scandal. Aragon admitted stealing more than $600,000 and agreed to a sentence of five years and seven months. In March a judge ordered Aragon to pay $649,172 in restitution and fined him an additional $750,000.
Several people at the meeting urged the board to leave Aragon's name on the torreón.
Former Bernalillo County Commissioner Steve Gallegos asked the board to remember the good things Aragon did for the community and to let people decide for themselves how he should be remembered.
"Manny Aragon really needs to be recognized for what he did. He did bad toward the end, but I have seen that man toil for the good of our communities, especially our poor communities," Gallegos said. "Don't rewrite history. His name's already on it. ... Would we become a better community by taking the name down? I would say no."
Gallegos, then a city councilor, asked Aragon for a job as Senate sergeant-at-arms in 1995, a post he held for three years. At the time, some criticized the hiring, saying it sent the wrong message about the influence of state legislators over local government officials.
When the Cultural Center opened in 2000, the Spanish-style guard tower was known as El Gran Torreón. In 2004, it was renamed for Aragon, who, during his time in the Legislature, helped appropriate millions of dollars in state funding for the center.
According to the center's Web site, the 45-foot tower was inspired by stone defensive structures and watchtowers built by Spanish settlers.
"We're an educational institution. We have a lot of children's groups that come here, and I just have a very hard time reconciling leaving the name on the torreón in light of what the plea agreement says," board President Daniel Ortega said.
"It just doesn't seem, unfortunately, that Mr. Aragon can be held up as a role model the way he could a few years ago before all these unfortunate acts took place."
However, the board vote wasn't the final say in the matter.
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Secretary Stuart Ashman has to sign off on the board's recommendation. Ashman said he won't make a decision right away.
Juan Jose Peña, another board member, voted against removing Aragon's name.
"Without his efforts and participation, this institution would not exist," Peña said.
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