Assistant land commissioner Lane asked to resign

State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn on Monday asked Jim Lane to step down as an assistant commissioner after revelations that Lane’s resignation two years ago as director of the state Department of Game and Fish came after a subordinate accused him of sexual harassment. In a statement to The New Mexican late Monday, Dunn blamed “dirty politics” for what he said was the disclosure of contents of Lane’s personnel files. A spokeswoman for Dunn said that when the State Land Office conducted a background check before hiring Lane for his $92,000-a-year job in March, Game and Fish did not turn over any records related to the sexual harassment allegations. The spokeswoman, Laura Riley, said Dunn’s office learned about the allegations “significantly later.” Dunn, whose State Land Office is independent of the Martinez administration, avoided any mention of the sexual harassment accusations in his statement Monday that he had accepted Lane’s resignation “due to the recent disclosure of private personnel file contents.” Dunn noted that the personnel information about Lane became public at a time when Dunn’s office is negotiating with the Department of Game and Fish over the fees charged for hunter access to state trust land...more