Johnny F. Luévano Jr.
The GOP is often referred to as the “party of no ideas” by the party of “the cool uncle” due to the perceived lack of substantive idea proposals on behalf of the Republican Party. The truth is that there are many substantive idea proposals within the GOP on a variety of different public policy issues.
The Susana Martinez for governor team has put together some very solid public policy proposals, and their no ‘corruption’ ideas have deeply resonated within New Mexico.
I think many folks, including myself, have underestimated the public’s frustration with the Democratic “corruption gone wild” style of governing.
If New Mexico is going to get better, we must return to the basic fundamentals of good government in order to further weed out the years of engrained public corruption that has plagued all-levels of our government. The problem is that government corruption has become the cultural norm in our state, and those who are traditionally in power will not yield to good-government ideas without a fight.
One good-government step forward has been that both candidates for governor agree to downsize the number of political appointees. Susana is taking a bolder step forward by pledging that all of her incoming political appointees will be hired on the merit. This is good stuff, and the horse has been beaten on these issues, so let’s move onto more of the renewed GOP’s ‘no ideas’ on corruption.
Professional qualifications
This is a recycled idea from an earlier column, but I propose putting forward an amendment to the state Constitution requiring professional financial qualifications and experience to become eligible candidates for the offices of state auditor and treasurer. Article V Section 3 of the state Constitution requires the office of the attorney general to be a licensed attorney, and the office of the superintendent of public instruction is required to be a trained and experienced educator.
Both requirements are very good. Why wouldn’t we also require the state auditor and treasurer of New Mexico to be a trained and experienced financial manager?
Money has been at the root of all public corruption, and if we want to begin to improve the government of New Mexico we must do better in auditing and managing our public finances. Our state auditor and treasurer should be highly trained, educated and experienced in financial management if we are to take a true, bold step forward in substantively curtailing public corruption.
I am sure there will be many who disagree; the counter-argument of those in the traditional power seat is that the auditor and treasurer are managers or leaders, and technical acumen is not a necessity.
That sounds like fancy political speak to me. Leadership 101 tells me don’t expect your people to do something that you are not willing or can’t do yourself. Politics 101 makes it OK to do as I say and not as I do, which only encourages the ‘corruption’ gone wild culture.
Fundamental, old-fashioned leadership isn’t rocket science, and neither is getting back to the basics of good-government.
A hiring and training partnership
I also propose establishing a formal hiring and training partnership with the public administration departments of our two major universities in order to provide a frontline leadership pipeline to tap our highly qualified in-state government personnel. Government by its very nature is an inefficient beast, but these engrained inefficiencies can be minimized by highly trained and educated public leaders who strive to be true professional public servants.
These public leaders are trained to act in the best interest of good-government to root out ethical and monetary corruption without regard to political affiliation. As part of the formal partnership, maybe the departments could offer cross-training classes with our current government employees in the areas of public finances and overall good-government services.
The reality of our future is that government must learn to do more with less or we will face public bankruptcy. This means our government workers must become more proficient if the quality of life in New Mexico is going to improve.
Political corruption has infiltrated all levels of our government and we need more professional frontline leaders who put the pursuit of good-government in New Mexico above politics.
Who’s counting?
These are two ‘more of the same – no ideas’ submitted on behalf of the renewed GOP, but who’s counting?
Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Ariz. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at www.johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.