{"id":2046,"date":"2007-08-01T08:40:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-01T14:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/the-new-top-career-choice-%e2%80%93-educatorpublic-official\/"},"modified":"2007-08-01T08:40:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-01T14:40:00","slug":"the-new-top-career-choice-%e2%80%93-educatorpublic-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/the-new-top-career-choice-%e2%80%93-educatorpublic-official\/","title":{"rendered":"The new top career choice \u2013 educator\/public official"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Whitney Cheshire<\/span> <\/p>\n

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

Does twice the salary mean we should expect double the results?<\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s a growing trend in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> politics. More and more school administrators and teachers are pulling double duty, working their education jobs by day and serving as politicians by night.<\/p>\n

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

This would sound like the makings of Spiderman IV except for the fact that their so-called night jobs are not really night jobs. That, and there\u2019s the whole tight, red spandex suit thing… <\/p>\n

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

But needless to say, there are those who feel our educator\/public officials are the poster children for a clear \u201cconflict of interest.\u201d There\u2019s legitimate concern that public school employees could make budget and policy decisions that unfairly benefit their schools instead of their voting constituency.<\/p>\n

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

There is also criticism that such officials \u201cdouble dip\u201d into taxpayers\u2019 pockets. I\u2019ve been told the Albuquerque Public Schools actually offers 60 days of \u201cpolitical coverage\u201d – which includes substitute teachers – for elected educators.<\/p>\n

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

In short, public schools are smart to encourage their employees to seek elected office. If small businesses did the same – paying for their employees who wanted to serve – perhaps there would be a better representation of the public in the state Legislature and on our local governing bodies.<\/p>\n

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

The University<\/st1:placetype> of New Mexico<\/st1:placename> and New Mexico<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype> University<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> regents are just as smart.<\/p>\n

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

Three of Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s cabinet appointees will now be getting paid by these universities.<\/p>\n

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

Last week, much ado was made<\/a> over Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s hiring and payment arrangements for the new secretary of higher education, his deputy, and the new secretary of health. Half of the ado was over the jump in salary for those positions, and the other half concerned a potential conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

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

Can the new appointees act without conflict if their salaries are paid in part by the universities?<\/p>\n

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

I think that\u2019s a legitimate question, to be sure, and one that we tackled on The Line<\/a> last week. The appearance of a conflict is certainly there. That\u2019s why state Sen. John Arthur Smith requested a legal opinion on the matter.<\/p>\n

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

What about legislators?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

But if this payment structure really constitutes a conflict, what about state Rep. Rick Miera, who was a 20-year employee of UNM and is now the chairman of the House Education Committee? Or Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Cynthia Nava, who was just named interim superintendent of Gadsden<\/st1:city> schools in southern Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>? There\u2019s also Rep. Gail Chasey, a retired teacher and current chairwoman of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. And Republican Reps. Dub Williams, Dianne Hamilton and Theresa Zanetti, who serve on the House Education Committee \u2013 retired teachers, all.<\/p>\n

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

State Reps. Sheryl Williams Stapleton and Mimi Stewart \u2013 both of whom serve in leadership positions in the legislature \u2013 are currently on the APS payroll. And in 2004, Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename> elected three retired teachers to serve in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. <\/p>\n

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

On a local level, what can we make of Bernalillo County Commissioner Alan Armijo serving as the legislative lobbyist for APS? Or the discussion over whether or not Albuquerque City Councilor Brad Winter can serve two masters \u2013 the city of Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and the public school system \u2013 at the exact same time?<\/p>\n

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

Are they all in conflict?<\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s hard to see any difference whatsoever between the dual role that Nava plays and that which Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s new appointees will play.<\/p>\n

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

The legislature could prohibit public school employees from holding elected or appointed office. If you think there is an ethical problem with collecting payment from one public entity while serving as a policy-making, public official, that\u2019s the only remedy. Which, pardon me, is a terribly dumb idea. And, like the Hatch Act, in my humble opinion, one that would be unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

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

Because if the legislature did that, they\u2019d have to place the same restrictions on all publicly-paid employees. Firefighters, city accountants, open space officers, you name it. Most New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> politicians are paid tiny salaries or per diems for their public service. Most need another income to survive.<\/p>\n

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

In a nutshell, New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> is run by part-time, volunteer citizens at both the local and state levels, many of them current or retired public employees. All of them could be criticized for having a \u201cconflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Let\u2019s talk about real issues<\/span><\/p>\n

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

New Mexicans have a choice: We can try to cut down on the conflict by paying all of our elected officials a real salary (which would have very debatable results), or we can deal with the possibility of a conflict. After all, conflict can develop from nothing more than a personal preference. For example, physical therapists are likely to vote for things that benefit physical therapists.<\/p>\n

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

OK – our WMQB question of the day \u2013 If it\u2019s clear that many leaders in New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> are in the same dual-role-boat, what\u2019s with all the scrutiny? When it comes to the money, in this case, is it really about the \u201cwhere,\u201d or is it more about the \u201chow much?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

<\/span>We\u2019re going to guess it\u2019s the \u201chow much.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Two of the three new Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> appointees will be making approximately $100,000 more than their predecessors. The \u201cstink\u201d of it is that it\u2019s the new price tag for hiring someone who is qualified for the job.<\/p>\n

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

Fine. And I mean that. Let\u2019s pay more. Let\u2019s get the best. Let\u2019s do it. <\/p>\n

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

And then instead of talking about salaries<\/a>, e-mails<\/a>, and payment plans<\/a> we can start talking about results.<\/p>\n

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

Is our cancer death rate dropping? What about childhood obesity, high-school dropout rates, failing fourth-grader rates and numbers of students needing remedial coursework in college? What can we do to increase enrollment in vocational and technical schools, raise the average ACT score or raise the rate at which American Indians graduate from college?<\/p>\n

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

Those are the indicators of success and failure. We should be thanking our new cabinet appointees for taking on the jobs. They will not be easy.<\/p>\n

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

Let Reed Dasenbrock have his $275,000 salary. But let\u2019s find out what he\u2019s going to do with it, and then accept nothing less than success. After all, he\u2019s being paid for it.<\/p>\n

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

Cheshire<\/st1:city>, AKA the Wednesday Morning Quarterback, is a media relations and campaign consultant in Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. Her column runs every Wednesday. You can learn more about her by clicking here<\/a>. Contact her at wednesdaymorningqb@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Whitney Cheshire Does twice the salary mean we should expect double the results? There\u2019s a growing trend in New Mexico politics. More and more school administrators and teachers are pulling double duty, working their education jobs by day and serving as politicians by night. This would sound like the makings of Spiderman IV except […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cheshire-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046","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=2046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}