I would expect that either the Bernalillo County District Attorney or the NM Attorney General, or both, will immediately begin a criminal investigation. They need to get the facts, and then take the appropriate action to hold anyone, and everyone, accountable who may have broken the law.

One thing is clear: In order for this state university to be restored to good fiscal health, there needs to be some long overdue housecleaning at UNM — from the top on down. I trust, and expect, that the Board of Regents in due course will get this done.

Weh formed a political action committee after losing the GOP Guv nomination.

Schmidly said he is "disappointed in the personal nature of the attacks to myself, my family and my friends. However, my first obligation is to the University of New Mexico."

That's it? What about the charges? Looks like they are already lawyering up at Scholes Hall.

SHOCK AND UPSET

The Journal's front-pager detailing the bid-rigging shocked the university community and the state, even if both seemed immune after all the shlock and disappointment of the last several years. A Senior Alligator with lengthy and close ties to UNM summed up the anger that is now engulfing the senior leadership of our state's largest university:

There is so much more to this story than just the Pit. Rumors have been rampant around the university that there are many other cozy deals with Friends of Schmidly brought here from Texas and Oklahoma. The dormitory deal West of the Pit is one that never made much sense since local contractors could have built and managed the project. It needs to be looked in to.

UNM's reputation has eroded under Richardson and Schmidly. Richardson used it as a dumping ground to protect cronies and Schmidly is allowed to run rampant over professors and students. Schmidly is hanging on for a "bail-out" or his deferred compensation. He should have retired due to ill health. It may be too late for him now. This is a serious charge by a good lawyer and law firm. It is time to save the University.

Indeed.

The PR flak at the UNM Foundation confirmed in a preemptive email circulated among backers that some of its personnel are mentioned in the bid rigging suit, news we will probably read about as soon as today:

After quickly reviewing the lawsuit alleging bid rigging of the contract for the Pit reconstruction that was featured on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal, we wanted to give you a heads up that the complaint references the hiring of John Stropp and Henry Nemcik as examples of President Schmidly's improper use of his power and position to benefit friends.

We are unhappy to have such false assertions in a document that will undoubtedly attract media attention and will shortly circulate to you a written position concerning the hiring of Mr. Stropp and Mr. Nemcik.

The UNM crisis will demand the full attention of Dr. Jose Garcia, the Governor's nominee for Secretary of Higher Education. This mess is going to be an early test of his abilities. The public can only hopes he gets a passing grade.

STILL THE SAME

On November 12, 2009 we blogged that the time had come for President Schmidly to resign. We went long and deep on UNM's troubles that day. Unfortunately, not much has changed. It is hard to believe that the state's leadership has allowed the university to founder so long. The arrival of new leadership revives hope, but action is needed now.

WILSON WATCH

The political swamp that is UNM means Martinez will be urged to exercise caution when it comes to backing any possible UNM presidential ambitions by former ABQ GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson. Is this the time for a highly partisan figure to take the helm, considering the political hell UNM has gone through?

Here's a list of the pay for the new cabinet secretaries.

THE SPACEPORT

To no one's surprise Rick Homans is out as executive director of the Spaceport. He was a close ally of Big Bill and Martinez's move was expected. Homans who was making about $175,000 a year, was asked to resign and did so.

Spaceport supporters remain nervous over Martinez's attitude towards the southern NM project. She wants to audit the contract between the state and Virgin Atlantic, the spaceport contractor that aims to launch flights into space for civilians at $200,000 a pop. But the Governor has not been cheerleading the project, a potential economic boon for her home area as well as the entire state.

Big Bill was buddies with Virgin's charismatic leader Richard Branson and they made a splash. We hope that relationship is not making Martinez reticent. She should and can have her own relationship with Branson and advance what could be one of the most significant projects in state histiory.

The new Governor's emphasis on how the taxpayer approved dollars for the Spaceport are being spent is merited, but it's being done at the expense--so far--of her sorely needed support and full embrace of this project.

Homans nailed it as he said going out the door:

She has to believe in the project and its massive potential to create jobs and impact education. She has to become its biggest champion and rally her administration to support this effort. There is no middle ground.

A hiring of a dynamic new executive director for the Spaceport is a must. And how about a statement of support from Susana for the mission--not cautious rhetoric? That would help light a candle down there that much quicker and rocket New Mexico into a whole new era.

