How many emails did Sanchez really receive?

During the confirmation hearing for UNM Regent Jamie Koch, Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez announced that it was his intention to vote in favor of all of the confirmations, even before hearing the testimony of those who had traveled to the Roundhouse to testify at the hearing.

When I called him on his willful disregard for stakeholder input, he got all pissy with me, and announced that his pre-decision was based on more than two hundred emails he had received in favor of the confirmation. Note that he did not deny coming to the hearing with his mind made up, but rather, he attempted to justify his prejudice by pointing to supposed email support of Koch's ordination.

I doubt the veracity of his claim, I don't believe him.

If he had indeed received emails, there would be some correlation between the sentiments expressed in those emails and the sentiments expressed in other venues; UNM Faculty held a vote of confidence on Koch; he went down by a margin of 70 to 1, (482 to 7) and the sign-in to speak at the confirmation hearing itself, was 8 to 1, against the confirmation.

If Sanchez told the truth, that he got more than 200 emails urging him to vote in favor of Koch's confirmation, he must have also received at least some emails urging him to vote no. It is reasonable to assume that those emails would out number the emails in support, by a margin of several to one, to tens to one; the margin reflected in other measures.

All of which begs at least two questions; if emails against outweighed emails in support, how is his vote in support justified, even if he did actually receive 200 emails in support?

If he did actually receive 200 emails in support, he must have received well over 200 emails in total. Do we really believe he received 300 or 400 emails on a Regent's confirmation, when there are so many more, more pressing concerns?

I, for one, do not. I think he made them up.

Endnotes; I cannot provide readers a link to his Sanchez's comment, in no small part because Sanchez doesn't want a searchable archive by means of which, he could be held accountable for his conduct and competence, link. Nor can I file a complaint with the Ethics Commission, because there isn't one, again, in no small part, because Sanchez doesn't want one of those either.



photo Mark Bralley