UNM Regent Jamie Koch is slated to sit before the Senate Rules Committee tomorrow morning. They will decide whether to accept Governor Bill Richardson's reappointment of his longtime supporter and former Democratic Party Chairman, to the Board of Regents.
The sailing will not be smooth.
Normally, these hearings smack of good ol' boys patting each other on the back while appointing each other to prestigious government positions. Not this one.
Not only is there an effort to unseat Koch, there is also talk of unseating all of the Regents, allowing the next Governor to install her own slate of candidates. The Journal reports, link;
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said he won't vote for Koch."I am respecting the wishes of the faculty and the staff and their no confidence, and I am very much of the opinion that all of these regents should not be reconfirmed and we should allow the new governor to make these decisions and give this university a new direction," McSorley said.
The UNM Faculty recently voted no-confidence in Koch, by a margin of 482-7. Even more recently, the Faculty Senate narrowly approved a resolution reaffirming the vote of no confidence. The UNM Chapter of the American Association of University Professors has circulated a similar petition; the results of which were not included in the Journal report.
The question is simple enough; are the good ol' boys going to ignore the input of the great unwashed and proceed with their little coronation ceremony as if nothing is wrong, or are they going to listen to the folks who actually work at UNM?
There are other people as qualified as Koch, to serve on the UNM Board of Regents. Why ignore them, to pick instead, a man who has so little support from those he will be expected to lead, and who has been soundly repudiated by them, over and over again?
Is this government of, by, and for the people, or
is it a government of, by, and for the good ol' boys?
By 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, that question will have been answered.
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