Lujan Grisham names co-chairs to transition team
Group will lead seven committees, examine areas of government
There is a former Republican governor, a co-founder of Meow Wolf and a onetime chief of the state police.
Those are just a few of the 15 co-chairs Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham named to her transition team Thursday to help navigate the state government’s shift from the administration of her two-term Republican predecessor to a Democratic administration set to take office in January.
The transition team will include seven committees, each examining different areas of state government.
Typically, transition teams help vet potential appointees and make recommendations about the future direction of government agencies.
And to smooth the transition from an administration marred by understaffing, each committee likely will have its work cut out.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham and Lt. Gov.-elect Howie Morales touted that the teams will be bipartisan and represent very different corners of the state.
“Governor-elect Lujan Grisham and I are focused on a smooth transition to set a tone of collaboration in order to hit the ground running in January,” Morales said.
Former New Mexico State University Chancellor Garrey Carruthers, who was governor from 1987-91, will head the committee on education with Kara Bobroff, who founded the Native American Community Academy, and Everett Chavez, former governor of Santo Domingo Pueblo.
Though Carruthers is a Republican, he had broad bipartisan support as chancellor at NMSU before regents appointed by
Gov. Susana Martinez effectively shoved him out of the job. And he is another elder statesman on the roster, alongside former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who has been named transition chairman.
Vince Kadlubek, founder of Santa Fe tourist and art scene sensation Meow Wolf, will head a committee on economic growth with Red River Mayor Linda Calhoun.
The two represent communities where tourism is a major part of the economy. In turn, they will work with the state’s departments of cultural affairs, tourism, transportation and economic development.
Former New Mexico State Police Chief Robert Shilling will head a committee on public safety with Judy M. Griego, a retired brigadier general from the New Mexico National Guard.
Sarah Cottrell Propst, executive director of the renewable power trade association Interwest Energy Alliance, will co-chair a committee on natural resources with Toby Velasquez, deputy director of New Mexico State Parks.
Trish Ruiz, a public education commissioner and board member of the National Education Association of New Mexico, will lead a committee on labor with W. Scott Carreathers, director of African American Student Services at the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Andrew Hsi, a professor of pediatrics at UNM, will co-chair a committee on health and human services with Jennifer Ramo, executive director of New Mexico Appleseed.
Roswell City Councilor Judy Stubbs will co-chair a committee on general government services with Jenifer Block, staff manager for the ports of entry division at the New Mexico Department of Transportation.