{"id":4675,"date":"2009-06-22T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/weh-guv-must-be-the-role-model-for-integrity\/"},"modified":"2009-12-03T14:45:11","modified_gmt":"2009-12-03T21:45:11","slug":"weh-guv-must-be-the-role-model-for-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/weh-guv-must-be-the-role-model-for-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Weh: Guv must be ‘the role model for integrity’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Allen

Allen Weh<\/p><\/div>\n

Potential Republican gubernatorial candidate talks about improving the economy, ending culture of corruption<\/span><\/p>\n

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Potential 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh<\/a> says his campaign centers on a \u201ccommonsense\u201d approach to growing the economy and rooting out public corruption.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt ain\u2019t a Republican thing. It ain\u2019t a Democrat thing. It\u2019s common sense,\u201d Weh, who is traveling the state<\/a> this month to talk with business leaders about the economy, said Thursday during an interview in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

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Weh, a businessman and former chairman of the state GOP, said he views the job of governor as being primarily about administration of the executive branch. Government should be led by people who care about providing good customer service, are transparent and have the ability to discern and act on what\u2019s practical, he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe chief executive has to be the role model for integrity,\u201d Weh said.<\/p>\n

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Traveling around New Mexico, Weh said he\u2019s found that people are frustrated and angry with state government, which is currently dogged by a number of scandals related to allegations of pay to play and has been marked in recent years by the convictions of a number of high-ranking Democratic officials on corruption charges.<\/p>\n

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He said state government has become about the enrichment of politicians and their friends and associates. In that context, he mentioned what\u2019s often called \u201cdouble dipping\u201d<\/a> — a policy that allows state retirees to return to work for the state and continue to earn retirement while also drawing a salary — as a policy that needs to end.<\/p>\n

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Weh said his personal experience has shown him a better option. As a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, he had to give up his retirement benefits when he was called to return to active duty in 2003, but when he retired for a second time, the benefits started up again.<\/p>\n

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The incentive in the military system is that an employee extends his years of service and increases his or her retirement benefits by returning to work.<\/p>\n

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In speaking about restoring integrity to government, Weh also said he believes many state exempt employees have jobs only because they gave to Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> campaigns. That has to end, he said.<\/p>\n

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\u2018The waiting game\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s too early to predict whether Weh\u2019s candidacy will gain traction, said New Mexico pollster and analyst Brian Sanderoff<\/a>. GOP heavyweights Steve Pearce<\/a> and Heather Wilson<\/a>, former members of the U.S. House, are both considering entering the race. Until they decide whether they\u2019re running, the chances for less-known Weh, who has formed an exploratory committee, and others aren\u2019t clear.<\/p>\n

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Two other Republicans have taken steps to run for governor. Albuquerque financial adviser and Army National Guard brigadier general Greg Zanetti<\/a> has formally announced his candidacy, and State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> of Albuquerque said Thursday<\/a> that she\u2019s forming an exploratory committee.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWeh and Zanetti would have as good a chance as anyone of winning a primary if Wilson and Pearce don\u2019t get in,\u201d Sanderoff said in an interview before Arnold-Jones\u2019 announcement. \u201cIf they do get in, that\u2019s a different story. So the big story here is the waiting game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pearce has said he\u2019ll make an announcement on his plans by the end of the month. Wilson has given no timeline for a decision.<\/p>\n

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The only declared Democratic candidate is Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez<\/a> says he\u2019s formed an exploratory committee<\/a> as he considers challenging Denish for the nomination.<\/p>\n

\n

More than a party operative<\/span><\/p>\n

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Instead of talking about his potential primary opponents, Weh said he wants to talk about himself. Weh said he is known primarily for his service as the former chairman of the state GOP, for which he earned a reputation as a strong fundraiser, but he\u2019s more than a party operative.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s 66, left home at 17 to enlist in the Marines and entered college at the University of New Mexico When he was 20. After three years, he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in education, and he later completed a master\u2019s degree in counseling.<\/p>\n

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Weh did two tours of duty in Vietnam and has also served in Malaysia, Somalia and Iraq. He\u2019s married and has three children and four grandchildren.<\/p>\n

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And he\u2019s the chief executive officer of CSI Aviation Services<\/a>, an aviation company he founded in 1979 that currently employs 25 people. Weh said he didn\u2019t earn a paycheck during the businesses\u2019 first three years while he worked at covering his payroll expenses. He was already married and had his children at the time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese are the lessons you apply to government,\u201d Weh said. \u201cYou cannot spend more money than you have in your bank account. You cannot go into debt when you have three kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

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An opportunity for change<\/span><\/p>\n

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Weh said his business has held on to customers for years because he insists on good service and honesty. He said many state agencies, by contrast, have an \u201cindifference to customer service\u201d and impose \u201cirrational regulations\u201d on businesses.<\/p>\n

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One example: Weh said it currently takes 6-12 months for a business to complete the process of applying for a liquor license in New Mexico. While on his current trip around the state, he spoke with someone whose restaurant failed because that process doesn\u2019t move more quickly.<\/p>\n

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Weh said he doesn\u2019t understand why the process takes more than 30 days and wants to reform the system to speed it up.<\/p>\n

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He said he would start to change state government\u2019s focus by recruiting people with integrity who work in the private sector for top jobs in his administration.<\/p>\n

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Many who work in the private sector don\u2019t want government jobs, Weh said, but he plans to convince them \u201cto help us change things\u201d by selling it as their patriotic duty. Putting together such a team, Weh said, will help him reform state government.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity,\u201d Weh said. \u201cI can\u2019t do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Potential Republican gubernatorial candidate talks about improving the economy, ending culture of corruption Potential 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh says his campaign centers on a \u201ccommonsense\u201d approach to growing the economy and rooting out public corruption. \u201cIt ain\u2019t a Republican thing. It ain\u2019t a Democrat thing. It\u2019s common sense,\u201d Weh, who is traveling the […]<\/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-4675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675","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=4675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}