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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Governor's Hiring, Pay Freeze Has Loopholes
By Thomas J. Cole
Journal Staff Writer
Three months ago, Gov. Bill Richardson froze pay increases and hiring at the departments and other agencies under his control as a means to help address the state's budget problems.
But there have been exceptions, both in hires and pay increases.
Richardson has made 16 appointments to exempt positions since the hiring and pay freeze took effect Nov. 15, according to data released Tuesday by the Department of Finance and Administration.
Those appointees are exempt from the protections of the classified employee system and serve at the pleasure of the governor.
The appointees include Geno Zamora, hired as a lawyer for the Economic Development Department at an annual salary of $87,000. He worked in the Governor's Office before making an unsuccessful bid for attorney general in 2006.
Other appointees include a new head for the Game and Fish Department, a division director at the Department of Cultural Affairs, a lawyer at the Department of Workforce Solutions and an administrator for Miners' Colfax Medical Center in Raton.
Additional appointees: three temporary workers in the Governor's Office for the legislative session, an ombudsman and public information officer at the Transportation Department, an administrative assistant at the Commission on the Status of Women and an intern at the Public Defender Department.
Two appointees — hired to assist Lt. Gov. Diane Denish in her transition into the Governor's Office — are no longer on the payroll because of Richardson's decision to withdraw his nomination to a slot in President Barack Obama's Cabinet.
At least six other appointments to exempt jobs were made after Richardson announced the hiring freeze on Oct. 17 and before the freeze took effect, a Journal review of payroll records found.
Those appointees include Bill Walsh, the governor's brother-in-law, who was hired Nov. 3 as deputy director of the Retiree Health Care Authority at an annual salary of $85,000.
Under Richardson's order, departments and other agencies can fill vacancies if they have the money and if the jobs are critical to their missions or related to essential health and safety services, according to Nicole Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the Department of Finance and Administration.
In addition to exempt employees, at least 109 classified workers have been put on the payroll since Nov. 15 in agencies under Richardson's control, Gillespie said. About 380 other classified slots have been left vacant, she said.
"The executive's plan for reducing personnel costs is working," she said. "The biweekly payroll for executive agencies has gone down by more than $660,000 since the freeze took effect."
Some pay increases also have been implemented since the freeze ordered by Richardson took effect.
Patrick Putnam, executive director of the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, received a 7 percent raise after the freeze took effect, boosting his annual salary to more than $86,000, the review of payroll records found.
Asked for an explanation, Gillespie said the council voted prior to the freeze to give Putnam the pay increase "in recognition of exceptional job performance."
Putnam is an exempt employee, and Richardson appoints all members of the council, which works to improve services for the developmentally disabled.
Another exception to the Richardson pay freeze is a 2.4 percent increase for government workers who mark their one-year anniversary with the state before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Those workers were ineligible for the 2.4 percent boost in pay that most exempt and classified employees with more than one year of service received last July 1.
Gillespie said the pay hikes for hires after one year were kept "as a fairness measure."
The review of payroll records found some of the highest-paid exempt employees in the Richardson administration received the 2.4 percent salary increases after the pay freeze took effect.
They include Steven Landeene, executive director of the Spaceport Authority (new annual salary $158,720); William Flores, deputy secretary of higher education ($138,240); and Josh Rosen, chief of staff for the lieutenant governor ($110,743).
They'll have to give some of that money back soon. Richardson has ordered a 2 percent pay cut for his appointees beginning in March.
The governor's order to freeze hires and pay doesn't apply to the agencies under the control of other statewide elected officials, but the Finance and Administration Department released data showing hires in those agencies since Nov. 15.
The Attorney General's Office has made four hires, according to the data. The Secretary of State's Office, the State Land Office and the Public Regulation Commission have each made one.
Salary lists
In December, the Journal posted on its Web site a searchable database of exempt employees in the executive branch and their annual salaries.
That database, available at www.ABQjournal.com/watchdog, has now been updated to reflect payroll changes. Also, new databases for judiciary and legislative employees have been added.
The new databases cover the permanent employees of the Legislature, excluding maintenance, and the employees of the Supreme and Appeals courts, as well as the Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Legislature has nine employees earning more than $100,000 a year; the judiciary, excluding judges, has seven. The much larger executive branch, which includes agencies under Richardson and the offices of other state elected officials, has 119.
UpFront is a daily front-page opinion column. Thom Cole can be reached in Santa Fe at (505) 992-6280 or at tcole@abqjournal.com
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