Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net
Gov. Bill Richardson (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Gov. Bill Richardson announced today that his administration has notified 59 exempt employees that their jobs will be eliminated on Jan. 8.
Combined with the 47 that are currently vacant, that will cut 106 total positions – or 20 percent of political appointees in the governor’s administration — and save the state about $8.3 million, according to a news release from Richardson’s office.
“While the governor has worked hard to cut spending with minimum impact to state employees, the reality is that we have to trim the number of exempt employees,” Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said. “We value and appreciate the public service these employees provided to the State of New Mexico.”
The news release didn’t list the employees whose jobs are being cut or other information about them. I’ve filed a records request with the governor’s office for information about the 59 employees.
As I’ve written before, I’ve been blacklisted by the governor’s office for months. However, the office is required by the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act to respond to a formal request for records, so I can’t imagine they’ll ignore me this time. I’ll let you know.