Legislators quietly began telling me months ago that Gov. Bill Richardson was illegally making hires without approval of the legislature.
It’s no secret that the governor gets to make almost 650 such appointments when he takes office, but Richardson has apparently made about 710 appointments. The more than 60 jobs he allegedly created in violation of state law cost $3.5 million in taxpayer money.
“They’re political payoffs, and we’re squandering state resources,” Sen. Leonard “Lee” Rawson, R-Las Cruces, told Larry Barker of the television station KRQE in Albuquerque. “This is a deliberate ‘in-your-face’ to the legislature and the public.”
Republicans have been joined by some Democrats in their criticism, including Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque.
“This governor is violating the law,” McSorley told Barker.
Republican Sen. Kent Cravens of Albuquerque has delivered a petition to Attorney General Patricia Madrid asking for an investigation. It’s signed by 25 legislators.
KOB-TV, another Albuquerque station, continued shining attention on the allegations with a story this weekend.
One source told me legislators haven’t publicly challenged the governor on his hirings before now because he is such a master at political bargaining – meaning, if you cross him, he’ll veto your capital outlay money and might just finance your opponent’s campaign. But some senators are now speaking for the record because they are fed up with Richardson blaming them for many of his proposals dying in this year’s legislative session, the source said.
Others suggested the obvious: Richardson is up for re-election this year. He’s a target.
It seems probable that both motives are at play. There is a real issue here, but why didn’t it come out before?
Though we’re talking about $3.5 million in taxpayer money, one source I spoke with wondered how much voters will care. Many continue to see Richardson as a man who cuts through red tape to move the state forward. One longtime Democrat with few political ties told me Richardson is a good man who can be trusted, so we should allow him to violate state law because there must be a good reason he does it. We’ll just start enforcing the law again when the next governor takes office, he said.
Some told me they worry the public won’t care at all.
Former Gov. Gary Johnson has come down from Mount Everest to tell Barker that “we should absolutely care, because we’re paying for it.”
Richardson has chosen to not address the issue publicly. His chief of staff, David Contarino, told Barker “these kind of technical issues are not on the governor’s agenda right now.”
Democrat Madrid finds herself in a difficult position, one source said in analyzing the situation. She used to take on the governor on many high-profile issues, including that infamous airplane and his attempt to remove New Mexico State University’s student regent because he didn’t like her votes.
But Madrid now finds herself in a tight race for the U.S. House seat held by Republican Heather Wilson. It’s a heavily funded race that’s being watched nationally. Madrid has already suffered the sting of criticism, fair or not, that she failed to investigate former treasurer Robert Vigil, who is facing public corruption charges that could land him in jail for quite some time. Critics have said Madrid is soft on crime and won’t go after Democrats. They’ll say it again if she doesn’t investigate Richardson.
But Madrid, who is from Las Cruces, needs Richardson to support her campaign, a source told me. Plus, should she lose the race, Madrid may look for jobs in the Richardson or John Edwards administrations, should either be elected president in 2008.
So what’s the next course of action for the attorney general? Sources I spoke with hope she doesn’t let politics influence her decision. But if the criticism continues to mount, she’ll have to make some public announcement.
In this election year, Richardson will also have a tough time ignoring this, if the criticism continues.
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Thanks for reading today. Come back tomorrow for the latest on New Mexico politics.