New Mexico’s globetrotting Gov. Bill Richardson is heading to Mexico on Wednesday to discuss a number of issues with leaders there. We can only hope he remembered to tell the lieutenant governor this time around.
Richardson went to the Kentucky Derby on Saturday and accepted an award in Philadelphia without telling Lt. Gov. Diane Denish he would be out of state and she would be acting governor. Meanwhile, a fire was destroying dozens of homes near Albuquerque – a situation that required a close watch from those in charge.
The governor’s office told the Albuquerque Journal that failing to notify Denish was an “oversight.”
But it’s no secret that the relationship between Richardson and Denish hasn’t been rosy in recent months. She’s a supporter of Hillary Clinton and he’s a supporter of Barack Obama. There has been a dispute about the security Denish is (or is not) provided by the State Police. And Denish stepped into a fight between the governor and Senate during the legislative session by doing what the Senate wanted and accepting the capital outlay bill for the governor’s office after his staff went home and his office went dark.
The governor and lieutenant governor don’t have to like each other for state government to operate properly, but they do have to communicate.
Richardson will be accompanied by three cabinet secretaries and the state police chief on his trip to Mexico. Among the items on his agenda is a speech on Thursday at the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Association Conference in Sonora. He’ll return later on Thursday.
