Incumbent faces challenger in District 4
Editor’s note: This the first in a series of stories on the candidates running for the Central New Mexico Community College Governing Board.
A one-year incumbent of the Central New Mexico Community College Governing Board and the former head of one of the school’s campuses are vying for a seat in District 4, one of the larger districts in the CNM area that includes the South Valley campus.
Melissa Armijo, 49, currently represents District 4. Annette Chavez y De La Cruz, 58, the challenger, worked at CNM for 17 years and ultimately served as the director of the South Valley campus.
Both Armijo and Chavez y De La Cruz agree the college’s shrinking finances will be
CNM’s biggest challenge. Statewide, higher education institutions have struggled with their budgets in connection to decreased enrollment and shrinking state appropriations.
The state appropriation for CNM in fiscal year 2017 was cut from $56 million to roughly $53.2 million — about a 5 percent cut — and the current budget is roughly $226.9 million, according to school spokesman Brad Moore. In fall 2016, CNM served 24,781 students across several campuses in the Albuquerque metro area.
Armijo was named to the board in January 2016 following the death of her husband, Mark Armijo, the previous seat holder. She is a University of New Mexico staffer and is part of the university’s Staff Council. She is working toward an associate degree in liberal arts and a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies.
If re-elected, she said she would continue to streamline CNM’s administration and offer early retirement packages to help balance the budget. She said the goal is to avoid raising tuition.
“I definitely don’t want to cut any programs,” Armijo said.
Chavez y De La Cruz is retired and married to former County Commissioner Art De La Cruz. She currently works part time at the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and a master’s in educational administration from New Mexico State University.
If elected, she said she would be visible in her district and would talk to local businesses about their workforce needs.
“I will be in my community asking them what courses matter to them,” she said.