Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Education
Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering. Certified Fraud Examiner.
Campaign Phone
505-929-0955
Occupation
New Mexico State Auditor
mailingaddress
2540 Camino Edward Ortiz, Suite A
mailingcity
Santa Fe
mailingzip
87507
mailingstate
NM
I've devoted my entire life to public service: over 30 years in Federal civil service and over 20 years in elected public service. I served as Chairman of the Public Regulation Commission, Mayor of Espanola and counciIman in Espanola and Santa Fe. I'm also a licensed professional engineer. As State Auditor, I hold public entities and officials accountable for managing taxpayer funds and protect taxpayer money from fraud, waste, and abuse. For example, my office has ensured that opioid settlement funds are being used properly and protected funding intended for mitigating natural disasters. Our office assisted small local public bodies like our acequias to become financially compliant and unlocked over $10 million in withheld capital outlay.
The New Mexico Office of the State Auditor (OSA) is a constitutionally established executive office independent and accountable only to the people of New Mexico. The OSA has two primary statutory (Audit Act) purposes: (1) to ensure that the financial affairs of every agency shall be thoroughly examined and audited each year and (2) require the financial affairs and transactions of an agency to be audited in whole or in part. These purposes grant the State Auditor the authority to conduct both annual financial and special audits. The OSA is the State financial watchdog that protects taxpayer money from fraud, waste, and abuse. It also helps to hold court-appointed conservators accountable for managing financial assets of protected persons.
When public entity audit reports are submitted late, the public entity does receive a formal audit finding for a late report. As State Auditor, I work with the entity to get the audit report eventually submitted within 90 days of the submittal deadline. I use my professional judgement to determine the underlying causes of the late report and determine the best course of action to address the issues. This includes referring the entity to other agencies for additional actions and informing policy makers. When audit reports are chronically late, the OSA can step in as the auditor of last resort and directly assist the troubled entity to become financially compliant as was done for Mesalands Community College through annual and special audits.
The primary role of the State Auditor is to inform and notify. We do not investigate with the exception of our Special Investigations Division which investigates and manages fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) cases. My top three issues are to investigate and/or examine: 1) Incoming, anonymous, and credible FWA cases as we average one complaint per day with almost 300 currently active cases; 2) Public entities that are chronically late in audit report submittals and have a severe lack of internal controls resulting in an adverse audit opinion and findings; and 3) Annual financial reports considered high-risk from conservators managing financial assets for protected persons in coordination with the District court system often leading to an audit.
