A report says that Gov. Susana Martinez left without paying the bill at a local Santa Fe restaurant Wednesday.
That came from the Santa Fe Reporter, which spoke to the general manager of Five Star Burgers in Santa Fe. Martinez ordered a to-go order of a bison burger and fried green beans. When given the bill, the general manager—Robert Gonzales—said she crumpled up the ticket and threw it in the trash.
“I thought to myself ‘She is not going to pay for this. She is not gonna try,’” Gonzales told the Santa Fe Reporter.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the Santa Fe Reporter immediately, but did give a response to a TV station.
“This is a supersized nothing-burger,” spokesman Joseph Cueto told KOB-TV. “The governor pays for her meals, including this one, and attempting to exploit an obviously honest misunderstanding just demonstrates how petty our politics have become.”
Her office did give a response to the newspaper afterward, though did not respond to follow up questions and reporter said the governor’s spokesman hung up on him when asked for more information.
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The paper said they wanted to know “about the governor’s version of events, including when she paid.”
The Albuquerque Journal reported a man with Martinez paid for his own food but not Martinez’s.
The Santa Fe Reporter is an alt-weekly in Santa Fe that has frequently clashed with Martinez’s administration. The newspaper sued the Martinez administration for public records violations and accused the administration of violating its free expression rights granted under the state constitution by shutting the paper out of responses because of critical coverage.
The paper alleged Martinez’s administration stopped responding to the paper’s reporters after stories detailing secrecy and non-transparency in her administration.
The Five Star Burgers GM said he did not file a police report because the tab was less than $15.
Update: Added information from the Albuquerque Journal.
