Senate Rules Committee Chair: Sen. Katy Duhigg

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Friday’s agenda for the Senate Rules Committee listed the reappointment of Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego, a relatively low-profile member of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Cabinet, as the first order of business.

Twelve minutes before the committee’s 8:30 a.m. start time, Senate Democrats issued an alert on Twitter.

“The Senate Rules Committee released a revised agenda for this morning. There will be no confirmations,” the tweet stated.

Under normal circumstances, the reappointment of a cultural affairs secretary wouldn’t garner much attention.

Garcia y Griego’s, however, has turned into a political football.

Last month, more than 100 historians, artists, museum professionals, archaeologists, librarians and others sent Lujan Grisham a letter asking her to withdraw the nomination.

“In the four years since this secretary has held office, she has overseen excessive turnover in senior management leadership, from both governor-exempt and classified positions, leading to instability, loss of institutional knowledge and leadership, and declining morale within the organization,” the letter states.

Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, said the confirmation hearings on Garcia y Griego and two others had been put on hold to gather more information about the nominees.

In addition to Garcia y Griego, the committee was also scheduled to consider the reappointment of Katrina Hotrum-Lopez, secretary of the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department, and the appointment of General Services Secretary-designate Robert Doucette Jr.

“In discussions with the Governor’s Office, we’re getting some more information on conferees before proceeding with those,” Duhigg said.

Asked if additional information was needed on any particular person, Duhigg replied, “Just in general.”

Maddy Hayden, a spokeswoman for the governor, wrote in an email she didn’t have anything more to add “other than we are working with Sen. Duhigg to prioritize the appointment of regents and remaining Cabinet secretaries as time allows.”

The letter about Garcia y Griego listed numerous museum directors and others who either left of their own accord or were removed or forced out.

“The significant point is that this secretary has not been able to retain professional staff and build a constructive environment conducive for high-quality experienced leaders to lead their institutions and work as a team to serve the people of New Mexico and nationally,” the letter states.

The letter writers took particular exception to the firing of Eric Blinman, the longtime director of the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies.

Daniel Zillmann, a spokesman for the Department of Cultural Affairs, wrote in an email Friday it’s been “insinuated and repeated” the department “has been hemorrhaging leadership” when in fact five high-level employees retired, four resigned to take leadership roles elsewhere, one left before Garcia y Griego became secretary and another left for personal reasons.

“While no reason is required by the statute for dismissal of at-will employees, there was sound and carefully considered reasoning behind the termination of Dr. Blinman,” Zillmann wrote.

“We are prohibited from speaking about specific personnel matters to protect the privacy of employees,” he added. “False and misleading claims have proliferated the media because of this. And as a result, the opinions from a few members of the public are now believed to be the only truth.”

Garcia y Griego’s confirmation is one of two that have sparked significant pushback.

The governor’s appointment of James Mountain as secretary of the Indian Affairs Department has also come under fire over a 15-year-old rape charge against the former governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo.

The case against Mountain, who was indicted on a number of related charges, including kidnapping and aggravated battery, was dismissed in 2010 after the prosecution said it did not have enough evidence to take it to trial.

According to a 2007 report in The New Mexican, Mountain was accused of taking his ex-girlfriend to his mother’s home in Albuquerque and raping her, covering her face with a pillow when she started to scream for help, according to the article. Documents in the case are sealed.

Mountain, who has declined requests for an interview, is unlikely to face a confirmation hearing during this year’s session, which ends in two weeks.

Duhigg said Thursday his name hasn’t been submitted and likely won’t be before the end of the session, which could mean Mountain continues to serve as Indian Affairs secretary without going through the Senate confirmation process.

In an op-ed published in the Los Alamos Daily Post, Mountain’s daughter, Leah Mountain, defended her father. She called him “the definition of a real man” who raised two kids as a single father.

“To those of you who may not know, it is mine and my brother’s mother who made the allegations against my father that have been the stigma we have all worn for so many years,” she wrote.

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.