Vehicle Abuse at Probation and Parole Department Not Isolated Incident
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CHARLENE KNIPFING’S CHRISTMAS POT LUCKS
The Espanola birthday frolic for Charlene Knipfing, Director of the New Mexico Probation and Parole Department is not an isolated incident of vehicle abuse, several Correction of Department employees inform us.It seems state-owned vehicles have been used on more than one occasion to ferry employees to parties arranged by Knipfing away from the office.
Charlene Knipfing
We reported last week how Knipfing requested a birthday luncheon at Angelina’s Restaurant in Espanola, and her administrative assistant arranged for Correction Department employees to drive in state vehicles from their Santa Fe office 40 miles to the restaurant and back. A tip from an alert and dedicated state employee tipped us off. We witnessed the vehicle abuse and snapped photos of the three state vehicles shuttling employees to Knipfing’s birthday meal. Knipfing was suspended for five days without pay for violating state law against personal use of state vehicles. The other employees are under investigation. New Mexico Administrative Code 1.5.3.20 prohibits any private use of state vehicles.
Since that report we have received e-mails from other current Correction Department employees of other shenanigans. An annual Christmas party at Knipfing’s house in the middle of the workday has been confirmed by the following e-mail. A state worker, frustrated at the blatant violation of state law, preserved this e-mail until she found someone who would publicize what’s been going on.
Here’s the e-mail. Rhonda Petty is Knipfing’s administrative assistant. Notice how many people were copied on this instruction to use state vehicles to bring state workers to Knipfing’s house party.
From: Petty, Rhonda, NMCD
Sent: Mon 12/8/2008 10:13 AM
To: Valdez, Elizabeth, NMCD; Knipfing, Charlene, NMCD; Helwig, Sherry, NMCD; Martinez, Debra C, NMCD; Shea, Jennifer, NMCD; Jablonski, David, NMCD; Martinez, Dolores V., NMCD; Chavez, Karen J., NMCD; Walsh, Deborah J, NMCD; Rodriguez, Tanya, NMCD; Ambabo, Jeremiah G., NMCD; Lucero, Benji, NMCD; Perdue, Paula, NMCD; Estrada, Michael, NMCD; Parish, Jo A., NMCD; Ebell, Phyllis, NMCD; Dole, Kris M., NMCD; Bobchak, Rose, NMCD; Duran, Elsie, NMCD; Carson, Gary T., NMCD; May, Robert, NMCD; Olsen, Tim, NMCD; Gonzales, Edward, NMCD; Larranaga, Gabriel, NMCD
Subject: Central Office Christmas Luncheon
Sent: Mon 12/8/2008 10:13 AM
To: Valdez, Elizabeth, NMCD; Knipfing, Charlene, NMCD; Helwig, Sherry, NMCD; Martinez, Debra C, NMCD; Shea, Jennifer, NMCD; Jablonski, David, NMCD; Martinez, Dolores V., NMCD; Chavez, Karen J., NMCD; Walsh, Deborah J, NMCD; Rodriguez, Tanya, NMCD; Ambabo, Jeremiah G., NMCD; Lucero, Benji, NMCD; Perdue, Paula, NMCD; Estrada, Michael, NMCD; Parish, Jo A., NMCD; Ebell, Phyllis, NMCD; Dole, Kris M., NMCD; Bobchak, Rose, NMCD; Duran, Elsie, NMCD; Carson, Gary T., NMCD; May, Robert, NMCD; Olsen, Tim, NMCD; Gonzales, Edward, NMCD; Larranaga, Gabriel, NMCD
Subject: Central Office Christmas Luncheon
Folks: This is a reminder that Central Office staff is invited to attend a luncheon on Charlene’s home this coming Friday 12/12/08. Employees will need to meet at the Monte Vista office at 11 a.m. for a brief meeting, & then everyone will go to Charlene’s house for lunch. Staff members are asked to utilize state vehicles for carpooling purposes. Mileage will not be reimbursed in the event that personal vehicles are used.
Reminder for gift exchange: If you are participating in the Secret Santa 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange, please bring your first gift tomorrow & each day thereafter. Identities will be revealed on the last day of the gift exchange. For more details, please see Karen Chavez or Paula Perdue. If you are participating in the White Elephant gift exchange, please bring your wrapped unisex gift valued at $15-20 on Friday to Charlene’s house.
Reminder for food items: Please bring an item for the luncheon on Friday. If you have not signed up for a particular item, please contact me or Karen Chavez to advise what you will bring. The sign-up sheet with present items listed is attached for your review.
Please RSVP to me today if you will be attending the luncheon on Friday. Charlene needs a final count to begin food prepartaions. Thanks!
Rhonda W. Petty
Administrative Assistant
Probation & Parole Division
New Mexico Corrections Department
P: (505) 827-8830 F: (505) 827-8831
No Comment from the Corrections Department
Our last report drew a quick response from the Corrections Department. We forwarded this e-mail last week to Tia Bland, the Correction Department’s Public Information Officer. We have so far received no response to our question whether this was an appropriate use of taxpayer-owned vehicles.
Posted under News.
Tags: Charlene Knipfing, New Mexico Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole Division
13 Comments For This Post So Far
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Probation and Parole Whistleblowers Face Threats
[...] photographs of the threat. The threat was posted following reports on this site concerning vehicle abuse by Division Director Charlene Knipfing and about a dozen of her managers and others and a report [...]
