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Paul Singdahlsen has been a state employee for 18 years. Each day, he helps with maintenance work on art pieces and exhibits for the Department of Cultural Affairs. But only in the past four years has he begun to notice a trend: He and his colleagues have been taking on more work for less pay.

For eight months, the state post charged with representing the educational needs of Native American children has been vacant—a fact critics say constitutes serious neglect.

  

By the time Santa Fe public middle schools enroll some of their incoming students, it’s already too late, De Vargas Middle School Principal Diane Garcia-Piro tells SFR. In the seventh grade, many of them are still working at a third-grade level.

Do New Mexicans deserve low-cost electricity or clear skies? That question lies at the heart of the latest dust-up between federal regulators and the Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Long before Jerome Block Jr.’s third arrest for violating the conditions of his drug court program, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission had problems. In 2007, former Commissioner David King was convicted of sexually harassing his assistant; in 2008, Block and his father, Jerome Block Sr., faced allegations of election violations; in 2009, former Commissioner Carol Sloan attacked a rival with a rock.

Before learning the ins and outs of lobbying, Rainy Upton didn’t realize how difficult it could be.

At lunchtime, Jonathan Brannon played basketball with De Vargas Middle School students in the school gym. At a school dance, he joined in and busted out his breakdancing moves. At a De Vargas fundraiser, he volunteered to take a pie in the face to raise money for hurricane victims. But that charisma and enthusiasm didn’t earn Brannon praise from leadership at Santa Fe Public Schools. Instead, it got him transferred to a less challenging position at an elementary school.

Mariel Nanasi and her assistant at New Energy Economy recently moved into a new office with a corner fireplace and the smell of recently installed carpet.