by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
State Treasurer James Lewis said government officials must work for the public, not themselves.
"As a public servant, it's not I. It's not you and me. It's us," he said. "If you have the I or the me at the forefront, that's a problem."
Lewis spoke Thursday at the SUB about ethics in government and two former state treasurers who were charged with corruption. About 100 people attended the lecture.
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Lewis was invited to speak because of the ethical reforms he has pursued while in office, said Amy Wohlert, interim dean of the Anderson Schools of Management.
Those reforms include investment regulations, regular internal and external audits, as well as a whistle-blower program, Lewis said.
Wohlert said the program was created to ensure that government officials cannot profit off of state investments.
"Ethics aren't just one person's responsibility," she said. "This gives an opportunity to really examine how we do things. As we can see with what happened with the treasurer's office in the past, without ethics you don't have government."
In February 2005, authorities arrested Treasurer Robert Vigil and his predecessor, Michael Montoya, under federal extortion charges. Montoya was sentenced in September to 40 months in prison for extortion. Vigil was given 37 months in September 2006 for attempted extortion.
Lewis said Montoya and Vigil committed ethical violations by receiving financial kickbacks from state treasury investments.
"This was perpetrated for eight years," he said. "This is something we don't tolerate. This is not business as usual, and we're going to do something about it."
Lewis said his top priority since elected in November 2006 is to restore honesty and integrity to the treasury.
"I have restructured and reorganized the office to enhance proficiency," he said. "We asked each division director to turn that office upside down and look at every process we have in there to make it accountable and responsible."
Lewis said he is fighting white-collar crime and fraud through investment regulations and audits.
He said the treasury is free of corruption, but it will take time to set up regulations to make sure it is not abused again.
"We have a Herculean task that we are undertaking," he said. "When you build a team, you've got to build it one block at a time. It's a lot of work from sunup to sundown."
Interim Provost Viola Florez said students need to learn about ethical practices in the professional world.
"It is important for students to learn more about the best practices in government, and it only complements what they're learning in their course work," she said.
