Doug Turner on the Bob Clark Program

This morning on the Bob Clark show, New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner was the guest at the nine o’clock hour. Unfortunately I was unable to listen to the entire interview because of another commitment so my impressions are from about twenty minutes into the show. There is a debate on 27 May for the candidates. It will be from 7 to 8 on channel 4, KOB TV and simulcast on 77 KKOB AM radio. He worked with Gary Johnson, on his campaigns. I did not listen to the introduction so I went to Turner’s web site to read more about the candidate. He was the Chairman of the NM Judicial Standards Commission under Johnson. He was also Chairman of the Albuquerque Development Commission. He started a public relations firm twelve years ago, which has 24 employees. No mention of the company’s name. From Wikipedia the company’s name is DW Turner. Below are my notes from the interview and following that is a conclusion.

Notes
- What do you want to do with the red light cameras throughout the state in the context of bad accidents in the city? This was a silly question. Turner answered that even if you put red light cameras on every corner, bad drivers would still exist and that the cameras are not the answer to bad drivers. Good answer. Clark steered the conversation in another direction after this.
- Benefits plans for state workers. Defined benefit plans are separate of market conditions; it should be based on contributions or move to benefits starting at federal retirement (SS) age. He seemed very knowledgeable of the deficits of the state plans and needs.
- There is too much state bureaucracy, what can you do about it, including thing like Tax lightning? The legislature creates a lot of laws and often there are unintended consequences. State govt grows and grows and exists to continue being large. It should be lean and become smaller. There are too many people working for the state.
- Budget under Gary Johnson was half of what Richardson’s last. What is a reasonable number that Doug thinks works? 4 and a half, 5 billion? The population and the services provided are not bigger or better. Many state agencies need to be eliminated. Do not raise taxes, remove redundancy.
- Denish and her spending. She has like 8 million in a war chest. Turner talks about her spending money even though she is unopposed and that he is not worried about her saving and that even though she claims to be an outsider she is really not. Money alone is not a deciding factor in this climate.
- What would you undo in terms of energy from Bill Richardson? The role for government is to be more of an advocate instead of an over-regulator. Turner mentions that the state has tough mining regulations and lost a lot of natural gas production. For energy he would push for everything, and not remove oil, gas and mining. He would also promote wind and solar as well as nuclear.
- In regard to the number of state employees, would he consider a law for mandatory retirement at qualification and then freeze hiring. There are more than 262 employees for every 10000 NM residents. He would institute a hiring freeze immediately. Mandatory retirement is not legal and a bad idea, because if someone is a good employee and relatively young when they can retire, the goal should be to keep them on. It is not a good policy to encourage retirement. Attrition is the best policy. There can be a loss of 5-6 thousand due to attrition in a couple years. Salaries need to come down and political appointments need to be eliminated. From the 450-600 appointees now Turner wants to trim that considerably to 167.
- Would the Oklahoma law on illegal immigrants work for New Mexico? Unemployment went down in OK after that. How about like AZ? Or are there plenty of laws on the books? Turner responded that the laws should be followed, employers should use e-verify, probably no new laws need to be used. There have been successful work programs for immigrant workers, on a temporary basis that should be looked at. Sanctuary policies like driver’s licenses should be revoked.
- Turner is from New York and his wife is a supporter of Hilary Clinton, what does that mean for the Turner campaign. Dumb question, Turner is from Albuquerque he has worked all over the world and met his wife in an Albuquerque middle school. He believes that he can appeal to democrats, anyone who believes in smaller government and common sense policies.
- Rail Runner, what to do about it because it costs much more than it was supposed to. It was not cost effective. Public transportation is never cost effective. Find a way to make it less of a burden or moth ball it until it can be less of a burden. It cannot be sold. Unfortunately the state will be burdened with it because of commitments to it such as right of ways and rail usage signed by Richardson.
- He would seek to re-instate the death penalty. New Mexico has been judicious in using it and it may not be a deterrent but should be used as a tool.
- Would he be willing to make public contacts with any business or contributors to campaigns looking to do business with the state? While laborious he is open to it.
- What would he do to cut spending k-12 schools and move from the unions? Public education protects the status quo and he would like to see good teachers get paid a lot and he believes in competition and charter schools and school choice.

Conclusion
So, what do I think of Doug Turner as a candidate? Biased before this interview I had seen previous interviews with Turner and thought he would be a good governor so I was already leaning towards him as one of two Republican candidates that I would decide between. This interview did nothing to change that. It is true that he does not have the most experience but that might be a good thing. On balance there are not a lot of political regulars in the Republican primary and that could benefit Turner. What I am impressed with in interviews is the way that Turner handles himself. He is clear and confident in his responses to questions. His platform is clear and he can communicate ideas in a complete way. When questions are tough or silly he does not sulk or complain. So far his ideas and methods for running the state are the most palatable to me and so I consider Turner to be a top tier candidate. After listening to Susana Martinez’s interview I will read more and make my final decision on whom to support.