The Essentials

If Tax & Revenue Department Employees were suffering from any lack of self esteem, their morale surely got a boost from their bosses after 10 p.m. Thursday night when they received this message:

You are essential!

Of course earlier in the day, due to the natural gas crisis, TRD workers had been sent home as "non-essential" employees. Sometime between then and 10:16 p.m. someone thought differently.

"Per Secretary Designate (Demesia) Padilla, most if not all services that TRD provides are considered essential per the definition that has been provided to us by the Governor's Office," said an email to the workers from the department's Human Resources director.

The underlying message: Get your essential butt to work tomorrow.

The next night, Padilla herself sent a message to her employees, apologizing for any "confusion," but letting them know that anyone who wasn't reading their email or the state Personnel website the night before would be docked a day of personal leave.

"The Taxation & Revue Department, including the Motor Vehicle Division, is considered an essential state governmental agency," Padilla wrote. "We are in the business of collecting taxes, depositing them and distributing them to various state and local entities."

I wonder how the Tea Party feels about tax collectors being so essential.

My essential story in today's New Mexican is HERE.