Errors and poor policy have fueled the controversy over reimbursement of expenses at a regional group intended to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
That is the crux of an Aug. 28 analysis by Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess, addressing financial irregularities by the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC).
The 14-page document is Burgess’ response to recent reports from the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office and an Albuquerque law firm retained by the county to investigate reimbursements of about $2,600 for travel, meals, alcoholic beverages, and tickets to a baseball game to former RCLC executive director Andrea Romero.
At the request of a local nongovernmental group, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is investigating whether the reimbursements represented a breach of the state’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.
Lack of clear policy on expenses, and who should enforce it, have been a long-term problem, Burgess said.
When the state established the RCLC in May 2011, Los Alamos County was the new group’s sole financial contributor and was designated as its fiscal agent. “However, what duties are associated with this role are not defined,” according to Burgess. As a result, different officials at RCLC and the county have viewed this role in various ways over time, the county manager said.
The other reports have said, despite the lack of criteria, Los Alamos County has played an active role at RCLC over time, including providing administrative services when the coalition was without a director.
The RCLC adopted a travel policy in 2012 patterned on the policy of the North Central Regional Transit District, which provides public transportation in that area of the state. There is a mistaken belief the coalition was following the travel policy of Los Alamos County. “Many of the identified improper reimbursements (with the exception of alcohol and entertainment) would have been allowed if RCLC was following LAC policies,” Burgess said.
The coalition’s travel policy has never undergone a legal review, in part because RCLC has never hired its own legal counsel, Burgess said.
The RCLC executive director has typically had expertise in marketing but not government administration. Although Los Alamos County was the fiscal agent, its employees were not familiar with procedures in the RCLC travel policy, Burgess said.
“From an operational perspective, allowing only per-diem reimbursement has the potential for eliminating many of the issues that have been identified in this saga, yet this potential correction was never considered by the [RCLC] board,” Burgess said. This sort of policy would tend to cap expenses for meals.
In the ongoing controversy, the RCLC executive director, the coalition’s treasurer, and financial reviewers at Los Alamos County all assumed someone else was chiefly responsible for ensuring reimbursements were processed properly, Burgess said.
The Los Alamos County manager also noted members of the RCLC board are all elected officials from local governments around the lab. Most of them are accustomed to making local policy decisions, not evaluating accounting practices. Coalition members don’t receive any formal training about their duties, Burgess added.
In February, RCLC did not renew the management contract for Romero’s firm after questions were raised about the expenses. Romero had been executive director since January 2015. The expenses were incurred as part of outreach efforts with LANL stakeholders, and repaid by Romero, who is now running for a seat on the New Mexico Legislature.
In July, RCLC hired Eric Vasquez, of the firm CPLC New Mexico, to become the new executive director.
The Los Alamos Monitor Online reported Sept. 11 the firm that employs Vasquez, Chicanos Por La Causa New Mexico, is not without controversy when it comes to misspending money. The president and chief executive officer of CPLC New Mexico once had his business license revoked following a legal dispute with the New Mexico Public Education Department.
