A bill from the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce to the city of Española is under investigation after city officials discovered the Chamber had double-billed the city and the state for $3,500 worth of advertising services.
At the center of the controversy is Alice Lucero, who is simultaneously the Chamber’s executive director and the city council’s Mayor Pro Tem.
Lucero said the double- billing was simply an oversight, but city attorney Spence Pacheco has forwarded the invoices, along with supporting documentation, to the state auditor. In her letter, Pacheco cited a state law that requires agencies to report “any violation of a criminal statute in connection with financial affairs.”
The saga began back in May, when Lucero asked the city to reimburse the Chamber $13,886 for 12 advertisements it had bought throughout that fiscal year, in the SUN as well as in publications in California and throughout New Mexico. The money was to come from the city’s Lodger’s Tax, which is levied against motel guests and earmarked for activities that promote the city. Although the city has no advertising contract with the Chamber, the City Council had approved a 2007-08 Lodger’s Tax budget which included $20,000 to the Chamber for ad services.
Lucero said she kept checking on the status of the unpaid invoice, and was told in late summer that the Lodger’s Tax Board wanted to review it. According to minutes from a September meeting, Board chairman Art Martinez Jr. criticized the ads that had been placed, saying they promoted the Chamber more than the city or its motels.
“Art stated that the Chamber took it as a blank check and now it wanted payment for ads that do not promote the lodgers in the Valley,” the minutes state.
Nonetheless, the Board unanimously approved payment of the invoice.
But then it came to Pacheco’s attention that three of the ads carried the logo of the state Tourism Department. She sent a letter Oct. 21 to Chamber President Celso Archuleta with documentation showing that the Chamber had double-billed the city and the state. The Chamber received $3,500 from the Department in July to cover half the cost of the three ads, documents state. All those ads were billed to the city at full cost.
“The (Lodger’s Tax) Board referred this matter to me out of concern of the possible misuse of public monies,” Pacheco wrote. “The city would appreciate your assistance in clarifying the expenditures and request for reimbursement.”
Lucero said she requested and received the state reimbursement after having billed the city, and it was “a simple oversight” that she didn’t go back and adjust the city’s invoice — even though she had to deliver a new one in August, after the city misplaced the original.
After Pacheco’s letters went out, the Chamber produced an amended invoice for about $10,400 that was set to come before the Lodger’s Tax Board Wednesday morning (11/12).
Lucero said usually when there’s an error on an invoice, an agency picks up the phone and calls the biller.
“Do you write them a letter and accuse them of stuff right away?” Lucero asked.
Pacheco said the letter was not accusatory. She said she notified the state auditor because “it’s my understanding that if you find something, you’re supposed to report it.” Evan Blackstone, general counsel for the state auditor, said his agency will review the Chamber’s response. If the situation can be resolved by the parties, there’s no need for the state to intervene, he said.
Politics
The whole matter is tangled in a complex web of municipal politics. First, there’s Lucero’s dual role. Secondly, Lodger’s Tax Board Chair Art Martinez Jr. is the brother of Michele Martinez, a North Central Solid Waste Authority employee who recently filed a complaint against Lucero for an alleged ethics violation. (Lucero was cleared by the city’s ethics commission.)
Martinez Jr. is also the brother of Española City Manager Veronica Albin, who would say only that the city has certain obligations regarding taxpayer funds. Martinez Jr. did not return calls seeking comment.
It’s an issue that may not go away. Lucero said the Chamber doesn’t have an agreement in place to provide advertising services during the current fiscal year, but she’s already bought some ads with deadlines that passed in late summer.
Lucero said she planned to submit a new service proposal at the Board meeting. The Chamber, a non-profit organization, has limited funding and can’t promote the city alone, she said.
Asked if the relationship between the Chamber and the city is too cozy, Lucero said she abstains from Council votes that affect the Chamber. And the Chamber was receiving city monies long before she came on board, Lucero said.
But Pacheco said she advised Lucero, other councilors and Mayor Joseph Maestas from the beginning that the situation was problematic.
“When staff communicate with Alice regarding the Chamber issue, is she representing the Chamber or is she Mayor Pro Tem?,” Maestas asked. “I think it puts staff in a difficult position.”