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| CHASE STEVENS/AP |
Gov. Susana Martinez phoned police early Sunday morning demanding dispatch “call off” the cops who responded to a noise complaint at Santa Fe’s Eldorado Hotel & Spa, where the governor was hosting her staff’s holiday party.
“We are eating pizza and drinking Cokes,” Martinez said in the call, which was released by authorities. “I’m the Governor of the State of New Mexico, and we are in there with my sister, who’s disabled, along with about six other people, who are having pizza.”
Martinez later claimed she was not among the staffers whose wild antics, which included hurling items off a balcony, prompted the noise complaint. However, she apologized Friday for both the rowdy behavior and her defensive call to cops.
“I believe in people accepting responsibility and that is why I'm owning (up to) what happened, and I sincerely apologize,” Martinez said in a statement Friday.
Martinez admitted that she had one cocktail at the Saturday evening party, but maintained she was not drunk when she made the phone call, her spokesman told the Albuquerque Journal.
About 200 people attended the Republican governor’s annual staff holiday party at the downtown hotel's ballroom. The soiree featured a live band and dancing.
After the party, Martinez and staff helped clean up and retired to a staffer's hotel room to eat pizza.
At some point during the night, the hotel staff called cops to report a party in a fourth-floor room. Guests were throwing things — possibly glass bottles — off the balcony and ignored a hotel staffer’s repeated requests to quiet down, a front desk worker said in a call to cops.
Martinez’ spokesman Chris Sanchez said the noisy antics happened long before Martinez got to the room.
"Unbeknownst to the governor, there had been complaints about noise and someone throwing what turned out to be snowballs from the balcony of that room earlier in the night while the governor was in the ballroom,” her spokesman Chris Sanchez said.
Martinez learned about the complaints and went downstairs to assure hotel staff that those who caused the disturbance had left long ago, Sanchez said.
Then, she called the cops and demanded the department “call off” the officers. In the call, she insisted police give her the names of the hotel clerk, dispatchers and the police commander at the scene who lodged the complaint.
“It's public record. Give it to me,” she barked.
She ended the call when a police commander arrived on the scene.
Martinez apologized for the staff members who prompted the noise complaint Friday and reaffirmed that she wasn’t aware of their wild behavior.
“I want to apologize for the conduct of my staff the night of our holiday party," Martinez said in a statement Friday night. "There was apparently a party in a hotel room earlier in the night that was disruptive. Someone was also throwing snowballs from a balcony. None of that should have happened and I was not aware of the extent of the behavior, until recently. And that behavior is not acceptable.”
She also apologized for the testy phone call to cops.
“I also want to admit that I made a mistake when I went to speak to the receptionist and asked her about the complaint. I should not have gotten involved in trying to resolve the situation, nor should I have spoken to the dispatcher on the phone.” Martinez added. “Ultimately, the situation was under control, but it should have been handled much differently and I am responsible for that."
Martinez is the nation's only Latina governor and serves as the chair of the Republican Governors Association.
In 2014, she was elected to a second term as governor by a wide margin. Martinez also serves as the legal guardian for her older sister, who is developmentally disabled.
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