The Association of Inspectors General (AIG) is deeply concerned by the drawn out failure of the Accountability and Government Oversight Committee (AGOC) to hold timely meetings for the City of Albuquerque Office of Inspector General (OIG) to present their reports for publication. For these five long months, nine reports addressing fraud, waste, and abuse remain unpublished in a clear breach of the City of Albuquerque’s promise to its residents for transparency in government. While government cannot be perfectly administered, transparency in a democracy demands that the AGOC should fulfill its basic duty of convening regular meetings so that the OIG can present it with reports of investigative findings and recommendations.
Today, AIG President Fletcher issued a letter to the Members of the Accountability and Government Oversight Committee from the City of Albuquerque. To download a copy, click here. A full text version of the letter is below.
April 2, 2025
Dear Members of the Accountability and Government Oversight Committee:
The Association of Inspectors General (AIG) is an independent, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization that represents thousands of members working in Inspectors General offices at all levels of government in the United States as well as internationally to advance the mission of independent oversight in government since 1996. The AIG is the author of the Principles and Standards for Offices of Inspector General, known as the “Green Book;” that provides guidance and best practices recognized as the gold standard for state and local government Offices of Inspector General.
The AIG is deeply concerned by the drawn out failure of the Accountability and Government Oversight Committee (AGOC) to hold timely meetings for the City of Albuquerque Office of Inspector General (OIG) to present their reports for publication. For these five long months, nine of these reports addressing fraud, waste, and abuse remain unpublished in a clear breach of the City of Albuquerque’s promise to its residents for transparency in government. While government cannot be perfectly administered, transparency in a democracy demands that the AGOC should fulfill its basic duty of convening regular meetings so that the OIG can present it with reports of investigative findings and recommendations.
For the AGOC not even to hold meetings sends a clear but unfortunate signal that it’s not interested in learning of misconduct within the City of Albuquerque let alone in formulating solutions to make its government operate more efficiently. This reluctance holds back the mission of government oversight and inevitably raises questions about the commitment to transparency.
An OIG’s ability to present the results of its work to government stakeholders and the public is a cornerstone of effective government oversight. When an oversight committee can essentially block the publication of OIG reports by failing to meet, it fundamentally undermines the very principles that Offices of Inspectors General are designed to uphold and the public ultimately suffers as a result.
We urge the AGOC to take immediate steps to convene regular meetings as it is required to do for the OIG to present all of its pending reports without further delay and to remove any barriers that restrict the OIG’s ability to publish its reports in a timely manner. The AIG stands ready to provide guidance and support in aligning Albuquerque’s OIG practices with national standards to ensure integrity, transparency, and accountability in governance.
Sincerely,
Will Fletcher
President, Association of Inspectors General
