Is Williams Stapleton the mystery lawmaker?

KRQE investigative reporter Larry Barker, link, didn't accuse Rep Sheryl Williams Stapleton outright of being the "unknown legislator who;

"... appears to have slipped a couple of sentences into New Mexico’s $2 billion budget bill in 2008 that authorized the (Sheryl Williams Stapleton) center to receive $349,000 a year through the State Fair." "A special appropriation that was put on the backside of legislation slid into a large piece in order to benefit a particular group.”

But one doesn't have to read too far between the lines to get his drift.


Barker's report gave no indication that he had asked Williams Stapleton, seen here at the dedication ceremony for the building bearing her name, if she was, in fact, the mystery legislator.

Not that she would have answered his question. She already shut a door in his face once, link, rather than answer his questions, and that points to a certain unwillingness on her part, to stand and deliver candid, forthright and honest responses to the legitimate questions that have been raised.

The most troubling aspect of the whole thing is that a legislator, whether it's Williams Stapleton or not, can apparently change legislation without going through any of the usual change processes; public debate, voting, etc.

Erase a line, add a line, who's gonna notice, who cares?

It would appear that were it not for the Larry Barkers of the world, there are few controls on what goes on in the legislature and state government except for blind trust, and I find that profoundly disturbing.




photos Mark Bralley