ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: No Good Deed in State Government Goes Unpunished

Thursday, March 05, 2009

No Good Deed in State Government Goes Unpunished

FOR THE RECORD: This column erred in the date of a general election matchup between state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons and Jim Baca, a Democrat who previously held the office. Baca challenged incumbent Lyons in 2006.
By Jim Scarantino
Associated Press
      These pages have recently seen some chest-bumping between Jim Baca and Pat Lyons. Lyons, a Republican, is in his second term as state land commissioner. Baca, a Democrat, is Gov. Bill Richardson's Natural Resources Trustee and a former land commissioner. Lyons defeated Baca in 2006.
       The land commissioner's job is to make money from state lands for schools, universities, hospitals and other state institutions. He has plenty to work with. The State Land Office manages mineral rights on 13 million acres along with nine million acres of surface area. That huge domain generates energy and revenue from oil and gas and, increasingly, the wind and sun. Ranchers and farmers lease 8.8 million acres. Nearly 1,000 other businesses lease state lands for uses ranging from recreation, to film making to commercial and residential developments. Some state lands may also be offered for sale.
       Lyons and Baca have been wrangling over a proposed amendment to the New Mexico Constitution. Proponents claim the amendment would provide more oversight of Land Office operations. What it really does is strip the commissioner of the power to decide how to lease and sell lands. That power would shift to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate majority leader, gubernatorial appointees, the attorney general and the state auditor.
       Lyons has angered environmentalists by promoting developments on the outskirts of Ruidoso and Las Cruces. He has not fallen in step with campaigns to halt energy production in areas they covet. He is also the only Republican to hold statewide office. It is no coincidence that the proposal to gut his authority originated with Rep. Nate Cote of Las Cruces, a Democrat and close ally of southern New Mexico environmentalists.
       Politics aside, when it comes to earning money for the state, Lyons' performance can hardly be faulted. He has earned record revenues from an increasingly diversified portfolio of economic activities. From $263 million in 2003, revenues have more than doubled to $546 million in 2008.
       In the back and forth on these pages, Lyons made a claim that cried out for fact-checking. He asserted that no one in his office enjoys a salary of more than $100,000. If true, that stands in stark contrast to the lucrative paychecks dished out to appointees in agencies controlled by Gov. Richardson. At the start of his first term, only eight executive branch appointees were paid more than $100,000. That number has soared to 110.
       I examined Lyons' claim at the on-line compendium of appointed — also known as “exempt” — employee salaries assembled by the investigative reporters of the Journal. Go to “Watchdog” under “Hot Topics” at abqjournal.com and make this journey yourself.
       Lyons spoke the truth. No appointee in his office makes a six figure salary. From the standpoint of a taxpayer, it gets even better. According to his spokeswoman (she makes $32,000 less than her Governor's Office counterpart), Lyons has returned to state coffers about $5.8 million in budgeted money he did not spend. He also has reduced the payroll from 157 to 155. Richardson, on the other hand, has added about 5,700 new employees during his tenure.
       How does Lyons match up in awarding patronage? Richardson has given out more than 465 exempt jobs, an unprecedented number so huge it is squeezing out career public servants. Lyons, for his part, has a mere nine appointed employees.
       Some people are getting rich thanks to Bill Richardson. Not so in the Land Office. Lyons' highest paid employee makes less than 172 Richardson appointees. Even Lyons' top lawyer makes less than the assistant to Richardson's wife. Though there is no constitutional office of first lady, taxpayers pay Barbara Richardson's helper a little more than $107,500 each year.
       I cannot make any credible argument against more oversight of state government operations. But it doesn't seem to be Pat Lyons who needs to be hauled under a microscope.
       E-mail: jimscarantino@gmail.com


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