INSIDE SOS OFFICE
Ken Ortiz
It appears Dianna Duran, New Mexico's first Republican secretary in state elected since the 1920's, has selected a solid bunch to help run the office. That's the word from a Senior Alligator who monitors such things. He reports that her main appointees should go a long way in restoring order to what was a chaotic office under SOS Mary Herrera.

Duran selected Ken Ortiz, a Democrat, as her chief of staff. He has a reputation as a good government mechanic, helping to straighten out the problem plagued Workforce Solutions Department where he was secretary. He also earned kudos for his performance at the motor vehicle department.

Bobbi Shearer is a paralegal from Capitan who has worked as a legislative analyst with the House Voters and Elections Committee. She now takes on the important task of Bureau of Elections Director. She also has other government experience in SE NM.

There was speculation that GOP Roswell State Senator "Lightning Rod" Adair, who managed Duran's campaign, might end up in the elections post or another. However, Adair and Shearer are friends, giving him a pipeline into the bureau as well as the SOS. (We previously blogged of Adair's friendship with Gov. Martinez chief of staff Keith Gardner).

Mary Quintana is deputy chief of staff. She was Otero County Chief Deputy Clerk. She is also being well-received by those who will need to work with her. SOS Duran is a former Otero county clerk.

Ellie Ortiz, no relation to Ken Ortiz, is going to handle the financial department at the SOS office. She was the analyst for the SOS budget at the Legislative Finance Committee, giving her a leg up.

Former State Senator Duran has been an ardent advocate for a voter ID program. It has been controversial and a favorite of national R's. She will probably try to push it again but its chances of winning legislative approval remain iffy.

Our Senior Gator says that Duran's staff will be viewed as competent. The danger for her is coming off too political and hard-right. He believes if she plays it down the middle, the first GOP SOS could win another term in four years. Sounds about right. And having Democrat Ortiz around may help.

LAURA BUSH IN HOBBS

The former first lady will give a lecture at Hobbs High School March 29.

I don't think I will ever forget Election Night 2004 on KANW-FM. We were getting a report from veteran New Mexico political expert Bruce Donisthorpe who said President Bush had gone over 80 percent in Lea County where Hobbs is located. We asked Bruce to double-check. He did and it was true. We then wondered aloud if the Democrats would have done better in Lea with a Green Party candidate. Now that's what you call "Bush Country."

ROUNDHOUSE PREP

Legislators are going to get an earful as they prepare for yet another round of budget cuts. Some of it will start tonight as a group of ABQ lawmakers hold a town hall meeting as they prepare for the legislative session that begins Jan. 18.

Senator Cisco McSorley, Senator Tim Keller, Representative Gail Chasey, Representative Al Park, and Representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton will be at the African American Performing Arts Center on the Expo New Mexico Fairgrounds 310 San Pedro NE, tonight from 6:00 pm until 7:30.

This is the SE ABQ legislative contingent. There's a lot of seniority in this group. With the exception of freshman Senator Keller, this gang has been around a long time. They ought to be able to hold their own with the new GOP Governor and then some.
The achievement gap between Hispanic students and their Anglo counterparts has widened and narrowed by very little over the past six years. The achievement gap is pronounced in math and reading at all K-12 grade levels.

New Mexico’s first Hispanic Education Status Report analyzes all data available to identify what is working and not working for the state’s Hispanic students. The report was a requirement of the Hispanic Education Act, passed by the 2010 legislature and went into effect on July 1, 2010.

About 56 percent of the state's public school students are Hispanic.

And in case you were wondering, the census reports that Hispanics are currently 45.6 % of the State population, or 919,410. Whites (not Hispanic) are 40.9%; Native Americans are 9.7%.

THE VETTING

If the state is only shy $200 million or thereabouts, will Martinez return to her pledge to not cut education and Medicaid? She made that promise in the campaign but then retracted it, saying the pledge was based on a budget shortfall in the $200 million area, not $400 million.

The estimates are all over the map in part because the low estimate assumes lawmakers will renew savings measures they took last year. The $400 million shortfall estimate doesn't make that assumption.

