Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 121, No. 197 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
DROUGHT SEVERITY
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The worst drought in the U.S. in decades may be leveling off or even be easing ever so slightly in some lucky locales, federal weather forecasters announced Thursday in a report of little comfort for farmers and ranchers who already have begun tallying this year’s losses. ... - PAGE A3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
August 17, 2012
FRIDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Failed NMFA safeguards led to fake audit SANTA FE (AP) — For 18 months after Gov. Susana Martinez took office, two of her Cabinet secretaries never personally attended a meeting of the New Mexico Finance Authority but sent staffers to represent them as the authority’s governing board approved tens of millions of dollars in bonds and lowcost loans to local governments. That changed abruptly last month, however, after the authority announced that its audit of financial statements had been faked. The disclosure has triggered investigations into what went wrong and criminal charges against two of the authority’s current and former high-ranking managers. A review of the attendance
The final page of the fake audit states an exit conference was held on Dec. 10, 2011 — five days before the deadline for submitting an annual audit report to the state auditor. But that was a Saturday and the meeting was never held.
records for the 11-member board shows the Cabinet secretaries weren’t alone in skipping meetings, raising questions about the board’s oversight of an independent governmental enterprise that functions like a bank with $1.8 billion in assets. Nearly all of the board members were appointed by Martinez or serve in her Cabinet. Board member Paul Gutierrez has publicly criticized the perform-
ance of his colleagues and the authority’s top executives. Potential warning signs of audit problems — from missed deadlines to the lack of a face-to-face meeting with an outside auditor — were overlooked by the authority’s managers and board members. The scandal, which threatens the authority’s credit rating as well financing for everything from community hospitals to public schools,
already is stirring talk among legislators about possible changes in the authority’s oversight and composition of the board. State law requires four Cabinet secretaries, or someone they designate to represent them, serve as voting members on the board. The gover nor must appoint a chief financial officer from a university or college as well as four members of the public. Executive directors of the New Mexico Municipal League and the New Mexico Association of Counties round out the membership. When the governor’s Cabinet secretaries missed meetings, how-
‘Buzz off! This is my flower’
County favors fracking
See NMFA, Page A3
JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• BCBSNM distributes school supplies ... • Customs arrests Cordoba-Lopez • De Los Santos not out of horse business • 40 businesses participate in job fair • We’ll miss you, girl; thank you ...
INSIDE SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
A butterfly darts from flower-to-flower as another insect buzzes nearby in a garden south of Roswell, Thursday morning.
The County Commission plans to submit a letter to the Bureau of Land Management voicing its opposition to a proposed rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing, “fracking,” on federal land, which it says will serve as an inhibitor to the New Mexico oil and gas industry responsible for funding a large portion of the state’s budget. The commission approved the writing of such a letter during its regular business meeting Thursday. “It’s all the people that work in the industry and the various businesses that contribute, that do work for the oil industry ... it’s a filtering down effect. It’s really a very big multiplier on
SUPCO reverses Tafoya RPD names Helen Cheromoah, murder-one conviction RANGERS TOP YANKS
NEW YORK (AP) — These romps around the bases fit the Texas Rangers just fine. Craig Gentry turned a spot start into a tiebreaking hit and the Rangers avoided a four-game sweep in a matchup of AL division leaders, rallying past the New York Yankees 10-6 Thursday. Texas had lost eight straight at Yankee Stadium overall. The high-scoring Rangers had done little in this series, too, totaling only four runs before getting 16 hits in the finale. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• John S. Perry • Elizabeth Vaquera • Bill Bogle - PAGE A6
HIGH ...92˚ LOW ....69˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B6 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT.....A8 FINANCIAL .............B5 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B3 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A7
INDEX
JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Roswell man Julian Tafoya on charges of firstdegree murder in the shooting death of Andrea Larez, 29, in 2008. However, the court has ordered a conviction of second-degree murder. The court on Thursday also reversed Tafoya’s conviction of attempted firstdegree murder for wounding Crystal Brady, 25, and Andrea Larez, 29, during the same incident. The court ordered the case back to Chaves County District Court and recommended a conviction of attempted second-degree murder be imposed. According to court records, Tafoya shot Larez and Brady inside a vehicle as they were traveling near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Albu-
querque Street on Nov. 15, 2008. Larez died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head, while Brady was flown to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, and survived. The trial was prosecuted by Alan Griffin and Paul Sanchez, in July 2009. They pressed for firstdegree murder charges against Tafoya based on felony murder. Grif fin admitted then that the evidence was sparse, but felt the crime merited lifetime punishment. Griffin said the trial took longer than expected because of the controversy surrounding DNA evidence. Todd A.Holmes, Tafoya’s attor ney, produced two alibi witnesses who testified that Tafoya could not have been at the scene of the shooting because he'd been attending a wedding party across town. Tafoya’s wife, See TAFOYA, Page A3
See COUNTY, Page A3
Miguel Lopez as RISD SROs JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
The Roswell Police Department has named Officers Helen Cheromiah and Miguel Lopez, to act as resource officers in the schools. The position of school resource officer was reinstated in 2011 by Police Chief Alfonso Solis after it was suspended three years ago. Solis always felt it was important to have a police presence in the schools. Roswell Independent School District Superintendent Tom Burris is Courtesy Photo pleased with the program and with the selections. “I Roswell Independent School District’s School Resource think it is great. I’ve Officers Miguel Lopez and Helen Cheromiah. always had an SRO, and I dents. Her success resultthink they are invaluable. ple.” This will be Cheromied in an appointment to They stop a lot of bad behavior because they are ah’s second year as SRO. the New Mexico State there, but they also elicit She said she loved her job good behavior by exam- working with the stuSee RPD, Page A3
Gov finds new spot to post NM workers’ salaries — state’s home page
SANTA FE (AP) — Gov. Susana Martinez has begun posting the names and salaries of classified state employees at a new online location after a judge ruled last month that she remove the names from the online New Mexico Sunshine Portal. Martinez added the names of classified workers, their titles and salaries to the Sunshine Portal last year. That added to a previously available list of employees exempt from civil service protection. Members of the American
The governor’s office has argued that the information is public and available in other places. Anyone can get employee salary information from state government, and newmexico.watchdog.org has published the information online.
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council sued, saying the law authorizing the Sunshine Portal called only for the exempt employees to be included. The gover nor removed the names last month after a judge ruled she must. But the Santa Fe New
Mexican reports she’s now posted them on the state’s main home page instead at http://employees.newmexi co.gov/. The database lists the same information that had been posted on the Sunshine Portal, for both exempt and classified employees. Union attor ney Shane
Youtz said Wednesday that 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Valerie Huling’s ruling applies to information posted on the portal, and he will look at whether it legally would transfer to other online sites. In any case, Youtz said the original law that set up the portal’s content remains the same. “I think the law reflects the Legislature’s attempt to balance the interest between citizens and civil servants,” Youtz said. “If you want to know how much an Accountant 2
makes at the Public Education Department, the Legislature provided citizens with that information. But if you want to know the name of that person, the Legislature said, ‘We’re not going to put that on the website because we want to give that person a small measure of privacy.’” Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said the governor plans to call for legislation next year allowing all employees’ names to be posted on the Sunshine See SALARIES, Page A3