Governor, commission must do better

Transparency is a word we, as journalists, use often. We use it frequently because it’s at the core of good governance.

In the last few weeks, we’ve experienced a lack of transparency that is beyond disappointing.

After former Valencia County commissioner Jhonathan Aragon resigned from the commission in March, we and the residents of District 5 began to wait. Under state law, only the governor can appoint a replacement to a county commission in the event of a vacancy. While the statute is very straight forward, it is also rather vague. It doesn’t spell out any kind of process, set deadlines or time lines, merely stating the governor “shall fill such vacancy by appointment ...”

As time went on without an appointment or even a call for candidates, the News-Bulletin began asking for information from both the county administration and Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office. The responses devolved into finger pointing, with the governor’s people saying a formal notice of vacancy needed to be sent, and the county’s administrators pointing out a notice has never been sent in the past. Somehow, the governor’s office just knew about previous vacancies.

It’s unclear how long it’s been MLG’s policy to be notified formally, and it’s unknown who decided this was indeed the process. It was a stalemate, or so it seemed.

The morning our article about the lack of an appointment was published, we were informed the governor’s office had reached out to and interviewed a candidate for the vacancy a month prior.

The entire time our reporter was talking to representatives of the governor’s office there was a candidate in the wings. This was never disclosed, never communicated, never even hinted at. While the governor isn’t legally obligated to disclose she’s considering an appointee, wouldn’t it have been the prudent, transparent thing to do?

There are more than 15,000 people living in District 5 who have been unrepresented on the county commission and county planning and zoning board for more than three months. During weeks of inquiries, the governor’s office remained mum.

In those same weeks, the county administration and commission seemed perfectly happy to just twiddle their thumbs and wait, apparently unwilling to send a simple email to notify the governor of the vacancy.

All this foot dragging, dodging questions and behind-the-scenes processes doesn’t instill faith in the state’s ability to fill critical vacancies in local government nor in the county’s ability or willingness to speak up for its constituents.

We ask our legislative leaders to either revisit statute or mandate the establishment of a clear process with deadlines for filling these kinds of vacancies. No one deserves to spend months in the dark, hoping our leaders are doing what is needed.