Another battle brewing over names

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - There is another battle brewing over publishing of classified employee’s names along with their salary information on a state website.

“The governor doesn’t seem to respect that law and is apparently looking for ways around that,” AFSCME Attorney Shane Youtz said.

What he is referring to is Governor Martinez’s plan to republish the names of classified employees along with their salary information on another state website.

The move comes just weeks after a judge ordered the governor to remove those same names from the state’s sunshine portal saying it violated the law.

“The supreme court ruled that it was not proper for us to have classified employee’s names and their salaries on the sunshine portal but we were able to have that published to the public on any other website,” Governor Martinez said.

The information is already available on another website it was published by the New Mexico Watchdog shortly after the judge’s ruling.

The governor’s office said she had nothing to do with that site but she supports the idea.

“People want to know, the public deserves to know where their taxpayer’s dollars are going,” said the governor.

The union’s attorney has not seen the watchdog’s site but he said he is disappointed in the governor’s plan to create another website that names names telling News 13 the rank and file workers deserve some privacy.

“I think the frustrating part about this whole issue from the employee’s perspective is that the governor seemed to begrudge them this little bit of privacy that the legislature granted,” Youtz said.

Governor Martinez said she is not putting up any information the public does not already have access to by simply filling out a records request.

She said by putting it online she is just making it more convenient to find.

The governor office said the new site with the names should be live in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the union’s attorney said he will be looking into whether or not that site would be legal.