Transparency problems plague Spaceport America

The N.M. Spaceport Authority has violated the state’s transparency laws several times this year, blocking or delaying public access to information about the spaceport

Spaceport America is a publicly owned government entity, so the law requires its financial and other dealings to be open to the public, with few exceptions.

And yet in 2017 the N.M. Spaceport Authority, the state agency that runs the spaceport, has violated the state’s transparency laws several times in response to requests for documents filed by NMPolitics.net, a citizen from Truth or Consequences, and a reporter with KTSM-TV in El Paso. Those violations, in addition to other possible infractions, blocked or delayed public access to information about the spaceport.

Dan Hicks, the spaceport’s CEO, prefers to meet face-to-face instead of responding to emails. He made many efforts during the course of my months-long investigation of the spaceport to answer questions. That included hosting a forum at Spaceport America with journalists and economists to discuss the spaceport’s economic impact.

Those discussions, as NMPolitics.net reported earlier this week, revealed reason for optimism about Spaceport America’s future as an economic driver.

 

Full story:  http://nmpolitics.net/index/2017/08/transparency-problems-plague-spaceport-america/