Bill Richardson Named One of Nations Worse Governors

For this blog, it all began with the Governor and its been so long since Richardson has been in the news, but this is probably not how he wanted to made headlines again:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) issued a report today naming what it considers the nation’s “most incompetent and unethical governors.”And Gov. Bill Richardson’s name is on it thanks to recent scandals and federal investigations into his administration’s actions involving state contracts.According to a thumbnail description of the governor’s transgressions, CREW said Richardson:

• Used state investments to benefit political allies
  
• Allowed pay-to-play scandals to plague his administration
• Rewarded close associates with state positions or benefits, including providing a longtime friend and political supporter with a costly state contract
• Failed to make state government more transparent

The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Independent for a response to CREW’s putting him on the list.Most of CREW’s charges today stem from the ongoing investment scandal that has centered on the State Investment Council and Marc Correra’s sharing in $22 million in so-called placement fees for playing matchmaker between state investment agencies and funds looking for clients.

Correra is the son of a Richardson friend and fundraiser.

That scandal has produced some interesting connections to New York and California, with New Mexico’s former investment adviser, Saul Meyer of Aldus Equity, pleading guilty to securities fraud last fall as perhaps the most striking.

Now this scandal is different from the original scandal that torpedoed is cabinet bid way back in January. His connections to the now indited CDR financial products and his eventual non/exoneration we bad enough, but it appears there is still plenty for the Governor to lose sleep over. By the way the group leans left and included a handfull of indefenible Democrats along with mostly Republicans who they clearly have policy differences with. (Well Mark Sanford is on the list its not all policy.)

The List:

In compiling Worst Governors, CREW reviewed the job performances of all 50 U.S. governors before identifying the worst 11. Though ethics laws, campaign finance rules and financial disclosure regulations vary from state to state, CREW found these governors’ proclivities for corruption, cronyism and self-enrichment outweighed their competency, integrity and commitment to transparency.

CREW’s unranked list of the 11 worst governors includes:

• Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS);
• Gov. Donald Carcieri (R-RI);
• Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV);
• Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA);
• Gov. David Paterson (D-NY);
• Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA);
• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX);
• Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM);
• Gov. Mike Rounds (R-SD);
• Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC); and
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA).

How long before they add Chris Christie to the list?