ALBUQUERQUE — Gov.-elect Susana Martinez on Monday named a Santa Fe economic-development official as her nominee to run the state's General Services Department.

The General Services Department manages state buildings and administers group health benefits for government workers, printing and transportation services.

With New Mexico facing a projected $400 million budget shortfall, Martinez said one of Ed Burckle's first objectives will be to sell the state's $5.5 million executive jet, which was purchased during the administration of outgoing Gov. Bill Richardson.

"One of the priorities is to sell it and to sell it quickly," Martinez said.

Burckle, a retired Air Force officer who worked at the Pentagon as the liaison with Congress on purchasing issues from 1990 to 1994, has served since 2007 as executive director of Regional Development Corporation, which links Los Alamos National Laboratory with businesses in Northern New Mexico.

"I'm looking forward to seeing where the state can save money, becoming not only more efficient, but more important to the taxpayer, more effective," said Burckle, who was general manager for KSL Services, a support contractor for LANL, from 2003 to 2006.

Martinez said her transition team has been evaluating proposals to cut the budget deficit, including possible consolidation of some state agencies. She cautioned that no decisions have been made — doing that would require legislative approval.

Under the Richardson administration, the General Services Department had been considering construction of a so-called "supercomplex" of state offices on Santa Fe's south side, and that project could be another potential victim of cuts.

"That's something we're going to evaluate," Martinez said. "We have to make sure we balance the budget at the end of the day. We cannot do that by continuing to spend at the rate this administration has spent."

Asked if she would consider going back on campaign promises to protect public schools from budget cuts, Martinez said her transition team was considering every option to lower the deficit, including potential administrative cuts in education.

"If there is waste in the administration in education, that is something we will be looking at, to make sure we get rid of the waste," she said.

Martinez stood firm on a campaign pledge to keep money flowing to classrooms and Medicaid, which take up the bulk of the state budget.

"What we have to do first is to balance the budget," she said. "My commitment is to the classroom, to make sure we have the same amount of money going into the classroom, and making sure we provide the core services to the most vulnerable through Medicaid."



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