Tuesday, August 9, 2011

PRC to Block: Immediately Resign

All four of Jerome Block Jr's fellow members of the state Public Regulation Commission signed a document this morning saying Block should resign from the PRC.

The commission put off until Thursday a vote of no confidence and a vote to replace Block as vice chairman of the PRC. This was a procedural deal. Commissioners Jason Marks and Theresa Becenti-Aguilar said they believe that the action should be put on the agenda because of the Open Meetings Act.

But both Marks and Becenti-Aguilar, along with Pat Lyons and Ben Hall,  put their names on the following statement. (Thanks to Geoff Grammer, who got the text of of the statement on his blog.)

Each of the PRC Commissioners below are deeply troubled by the recent events surrounding the allegations against Commissioner Jerome Block. We wish the best for Jerome and his family while he deals with these issues and sincerely hope that he receives whatever help he needs to get through this.


As public officials, we are always mindful of the fact that New Mexicans have placed us in a position of maintaining public trust and ensuring that taxpayers dollars are utilized in an appropriate and transparent manner and for the benefit of New Mexico Citizens.


Given the allegations and recent evidence that has surfaced, we encourage and urge Commissioner Block to immediately resign his position as soon as possible.


We will continue to fully cooperate with the appropriate agencies and look forward to putting this unfortunate distraction behind us and focus our efforts on working diligently for the citizens of New Mexico.

So these four PRC members join Gov. Susana Martinez and Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzalez in calling for Block's resignation.

Block did not attend Tuesday's meeting. Both Commission Chairman Pat Lyons and chief of staff Johnny Montoya said they had not spoken with Block. "I wanted him to be here," Lyons said.

The story in today's New Mexican about Block being names as a susoect in a car-theft case is HERE.