EFTA01481094.pdf

Confidential Due Diligence Report - YHS LLC Copyright 2006 The New Mexican The Santa Fe New Mexican (New Mexico) August 17, 2006 Thursday SECTION: SANTA FE/EL NORTE; Pg. C-1 LENGTH: 878 words HEADLINE: ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: WEB SITE AIMS TO MAKE POLITICAL FUNDING MORE TRANSPARENT BYLINE: STEVE TERRELL BODY: Funding: So far only one candidate on site's list If you want to know who is giving how much money to what politicians in New Mexico races during most of the summer and early fall, you're pretty much out of luck. The way state campaign laws are set up, candidates for state and county offices don't file any financial-disclosure reports between July 6 and Oct. 9. However, a conservative blogger from Cedar Crest has created a Web site called Ethical Reporting -- subtitled The Campaign Finance Reporting Blog for Politicians With Nothing to Hide -- on which candidates can post their contributions, expenses and in-kind donations as they come in. Burgos has been a critic of the secretary of state's Web site, saying it's difficult to use and virtually impossible to search. "I'm an active Republican with a conservative blog who has run for political office in the past," Burgos says on his site. "Now that we have that out In the open, please know that this site will remain strictly nonpartisan." He later told me: "Nothing would make me happier than for Dens to participate as well." Burgos said he ran the idea by Matt Brix, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause. "I think it's a pretty creative effort on Mario's part," Brix said. "I would definitely encourage candidates to use it." So far, only one candidate is on the site's List of Ethical Politicians. That's state Rep. Kathy McCoy, of Cedar Crest, who won her seat in 2004 after defeating Burgos in the Republican primary. She's posted all donations and expenditures she incurred since the July 6 report. MCC0y is a member of the state task force that is recommending changes in ethics and campaign laws. "I thought it was appropriate as a task-force member to take this first step," she said. McCoy is running against Democratic challenger Janice Saxton of Placitas. Burgos -- who spent about 20 hours over the past three weeks and less than $200 creating the site -- said readers can add comments about individual contributions. "If somebody's getting money from someone who's dealing with the state, you can post a comment," he said. Candidates in turn can respond to the comments, he said. But he admitted there is one drawback: You can't click a button and total how much McCoy or future participants have raked in or spent. Confidential - This report is not to be disseminated or photocopied to any third party without the express consent of Global Corporate Security. Confidential Treatment Requested by JPM-SDNY-00003355 JPMorgan Chase CONFIDENTIAL SDNY_GM_00272553 EFTA01481094