Gov. criticized for hiring practices

SANTA FE (KRQE) – Gov. Bill Richardson is coming under fire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for some high-priced salaries he gave to political appointees hired after he mandated a hiring and pay increase freeze.

Richardson earlier had doled out about 450 policy-making jobs throughout state government in positions exempt from personnel rules, so the governor could hire whoever he wants.

One of those positions is the First Lady's Assistant. Lee Witt works for Richardson's wife, Barbra Richardson.

News 13 was unable to find out what exactly she does or what her qualifications are for the job. However, News 13 did find out she makes $105,000 a year—a salary decided by the governor.

That's more than Gary Johnson made when he was governor, and it's more than taxpayers pay Attorney General Gary King who oversees a staff of 18 people.

Witt is one of some 450 policy-making jobs throughout state government that the governor personally doles out to whoever he wants.

The employees are exempt from state personnel rules and they serve at the pleasure of the governor.

"The average state employee with salary and benefits is $67,000 a year and the average exempt employee with salary and benefits is in excess of $100,000 a year," Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said.

The governor's hiring practices are conducted behind closed doors.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say the state's bureaucracy is being stuffed with political appointees and bloated salaries that are putting serious strain on the state's already overloaded budget.

"This governor is abusing the privilege," Smith said. "This is not the way government is supposed to work."

In November 2008, to address New Mexico's budget crisis, the governor announced a hiring and pay freeze for all state employees.

Well, not all. News 13's investigation found that Richardson has hired, transferred and given pay raises to more than 100 of his own hand-picked state officials.

For example, Transportation Department Public Information Officer Mark Slimp; the governor hired Slimp eight months after the freeze took effect at a salary of $85,000 a year.

"It appears that the hiring freeze does not apply to the governor's office," Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-District 19, said. "And we have an extreme issue of not a freeze when a freeze was called."

"The hiring freeze was perceived to be across state government, but the fact of the matter it's a very, very narrow freeze," Smith said.

Consider the case of government lawyer Sondra Frank. On the very day the hiring and pay raise freeze took effect, the governor directed the state's General Services Department to give Sondra Frank a job. Not only a job, but a nice $10,000 a year pay raise.

Why did the General Services Department hire Sondra Frank?

A spokesman for the department told News 13 they were directed by the governor's office to hire her, and they did.

Richardson's office declined to comment on the Sondra Frank hiring, and so did Sondra Frank.

"If you say, 'Is this the way government is supposed to work?' Evidently we decided that we wanted to run the public administration, the public agencies, with political appointees," said Zane Reeves, University Regents Professor Emeritus for the School of Public Administration. "And that's the way it is."

"I don't like the idea at all that they're being told by a politico what they will pay and who they will hire," Reeves added. "That runs counter to the merit system."

For example, Mike Stauffer is the Public Information Officer at The Tourism Department. He is not a governor's appointee; his salary is $54,000.

Compare that to several other exempt public information officer positions—their salaries for the same job are around $30,000 more.

"New Mexico cannot afford to make that payment, whether it's during a budget crisis or whether we have additional dollars and surplus dollars like we've had in the past," Smith said.

So how does the governor defend his own hiring practices? He doesn't.

Richardson refused to be interviewed and would not allow any of his staff to comment.