Wonder about "the 59" takes eyes off the ball.

Amid the wonder about the identity of the 59 exempt state employees whose jobs are being eliminated, there is little wonder about the remaining 400 or so "gov-exes", link, whose jobs are not being eliminated, and about exempt employees who have been moved to classified positions immune from cutbacks.

The Journal provides a relatively contemporary list of exempt employees arranged by salary, link.

As we scan the list, it is fair to wonder about some of the jobs.

What, for instance, does an Acequia Liaison do? And do we really have to pay the better part of $90K a year to hire a good one?

Who looks at every one of these jobs to find out what they do, how much they get paid to do it, and how much they contributed to either Governor Bill Richardson or Lt Governor Diane Denish's political campaigns before their hire?

Are PIOs really worth a hundred grand a year?
Do we really need so many of them?

Does the Governor really need a Residence Chef for more than $90K?

Does Expo New Mexico need a Community Legislative Liaison for $65K?

No doubt there are exempt employees who's service to the citizens of New Mexico justifies their jobs and their salaries.

No doubt there are donors and cronies who are the recipients of largesse far beyond their contributions.

What assurance do we have, these jobs are necessary, being done well, and justly compensated?

None really, except blind trust.

As usual, there are more questions than answers about the
spending of our power and our resources.