11-16-10 PAGES:NEW LAYOUT
11/16/10
8:45 AM
Page A4
A4 Tuesday, November 16, 2010
OPINION
Governor’s legacy: Progress or political pals?
In June the New Mexico Film Museum closed after a short, unproductive life. It was a costcutting measure, said the Governor’s Office. The museum rarely offered a program and had no operating budget. It did pay its directors, each one politically connected, rather well ($80,000 a year for the last two). There was a flap in 2007, when the governor attempted to appoint former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron as director, because she had no relevant experience. But none of the museum’s directors had any film experience. And so it went. When Bill Richardson took office, it wasn’t just patronage as usual. Every governor has appointed some friends and cronies; Richardson reached deep into each bureaucratic warren with his appointments. The result was to politicize state government
SHERRY ROBINSON
ALL SHE WROTE
down to its toenails. In doing that, observed former Gov. Gary Johnson, we got people who were loyal to Richardson and not necessarily to the taxpayers. For a surprisingly long time, nobody seemed to mind. The Albuquerque Journal published a long list of appointments and noted their political ties and/or contributions, and the revelations raised little dust. Richardson said he liked to hire politicians because they knew how to get things done. The trouble was, they didn’t. The first hint was the rapid rise and disappearance
of former Taos Mayor Fred Peralta, dethroned as tourism secretary by demand of the tourism industry and farmed out to the State Fair, where he became one in a series of unqualified political pals, joined by a gaggle of lower -level appointees, to mismanage the venue — this despite calls for professionalism of fair management from a task force. Their fitness for office became a recurring issue for Richardson’s political appointees. Contrast this with the experience of former Gov. Garrey Carruthers, who made one mistake in hiring the inexperienced son of a political contributor as Economic Development and Tourism Secretary. The protest was loud and the response quick; the young appointee evaporated, replaced by businessman John Dendahl, who did a good job. Why the difference? Carruthers didn’t enjoy the magic carpet ride
Roswell Daily Record
of popularity that floated Richardson’s first six years. Ironically, it was Dendahl, later the Republican candidate for governor, who predicted that cronyism and the resulting poor morale in state gover nment would dog Richardson. We pause here to acknowledge the competent appointees who, without fanfare, have worked hard for the state. The governor’s appointments weren’t all awful, but the worst of the lot stand out. Lately the fires of controversy have enveloped the 59 appointees supposedly laid off and the quiet transition of others into civil service jobs. I find both issues harder to get excited about than the damage wrought for eight years by incompetents in high positions. We still don’t know the identities of the 59, but I have to believe that most of them accepted positions in good faith and don’t deserve to be hounded while
they try to find new jobs. As for the new civil servants, every administration’s end has seen a similar scramble to security. This is hardly new. Gov.-elect Susana Martinez has named former Congresswoman Heather Wilson to lead her transition team, and they want to find “highly qualified individuals of character who want to commit themselves to Susana’s vision for New Mexico,” Wilson said. She promised fresh faces. It’s a good start. Members of the search committees are varied and knowledgeable. In the beginning, Richardson also had an impressive transition team. This time around, the process and the appointees will be scrutinized. It’s probably unrealistic to think politics will be absent, but hopefully, we’ll get a smaller, better crop of appointees. We have Bill Richardson to thank for that. © New Mexico News Services 2010
EDITORIAL
Court mulls video game ban
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the case Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants, which will decide whether a blanket ban in California on people under age 18 being allowed to purchase certain violent video games will stand. The case has attracted attention well beyond California. According to news reports, 11 states have joined California in urging the court to uphold the law, while eight other states are on record as wanting the law struck down. During oral arguments, the justices seemed sympathetic to the idea that there should be some way to shield minors from violent games in which the player has the option of “killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being,” as the 2005 California statute put it. But most of the justices’ questions seemed to indicate that they think that California’s law goes too far to avoid violating the First Amendment’s protection of speech and expression. The ban, which would probably include titles like “Postal 2,” “Mortal Kombat” or “Grand Theft Auto IV,” seemed too far along the famous slippery slope for most justices, including those with normally conflicting philosophies. “What about films? What about comic books? Grimm’s Fairy Tales? Why are video games special?” asked progressive Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. To an argument that video games are something new and unique, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia shot back: “That same argument could have been made when movies first came out. They could have said, ‘Oh, we’ve had violence in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but we’ve never had it live on the screen.’ I mean, every time there’s a new technology, you can make that argument.” The primary task of protecting children from potentially harmful activities or impressions belongs to parents, and parents vary in their concerns. It is almost impossible to prevent children from ever seeing or vicariously participating in violence conveyed through a variety of media, and part of a parent’s job is helping children to deal with that reality. An outright government ban not only violates our constitutional traditions, it simply is not helpful. Guest Editorial The Northwest Florida Daily News
