Senator files legislation for applicant secrecy

SANTA FE — An Albuquerque state senator has — once again — filed legislation that would allow the names of applicants for top public school, law enforcement and other taxpayer-funded positions to be kept secret.

While at least three finalists for any such public positions would still have to be disclosed, the bill filed by Sen. Bill Tallman, a Democrat, is already generating opposition from at least one government transparency group.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also said Thursday the governor is committed to "transparency and open government," though she did not say specifically whether Lujan Grisham would sign or veto the bill if it reaches her desk during the upcoming 60-day legislative session.

Tallman, a former city manager in Connecticut, said New Mexico is one of the few states nationwide that requires disclosure of all applicants for a range of appointed government positions — from city managers to school superintendents — under its Inspection of Public Records Act.

He said that has led to a dearth of qualified candidates in some instances.

"People don't want their employers to know they're looking," Tallman said. "I believe in transparency, but there's an exception to everything."

Melanie Majors, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said the bill would make the hiring process more secretive.

And she said there has been no empirical proof shown that an open hiring process affects the ability of school districts, universities and government agencies to hire qualified candidates.

"These jobs are paid for by taxpayers with important public duties, and the public has the right to know as much about the candidate pool as possible," Majors said.

NMFOG has opposed similar bills, saying that limiting disclosure to finalists fails to allow the public to know the expertise, ethnicity or gender of the field of candidates.

Under the just-filed bill, all "appointive executive positions" would be subject to the public records exemption. That definition includes nonelected chief executive officers of state agencies, institutions and political subdivisions of the state, but would not apply to political appointees like state Cabinet secretaries.