{"id":1005,"date":"2006-12-15T19:36:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-16T01:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/madrid-wont-look-into-governors-hiring-practices\/"},"modified":"2006-12-15T19:36:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-16T01:36:00","slug":"madrid-wont-look-into-governors-hiring-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/madrid-wont-look-into-governors-hiring-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrid won’t look into governor’s hiring practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Attorney General Patricia Madrid has declined to investigate whether Gov. Bill Richardson has illegally made hires without legislative approval. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In an advisory letter<\/a> issued late today, Madrid<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> said the allegations are too broad and the evidence presented is too little to warrant an investigation.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cControlling authority establishes that the wide-ranging inquiry into executive practices being requested is neither appropriate or warranted,\u201d Madrid<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> said in a news release. \u201cIn their submission, those requesting an investigation have neither made allegations or presented any evidence that a public servant has received pay for services not rendered or that payments have been made in excess of legislative appropriations.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, delivered a petition in April to Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> calling for an investigation. It was signed by a bipartisan group of 25 legislators. Their complaint is that Richardson, who the Legislature gives approval to make almost 650 political appointments, has made more than 710. Those additional 60 or more jobs cost $3.5 million more than what was appropriated, legislators claim.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Madrid<\/st1:state>\u2019s letter does not specifically take a position on whether Richardson<\/st1:city> has made illegal hires, but it does cite case law and contain language that could be interpreted as approval of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s hiring.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s how Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s staff interpreted it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe opinion validates the constitutional authority of the chief executive to make personnel decisions and other managerial decisions in state government in a fiscally responsible way,\u201d said Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> spokesman Gilbert Gallegos. \u201cThe attorney general justifiably rejected the idea, argued by some senators, that the Legislature should be allowed to micromanage the governor\u2019s staff hiring decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In her letter, Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> gave five reasons for her decision:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 The request for an investigation does not allege or present evidence that a public employee is being paid for services not rendered.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cIt is not alleged and no evidence is presented that payments exceed legislative appropriations.\u201d (This is alleged by legislators, but they may not have presented evidence to Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.)<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 It\u2019s acknowledged that the governor has authority to make so-called \u201cexempt\u201d appointments.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 A general inquiry into the governor\u2019s hiring authority and practices \u201cis not consistent with applicable law that protects the executive branch from unwarranted intrusion with respect to the exercise of its executive managerial functions.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 Constitutional and statutory checks and balances exist that enable the Legislature \u201cto control the expenditure of public funds associated with the executive branch\u2019s hiring of personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sen. Leonard \u201cLee\u201d Rawson, R-Las Cruces, blasted Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> for refusing to investigate \u2013 and for waiting more than eight months to announce that. He noted that Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress this year, waited until after the election.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an untimely response issued after the election, when neither her or the governor could be affected. Perhaps this indicates why she is not qualified to be a congresswoman,\u201d Rawson said. \u201cA timely response is demanded. That\u2019s the nature of her job. To put this off for eight months is inexcusable and politically motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> spokeswoman Sam Thompson had no comment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the news release, Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> pointed out that \u201cstate government is divided into three distinct departments, the legislative, executive and judicial. No one charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments should exercise powers properly belonging to the other. Here, inherent in the exercise of its executive managerial functions is the executive branch\u2019s authority to make personnel decisions in line with the discharge of the governor\u2019s duties as prescribed by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She added this in her advisory letter:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cUnwarranted legislative intrusion into that authority of the executive branch to administer appropriated monies has encountered resistance from New Mexico courts when construing New Mexico\u2019s constitution and the balance of power provided for therein under the separation of powers provision,\u201d the letter states. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She adds that courts have determined that a proper balance must be maintained between oversight and giving the executive \u201cdiscretion over the expenditure of appropriated funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At the same time, Madrid<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> writes, \u201cthe legislative branch exercises its \u2018power of the purse\u2019 not only by appropriating money but also by reviewing and approving budgets of state agencies. The executive branch agencies must act within those budget limitations when making hiring decisions. The agencies may also make essential managerial decisions such as budget transfers and adjustments in accordance with law if necessary to cover the costs of personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rawson said the Legislative Finance Committee believes \u201cthis administration is out of control\u201d and has been giving false information to legislators.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to fight these battles in the session,\u201d Rawson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attorney General Patricia Madrid has declined to investigate whether Gov. Bill Richardson has illegally made hires without legislative approval. In an advisory letter issued late today, Madrid said the allegations are too broad and the evidence presented is too little to warrant an investigation. \u201cControlling authority establishes that the wide-ranging inquiry into executive practices being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}