Capitol Notes: Pigeons Settled

It was quiet at the Capitol this afternoon, not that legislators weren’t working. The Senate was locked away somewhere, I was told, dealing with the budget. The House was in session into mid-afternoon. Toward the end of the House session, Rep. Al Park, (D-Albuquerque) announced that his committee would meet at 4 p.m. and could expect to work until 1:30 a.m. or so tomorrow morning. The agenda was long, Park said, and he wanted to clear the bills.
Outside the west entrance to the Capitol, policy life continued. Two men were in conversation. One, wearing a black cowboy hat, a western jacket and boots and jeans, said, “They already killed it in the house. If I can go into senate rules and get a different audience of different legislators….’
Normalcy rules in the new parking garage west of the Capitol. The pigeons have found places for themselves. My first information about this came from the splotches on the ground very close to where I parked. I looked up and there were happy pigeons.
A sign at the garage entrance reserves 64 spaces for the Governor’s staff. My memory is that Gov. Martinez staff is reportedly rather fewer than 64.
In the Capitol offices, life sometimes isn’t so good these days. One department head has opted for an ultra-picayune approach and is being nasty about it. It’s working. A couple of staff have already left. But, based on my experience with nasty bosses, morale has to be less than zero and dropping. There’s a line to walk between cutting and getting the work done. This person seems well toward the destructive side.