Second term: Time to improve government
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took her first inauguration inside four years ago and will do the same Sunday. Considering the forecast for rain and snow, with highs only in the 40s, that’s a wise decision. Past governors have shivered in single-digit weather outdoors to take their oath and deliver an inaugural address, proving their hardiness but making what should be a celebration much less enjoyable.
In 2019, the governor took her public oath of office at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. For her second swearing in, she will be standing before the public on the stage of the Lensic Performing Arts Center.
Watching the peaceful exchange of power — what we expect and treasure in the United States but now know we cannot take for granted — is a wonderful way to start the new year.
Like second weddings, a second inauguration is less a moment of sheer joy and more a time of sober reflection. The experienced elected official — like the second-time bride or groom — knows how difficult running the state can be. The thrill of victory is tempered by the understanding that much work lies ahead, with success not always possible.
For this governor, who has endured through pandemic, increases in violent crime, chasms in the child welfare system, historic wildfires and continuing challenges in improving educational outcomes for public school children, the second term promises more of the same — without, we trust, the immense burden of a worldwide pandemic.
Heck, running the state while not simultaneously seeking to prevent mass casualties and the collapse of the state health system might seem a breeze.
Yet New Mexico faces serious challenges, with the obstacles to success great despite the billion-dollar state budget surpluses. All the money in the world won’t solve problems without a plan to spend the money wisely and well, and enough workers to execute that plan.
Already the governor must figure out how to deal with right-wing city councils seeking to — illegally — outlaw abortion where they live despite the procedure being legal in New Mexico. The governor will have to remind these elected officials they live in New Mexico, not Texas.
She also will have to finish making appointments to her Cabinet. On Friday, she announced Patrick M. Allen from Oregon would take over as secretary of the Department of Health, finally offering relief to Dr. David Scrase, who had been serving as acting secretary. He became the face of New Mexico’s pandemic fight, and juggled duties as secretary for the Human Services Department with running the Health Department.
Lynn Trujillo, secretary for the Department of Indian Affairs, has retired. There is a vacancy at the Department of Veteran Affairs, too, and it’s probable other top officials will retire or move on soon. These are demanding jobs. Lujan Grisham, by her own admission, is a demanding boss.
With the state in crisis much of her first term because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the governor has lacked down time to reflect on better ways of governing. Lawmakers will be seeking reforms to professionalize the Legislature, including longer sessions, hiring full-time staffers and paying legislators a salary. Such reform will be felt long after this governor and Legislature have moved on, should they be adopted.
The governor can share in reforms with a streamlining of her Cabinet, combining some departments and reducing executive numbers while continuing to concentrate on recruiting the men and women to do the people’s business. Filling necessary jobs must be a focus of the second term.
A lasting legacy would be to leave a government workforce that functions well in good times and bad, carrying out the work of governing while improving the lives of New Mexicans who are footing the bill. Here’s to success for New Mexico — creating conditions where all succeed and our state is better in four years than it is today. The second term starts now.