The University of New Mexico announced yesterday that Brian Schmidly, son of University of New Mexico President David Schmidly, will not accept a job offer to promote energy conservation at the university. The $94,000 annual salary raised eyebrows among faculty and staff when the hire was announced last week, during the university’s fall break.

According to the UNM press release, Brian Schmidly said:

I care too much about sustainability in this State and at the University of New Mexico to operate in an advocacy role in which I would not be effective, and my wife has convinced me that my integrity and reputation are too valuable to continue in an environment where they will be questioned indefinitely.
 
It is important to both of us that I assert once and for all that I applied for this job in good faith, and took part in an open hiring process that I was assured and believe to this day was proper and scrupulously fair.

Nevertheless, I have notified the Director of the Physical Plant Department that while her choosing me was a great honor, my wife and I have decided that it is in our best long term interests and those of the University of New Mexico to withdraw my name from consideration.

The UNM President said:

My wife and I have always been and continue be proud of all our children, never more so than now.

I had nothing to do with Brian’s getting this job, and I had nothing to do with his and his wife’s making this difficult decision, but my wife and I both respect their wishes.

That was the extent of the statement–a headline “Brian Schmidly withdraws application for employment” and these two sets of quotes.

When contacted this morning, UNM spokesperson Susan McKinsey said, ” (Physical Plant Director Mary Vosevich) will have to weigh options about where this will go. It happened quickly.”

When asked if issues raised by faculty regarding faculty pay scale and perception of favoritism would be addressed by the president in a later statement, McKinsey said she had been out of town for the past several days and “was not sure what faculty had been saying.”

Often times, an imbroglio of this nature becomes a matter of perspective. From what I read in the aforementioned statements of Brian and David Schmidly, these fellas are feeling like they have been the victims of unfair treatment. Being an optimist, I’m hoping this is not the case.

In my opinion, UNM President David Schmidly looks like the victim of his own cluelessness and if the physical plant director and hiring committee actually believed that young Schmidly was the most qualified person for the job, I can’t help but wonder if these folks are incompetent as well.

As the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning:

The university turned over all 33 applications to the Journal in response to a request under the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. A review of those applications and resumes found that Brian Schmidly beat out engineers, award-winning environmentalists and state and UNM employees who have been working in sustainability fields for years. …

Many of (Schmidly’s) credentials directly related to sustainability were obtained in September, the same month he applied for the job.

A review of the applications

Brian Schmidly was one of eight finalists out of 33 applicants for the UNM sustainability position, and his selection caused a stir given that his father is head honcho at the school. The Albuquerque Journal reviewed the 33 applications and found that Schmidly won the position over “…engineers, award-winning environmentalists and state and UNM employees who have been working in sustainability fields for years” while Schmidly’s own credentials related to sustainability were obtained the same month in which he applied for the position. Both Schmidlys as well as the person who made the decision, UNM physical plant director Mary Vosevich, said there was no nepotism or impropriety involved, but after the outcry he withdrew saying that “…my wife has convinced me that my integrity and reputation are too valuable to continue in an environment where they will be questioned indefinitely.”

Early voting starts

Early voting began at 15 sites around Bernalillo County on Saturday, and they were quite busy. County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver told the Albuquerque Journal that about 8,700 people voted, with the shortest wait being 20 minutes.

Candidate profiles

Profiles of New Mexico’s congressional candidates in district 1 and 3 were published over the weekend. The Santa Fe New Mexican had profiles of Carol Miller, Ben Ray Lujan and Dan East. The Albuquerque Journal had profiles of Martin Heinrich and Darren White. Down south, Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin spoke at a rally in Roswell, backed up by Hank Williams Jr. The rally was reported by Heath Haussamen, with great photos.

In the words of Tom Waits: It’s nice work, if you can get it.

The Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday that UNM has hired Brian Schmidly, the son of university President David Schmidly, to serve as “associate director of sustainability” for the campus. The president’s son will earn an annual salary of nearly $94,000.

Where to start? The salary? The appearance of cronyism? The public relations debacle?

Let’s start with the salary. If you know a professor at UNM, especially folks that teach in the humanities, you know that the university has been in a state of academic crisis for at least the past decade due to the university’s inability to retain faculty and fill empty seats. Why? Because faculty are demoralized about the low pay and are leaving for better salaries elsewhere.

For example, a friend of mine — tenured faculty, Ivy league credentials and 10 years experience at UNM — makes $60,000. Understandably, she is not pleased about younger Schmidly’s new salary.

A few years back, another friend who had been chair of the Department of Political Science lamented as one quality faculty member after another left town for a better salary. A few years ago, he left town for the same reason, although he and his wife really loved Albuquerque and were torn over the decision.

As for the cronyism and public relations debacle, the Journal article states:

Brian Schmidly, who has served as marketing director for Centex Homes New Mexico for the last 18 months, will spearhead development and implementation of UNM’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He is slated to begin his new job Oct. 29.

Exactly what Brian Schmidly’s duties will be are still being worked out.

President Schmidly said he had nothing to do with his son getting the job. He said regents were informed Tuesday. Schmidly said the hire doesn’t violate UNM’s nepotism policy because his son will report to managers several levels below him.

So, if I’m reading this correctly, younger Schmidley’s most recent work history is in the field of sprawl development. Wouldn’t that make him more of an expert in promoting the production of green house gas emissions — not the reduction?

Meanwhile, did you catch that loophole in the nepotism policy?

The Journal also reports:

A statement issued by UNM confirming the hire noted that he is on the city of Albuquerque’s Climate Task Force and the Urban Land Institute and that he holds certification by the U.S. Green Buildings Council as a Leader in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

In his application, Brian Schmidly said he was asked to take part in the city’s Climate Action Task Force in September. Membership in the Urban Land Institute is open to anyone who pays a fee. …

Vosevich confirmed that Brian Schmidly wasn’t LEED certified when he applied for the position on Sept. 4, though she said he and another finalist obtained the certification before she interviewed them. He’s held six jobs in the last eight years ranging in length from four months to three years and four months.

The president’s son has been on the city’s Climate Task Force for a month? My intuition tells me the task force has not done much, if the group has met at all, since he “was asked to take part.” I checked the city’s Web site and there is no mention of the Climate Task Force anywhere. I called 311 and the operator had never heard of it, and patched me through to Environmental Health Department, where I was passed on to the Clean Air Division and forced to leave a message. I’ll let you know if somebody calls me back.

As for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), I’m a member, and I can tell you we are not a very active bunch in Albuquerque; our membership numbers and activities just qualified us as an official District Council in New Mexico earlier this year. ULI promotes land use and development practices that are antithetical to the production home builder business model you find from folks like Centex Homes. Regardless, membership (i.e., paying a fee) is hardly a noteworthy experience, nor should it be mentioned as a qualification, for a $94,000-a-year job at UNM or anywhere else, in my humble opinion.

Throw in the last minute LEED certificate and there is no way this hire passes the smell test — at least not as this story is reported. If UNM was putting a value on LEED credentials, it should have been mentioned in the job posting, and the job search committee should have only interviewed folks with the LEED experience in hand. I can assure you there are plenty of architects, builders and other professionals in town with years of LEED experience that might have applied for this job had they known this was relevant.