Posted at: 01/15/2012 11:20 PM | Updated at: 01/16/2012 10:54 AM
By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News 4

KOB Eyewitness News 4 asked viewers to grade Governor Susana Martinez on how she has tackled five subjects in her first year in office.

On a KOB.com web poll, Martinez received a C- for her performance on job creation.

When Gov. Martinez took control of state government, unemployment in New Mexico was at a record high.

Phone operators at the Department of Workforce Solutions worked overtime to answer calls about unemployment insurance and it seemed bad economic news dominated headlines.

What has Martinez done in her first year in office to make the situation better?

"First, we put our fiscal house in order,” said Martinez. “We balanced our budget, we did not raise taxes and we did not cut classroom spending. That was huge. That was an enormous accomplishment. Unemployment was at 8.7. Today it’s at 6.5."

The governor boasts in the past year, New Mexico regained 9,000 new jobs of the 53,000 lost since 2008.

She said her team worked out the deal with Lowe’s bringing 600 new jobs to staff a customer support center in Albuquerque.

The governor takes credit for creating another 600 new jobs in the border town of Santa Teresa by changing a train fuel tax exemption that lured the Union Pacific rail hub away from El Paso and into New Mexico.

She is confident she has the right people to help fix the state's economic woes.

“John Barela, the cabinet secretary, is fabulous," she said. "He travels the state constantly. He makes sure I am meeting with the right people of companies who are looking at New Mexico."

State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino sits on the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee and he watches the governor’s moves closely.

“There hasn't been, frankly, as much leadership on economic growth as I would have liked to have seen," Ortiz y Pino said. “So far, to be honest, it's been really weak. Talking about making New Mexico open to business by regulatory hurdles for business to start on and trying to reduce taxes is pretty minimal stuff."

The governor argues she has bills she’s backing in the 2012 New Mexico Legislative session that will make the state more competitive for private sector jobs.

One such bill removes tax pyramids, where a tax is layered on another tax multiple times.

“I'm not sure we've seen any real tangible proposals that we could say—hey, this is a Susana Martinez project,” Ortiz y Pino said.

KOB Eyewitness News 4 will unveil her grades on other topics throughout the week.

The New Mexico Legislative session begins Tuesday.

The following is a statement from DPNM Executive Director Scott Forrester on Susana's broken promise:

“Another broken promise.  The disconnect between what Susana said she would do and the way she’s behaving in office is alarming.  We teach our kids that it means something to give your word, but apparently Susana doesn’t feel any obligation to match her actions to her words.

Clearly, she’s decided it’s easier to pretend she never made those promises on the campaign trail than it is to actually fulfill them, but wishing doesn’t make it so, and this is old-school New Mexico politics at its worst," said Scott Forrester Executive Director.  Giving scandal plague Darren white a government contract controlled by Susana's administration is shameful, especially since she ran against this very same behavior." 

(ALBUQUERQUE) -- The Democratic Party of New Mexico today launched "Where are the Jobs?" an ad questioning Governor Martinez's actions when it comes to the most important issue facing New Mexico -- jobs.

The 60-second ad will run in the Albuquerque metro area through the end of the legislative session. You can listen to the ad below:

"Here we have a governor who's clearly pushing a political and divisive agenda when the most important issue facing our state is job creation," said DPNM Chairman Javier Gonzales. "Apparently Governor Martinez's plan is to do nothing and wait for the economy to improve on its own. That won't cut it." 

"At least the Democrats in the Legislature have been talking about investing in our workforce and preserving new and innovative industries like film and renewable energy," Gonzales continued. "I don't think one innovative idea has escaped Martinez's lips this entire legislative session. What we have heard is a lot of political hot air.

The script for "Where are the Jobs?" is below:

Gail: Hi Teresa, How are you?

Teresa:  Oh Hi Gail, I’m ok - Have you seen the news lately? I can’t believe what Governor Susana Martinez has been doing.

Gail:   Well obviously she hasn’t been focused on creating jobs, my husband is still out of work and Governor Martinez is spending all her time on her divisive agenda. Ugh, thought the campaign was over.  Does she even have a jobs plan?

Teresa:  I don’t think she has one and didn’t she just attack the film industry?  I heard New Mexico just lost the possibility for 1,500 new jobs including 700 construction jobs.

Gail:    Well, we better start clipping more coupons because with Governor Martinez’s backwards priorities my husband is never going to find a job.

There are just a few days left in the legislative session.   Call Governor Martinez at (505) 476-2200 and ask her to stop playing political games.  She needs to get NM’s priorities straight and stop killing the jobs our families need.  Paid for by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.