Santa Fe New Mexican: Sen. Ivey-Soto faces inquiry on harassment claim

Santa Fe New Mexican: Sen. Ivey-Soto faces inquiry on harassment claim

"The current process right now will not even inform the public that anything is happening one way or the other," Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico. She said the process is "completely behind closed doors and out of public view. That does not instill trust in the public in the process itself." Nor will it encourage others who may have similar complaints against lawmakers to come forward, Ferguson added.

Senate lawmakers are looking into a lobbyist’s accusations of sexual harassment against state Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto.

But the investigatory process is so shielded by the Legislature’s anti-harassment guidelines that the public can’t even be informed a probe is ongoing — and that must be changed, open government advocates say.

“The current process right now will not even inform the public that anything is happening one way or the other,” Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico.

She said the process is “completely behind closed doors and out of public view. That does not instill trust in the public in the process itself.”

Nor will it encourage others who may have similar complaints against lawmakers to come forward, Ferguson added.