Editorial: Racino lease claims should be public

What's fair for the goose is fair for the gander — unless of course it's New Mexico politics.

New Mexico State Fair Commissioner Charlotte Rode, who voted against awarding a racino lease to the Downs of Albuquerque and who doesn't believe a racino is the best use for Expo New Mexico, has fired off a request to State Auditor Hector Balderas for an investigation into the 25-year lease deal.

Rode, a Republican and a Gov. Susana Martinez appointee to the commission, accuses the Governor's Office of manipulating the deal through private contact between administration officials and Downs representatives. She wants Balderas to look for violations of the procurement code in the commission's award of the 25-year lease.

That's fine.

There have been indications of at least attempted insider access by the Downs to members of the Martinez administration and political team. A PAC organized in opposition to Martinez has released emails it obtained that show as much. There have been requests galore for investigations, including for probes by the Attorney General and FBI.

It may take someone with a grand jury and subpoena power, or a district court proceeding, to resolve the questions and take appropriate action if misconduct is found.

And Rode is certainly within her purview to ask for yet another investigation, just as well-heeled Laguna Development Corp, the only other bidder for the racino project, is within its purview to go to court over the lease — which it so far has elected not to do.

There has been arguing back and forth over whether the emails — which the governor's office alleges were hijacked in violation of federal law — show manipulation or whether they were even received. But the fact they were sent on private or political email addresses does give the appearance of trying to avoid transparency.

So in that light it is interesting that when Rode complains about possible misconduct, what do we get but an 18-page complaint that Rode and Balderas are keeping secret!

If Rode wants a thorough investigation, and means it when she says "I'm not on a witch hunt. I seriously just want good government," that should include an open airing of her complaint.

If she has real facts, then by all means put them out there. There's no reason to keep Rode's allegations secret — other than to fuel political fire, a time-honored New Mexico pastime.