The New Mexico Contracts Database Website

The New Mexico Contracts Database Website, link, is up and running.

It looks polished, professional and user friendly. It should be a real asset to anyone looking for rudimentary information on contracts involving state agencies and valued in excess of $20K.

A cursory examination reveals a couple of problems;

1. if you want specific and detailed information on a particular contract, you must contact the agency that let the contract. Specifically, you must contact the Custodian of Public Records for that particular agency. The identity of the Custodian is not available on the database site, nor is their email address, making the process that much more cumbersome.
2. Additionally, the data base will only be updated at the end of each fiscal year. Actually, the fiscal year ends June 30th, but the data will not be posted until as late as October of the next fiscal year.

So if you want information on current year contracts,
the website will be of little value.

Finally, one of the very first things you read when you open the site, will be the following statement;

"The Executive Branch of Government strongly supports the principles of transparency in government as a means of building trust and demonstrating public accountability."

... an utterly laughable premise
as far as the Governor's Office
is concerned, link, link, and link.




photo Mark Bralley