LETTERS
Mural help appreciated
Dear Editor: I would like to take this time to recognize Mr. Robert Gibson and his H.B.I. Painting and Remodeling Class at the Roswell Job Corps for the fantastic job they did on the Character Counts Mural at Overmier Firestone. In addition, thanks for the extra effort they took to enhance the building and mural as a Character Counts project. Robert E. Overmier, owner Overmier Firestone Roswell DEAR DR. GOTT: My granddaughter has been diagnosed with Gaucher’s disease. She is a 20-year -old college student and has been able to keep up with work and travel opportunities so far. Has anything new been discovered about this illness? What treatment is available? Both her father and mother are carriers, and I found that I am, too. On my side, I realized that my grandfather must have been a carrier, since both his sisters died as young women. My own doctor knows very little about this illness. I know it is rare. Please let me know if, and where, it is being studied. Thank you. DEAR READER: Gaucher’s (pronounced go-shayz) disease
Undocumented mothers have rights
Undocumented immigrants who are detained in raids have little to no rights under the flawed immigration laws in our country, but the right of a mother to keep custody of her own child should not be in question. Yet a Guatemalan woman who was jailed after a raid in a Missouri poultry plant three years ago is now having to wage a legal battle to have her U.S.-born son returned to her after he was given up for adoption without her consent. Encarnacion Bail Romero was one of 136 people arrest-
Doonesbury
ASK DR. GOTT UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
is genetic, meaning it is caused by an inherited malformation. This causes a deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase, which is responsible for metabolizing the fatty substance glucocerebroside. It most commonly occurs in those of Easter n European (Ashkenazi) Jewish descent. There are 34 known muta-
MARIA ELENA SALINAS
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
ed in May 2007 at a Barry County poultry plant. After pleading guilty to identity theft for using false documents to gain employment, she was forced to serve a twoyear jail sentence before she was to be deported. Her son Carlos, 6 months old at the
tions than can cause the disorder. Of these, four account for 95 percent of all cases that af fect those of Askenazi descent and 50 percent of all cases within the general population. There are three types of Gaucher. Type 1 is the most common, accounting for 90 percent of all cases. It can occur at any age but is most common in adults, with the average age of 30 at the time of diagnosis. It doesn’t typically damage the brain but can cause skeletal abnormalities, nosebleeds, an enlarged spleen and/or liver, yellow spots in the eyes, delayed puberty, excessive fatigue, anemia and susceptibility to bruising.
time, remained with two aunts who each had three children of their own. According to a 2009 article in The New York Times, the women had no legal status, no money, lived in small apartments and said the baby was too much to handle. A local teacher’s aide offered to find someone to care for the child. Carlos was given to a couple who eventually began the process of adoption. A circuit-court judge granted them that right, alleging that the mother had abandoned her son and had made no attempt to contact him or
Type 2 is rare and the most severe form. It develops during a baby’s first year and progresses rapidly. Symptoms include those of type 1 and also rigidity, cognitive deterioration (including mental retardation and dementia) and seizures. Type 3 is also rare and typically begins in childhood or adolescence. It progresses more slowly than type 2 and tends to be chronic. The brain is affected, but this is usually milder than type 2. Symptoms may include any of those in the first two types but may occur more frequently. Abnormal eye movements and loss of muscle coordination may See GOTT, Page A5
provide for him. But Bail Romero tells a very different story, one of miscommunication, legal inefficiency and language barriers that led to this legal entanglement. A few months after Bail Romero was incarcerated, the teacher’s aide visited her in jail and informed her of the couple’s interest in adopting her son. Bail Romero claims she made it clear she was not in agreement. After receiving written notice in jail, which was translated to Spanish for her by a cellmate, the
25 YEARS AGO
See SALINAS, Page A5
Nov. 16, 1985 • Rosa Prieto has been selected as the RISD Office Education Association Student of the Week. Prieto, a senior at Roswell High School, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Prieto of Dexter. She is employed at Read and Stevens Inc. and was recently elected historian of the Roswell High chapter of OEA for 1985-86. • Parkview Elementary School has named its Pirates Citizens of the month. The selected students are: Sixth grade — Joe Gonzalez; Fifth grade — Tammy Russell; Fourth/fifth grade — Michael Vega; Intermediate special education — Manuel Rodriquez; Fourth grade — Shannon Massey; Third grade — Amanda Lents and Sabian Speelhoffer; Second grade — Jeremy Lusk and Jason Norris; First grade — Bobby Mendoza and Jennifer Toth; and Kindergarten — Tifany Richburg and Brian Long.