The new second-in-command of state’s energy office admits he has no experience in energy policy.

Joe Enge, a Carson City School board trustee and conservative writer on education issues, was hired Nov. 12 to be the department’s deputy director.

Enge is a former high school history teacher and was an analyst and researcher on education issues for the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute before taking his latest job.

He says he doesn’t need direct experience in energy because his responsibility will be to run the office.

The blog Reno and Its Discontents first wrote about the appointment, criticizing Enge as unqualified. It also highlighted some unrelated news coverage of Enge getting assaulted in a nightclub bathroom, for what he believed was political reasons, and getting cited for running over a fence and leaving the scene.

Office of Energy Director Hatice Gecol, who hired Enge, told us in an e-mail: “I have known Joe for a while and found him to be knowledgable and enthusiastic. Also, I believe he will make a good manager and I am excited to have him on board.”

His hiring, which he said he believes pays $63,800 a year, comes during a state hiring freeze and as Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked many departments to prepare 8 percent budget cuts.

Gecol said that the hiring freeze didn’t apply to Enge because the offer was made by the state and Enge accepted before the moratorium was put in place. He denied his conservative credentials helped him get the job.

“I’ve never had a job based on political connections,” he said. “If I wasn’t qualified for it, I wouldn’t do it.”