Contarino and his ex-employees

marjorie says...

On occasion I have the opportunity to be in full agreement with the Journal, such as today when they editorialized against the revolving door between government and corporations. Following on the news that Richardson #1 guy Dave Contarino is now working for Value Options, the Journal pointed out the problem in a nutshell:

Contarino used to be the boss of Cabinet secretaries who will now be evaluating the company's proposal for a new four-year contract. And Richardson, whose two most recent campaigns received $75,000 from ValueOptions' parent company, executives and state lobbyists — still is the boss of the Cabinet secretaries.

And then the Journal opined that regardless of legalities, if ValuOptions gets the $300 million contract to manage the state's behavioral health care program, the public will never really know if it was the best company for the job, or simply the company with the highest campaign donations and the best connections.

This is a sad state of affairs. Because maybe it is the best company. Just like a certain politician running for office now, though, the connections tarnish the picture.