Thursday, April 20, 2023Guv's Staff Pulls Down Post-Election Pay Raise; Plus: Readers Write Of Pirtle Scandal And Woeful Roundhouse Website The first column is their annualized pay as of October 2022, the second is their pay as of March of this year, the third is the total pay raise amount and the fourth is the percentage increase received. Holly Agajanian General Counsel--$135,908 to $150,000 $14,091 10% Daniel Schlegel Dir. Of Strategic Plan & Initiative – Promoted to Chief of Staff--$112,476 to $185,000-- $72,524 64% Diego Arencon Deputy Chief of Staff--$146,781 to $175,000 --$28,218 19% Caroline Buerkle Director of Cabinet Affairs--$146,781 to $175,000--$28,218 19% Teresa Casados Chief Operating Officer--$158,758 to $185,000--$26,241 16% Courtney Kerster Senior Advisor $133,900 $175,000 $41,100 30% Mariana Padilla Cabinet Director $133,900 $171,750 $37,850 28% The next Governor will be catching up with their staffers pay in a big way. A large pay increase was awarded during the legislative session, the first for the chief executive since 2002 and taking their salary from $110,000 a year to $170,000. The increase is effective in 2027. READER MAIL  Joe, Isn’t the difference between the Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto and Sen. Cliff Pirtle stories the women? In the Ivey-Soto case a lobbyist who said she was harassed by Ivey-Soto filed a formal complaint and went public. Seems to me that right now Pirtle is only an elective politics story and a family tragedy and should stay that way unless the other person complains, or at least goes public. That is a significant distinction and probably why most of the media is shying away from the story but we aren't. That's because there is the problem of any woman who works for the Legislature being involved who could possibly be intimidated into not complaining about pressure for sex for fear of losing her job. That's something the leadership needs to confront Pirtle over, find out the truth and report back to the Senate and public. If there was no affair with a staffer or an affair but they are assured there was no pressure applied on the woman, then so be it. A reader writes of the quality of the Legislature's webcasts: Joe, Why is it, when I watch webcasts of legislatures from other states the video quality is good, the audio is professional, and the speakers are identified, yet when I try to watch the New Mexico legislative floor sessions it looks like the video is being shot through a dusty, smoky lens, the audio is awful and speakers are not identified? New Mexico legislative committee hearing webcasts are even worse. Nobody is recognizable from the camera which is stationed in a far corner at ceiling level delivering quality that is worse than the “Ring” camera on my front door, nobody is identified, and the audio is worse than speaker quality of a cellphone? No-one cares or don’t the legislators want anyone to see what they’re doing? You pretty much covered it and it's a job for the legislative leadership and the Legislative Council Service to do better--much better. Viewers can barely make out who is speaking and can't even see their facial expressions. Maybe the quality is lousy to keep it from being used in campaign attack ads. Whatever the case, this is not what you expect from a modern-day Legislature. What say you, LCS Director Raúl Burciaga? THE BOTTOM LINES The centuries old Spanish spoken in northern New Mexico contimues to evolve. What influences it today? The NYT takes a look. . . A long and we mean long--USA today piece--focuses on former Governor Big Bill and his continued below the radar role of freeing Americans held against their will in the far reaches of the globe. But 6,500 words? We felt we needed to call the Guv to rescue us from reading the thing. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 |
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