DEM HIT

Reader Kimothy Sparks writes about Governor Martinez's naming of her cabinet:

You are so right! Denish-Colon and the Democrats would have had a full cabinet named the day after the election. They would have looked at the list of major donors and awarded them respectively. It's refreshing to see this new administration take it's time and vet each candidate for a cabinet or administrative position. Shows a lot of integrity and honor for the new governor.

Longtime ABQ South Valley politico Andrew Leo Lopez is back in 2011. He has this comment on whether First Gentleman Chuck Franco needs a $105,000 assistant like the one former first lady Barbara Richardson had:

Franco needs a calendar clerk to keep him on schedule. There will be a lot of demand for his appearances especially at charitable events. Chuck will also have to travel with his wife and he will at times stand in for her at public events. So he does need an assistant to keep him and his calendar humming.

Reader Doug Crandall, former chair of the state Public Employee Retiree Association (PERA) comes with reaction to Monday's "idea corner" blog:

I don't disagree with the idea of providing a tax credit for employees who hire current state employees (though I sure would like to see some details on how it works!), but I'm not sure how your reader determined that a state employee receiving $40,000 actually costs the state $60,000. It is my understanding that the state pays about 16% into PERA and 2% into Retiree Health Care. If you add the employer contribution for Social Security and Medicare it is still under 30%. The rest, presumably, comes from paid vacations and sick leave, but I have a hard time believing that it makes up another 20% of salary. I know this is just an off the wall idea, but I think all budget issues need to be examined with real figures and meaningful savings, not just gut ideas.

WILSON WATCH

One of our Alligators comes with a jaw-dropper of a question:

Joe, Have you heard anything about this rumor that (former ABQ GOP Congresswoman) Heather Wilson is skipping the US Senate race against Dem Jeff Bingaman in 2010 and is planning on waiting for UNM President Schmidly to depart so Gov. Martinez's regents can select her to be the next UNM president?

We've heard those rumblings, but Schmidly, who has been stricken with cancer, is back on the job and has not indicated he is stepping down. Susana has three spots to fill on the Board of Regents that expired at the end of 2010. When she fills them, it would appear to give her a friendly majority of at least four out of the seven regents--enough to get a pick approved for Prez.

Meanwhile, Heather, 50, is keeping her options open for that US Senate race. From Roll Call:

Wilson is considering running for Senate in New Mexico, giving the GOP a potential top-flight challenger to Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

“I am considering running for the Senate, as well as other opportunities...A number of factors go into that. Ultimately it’s a decision about what is the best use of my talents and gifts.”

One of the "factors" Wilson will weigh is her polling and whether it shows Jeff, 67, to be vulnerable as he prepares to seek a sixth term. She just finished heading up Gov. Martinez's transition team which kept her name in the news.

As for Jeff, he told radio reporters this week:

I generally don't make a decision about a re-election campaign this early and I've indicated to people that in late February or March I would try to make a decision by then.

Two below the radar Republicans--Greg Sowards and Bill English--have announced they will seek the 2012 GOP US Senate nod. Neither is perceived as a major threat to Bingaman. That is not the case with Wilson.

If she doesn't go for it does Jeff waltz in or does another heavyweight emerge to take the baton?

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

There were no traditional photos of Susana entering the Guv's office for the first time or hard at work at her desk on the big day. In fact, she left Santa Fe and its symbolism entirely to appear with ABQ Mayor Richard Berry and the ubiquitous ABQ public safety director Darren White. Once here, she stopped a political peeing contest between White and former Governor Big Bill. That would be the one over the location of the state DNA crime lab. (It will come back to ABQ from Santa Fe). For good measure she threw in a proposal asking the Legislature to broaden a DNA sampling requirement enacted in 2006.

These weren't exactly the issues of choice most may have expected to be highlighted on the first day of a governorship. They were more suited for an attorney general or a district attorney (which Martinez was until Saturday) given the public's continued concern over their economic futures. Martinez did discuss the budget briefly in response to reporter questions but made no mention of the Legislature nor made any fresh news on the matter.

The giant elephant in the room, also known as the state budget shortfall, has little, if any, political sex appeal. Fighting the crime battle is always good for the 10 p.m. news ratings so why not on the first day of Susana's four years?

Still, the state awaits a signal that the new administration is committed to some bridge building with the Dems and not headed down the dreaded "all vetoes all the time" road paved by Gary Johnson, the state's last GOP Guv. She has been shown only with R's since the transition as well as on the first three days of her term.

