Cronyism at UNM?
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Tags: cronyism at UNM, David Harris, David Schmidly, Ethics Reform, Michelle Lujan Grisham, whistleblowers
Tags: cronyism at UNM, David Harris, David Schmidly, Ethics Reform, Michelle Lujan Grisham, whistleblowers
New Mexicans can rest assured that there is no cronyism at the University of New Mexico, according to....the University of New Mexico?
As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, a recent internal investigation by UNM officials found no evidence to support a whistle-blower's charges of cronyism in the hiring and promotions of 21 employees. The whistle-blower, who requested and got anonymity from UNM, said in a formal complaint to president David Schmidly that the 21 employees - who included past state employees and relatives of state employees - had received plum positions or promotions without merit or without going through the competitive hiring practices required by state and university policy.
According to the whistleblower, the actions occurred after the arrival in 2004 of David Harris, who was then acting president and is now UNM's chief financial and chief operating officer. Since 2004, the combined raises of those 21 employees - who included the heads of UNM's human resources department and internal audit division - added up to almost $900,000, the whistleblower alleged.
In a recent meeting with the Journal, Schmidly called the investigation a vindication for the school.
But not everyone at UNM sees it that way.
"I hear a lot from staff members who are unhappy about hiring going on in the administration, about salaries, about salary increases. It's constant," UNM Staff Council President Loyola Chastain told the Journal.
Indeed, just three days after its front page story declaring UNM free of cronyism, the Journal reported the strange saga of Michelle Lujan Grisham's aborted UNM job candidacy. According to an official tape made before the start of a Regent's meeting in May 2007 - and later obtained by Journal higher education reporter Martin Salazar - Harris was heard saying that Gov. Bill Richardson asked him to hire Lujan Grisham at UNM because he (Richardson) had just fired her. At the time, Lujan Grisham was the highly controversial state Secretary of Health. Six days after the recording was made, Richardson announced Lujan Grisham would be leaving her post.
As it turned out, UNM never hired Lujan Grisham, and both Harris and Richardson deny that she was fired from the state. The fact that Lujan Grisham wasn't hired "dispels the notion of cronyism at UNM," Harris told the Journal.
Not hardly.
To the Journal, I say...please keep digging.
And to President Schmidly, how about a real investigation into charges of cronyism at UNM? And this time, for the sake of propriety, please ask someone from outside UNM to conduct it.
As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, a recent internal investigation by UNM officials found no evidence to support a whistle-blower's charges of cronyism in the hiring and promotions of 21 employees. The whistle-blower, who requested and got anonymity from UNM, said in a formal complaint to president David Schmidly that the 21 employees - who included past state employees and relatives of state employees - had received plum positions or promotions without merit or without going through the competitive hiring practices required by state and university policy.
According to the whistleblower, the actions occurred after the arrival in 2004 of David Harris, who was then acting president and is now UNM's chief financial and chief operating officer. Since 2004, the combined raises of those 21 employees - who included the heads of UNM's human resources department and internal audit division - added up to almost $900,000, the whistleblower alleged.
In a recent meeting with the Journal, Schmidly called the investigation a vindication for the school.
But not everyone at UNM sees it that way.
"I hear a lot from staff members who are unhappy about hiring going on in the administration, about salaries, about salary increases. It's constant," UNM Staff Council President Loyola Chastain told the Journal.
Indeed, just three days after its front page story declaring UNM free of cronyism, the Journal reported the strange saga of Michelle Lujan Grisham's aborted UNM job candidacy. According to an official tape made before the start of a Regent's meeting in May 2007 - and later obtained by Journal higher education reporter Martin Salazar - Harris was heard saying that Gov. Bill Richardson asked him to hire Lujan Grisham at UNM because he (Richardson) had just fired her. At the time, Lujan Grisham was the highly controversial state Secretary of Health. Six days after the recording was made, Richardson announced Lujan Grisham would be leaving her post.
As it turned out, UNM never hired Lujan Grisham, and both Harris and Richardson deny that she was fired from the state. The fact that Lujan Grisham wasn't hired "dispels the notion of cronyism at UNM," Harris told the Journal.
Not hardly.
To the Journal, I say...please keep digging.
And to President Schmidly, how about a real investigation into charges of cronyism at UNM? And this time, for the sake of propriety, please ask someone from outside UNM to conduct it.
