I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Interim Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Chief of Staff Johnny Montoya has withdrawn his name from consideration for the permanent chief of staff position, he told The Independent Thursday.
He wants to help his replacement implement an ambitious ethics and transparency reform effort at the PRC, he said.
Montoya will return to his previous position as compliance director for the state Insurance Division, he said. He would not comment on his decision other than to say it was a difficult decision and that the chief of staff’s job is extremely demanding, alluding to the challenges of reporting directly to five commissioners.
“You can either manage up or manage down,” Montoya said. “The chief of staff can be called to a vote any day. But I manage down and try to make the PRC a good place to work. We have 225 hard-working employees. I focus on the employees.”
The PRC will appoint a new permanent chief of staff next Tuesday, May 25, spokesman Gerald Garner said.
Montoya calls for a new transparency agenda at the PRC
Montoya wants to work with the new chief of staff to implement an ethics and transparency reform agenda for PRC staff, he told The Independent.
“It’s no secret the PRC has a public perception problem,” Montoya said. “The primary goal is to establish public trust. We need to let them know there’s good work we do each and every day.”
Easing the flow of information to the media and the public is one way to achieve that goal, Montoya said. Citing the Secretary of State’s new online campaign finance database, Montoya said a good website is integral to open government efforts.
“The PRC needs to focus on the day to day work of transparency,” Montoya said. “We need a fully functional website that’s easy to navigate, so consumers can find contracts. And it shouldn’t be 25 cents a page for IPRA (public records requests). If we have the information, why not hand it over and hedge on the side of being transparent?”
Montoya calls for ethics training push, ethics committee
A recent staff ethics survey convinced Montoya the PRC needs to institute an ethics training course for all employees.
“Given the number of industries we regulate, it’s critical employees understand, that we reinforce that if you’re in the Insurance Division, you still have to abide by gift laws,” Montoya said. “You can’t go to a PNM-sponsored party.”
But Montoya may be taking the wrong message from the ethics survey, suggested New Mexico Foundation for Open Government Executive Director Sarah Welsh.
“(T)ransparency and accountability have to start at the top,” Welsh said. “The PRC staff was very helpful and responsive to record requests for the surveys, and for the most part, I think the survey responses showed that PRC staff have a clear sense of what’s ethical or unethical. The complaints and comments were primarily directed at the commissioners and alleged unfair hiring practices. Furthermore, it was the Commission itself, along with the PRC general counsel, which decided to skirt the law and improperly redact comments about individual commissioners.”
Commissioners Jason Marks, Sandy Jones and Jerome Block, Jr. agreed this month to release ethics survey comments written about them by staff, Welsh noted.
“I applaud their decision, but as a body the Commission hasn’t fully complied and hasn’t forfeited its position that the comments are not subject to disclosure,” she said. “That’s a troubling legal position, and I think it sends the wrong signal to staff and the public. … I hope the new chief of staff takes up a strong transparency agenda. But ultimately that agenda needs to embraced by the top dogs if it’s going to be effective.”
Staff morale has been low for several years, partly due to the perception of double standards, Montoya acknowledged.
“The number one rule needs to be consistency,” he said. “The senior staff should be treated the same as a front line (low ranking) staffer. …Employees feel there were differences, inconsistencies with how different employees are treated.”
Montoya also called for an independent ethics committee, to which employees could direct ethics questions and complaints.
Asked about a policy against speaking with the media that was communicated to The Independent by Insurance Division staff, Montoya denied such prohibition exists.
“We don’t have a policy that our staff can’t talk to the press,” he said.
PRC should consult with Foundation for Open Government
“One of the first organizations the new chief of staff should get with” is the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, Montoya said.
That was welcome news, Welsh said.
“It’s encouraging to hear Mr. Montoya’s comments about some of the concrete steps that could be taken,” she said. “This does seem like an opportunity to take a broad-based look at basic sunshine policies along with more proactive transparency projects. As for the former, I have some concerns about the timing and the specificity of meeting notices that would be simple to fix. The latter push might include, as Mr. Montoya says, a better website and an effort to publish documents and data free of charge.”
