OPINION: Bill advances to codify more secrecy in government

Jan. 26—Many years ago, New Mexico state Sen. Bill Tallman was forced to resign as city manager of Hamilton, Ohio.

Tallman said he was a casualty of unfair politics. The mayor of Hamilton had a different version of why Tallman was ousted.

"He was a lightweight person in a heavyweight's job," the mayor told Ohio reporters.

Tallman, D-Albuquerque, continued in a long career as a city manager. Now, at age 82, he's protective of his old profession to the detriment of New Mexico residents.

Tallman is the sponsor of Senate Bill 63, a measure that would weaken New Mexico's public records law but delight bureaucrats and paid headhunters.

Under existing New Mexico law, anyone can obtain the names and résumés of all applicants for executive jobs such as city manager, county manager, school superintendent and chief of police. Tallman's bill would enable governments to keep secret all applicants for executive positions except for three finalists.

Tallman says his bill is a forward-thinking proposal because it would create as much secrecy in New Mexico as most states already offer to job applicants. In a rambling speech, he claimed top talents are afraid to apply for jobs in New Mexico out of mortal fear their names will become public.

"Some of the best-qualified people are not looking for a job, so that's why [governments] hire headhunters to go after people who are doing very well. They're well-liked. They're high achievers. They're not necessarily looking. But when they find out that their name is going to be made public, then why would they apply? We're one of only five states with this restriction."

Restriction? That's a peculiar way to describe a law that helps the public gather information about applicants for high-level jobs.

To bolster his stand for secrecy, Tallman mentioned the last search for police chief of Albuquerque.

"They only got one candidate from a large city, and that was Philadelphia, and this particular individual was in charge of community relations, which has nothing to do with, uh, you know, honest, regular police work," Tallman said.

With his clumsy statement, Tallman denigrated the applicant after one glance at a job title. The irony is Tallman's bill wouldn't allow the public to do even that much unless a government body meeting in secret made the applicant a finalist.

Tallman's bill cleared the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee this week on a 7-2 vote. One of more illogical endorsements came from Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque.

"It's good government because it gives 10 days for the community to flesh out the top one or two or three candidates," Maestas said.

Passing another law to restrict what the public can know is the antithesis of good government. Ten days to check the credentials of finalists is a tight window. The less time, the less likely it is that dissenters could mobilize to challenge any questionable contenders.

"Some people criticize this bill and they say we're hiding something, and that there's going to be cronyism involved. Well, that's not true," Tallman said.

How would he know? Mayors, city councils, school boards and county commissions collectively number in the hundreds. They could easily wire a top position for a pal. Some government executives have already circumvented the public interest to do just that.

For example, Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber selected John Blair as city manager without a public search. Blair had no experience in city government. He received the city manager's job and its $172,500-a-year salary without his thin résumé being tested against a field of applicants.

Tallman voted to advance his own bill. So did Maestas and Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, Martin Hickey, Brenda McKenna, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and Gregg Schmedes. All are from metropolitan Albuquerque, and all except Schmedes are Democrats.

Opposing the bill were Republican Sens. David Gallegos of Eunice and Stuart Ingle of Portales.

Gallegos also is a member of the Eunice Municipal School Board, giving him direct authority in hiring its top executive. "I'm trying to understand why it would ever be a problem displaying the names" of applicants, he said.

To rebut this sort of argument, Tallman brought along Nick Estes as his expert witness. Estes is former general counsel of the University of New Mexico. He knows a fair amount about government secrecy.

Newspaper editors once sued UNM after its search committee conducted closed-door interviews with candidates for the school presidency — in Dallas, no less.

Instead of being apologetic, UNM's administration went on the offensive. It saw secrecy as a worthy policy. A gullible Legislature approved a law that shielded from public view the names of applicants for state university presidencies, except for five finalists.

Estes described his opposition to curious people in New Mexico still being able to dig into the résumés of applicants for other government jobs. They say, "I want to see the names of the all people being considered. That's the problem. In most states they can make such a request. It will be denied."

What a shock. Tallman's expert considers open government a problem.

Estes won't have to face the public in the next election. The glimmer of sunlight is that Tallman, Maestas and the rest of the Senate will be on the ballot in 2024.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.