Leave records space alone
The move to consolidate state human resources officers is one of those ideas that sounded great on paper. After all, a consolidation would eliminate waste and duplication, streamline services and make hiring state workers more efficient. All of which, it can be argued, saves the state money and increases efficiency.
Except some ideas sound wonderful in theory and fail in practice, which is what has been happening as Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration has continued consolidating human resources into one agency.
The hoped-for efficiencies in hiring don’t seem to be taking place, according to many in state government. Costs are more than anticipated. Taking human resources officers away from an agency isn’t just a bad way to hire, it also removes needed wisdom from where workers actually are doing their jobs. That leaves agencies without trained people on-site to help manage crises, explain benefits or otherwise improve working conditions.
On top of those problems, finding a place for 90 or so workers who used to be scattered around the different state agencies is proving to be a difficult task. The solution is unappealing. The state wants to cram 90 employees into the State Records Center and Archives building, taking over a space not designed for cubicles or people while losing planned expanded storage for important historic documents and artifacts.
The archives building, near Franklin E. Miles Park, is next door to the State Personnel Office, but that’s no reason it should become the dumping ground for employees of this illdevised consolidation.
State Records Administrator Melissa Salazar has been — wisely — planning more storage for the important records of our state. She and the archives will need room for Martinez’s own records of her time in office, as well as storage for records that must be kept, at least temporarily, until their long-term fate can be decided. Now is no time to lose storage.
Officials at the General Services Department — landlord for the building where archives are located — made the decision to move human resources people. But it’s not too late to reconsider.
The records of New Mexico are more than just bits of paper or yellowing photographs. They are the history of individuals, marking events of the past, leaving information that can help us better live today. As Salazar pointed out, “Records are basically the rights of individuals.”
As such, records must be preserved, stored and available for people, whether they need to look at an old treaty or research the history of an area. (Editor’s note: New Mexican owner Robin Martin has served on the New Mexico Historical Records Advisory Board.)
Consolidating human resources already is a bad idea. Physically putting all the workers together and squeezing out space for records makes the original lousy idea worse. Stop this relocation before more damage is done.