9:54 pm on April 28th, 2010
Absolutely disgusting! DOC no money, no reliable state vehicles for prisons, now we know why, how many other people in Central Office don’t have required qualifications? Elona Cruz, Certificate from IBC a non accredited school….? Travel to Las Cruces to see her son play baseball all on state time state money? Warden Lupe Marshal from western travels down every week in her state vehicle to Las Cruces on on state funds and they get reimbursed for their travel time… Make up tasks to do in las cruces so they can come down here to conduct personal business.
Institutions suffer while central office has all the money so that all those people can sit around and drink coffee….. Who are these people anyway? What do they do? How many are friends and relatives to Secretary Williams?
Joe YOU CREATED A MONSTER! RETIRE ALREADY!
3:56 pm on April 29th, 2010
Reminder: “The Devil’s Butchershop”. It’s a culture of corruption, and we’ve allowed it to continue. A MILLION THANKS TO Jim and the fed-up employees. I can only imagine their frustration.
9:40 pm on April 29th, 2010
This is just a tiny bit of information about the Department of Corrections and Probation/Parole. Watchdog….you should get a hold of some of the employees and get the real scoop. You will be floored with all the crap that Charlene and her cronies get away with. Most of the the people there could file lawsuits and never have to work again. Ask them about how all the corruption information was put together and taken to Lt. Governor Denish and how Denish and her staff swept it under the rug too! Charlene and Joe need to fired right along with the Governor and all the corrupt employees they hire to help them commit crime.
10:47 pm on April 29th, 2010
It is amazing someone finally caught on she isnt the only supervisor in that dept. that uses state vehicles for private use. Most office supervisors take stae vehicles home and use them as if they were there own personal vehicles. More probing whould find that even the state police use vehicles as personal vehicles. We the tax payers are paying for state officials to have the luxury of having free meals gas and miles but nothing will change. They get a verbal warning then find a better way to cover it up.
8:44 pm on April 30th, 2010
Amazing the Department is appealing a ruling to allow Union stewards to drive state vehicles to meetings with THEM. The same meetings they are driving state vehicles to attend ! Just goes to show all the corrupt losers running probation and parole think this is the private sector and they actually own everything. NEW FLASH Ms. Knipfing and your minions …. this is not Microsoft and you are not Bill Gates … this is the state and everything you are abusing belongs to the taypayers !!
6:47 pm on May 3rd, 2010
You think Charlene is only person in the Department of Corrections misusing a state vehcile, just today 5-3-2010 a Depury Warden at the prison in Los Lunas was seen taking Alen Weh signs out of her state vechile. NOW THAT IS REALLY A MISUSE OF A STATE VEHCILE, AND ALSO AGAINST THE CORRETIONS DEPARTMENT CODE OF ETHICS POLICY
7:46 pm on May 3rd, 2010
Names, please.
9:48 pm on May 3rd, 2010
Larry Flynn, Elona Cruz, Tanya Rodriguez, Joe Williams, Rose Bobchak, Joann Perrish, Rhonda Petty, Jim Brewster, Elsie Duran, Sheri Bell….Mr. Scarantino we could give you the entire roster………..
10:34 pm on May 5th, 2010
If you hang leg or kiss butt or both at Central, you get whatever you want. Oh, the stories that could be told. Corrupt. Nasty. Creepy. And an abomination to this state’s tax payers.
1:39 am on May 6th, 2010
included in the entire roster………Charlene Knipfing, David Jablonski, Robert May, Tim Olsen…..
4:39 pm on September 16th, 2011
Shame on watchdog! Your energy should be focused on the kids getting free lunch at school while talking on their Iphone’s. These are working, tax paying people that work twice as hard so other lazy takers dont have to. Its your money as well. WAKE UP! CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES!
8:34 am on September 25th, 2011
Defencelawdog professes a concern about children taking money away from hard working people like him or herself. He or She further admonishes the Watch Dog and advises them to choose their battles.
Okay; let’s talk about Larry Franco, the money he cost the state and of course the children involved.
For the record, as a Law Enforcement Officer with the Henderson Nevada Police Department, Larry Franco had no problem tipping off drug dealers to reveal the identity of Police Officers who were working undercover.
For the record, Mr. Franco has sustained Sexual Harassment complaints while working in the capacity as a Supervisor with NMCD’s Probation Parole Department. So once again he exploited his position of authority, all while occurring in a Department with a “Zero Tolerance” policy.
Meanwhile through the years the turnover rate in the Farmington Office continued, as one by one the Whistle Blowers were ostracized by Larry Franco and his clique. No problem there though, as he just continued to harass anyone who exposed him for the dangerous fraud that he is; and make no mistake about it, Larry Franco is a dangerous man. Tampering with the Union’s computer in his attempt to produce a set up in the making is evidence to that fact.
Larry Franco and a host of others within NMCD’s managerial rank and filed have hurt, and attempted to destroy many people over the years. During that time, I didn’t hear anyone from Regional Management or their followers complaining then. It’s only after they are left hanging in the wind with no support from high ranking managerial staff to cover up their dirty deeds, that they squawk the loudest.
In spite of the fact that there were many Whistle Blowers who put themselves out on the limb, Larry Franco not only prevailed, but thrived through it all because of the cowards that protected him. Larry Franco had a “God Like” complex that pushed the envelope, and the result was the FBI raided his house. Yet here on these forums the very same “Whistle Blowers” are referred to as “Whiners”. Perhaps if their 6 year old daughters were on those videos they would be thinking a tad bit differently.
In closing, with respect to the children in the videos referenced; anyone who has any compassion for the children wouldn’t be trivializing the criminal harm that those videos caused by ridiculing those who tried to stop Larry Franco. In doing so, they unwittingly expose their own “lack of character” on public record for all to see; their days of lawlessness are counting down.
Choose your Battles? Stay on them Watch Dog, these people are dangerous and costly in many ways.