Thursday night KRQE Channel 13 ran a story on Councilor Harris' ethics audit. The package featured a pan of a piece of paper with a bunch of check marks on it. Reporter Michael Herzenberg indicated that each check mark would be considered a violation.
We were curious about that violation matrix and managed to get our Eyes on a copy of the checklist(read it here). We counted 175 individual violations. Frankly, we couldn't believe that someone who has presumably passed the state bar could have screwed up his campaign reporting so badly.
The most troubling part for us was Harris' repeated acceptance of donations that exceeded the maximum allowed by law. Mr. Harris like all candidates, had to have been aware of the donation cap; it's hard to view his actions as anything other than a willful disregard of the law. In our opinion, these acts alone disqualify him from holding elected office.
Councilor Harris has already lost the trust of a good portion of his constituents, it remains to be seen whether or not the Ethics Board will recommend to the council that he be removed from office; which after seeing the type and number of violations revealed by the audit seems likely.
As a member of the State Bar, Mr. Harris should be held to a higher standard; a standard that doesn't allow for willful violation of the law. The consequences of his misdeeds could and probably will extend beyond the council chambers. Perhaps it's time for Councilor Harris to resign in order to concentrate on more immediate problems like keeping what's left of his legal reputation.
8 comments:
What was the limit for campaign contributions when he ran? I didn't think New Mexico had any limits then -- you just had to report them. Didn't Mayor Marty raise almost a million dollars in contributions (some over $10,000) the last time he ran?
Somebody told me that there is no element in the city charter that inhibits or otherwise prohibits our current mayor from running again. Come somebody please post a link that addresses this issue????
The limit was $480, or it might have been $460, but I think $480. I don't know what this has to do with the Mayor, Don Harris lied and cheated. Don Harris admitted to keeping his own books. This is all on Don Harris. Don Harris needs to be accountable for his actions, he needs to step up to the plate, stop blaming everyone else, and admit, he screwed up royally. I don't know how he can continue to say these are small technical errors, he shows a willful pattern of abuse and disregard for the campaign rules. He knows how to read, he was given a copy of the rules, he blatantly broke the rules. He knows what he did, unless he is a total twit, and in either case, Harris is a first class embarrassment to the City Council and should resign. I doubt he is smart enough to do so, as he hasn't shown any intelligence on this matter to date. So, I will be voting for the Recall.
I don't live in District 9, never have and don't intend to, so I really don't have a dog in this fight (apologies to Ms Mayer and Michael Vick) but in looking over the auditor's report, I'm thinking that the rules might not have been quite so clear cut. There are numerous $500 contributions that are marked as exceeding the limit, but there are many $500 contributions that are not so marked (I counted 7). In fact at least one contribution of $750 was listed that was not marked as over the limit. The column that had the greatest number of marks was the "Not Timely Reporting". While that might be a technical violation of the rules, so is changing lanes without signalling, and we don't revoke driving privledges for that (yet!).
So, what is the real reason Councilor Harris has been targeted????????
The last posting is intriguing. I don't live in District 9, either. But, like all Americans, I just love a good conspiracy theory.
The $750 that is not checked as over the limit, was not actually a contribution, it is a made up amount by Harris, the person didn't even write a check or give cash. So, did that answer your question? This information was easily found in the audit which can be picked up at the City Clerk's Office, it is public information. The only conspiracy that I see is a conspiracy to commit fraud by Don Harris.
As Dandy Don' would say....
" Turn out the lights, the party's over"
You are all just so ridiculous. Look over Harris' accounts, and you will see that several 'counts' are repeated over and over and over. What you are also not remembering, or choosing to not remember, is that Harris is the first to be in a run-off. He had to follow rules as they go. The mayor supported the other side, and forced a close election because of the sheer amount of participants in the race. Harris won the election and the runoff election. He was forced to campaign twice, and there were no specific rules. According to the Federal Guidelines, Harris is in order, EXCEPT how sloppy his accounting was. Sad part about all this, is you Marty supporters, forced this poor guy to do much of the work himself, because Marty threatened several people who came forward to help Harris. Harris has fought the big dog. Harris' bad accounting has nothing to do with his law practice, though Marty threatened Harris with that issue too. Marty needs to see that he is not the Supreme Commander of the world, and that the people are not beholden to him. Unfortunately for Harris he is a terrible book keeper. I feel terrible for this guy as he is attempting to keep his head up, while being persecuted, and running a campaign against a very small, though financially supported group by Marty (can be proven), and talk about FINGER PRINTS. Marty and Bitzer and Payne have their nasty little fingers in everyones pie, so that really makes things dirty. Harris won't resign. There was no fraud. But look at the recall signatures, and see the fraudulent signautres that are on the record. Better watch out what you are accusing people (of). The water is VERY dirty on the other side.
KeepDonHarris.com
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