From Santa Fe New Mexican: Just weeks before the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government sued Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration for withholding a controversial audit report, the chairwoman of the foundation’s executive board was pitching the idea of giving Martinez — as well as Attorney General Gary King — an award for government transparency.
This is documented in emails released to The New Mexican by Terry Schleder, who recently was ousted as executive director of the organization for alleged “insubordination.” Schleder expressed concerns over a conservative tilt on the FOG executive board and called the awards discussion an example of FOG being too concerned with “protecting the powerful.”
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FOG’s executive board chairwoman, Terri Cole, who also is executive director of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, denied Monday that the open-government organization leans conservative. “It is a very well-balanced board,” she said.
Cole said she saw no irony in nominating Martinez and King for a William S. Dixon Award — despite the fact that the governor has been the defendant in public-records suits and King was found by a judge to be in violation of the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
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The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government is a member of NFOIC. –eds
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