Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net
Gov. Bill Richardson (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
The governor’s office has until Thursday to formally respond to my request that it release information about the 59 political appointees Gov. Bill Richardson plans to lay off next month, but it’s beginning to sound like it may not release the information.
Jeremy Jojola of KOB-TV in Albuquerque reported Monday on an interesting e-mail exchange he had with Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos about his request for information about those who are losing their jobs.
The bottom line: Gallegos told Jojola that “there is no centralized list” of those being laid off and wrote that it’s “not necessary, nor is it appropriate or dignified, to identify individuals who are losing their jobs.”
Sarah Welsh, executive director of the N.M. Foundation for Open Government, disagreed:
“It’s a budget issue, most New Mexicans know we are in a huge budget crisis now, and this is one of the ways they are approaching it, and so people have an interest,” she told Jojola. “They have a right to know what positions are being cut.”
Jojola posted his entire e-mail exchange with Gallegos on his own Web site.
Here’s Jojola’s full report:
The governor’s office hasn’t formally denied Jojola’s request, or mine. I filed my request Dec. 2. On Dec. 7, I received a letter from the governor’s office notifying me that a response would be forthcoming within 15 days of the receipt of my request, as is required by the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. That means the office has until Thursday to respond.