Swisstack leaving his county positions

Tom Swisstack, Deputy County Manager for Public Safety and interim director of the Metropolitan Detention Center, announced his retirement Friday after 40 years of service to Bernalillo County.

“Mr. Swisstack has been instrumental in reforming Bernalillo County’s detention and rehabilitation system,” County Manager Julie Baca said in a news release. “Along with his dedication to behavioral health, Mr. Swisstack will leave a positive and lasting impact on public safety in this county.”

Swisstack began working for Bernalillo County in 1972 as a youth program officer. In 2010, Tom Swisstack was made deputy county manager for Public Safety, continuing his career of detention reform and program improvement. Under his administration, MDC reduced its average daily inmate population by 50 percent. Significant strides were made toward constructing Bernalillo County’s first animal control center and he continued progress toward a comprehensive settlement of the McClendon Lawsuit.

“I am proud of the work that we all have accomplished over the last several decades, and I hope that the strides we have made will continue, far into the future,” Swisstack said in a statement.

Swisstack’s last day of work at Bernalillo County will be June 24.

Swisstack is a former mayor of Rio Rancho, having been elected in 2008 to serve out the last two years of Kevin Jackson’s term. The Democrat was re-elected in 2010. He also served a term as Rio Rancho mayor in the 1990s. In addition, he’s served in the state Legislature and on the Sandoval County Commission.