MLG and Romero

MLG is going through more public education secretaries than J. Lo has husbands. But this time it's not her fault. Really. 

Secretary of Education Arsenio Romero was MLG's fourth. A superintendent of Los Lunas schools before joining the cabinet, Romero is going full-on turncoat against the Governor after raising hopes that he was finally the fella who would start to reshape the state's often failing public schools.

Instead of sticking around and fighting it out for kids who need a fighter, Romero is resigning and making a play to become the new president of New Mexico State University, an institution rife with incompetence at the top and where Romero only recently sat on the school's Board of Regents that will pick the new president. 

The Guv's office said pick one or the other and Romero chose to get out of PED.

Remarked a Las Cruces reader:

Talk about an in your face conflict of interest and yet another brazen display of the unapologetic incompetence that has infected the state's second largest university.

MLG wasn't the only one to fall for Romero who she appointed in early 2023. We also held his hand as he fought overwhelming odds to lengthen the school day in New Mexico, a fight that continues in the courts. 

It was a game-changing play but to Romero it turned out to be just a game. So much for his pledge upon taking office that he was in the struggle to better our public schools for "the long haul."

ALLIGATOR STRIKE ON ROMERO

Readers with inside knowledge of PED were merciless in their reactions to Romero's jumping ship. Here's an example:

Joe, Romero was announced as one of five finalists for the NMSU job but it feels like he’s got the inside track. Given his close personal connections to the Regents and their chief of staff, Adam Cavotta, he will probably land the position paying $500,000 a year or more. 

Until just last year, Romero himself served on the Board of Regents, from 2020 to 2023. Are the Regents doing a backroom deal in selecting him? Is it a conflict of interest? Does it even pass the smell test? The bigger question: Is he qualified? As Secretary of NMPED, he showed no leadership to address failings discovered in 80 plus internal audits. 

NMPED is known to be in a state of internal chaos under his watch. Educational programs run by non-profits and others that are supposed to receive regular and ongoing funds from NMPED (to pay staff and rent) complain that they do not get them because of NMPED’s widespread fiscal mismanagement. That’s all on Romero. 

When you’re already 50th in the nation, how can you let these things happen? And why would NMSU, with all its many well-publicized problems now be handed over to Romero’s incompetent care? Running a university is more complicated than his current job which he shows no aptitude for. So is this a case of old fashioned cronyism?

Romero won't the be the last public servant to act callously and in his own self-interest but his abandonment of the welfare of the children of New Mexico especially stings. He now scampers off to try to gain admission to the rat's nest that has become NMSU's leadership circle. 

Arsenio, for turning your back on the children of New Mexico you are the victim of an Alligator strike. 

Congrats. . . or something.

BOYD'S BEAT

With Labor Day in the rearview mirror the campaign season goes into high gear. Back on the beat after a year on leave is longtime ABQ Journal capitol reporter Dan Boyd. As he preps for election coverage, he notes the lack of competitiveness in so many legislative seats:   

The road to re-election will certainly be an easy one for many lawmakers this year. With all 112 legislative seats up for election, 51 incumbent lawmakers — out of 85 total incumbents seeking a new term (65 percent) — do not have opposition in the November general election. In the Senate, 19 of the 26 incumbents seeking re-election do not have general election opponents. The percentage of unopposed lawmakers is slightly lower in the House, as 32 of the 59 incumbents who are running to keep their seats are unopposed. One of the reasons for the lack of contested races could be New Mexico’s increasing political polarization, as Democrats have claimed nearly every legislative seat in the state’s urban centers of Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe over the last decade.

Like the rest of the press pack Boyd is on the hunt for exciting races to cover but changing demographics, redistricting and other factors have combined to make New Mexico essentially a one party state. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.