Cancer center director reimburses university for costs
ALBUQUERQUE — The director of The University of New Mexico Cancer Research & Treatment Center says she shouldn’t have used her state e-mail account to send about 80 invitations for a fundraiser for Gov. Bill Richardson’s bid for the Democratic nomination for president.
Some of the invitations from Cheryl Willman to a fundraising breakfast Monday at her home went to other UNM medical staffers via their state e-mail addresses, the Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday in a copyright story.
Willman said Tuesday that only a few UNM staff members who were invited work for her, and most are peers or superiors.
She said she wrote the e-mail at home on her own time. However, she said she reimbursed the university $25.20 on Tuesday for costs associated with using its distribution system.
“In retrospect, I should not have used my unm.edu account” to distribute the invitations, she said.
Willman said about half the invitations went to UNM staffers, and she used UNM e-mail addresses for about half of those staffers and private e-mail address for the rest.
The invitation said anyone with questions could contact her through her UNM e-mail.
UNM’s policy on political activity prohibits employees from using “university supplies or equipment for campaign purposes.” It does not specifically address the use of e-mail.
Willman’s e-mail said Richardson and the president of the UNM regents, former state Democratic Party chairman Jamie Koch, asked her to play host to the fundraiser and to invite health sciences colleagues and others in the medical community.
“Please note that this is a private fundraising event, not a UNM-sponsored one,” the e-mail said. “While we would be very pleased for you to join us, you are under no obligation.”
The watchdog group Common Cause, contacted by the newspaper about the e-mail, said those who received it could have felt pressured.
“It suggests an insensitivity to where the line is between official business and private and political matters,” said a Common Cause spokeswoman, Mary Boyle.
Willman said she did not believe anyone felt pressured. In fact, she said, a lot of health care providers thanked her for the invitation because the breakfast gave them access to the governor to talk about their concerns.
“People know me pretty well,” she said. “If anyone had concerns about that e-mail, they could have expressed that to me. I didn’t receive any negative responses to that e-mail.”
Her invitation linked to an invitation prepared by Richardson’s campaign that suggested contribution amounts ranging from $100 to $500.
The Associated Press left a message Wednesday with the campaign asking how much the breakfast raised.
