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Governor-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham has 17 university regent seats to fill in New Mexico
The governor can select up to three regents for New Mexico State University.
Governor-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham has 17 university regent seats to fill in New Mexico The governor can select up to three regents for New Mexico State University. Check out this story on AlamogordoNews.com: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2018/11/29/michelle-lujan-grisham-university-regent-seats-new-mexico/2149381002/
Robert Nott, The Santa Fe New Mexican Published 12:20 p.m. MT Nov. 29, 2018
Jerean Hutchinson, Kari Mitchell and Debra Hicks along with the rest of the New Mexico State Board of Regents listen to Chancellor Dan Arvizo as he opens the presentation on the Strategic Direction and Performance Management data, Wednesday October 3, 2018.(Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)Buy Photo
In addition to appointing Cabinet heads and department directors before she takes office in January, Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham will have to work fast to fill more than a dozen university regent positions around the state.
She has five appointments at the University of New Mexico alone. Lujan Grisham could fill another four regent seats at Northern New Mexico College. And she will select three regents apiece for New Mexico Highlands University and New Mexico State University and two for Western New Mexico University.
"We are going to move as quickly as possible to fill those positions," said state Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, who will assume the role of lieutenant governor under Lujan Grisham in January. "People are showing interest in serving on these boards, and we're planning on putting their names forward as part of the transition."
He said he did not know when Lujan Grisham would announce the names of her appointees. But once she chooses candidates, the Senate Rules Committee must vet and vote on whether to confirm those people, a process that often takes a lot of time and may leave some of her appointees serving without official legislative sanction.
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The Rules Committee chairwoman, Democratic Sen. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque, did not return a call seeking comment. But Morales said he is "confident she will move these along and proper vetting will take place, and ultimately the matter will end up on Senate floor" for a vote.
Lujan Grisham could also choose to extend the terms of sitting regents, assuming they wish to stay on. For example, Kevin Powers, whose term at Northern New Mexico College expires at the end of the year, said he would remain if the governor wishes.
As it is, Powers said, he and other regents at the college may have no choice but to stay until their successors have been confirmed by the Rules Committee. Otherwise, the college would be left without oversight.
"Theoretically, the new governor could name a replacement for me, but if that person is not confirmed by the Senate during the session, I could stay in place," he said.
Under the state constitution, with the exception of the University of New Mexico, five member boards of regents oversee the management of the state's four-year colleges. UNM has seven regents.
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No more than three of the appointees can be members of the same political party, and one regent at each school must be a student.
The terms of two NMSU regents are set to expire at the end of 2018 — Vice Chair Kari Mitchell and Student Regent Margie Vela. Chris Saucedo was appointed by Martinez in January upon Mike Cheney's resignation. Cheney's term expired in 2016, though he continued to serve as a regent until his resignation. Saucedo's term expires at the "adjournment of the next regular session of the New Mexico State Legislature," according to the NMSU website.
The governor makes the appointments. Critics say this system enables the chief executive to pack boards of regents with donors and friends.
Last year, two state senators — Democrat Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces and Republican Mark Moores of Albuquerque — introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that, they said, would take the politics out of regent appointments.
Their proposal would have created nominating committees to vet applicants for each regent seat and then recommend a list of candidates for the governor to choose from.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 against the proposal, killing it.
Steinborn said he might introduce a similar bill during the 60-day session that begins Jan. 15. He said he wants to speak with Lujan Grisham first though to see if she has any ideas for changing the system.
"The way our past regents appointees were chosen did not serve the state well," Steinborn said. "Change is needed."
But even if Steinborn is successful with such a resolution, the measure would require approval from voters in the next general election, scheduled for November 2020. Lujan Grisham's transition director, Dominic Gabello, said in an email Tuesday that she would "review all proposed legislation, including constitutional amendments," on the issue. He said she wants to choose "the most qualified and dedicated regents."
The Democrats controlled the Senate during Republican Gov. Susana Martine'z eight years in office. They rejected only one of her nominees for any office — former Clovis-area District Attorney Matt Chandler — for a board of regents seat at the University of New Mexico.
Martinez then made Chandler a state District Court judge, a job that did not require Senate confirmation.
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