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Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Former Officials Didn't Pay Plane Bills
By Thomas J. Cole
Journal Staff Writer
The high-flying administration of Gov. Bill Richardson left town without paying all its air travel tabs.
Nearly $24,000 in bills for use of the state jet and other government aircraft still hadn't been paid when Richardson left office Dec. 31, according to the General Services Department. The flights were taken over several years, and one bill was 5 years old.
The General Services Department has four airplanes and bills agencies for their use.
On April 1, the department sent past-due notices to six executive agencies. The billings covered at least 15 round-trip flights between May 2006 and November 2010 and totaled $23,819. The actual costs of the flights were more than twice that, but General Services under Richardson charged agencies only 40 percent of costs and used its budget to cover the rest. The new administration charges agencies full fare.
As you might imagine, some folks in the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez aren't thrilled about paying the flight bills of their predecessors — particularly given that money is tight in government. Martinez also has sharply curtailed use of aircraft and put the state's Cessna Citation Bravo jet and another plane up for sale.
Jon Barela, secretary-designee of the Economic Development Department, was irritated by a past-due notice for $2,554 received by the Border Authority, which is attached to the department and chaired by Barela.
The Border Authority was told it owed the money as a share of the costs for Richardson to use the state jet to fly to Washington, D.C., and Boston four years ago.
"The unfortunate reality is that New Mexico taxpayers will ultimately now be paying the bill for the extravagant flight that included senior members of the prior administration," Barela said in a written statement.
Katherine Miller, then finance and administration secretary for Richardson, accompanied him on the trip. Miller said the governor asked her to attend meetings in Washington.
Richardson press aide Caitlin Kelleher and a member of his State Police security detail also made the trip.
While in Washington, the governor talked with federal officials about New Mexico's spaceport, met with the Mexican ambassador about border violence and gave a speech to the Organization of American States, according to news releases at the time from the Governor's Office.
The Boston stop included a talk on politics and other issues at Harvard University, according to a published report.
The billing for use of the jet totaled $12,772. Five agencies were billed for an equal share, or $2,554.42 each. The agencies were the Governor's Office, the Department of Finance and Administration, the Spaceport Authority, the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Border Authority.
The Border Authority's mission is to promote economic development along the border with the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and Miller said federal funding for a border project was discussed in meetings in Washington with members of Congress.
State aircraft are for official use only, but it's unclear what the official reason was for Richardson's trip to Boston.
Miller said she was aware Richardson spoke to students at Harvard but said she didn't attend the talk or any other meeting the governor may have had on that leg of the trip.
Kelleher, the Richardson press aide, now works in the ex-governor's office in Santa Fe but couldn't be reached for comment.
Clearing the books
Tim Korte, a spokesman for the General Services Department, said the unpaid flight bills were discovered as a result of routine practices.
"The Aviation Services Bureau regularly makes efforts to reconcile its books," Korte said.
The Economic Development Department had the most in past-due flight bills. It received notice that it owes $13,203 for aircraft use on seven days in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
Richardson, former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and Fred Mondragon, former secretary of the Economic Development Department, were among the passengers.
The Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management received past-due notices totaling $5,386 for use of government aircraft in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
The Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources received a past-due notice for $1,878 for a flight by forestry officials to view wildfires last June. The department said it never received the original invoice and that the bill was in the process of being paid.
The Department of Indian Affairs received past-due notices for two flight billings of $307.80.
As of last week, just one of the old bills — for $490 — had been paid. The money came from the Tourism Department for a flight by the department's secretary, Richardson and others last October to Las Cruces.
UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Thom Cole at tcole@abqjournal.com or (505) 992-6280 in Santa Fe. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
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