Gov. Susana Martinez
The challenges of the last couple of weeks have brought some highs and lows for Gov. Susana Martinez.
First the high. Martinez essentially passed the test in the way she handled a record-breaking storm that hit New Mexico and knocked out natural gas to many communities, The Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting.
From the article:
“‘I can’t see what she could have done better,’ said Taos Mayor Darren Córdova. ‘I would give her an A-plus.’
“…In Española, Mayor Alice Lucero said residents would have been worse off had Martinez not been so proactive.“‘Had it not been for her intervention, I think we really could have been off a lot longer,’ Lucero said.
“‘With the information she had, she did the best she could,’ she added.”
Then the low: While Martinez didn’t know that her then-nominee to head the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, Harrison Schmitt, had refused a required Senate background check, The New Mexican reports that Martinez’s administration knew exactly what was going on:
“When reporters asked Gov. Susana Martinez about Harrison Schmitt refusing to sign papers authorizing a background check – a refusal that led to him withdrawing his nomination for a cabinet position – she said Thursday that she’d only learned of the development a few moments before.
“However, an e-mail from Schmitt obtained Friday by The New Mexican indicates that Schmitt informed Martinez aides at least four days earlier.”
That raises some serious questions… the primary one being, if Martinez’s office knew one of her nominees was about to create a controversy for her, why didn’t anyone tell her? And why didn’t the administration deal with the situation before it became a public controversy?