PUBLIC SAFETY CHIEF APPOINTED

Gov. Gary Johnson on Monday named retired Albuquerque Police Department
Capt. Nicholas Bakas his new Department of Public Safety secretary, calling
him "a cop's cop" with "an open mind" about Johnson's push to legalize drugs.

Johnson said he was impressed when Bakas told him that "police are not
afraid of change" when they discussed the issue of legalizing drugs during
a job interview for the Cabinet post. Bakas retired from APD in October
1998 after 26 years.

"Nick impressed me as a cop's cop," Johnson said at a news conference in
the Capitol to announce Bakas' appointment.

Bakas, 50, said he supports Johnson's push to legalize drugs "in the
context of regulation, control, taxation, education, treatment." Former
Public Safety Secretary Darren White resigned from the $83,500-a-year job
last month, saying Johnson's crusade to legalize drugs had made his job
impossible.

"I do not know why Darren resigned, but I sure do appreciate it," Bakas
said. "As a professional police officer for 26 years, this appointment is
the highlight of my career, and I view it as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity."

White was present during the news conference in his new role as Santa Fe
bureau chief for KRQE-TV, Channel 13.

Johnson and Bakas stressed that, as Public Safety secretary, Bakas has been
hired to enforce laws, not to change drug laws. Bakas' appointment requires
confirmation by the state Senate.

"There has not been one word in any way from the governor that I mirror his
position, that I parrot his words, that I go along with his policies,"
Bakas said. "I have not been shackled. I have not been muzzled. I have not
been corralled. All that the governor has asked me to do is run and lead
the Department of Public Safety, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Bakas said he did not think Johnson's campaign to legalize drugs would make
his job more difficult with other law officers.

"I am a cop, doing a cop's job," Bakas said. "I am here to enforce
aggressively all the laws of the state of New Mexico."

Bakas said he finds Johnson's stance in searching for solutions to the drug
problem "timely and necessary."

"I do not find it an affront to my career," Bakas said. "I do not find it
as something that should not be entertained, discussed and evaluated. I
think this is an issue of ideas. Let the best ideas be heard. Let the best
ideas win out."

Johnson maintains that the war on drugs has failed and that the billions of
dollars spent on law enforcement should be redirected to drug treatment and
prevention programs. Johnson has stressed he is not advocating drug use.

House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, on Monday praised Johnson's
selection of Bakas as "an excellent choice."

"I'm very pleased Nick has taken the job and that it was offered to him,"
Sanchez said. "Nick's reputation is very solid. He's a career police
officer and very well-respected by his fellow officers."

Bakas decided to retire as captain of APD's Southeast Area Command rather
than accept a transfer to head of APD's Investigations Division in 1998
when Mayor Jim Baca hired Jerry Galvin, former head of the Toledo, Ohio,
police department, as APD chief. Bakas said there were no hard feelings.

Bakas, an immigrant from Greece and a naturalized U.S. citizen, has a
bachelor's degree, a master's degree and a law degree, all from the
University of New Mexico.