Jan. 7—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham finally got tough with a band of inept, free-spending university administrators she appointed. Even so, one will remain in power for at least a few more weeks.
Lujan Grisham’s camp first issued a statement Tuesday saying the five regents of Western New Mexico University are no longer in power, either because their terms expired or because they quit at the governor’s request.
“I have accepted the regents’ resignations and will appoint new leaders who understand their primary duty to the public trust,” Lujan Grisham said.
It wasn’t quite that simple.
Trent Jones, Western’s student regent, remained in office. The university’s controversial president, Joseph Shepard, described Jones as a sitting regent with all-important powers as treasurer of the board.
“I want to thank you for your continued participation because without you, Regent Jones, we would not be able to make payroll,” Shepard said during what was supposed to be a special meeting of the regents. “We would not even be able to do the refund checks to the students.”
After a deeper dive into case law, a spokesperson for Lujan Grisham said Jones is within his rights to stay in power.
“I can confirm the student regent is properly serving in a ‘holdover’ position until his successor is confirmed by the Senate,” the aide wrote in an email Tuesday night. “I can also confirm he has all the authority he had before his term expired. In other words, if he was authorized to sign the check before his term expired, the expiration will have no impact on this authority.”
After Shepard praised Jones for staying on the board, the special meeting ended in 2 minutes and 41 seconds. The coordinator of the online session said the other four regents had resigned, leaving the board without a quorum.
Only three weeks ago, when all five regents were in power, they unanimously approved a balloon payment of more than $1.9 million to Shepard in return for his resignation.
He is to receive the money by Jan. 15, his last day as president. Unclear is whether the regents already have paid Shepard. Neither he nor a university spokesperson responded to that question, though I posed it several times Tuesday.
State Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s staff sent a letter to the regents on Friday demanding they withhold the money. Torrez filed suit this week in hopes of obtaining a preliminary injunction to block the severance payment to Shepard.
A hearing on Torrez’s lawsuit is scheduled for Monday in Silver City before state District Judge Jarod Hofacket. But is the issue moot?
Lauren Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the attorney general, said even litigators in her office don’t know if Shepard already has the money.
One of Torrez’s deputies wrote the letter criticizing university regents for the deal they struck with Shepard.
“The lump-sum payment under the Separation Agreement is substantially more than President Shepard would have received if he were terminated without cause under the terms of his existing Employment Agreement,” the letter stated.
Shepard was under contract until June 30, 2027. He made $365,000 a year in base salary, and he received an annual bonus of $50,000. Western has about 3,500 students, slightly higher than enrollment when Shepard became president in 2011.
A story a year ago by Searchlight New Mexico outlined expenditures by Shepard that eventually received attention from State Auditor Joseph Maestas. The auditor issued a report in November saying Shepard and the regents spent more than $360,000 on travel and merchandise in violation of the university’s own rules.
Western’s regents authorized the $1.9 million balloon payment to Shepard less than a month after Maestas’ report.
They also agreed contractually to make Shepard a full professor in Western’s School of Business. He is to receive at least $200,000 annually for five years in a job with minimal responsibilities. Shepard is to teach two online classes per semester after going on a paid eight-month sabbatical to prepare for the task.
Lujan Grisham waited until New Year’s Eve to write a brief letter asking Western’s regents to resign. She issued a stronger statement Tuesday.
“The WNMU Board’s tone-deaf decision to approve a $1.9 million severance package for Dr. Shepard demonstrated an appalling disconnect from the needs of our state, where the median income of a family of four is just $61,000.”
Lujan Grisham shares in the blame for long-standing excesses at Western. She selected the five regents she now says did a disservice to students and taxpayers. And state senators robotically approved the governor’s choices, as they almost always do.
In addition to Jones, Western’s Board of Regents was made up of Mary Hotvedt, Lyndon Haviland, Dal Moellenberg and Daniel H. Lopez.
They were supposed to be good fiscal agents of Western and thoughtful supervisors of Shepard. Instead they became a circus act that’s been reduced to a sideshow of one.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.