Press Release
Colfax County Commissioners
Media Contacts: County Manager Monte Gore
For Immediate Release
Raton, New Mexico (10/28, 2022)
The Colfax County Commission hereby responds to KRTN’s statements on October 27, 2022, mostly cited from Roadrunner Health Services which were related to a former County Manager, Mary Lou Kern.
Although the Commission cannot comment on the on-going investigation by the New Mexico State Ethics’ Commission and/or the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office against Ms. Kern related to her conduct and actions addressed in KRTN’s statements, the Commission hereby states that the KRTN’s statements from the Roadrunner Health Services were not accurate and appears to be intentionally attempt to mislead the public from the details of the on-going investigations against Ms. Kern.
The statements from the Roadrunner Heath Services cannot be “true” or “fact” or “proof” given the fact that Ms. Kern held a high-level position as Chief Financial Officer with the Roadrunner Health Services and Ms. Kern has become the target of investigation for violation of the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act.
Without disclosing further, the Commission reiterates that Ms. Kern did not properly follow the County’s procurement policy which mandated approval from the County Commission in certain instances while the Roadrunner Health Services significantly exceeded the allowed budget under the contract and over the contracted maximum amount stated in the contract. The County has identified invoices submitted by the Roadrunner Health Services which contained personal purchases and other materials unrelated to the services provided by them or not allowed, and yet approved by Ms. Kern while Ms. Kern did not obtain approval from the Commission or did not disclose these discrepancies to the Commission as part of her duties as the former County Manager.
In addition, the Commission states that the County made immediate remedial actions to correct these injustices after they discovered them in or about May 2022 by referring this matter to independent neutral forensic accounting firm and/or proper legal authorities.
The Commission expects that Ms. Kern’s conduct associated with Roadrunner Health Services shall be fully addressed through proper legal proceedings and it shall continuously cooperate with proper legal authorities to continuously uphold the Public Trust.
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