The smidgen of partisanship---besides getting so highly involved in the case of Darren and the DNA--came when the Governor dissed a part of the note that Big Bill left behind for her. She reported that he urged her not to take herself too seriously and not to continue to refer to his administration. She retorted that being Guv is a "serious business" and that in the future she "will refer to where we have been but where we're going as well."

True enough. But like Obama looking back at Bush, Susana will soon realize that Big Bill's staying power in the public's memory is about as good as that of your 90 year old Aunt Tillie. It's her ball now and her ball game.

A SMILE AND A GLARE

When you first glanced at Susana's diss of Richardson on the wires, it came across much harsher than it did on TV news. The cameras revealed that she laughed aloud when questioned about the note and smiled her way through her comments, except for the line about being serious. That's when she gave what is becoming a familiar semi-glare.

Martinez's prosecutorial predilections can come in handy on occasion, but we see how she could benefit greatly from that old bromide, "Say it with a smile."

Republicans just aren't into government as much as Dems. And it shows. The new administration hopes to have the rest of the cabinet named this week. Dems would have had it done an hour after the polls closed.

Martinez may be frustrated by the process. She said at her news conference: “You know the federal government only has 14 cabinet secretary positions, in the state of New Mexico. We have 22.”

A good argument. Not that she needs an especially powerful one with a public more than receptive to start the necessary down sizing.

You mention Sam Bregman's name as we did Monday and it's like throwing red meat to the lions. The showy ABQ trial lawyer's testing of the waters for a run against NM Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzalez has them roaring. Longtime Dem activist Theresa Trujeque belted this out:

I have a major concern with his candidacy in that (Bregman) represented former State Treasurer Robert Vigil. While I understand everyone is entitled to fair representation, I don't want the Republicans using his representation of Robert Vigil on corruption charges and others to say that it is the same old story in the Democratic Party with the leader of the Party defending those in pay-to-play scandals. I believe that every time he would speak on behalf of the Party that the Republicans would raise that issue. It is time Democrats put those stories to rest and we move forward and work on ensuring that the new Administration does not dismantle programs that are important to working families....

And reader Scott Tillman piled on with this:

Didn't Bregman represent Marc Correra, the guy that made millions off state investments in the form of finder's fees, and is under investigation with all the pay to play allegations? It just seems that with Sam as chair of the Democratic Party, the Richardson scandals that plagued Denish would hang over the Party even longer. The party needs to move forward, and not backward, in this humble dems opinion.

But Bregman backers were quick to point out that Javier has his own Big Bill related baggage, including the state employment of his brother which is being painted as political. Monday the chairman was socked in a reader op-ed piece that called on him to resign as a regent at New Mexico State University. And then there's his problems with the development of Santa Fe studios, a start-up that became engulfed in political intrigue.

But the biggest baggage for Gonzales is the disappointing election results. That's the loss of the Guv's office and the comeback of the R's in the Legislature that give them more members than at anytime in modern history.

A spirited contest for party chair this spring could get nasty, but it also might provide some much needed clarity for the state's majority party as it seems directionless as a broken compass.

IDEA CORNER

Here's a novel idea from one of our readers on how to take a bite out of the state budget shortfall:

How about proposing a tax credit to businesses who hire away current state employees? This fulfills a few purposes by, 1) shrinking the size of government by freezing the non-essential vacancies that result, 2) providing an immediate economic development incentive for small businesses to create new jobs, and 3) decreasing the deficit so long as the tax credit is smaller than the resulting state employee salary savings. For example: a state employee making $40,000 costs the state at least 1 1/2 times that amount ($60,000) including all benefits; thus, providing a $30,000 tax credit could actually save the state $30,000. Job creation, deficit reduction, lower taxes? It's worth looking into.

Food for thought there. Even if it only applied to a handful of state workers, it will strike many as better than layoffs.

ASSISTING CHUCK

Does "First Gentleman" Chuck Franco need a First Gentleman Assistant? He strikes us as a man's man who can get things done on his own. If so, Susana can save the state $105,000. That's the salary for the assistant to former first lady Barbara Richardson. Or if he really does need someone, maybe he can bring up one of his retired Cruces buddies who will gladly do it for $50,000 or so. Heck, after a year or so under Susana, some of her staffers might even be competing for a job with the seemingly mellow Mr. Franco.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.