Susana Martinez: New Mexico Governor Apologizes for Staff’s Behavior and Way She Handled It

New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez apologized on Friday for the way her staff behaved at her annual holiday party. She also apologized for the way she handled the whole situation. Police were...
Susana Martinez: New Mexico Governor Apologizes for Staff’s Behavior and Way She Handled It
Written by Kimberly Ripley

New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez apologized on Friday for the way her staff behaved at her annual holiday party. She also apologized for the way she handled the whole situation.

Police were called to the fourth floor of the Eldorado Hotel & Spa last Sunday at around 1:30 a.m., following a noise complaint called in to the front desk, and reports that people were throwing things off the balcony from the same room.

On Friday, the audio recordings of Susana Martinez’s conversation with Santa Fe County dispatchers was released and posted by media outlines, as well as online. The governor told a dispatcher she was in the room with her disabled sister, as well as six other people.

“We are eating pizza and drinking Cokes, and whoever was throwing bottles is not there, hasn’t been there for like six hours,” Susana Martinez said. She also said she had been in the room for only two hours.

Governor Susana Martinez was hosting her annual holiday party in the ballroom of the hotel that Saturday night.

“Unbeknownst to the governor, there had been complaints about noise and someone throwing what turned out to be snowballs from the balcony of that room earlier in the night while the governor was in the ballroom,” Chris Sanchez, a spokesman for the governor, said.

Susana Martinez also gave the front desk clerk–as well as the dispatcher and the police commander on scene–demanding to know who lodged the complaint.

“It’s public record. Give it to me,” she’s heard saying during one of the calls.

Governor Martinez also told dispatchers they should call off the officers, adding there was no reason for them to respond to the hotel.

“I want to apologize for the conduct of my staff the night of our holiday party,” Susana Martinez said in Friday’s statement. “There was apparently a party in a hotel room earlier in the night that was disruptive. Someone was also throwing snowballs from a balcony. None of that should have happened and I was not aware of the extent of the behavior, until recently. And that behavior is not acceptable.

“I also want to admit that I made a mistake when I went to speak to the receptionist and asked her about the complaint. I should not have gotten involved in trying to resolve the situation, nor should I have spoken to the dispatcher on the phone. I was wrong to speak with them like that, and I apologize,” she added. “Ultimately, the situation was under control, but it should have been handled much differently and I am responsible for that.”

Some people suspect Susana Martinez was drunk at the time.

Susana Martinez is the only Latina governor in the U.S. She is serving her second term, which she won by a large margin.

What’s your take on the New Mexico governor’s behavior during last weekend’s situation at the hotel? Should she be reprimanded in some way for trying to hide whatever was going on in that hotel room? S

Do you agree that’s what it sounds like she was doing?

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