Public Regulation Commissioner Doug Howe
Public Regulation Commissioner Doug Howe, whose appointment by Gov. Susana Martinez has been at the center of recent controversy because he’s gay, says it’s unfortunate that some are promoting “an agenda of intolerance and bigotry.”
However, Howe says, he won’t be distracted from doing his job.
Howe’s statement comes in response to an NMPolitics.net article about Martinez, a Republican, appointing him to office and the ensuing controversy. The article sparked anger among some social conservatives including Legacy Church’s Pastor Steve Smothermon, who told NMPolitics.net Martinez had broken a pledge to not “espouse the homosexual agenda.” In response, gay-rights activists held a protest in front of Smothermon’s church on Sunday.
Here’s Howe’s full statement:
“The media has run a number of stories recently concerning statements made by Rev. Steve Smothermon about Gov. Susana Martinez’s appointment of me to the interim position of commissioner for the 3rd District of the Public Regulation Commission (PRC). I am issuing this statement today as my first and last comments on Mr. Smothermon’s statements and the controversy that has enveloped them.
“Gov. Martinez has made it repeatedly clear that she chose the candidate for PRC on no other basis than ability to get the job done. I believe she correctly determined that given the condition that the PRC was in, it was important to fill the position as quickly as possible with a candidate who was highly qualified, experienced in regulation and could hit the ground running. I believe that the governor is to be commended for having put the interest of New Mexico ahead of political expediency.
“It is unfortunate that a small minority is using the governor’s PRC appointment process to promote an agenda of intolerance and bigotry. But I have no control over the actions of others and I will not be distracted by them. Job #1 for me is to focus on the important and complex issues in front of the PRC and, in the remainder of the year that I will serve on the commission, to put all of my efforts into leaving it a better institution with a brighter future than past.”
Howe has announced that he won’t seek re-election so he can instead focus on the job. He will leave office at the end of the year.
Support for Howe
Many in the public arena are expressing support for Howe and Martinez. State Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, last week thanked Martinez for “sticking to her guns,” the Albuquerque Journal reported. Egolf praised her for “resisting the small-minded comments of a hateful person.”
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, said it’s time to put matters such as Howe’s sexual orientation aside.
“Let the man do his business,” Democracy for New Mexico quoted Jennings as saying. “He is very qualified. … What matters is what is best for the State of New Mexico.”
And the Albuquerque Journal, on its editorial page, wrote that Martinez was “100 percent correct to place the value of a PRC commissioner on his or her qualifications.” The Journal highlighted Howe’s qualifications before making this point:
“And unlike two recent ex-commissioners, both of whom were in heterosexual marriages, he doesn’t have a felony record.”