Laurie Clark

Official Facing Allegations

Ansley Accused of Being Part of Unfair Bid Process

By Laurie Clark

Published Jan. 19, 2012

Mountain View Telegraph, Moriarty, NM

Mvtelegraph.com

New Mexico Press Association First Place Award Winner, Breaking News, Weekly Class II Newspaper Category

   When it comes to Torrance County, Melody Everett believes the “fox is in charge of the henhouse,” the “fox” being County Manager Joy Ansley.
 

    Everett was on the agenda of the Jan. 11 County Commission meeting to make allegations against Ansley public, but didn’t get very far before county commissioners decided to send the issue straight to the State Auditor or the Attorney General’s office.

    With the heated debate between the commissioners, Ansley, and the county’s attorney, Everett commented later that she was “getting up there to give boring numbers, but they put on a way better show.”

    In a phone interview, Everett alleged that Ansley has a personal relationship with a local contractor, Chris Valdez, who continues to win work with the county. Everett also alleged that calls for bids were not advertised as they should have been, and the contractor’s friends and family were often the competing bidders.

    Everett said that, based on public documents she obtained, Valdez has been paid a total of about three-quarters of a million dollars over the course of five years — much of this due to “change orders,” amounts given to a contractor after contracts are signed, to cover unexpected expenses.

    In the commission meeting, and in a phone interview, Ansley was anxious to defend herself.

    “I haven’t done anything wrong, I haven’t done anything criminal, I haven’t done anything illegal,” said Ansley.

    When contacted, Valdez said he had no comment.

    Everett cited the Torreon Fire Department as an example.

    “(It) started out as an $80,000 contract. Several, I think, reputable contractors bid against him and they all came in a group around $115,000. His bid was $80,000, and so he got the job. When everything was all said and done on that particular job ... it was well over $300,000, on a contract that started out at $80,000,” said Everett.

    “A lot of these change orders are for things that should be in the original bid documents,” said Everett. “In that fire station building, they wrote a change order for $13,000 for doors ... did you really put something out for bid, and leave (the building) wide open to the environment and the public?”

    Everett said that just in looking at three contracts that total $500,000, about $380,000 of that was because of change orders, “with no competitive bids,” said Everett. “We have no idea if the county got its bang for the buck, because there were no competitive bids on it.”

    Everett, whose family is in construction, said that the county and Valdez should have gone back to rewrite the contracts if the change orders were so much.

    “Perhaps, if they had actually let me speak, they could have explained away some of these things, but they didn’t, and so I think they left looking a lot worse than it even is, and I think it looks bad,” said Everett. “I think that the person that is being investigated should be suspended or put on leave or something, I don’t think that she should still be there running the county.”

    Ansley said that this contractor is a “friend ... he hasn’t done a project for the county that I’ve been involved with for almost a year, and that’s it. It’s no more than that.”

    As for the Torreon Fire Department, “when I first came to work for the county, he was already contracted with the county to build a fire station in Torreon. The first change order that was issued, that the fire marshal and the contractor requested, when I brought before the commission, I asked the commission ‘do you want to approve change orders or do you want me to?’ They said, ‘you and the fire marshal know what the project is, you know where the money’s coming from, you guys take care of it.’ ”

    Ansley said she can “explain every change order” relating to the Torreon Fire Department.

    “They were all unforeseen circumstances. And it may have been poor planning from the beginning, but I was not part of that planning, because I didn’t even work for the county. I didn’t work for the county when the bids were open and I didn’t work for the county when the contract was signed.”

    Ansley said she had never met Valdez before starting at the county in 2007. Prior to being named Torrance County manager, she had held the same position in Catron County.

    “I think it’s very unfair. I think it’s even more unfair to the contractor, because he has to live and make a living here. This is a personal vendetta that they have against me for some reason,” said Ansley. “We have nothing to hide.”

    She explained the process that goes into determining who gets a contract.

    If the project is less than $10,000, the contract is done through written bids and purchase orders.

    Everything is reviewed by the County Commission and the county treasurer signs the checks.

    “So everybody knows what we’re doing. And if we didn’t have sufficient checks and balances, there would be audit findings, because we’re audited every year, because they want internal control over financial reporting,” Ansley said.

    She added that she isn’t concerned with an investigation because she has nothing to hide.

    “I haven’t done anything wrong,” Ansley said. “And it’s frustrating because I feel like I work nonstop for this county, and it’s really hard when every time I turn around I feel like I’m getting my knees cut out from under me."

    Everett has had run-ins with government officials in the past.

    In 2009, she confronted the Estancia Board of Education and Superintendent Carolyn Allen-Renteria about district operations and budget discrepancies, claiming she was passing around a recall petition.

    Everett also ran for Torrance County Magistrate in 2006.