Controversial Cabinet nominee deserves speedy hearing
It looks as if James Mountain will collect a salary of $169,600 a year to be the unconfirmed leader of the state Indian Affairs Department. Aside from the money, Mountain won’t benefit from a process that’s putting the public last. It only serves to undermine his effectiveness.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is at fault, having stalled Mountain’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Rules Committee.
Lujan Grisham on Feb. 3 selected Mountain to be Cabinet secretary of the Indian Affairs Department. She soon found Mountain, 51, has more than the usual number of doubters and critics.
Almost 15 years ago, in July 2008, prosecutors in Albuquerque charged Mountain with rape, kidnapping and aggravated battery on a household member. After two years of motions, conferences and hearings, prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence to take the case to trial. They dismissed the charges.
Whatever else the court record contains is a mystery. Mountain’s case is sealed, a circumstance that hurts him now. Secrecy only fuels speculation about the old criminal charges and whether he’s fit to run the Indian Affairs Department.
Lujan Grisham should want Mountain to receive a speedy hearing before the Rules Committee. That panel would send Mountain’s nomination to the full 42-member Senate with a positive or negative recommendation. Then senators would either keep Mountain employed based on his attributes or oust him because of his deficiencies.
Instead, Lujan Grisham has not submitted paperwork on Mountain’s nomination to the Senate committee. The governor’s inaction is intended to run out the legislative session without the Senate deciding whether to confirm Mountain.
In civics books, New Mexico has three co-equal branches of government. That’s not the case in practicality. Lujan Grisham can block legislative action on Mountain’s nomination by stonewalling. She is impeding the Senate by holding back formal notification.
Innocent unless proven guilty is the standard in America, and Lujan Grisham’s spokeswoman touched on that point in supporting Mountain’s nomination. Mountain and the governor herself are free to advance that same argument in the Senate Rules Committee.
Mountain knew questions about the old charges against him would surface when he accepted the appointment as secretary-designate of a state agency. He should welcome the opportunity to speak in a civil public forum.
The Senate hearing ought to be a prompt, wide-ranging snapshot examining Mountain’s life. His work in public service included two terms as governor of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. He served one term before the rape charge and the other years later, from 2015-17.
Mountain has to face the Senate sometime. The sooner he does, the more quickly he could concentrate on his job without distractions.
A hearing also would enable him to respond to people who wonder if he’s right for the Indian Affairs Department. They include members of a task force on missing and murdered indigenous women.
Twelve days remain in the legislative session. Lujan Grisham’s camp says it wants the Rules Committee to give priority to nominees for positions as university regents. They cannot serve unless they’re confirmed, but Mountain can stay in office without action by the Senate.
In truth, there’s plenty of time for the Rules Committee to hold hearings on regent candidates as well as Mountain.
On an ugly March day 10 years ago, I watched both chambers of the Legislature approve a sprawling financial bill in the final hour of the session. Among the bill’s many tentacles were cuts in corporate taxes and increased tax breaks for producers who film television series in the state.
If that sort of slippery maneuvering could occur, the Senate could easily accommodate confirmation hearings for Mountain and regent nominees. Lujan Grisham knows this.
The Rules Committee in two and a half hours recently completed hearings for all three of her nominees for the state Public Regulation Commission. That included time spent fixing three breakdowns in a webcast of the meeting.
Mountain won’t face an inquisition. The Rules Committee isn’t known for thoroughness or asking hard questions.
This time might be a bit different, though. Senators are receiving calls and messages from constituents concerned about Mountain’s past, as well as his plans for tribes and pueblos.
Lujan Grisham won’t improve Mountain’s standing with the public by pushing back his appearance before the Rules Committee until January or February.
Mountain had his day in court. He needs a day in front of the Senate if he is to run the Indian Affairs Department without a cloud over him.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.