THE WESTERNER

Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Groups split over ag secretary election proposal

South Dakota agriculture groups are split over a legislative proposal to make the state secretary of agriculture an elected position. Under the legislation, awaiting a committee hearing in the South Dakota House of Representatives, the state agriculture secretary would be up for election every four years. The agriculture secretary is a cabinet position appointed by the governor. That gives residents no recourse if someone is doing a poor job, said state Sen. Jim Bradford, R-Pine Ridge, one of the bill's sponsors. "If I don't do my job, (voters) get a shot at me every two years," said Bradford. "For a job of that importance in the state of South Dakota, I think it would be nice to have it go on the ballot." The legislation’s aim would be to make the job nonpolitical. Candidates would run without party affiliation and not as a party nominee...read more

1 comment:

Brett said...: Wow. The issue does speak to a greater dilemma, though. A lot of these departments, once the domain of little more than routine procedure, have become quite political. A part of me says that if they are going to be politicians rather than civil servants, they ought to be elected. The only problem is that it will not solve the problem of the politicization of the departments, and will make it worse. So, is it better to take the plunge and just admit that it is hopelessly political, or is it better (or even possible) to try and restore the departments to their proper roles within the current confines? I don't have a solid answer to that.; 9:26 AM