Time for GPS Monitoring of State Employees?

Governor Martinez is charging 243 state employees with taking “administrative leave” to vote on Election Day … and not voting.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, the accused “could face disciplinary action ranging from a reprimand and repaying the state to more serious sanctions, such as suspension.”

Kudos to the New Mexico State Personnel Office auditor who conducted the investigation. Government employees, all but free from the pressures of competition and customer scrutiny, need better oversight. Last week, KRQE revealed that a “Children, Youth and Families Department worker is under investigation after she was caught on camera speeding down a highway in a state car with two young kids in the backseat.”

Earlier this month, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that New Jersey tracks hundreds of its employees, “gathering data from their cellphones about when they clock in, where they are at any given moment, what route they take to get there, how fast they drive, and whether they make unauthorized stops.” Field Force Manager, an application introduced by Verizon Wireless in 2006, is also used by municipalities in the Garden State.