Another lawmaker proves the need for ethics reform

Posted 5/13/2008 11:44:00 AM

State Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, is making headlines this week for the pumping of taxpayer money into a college sport club in which he is intimately involved and for failing to publicly disclose dozens of misdemeanor charges he has faced since 1988.

It’s unfortunate behavior from a man who’s facing a potentially credible primary challenge from Tim Keller.

Today’s edition of the Albuquerque Journal reveals that Robinson, when filling out a questionnaire for the newspaper that was published last week, failed to disclose 38 misdemeanor and minor violations since 1998. They were for traffic and parking tickets, failing to pay fines and failing to appear in court, according to the Journal.

At least 27 of the charges were dismissed, the Journal reported. Asked Monday about his failure to disclose the charges, Robinson provided no comment to the Journal.

On Sunday, the Journal ran a lengthy article about Robinson’s involvement with the University of New Mexico’s rugby club sport. Robinson gives out scholarships, retains consultants and hired a coaching assistant for the club, the newspaper reported.

The men’s and women’s rugby teams cost more than $450,000 over three years, the newspaper reported. The funding came in part from student fees, a UNM soft-drink contract and other university funding. But guess who’s going to be paying for it starting July 1? You and me.

That’s right. Almost all funding for the 2008-2009 fiscal year will come from a legislative appropriation of $150,000. That’s all but $10,000 of the club’s budget for the year. The club’s budget is 15 times what the second-highest club-sport at UNM received this year, the Journal reported.

Robinson controls some of the funds

Guess how the scholarships to rugby players are awarded? Apparently, there’s no written criteria about eligibility. They’re handed out at the discretion of Robinson, the Journal reported. Robinson also used funds raised for his Senate campaign to pay a rugby association on behalf of a player in 2005, the Journal reported.

You may recall the Journal reporting in February that a Legislative Finance Committee audit found that money set aside by the Legislature and governor for UNM’s Center for Region Studies – about $17,000 – had instead paid for rugby-team expenses. It was because the LFC said that was inappropriate that the Legislature created this year’s special appropriation of $150,000 for rugby.

UNM didn’t ask for the rugby funding. But Robinson has secured millions for UNM during his legislative career. The university has honored him as a great public official. You might be getting the sense that he wields a great deal of power at the university. That’s because he does.

Robinson has waded right into the middle of a classic case of conflict of interest. The Legislature is appropriating money to a club sport he coaches to fund, in part, scholarships he controls. You think he didn’t have anything to do with the appropriation?

It isn’t the first time Robinson has waded into what in most states would be unacceptable waters. Check out this TV report from KOB-TV’s Jeremy Jojola:

Running amok… and allowed to do it

At the same time that Robinson is swimming in a conflict of interest, he’s showing no regard for the public that elects him by failing to disclose his court troubles. Together, the two situations create the appearance that Robinson believes he doesn’t need and isn’t subject to any accountability. He appears to be a public official run amok.

This is the same lawmaker who, when ethics-reform proposals have come before the Senate, has repeatedly argued against them. One of his arguments against limiting gifts and campaign contributions has been something to the effect of, “You don’t pay us, and now you want to take this away too?”

And yet, when the proposal to pay lawmakers came before the Senate, he didn’t vote for it.

He seems to think he’s entitled to a taxpayer-funded slush fund for a club sport he loves simply because he works hard as a lawmaker. And that he shouldn’t be subject to public scrutiny simply because he works hard as a lawmaker.

Wrong. Here’s another instance where the Legislature’s Ethics Subcommittee should step in. And yet, it never does, so this is just another example of why we need ethics reforms that include an independent ethics commission and a salary for lawmakers. Click here to read about some other examples.

The man proposing those ethics reforms, Gov. Bill Richardson, instead of denouncing Robinson’s outrageous behavior, is backing his re-election. The governor’s political committee gave Robinson’s campaign $5,000 for his re-election bid, the Associated Press is reporting.

That’s why we don’t have ethics reform. Richardson makes a big public show about his efforts to clean up state government while he’s helping re-elect those who oppose reform. Why?