New Mexico guv Michelle Lujan Grisham slammed for spending taxpayers' money on groceries, booze amid Covid-19
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has come under attack for using up contingency funds meant for food for needy children or those affected badly by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Democratic leader went on the defensive following a revelation that detailed her office’s spending from an expense fund supported by taxpayers. It has been reported that Grisham, who took over in 2019, spent more than $6,500 on groceries and alcohol while holding small physical meetings at her mansion, came under heavy criticism from the media as well as politicians who said the governor should not have engaged in expenditures and social events at a time when people in New Mexico were struggling in their daily lives.
New Mexico-based KOB 4 investigated the issue and reported on February 17: “The governor’s contingency fund is paid for by taxpayers and appropriated by the NM Legislature for the governor to spend on functions, events or items to promote New Mexico. The review conducted by the KOB 4 Investigates Team shows the governor’s contingency fund was used to pay for $6,545 in groceries, averaging out to about $1,091 each month. According to receipts made public through an Inspection of Public Records Act request, the items include anything from laundry detergent to Wagyu beef, tuna steaks, top sirloin and hundreds of dollars in alcohol purchases.”
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The investigative report also said that the receipts revealed nearly $800 were paid to clean rugs at Grisham’s residence and treat animal stains. Money was even spent to pay for a new doggy door.
Tripp Stelnicki, Grisham’s director of communications, faced a tough time responding to the media’s questions on the controversial expenditures. When KOB 4 investigator Chris Ramirez asked Stelnicki who ate all the food, the latter said the food items were given to people who attended the governor’s small in-person meetings at her mansion.
“There are still meetings with cabinet and staff that are distanced small groups. They are sporadic, but they last a long time and so there's food at those meetings often prepared. There are people at the residence who are all masked. They include State Police security detail, maintenance and custodial/housekeeping staff,” Stelnicki said.
Grisham’s top aide said the governor’s cabinet and other staff members, who spend long hours inside her residence in Santa Fe working on the budget or other official assignments like preparing pitches for the legislative session, were given gourmet meals. The governor was slammed over this as well as she allowed an unknown number of people into her own home while discouraging the common people of NM from doing the same in times of the pandemic. Her political opponents called it "hypocrisy". On the use of funds for cleaning up pet messes, Stelnicki justified it saying taxpayers are responsible for the messes that the governor’s dogs create when those messes are on the public side of the residence. However, one may add here that the governor’s residence has remained close to the people since March last year.
On Friday, February 19, Grisham said in a virtual news conference that she knew the purchases didn’t look good. “When people are struggling, should it be fair that residents (of the governor's mansion) literally have a locked-up grocery store closet … that has libations and catering stuff and food?" the governor said, adding: “I don't want New Mexicans to feel like I don't take seriously their hardship,” she said.
Grisham also said that she thought it would not look good for her to invite people who worked tirelessly to curb the spread of the pandemic to her residence to “celebrate our success when we’re ready”. The 61-year-old leader also defended herself saying she had earlier looked into the prospects of buying pre-packaged food and donate it to Boys and Girls clubs or to workers who are battling the pandemic up front. “Let’s take that routine grocery store purchasing that happened and let's get it out and feed people in a way that I can in this pandemic. I regret that I didn't push harder to make that happen,” she said.
Grisham also admitted that she was told her plan would go against the state’s anti-donation clause. She said she should have gone for a “secondary financial review” of the same clause to see if her plan was feasible. According to the governor under fire, she wanted to “find a way to let people know” that she cared about them. New Mexico has seen 3,624 deaths caused by the virus so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.
But even as Grisham and her officials have tried to convey the message that the grocery and alcohol purchases were not made for the governor but for others and that the purchases were not made by the governor herself either, not many were convinced.
'It's not what tax dollars ought to be spent for'
New Mexico’s Republican House Minority Leader Jim Townshend blasted Grisham saying the governor’s purchases were “unfortunate”, Associated Press reported. “It’s not what tax dollars ought to be spent for. In the time when people are hurting all over the state, using their tax dollars to buy Wagyu beef has got to be a little bit disenchanting to many people. I think it’s just more of indication of the problem that we have had and the governor has had connecting with people,” he said.
Rod Montoya, a GOP member of the Newe Mexico House of Representatives, told New Mexican: "I didn’t realize the governor was so underpaid that she has to use discretionary money for things that she should be paying for herself. Legislators are all up here doing our job, and we’re doing it on per diem."
Governor Grisham also came under the scrutiny of fellow Democrats. Patricia Lundstrom, a member of NM’s House of Representatives and the vice chair of the Legislative Finance Committee and the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told KOB: “My feeling about it is, is that there are certain things that should not be paid for by the taxpayer. I did say that I do not believe that alcohol expenses are one of those things unless it's an official event.”
Grisham, a native of NM who was a member of the House of Representatives from the same state before becoming the governor, has been criticized in the past for her rules on pandemic restrictions that many businessmen found to be unfair.