By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Albuquerque city workers who report fraud or wrongdoing at City Hall now have stronger legal protections after the City Council unanimously approved two overhauls Monday to protect whistleblowers and strengthen the city’s fraud watchdog.
Councilors unanimously approved the Accountability in Government Ordinance, which Councilor Brook Bassan sponsored. The measure merges two city laws into a single set of rules for the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee, the Office of Internal Audit and the Office of the Inspector General. Bassan said the ordinance clarifies that waste means “inefficient use” rather than abuse, gives the inspector general 30 days instead of 15 to publish revised reports, and allows councilors to grant one-year certification extensions for the auditor and inspector general. She said the administration also identified several updates, including allowing the mayor to review proposed oversight policies, requiring the watchdog offices to report job vacancies in their annual reports, and directing suspected criminal activity to law enforcement instead of prosecutors. The ordinance also allows the watchdog offices to hire outside legal counsel and requires them to report significant use of vacation or sick leave to the oversight committee.
The council also unanimously approved Bassan’s companion measure, O-26-41, updating the city’s Whistleblower Ordinance. The ordinance defines what qualifies as a whistleblower...
The Civil Court has ordered a beauty clinic and a doctor to pay a customer 20,000 baht in compensation after ruling that part of its advertising for acne scar treatment was false. In its ruling ye...