The Rio Arriba County Board of Commissioners will have to send a recommendation for who it thinks should finish the late Sen. Carlos Cisneros’s term to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office by Nov. 15.
So far, four people have nominated themselves for the position and have sent resumes and letters of interest to the Commission
Each county commission in District 6 will have the opportunity to submit one name to Lujan Grisham’s office, and she will have the final say as to who will finish Cisneros’s term. The person will serve until Dec. 31, 2020.
The self-selected nominees include REDINet Board of Directors Chairman Gabriel Montoya, Taos Land Trust Executive Director Kristina Ortez, Town of Taos Mayor Daniel Baronne and District 42 Rep. Roberto Gonzales, D-Rancho de Taos.
Cisneros represented District 6, which includes the White Rock area in Los Alamos County, the majority of Taos County, the northern part of Santa Fe County including the Pueblo of Pojoaque and Nambé Pueblo and the southeast corner of Rio Arriba County.
What follows are summaries of each person’s resume, including educational and job experience, as well as a statement as to why they decided to put themselves in the running for the position.
Daniel Baronne
Baronne was born and raised in the Pueblo of Pojoaque and has a degree in business management and machine technology from New Mexico Highlands University.
He has been Town of Taos mayor since 2014 and served on the Taos County Board of Commissioners from 2006 to 2014. He is also the North Central Regional Transit District chairman, as well as the founding chairman of the Enchanted Circle Council of Governments, as well as a member of the Taos County Economic Development Corporation. He also owns the lumber business Olguin’s Sawmill.
“As a Mayor of 5 years and former County Commissioner of 6 years in North Central New Mexico, I know firsthand the infrastructure and legislative needs of our communities, not from afar, but in firsthand having to deal with balancing budgets and balancing policies made by state government with the practical consequences of them at the local level, where we always struggle with the needs for roads, jobs, housing, public safety, social services and the revenue needed to pay for them,” Baronne wrote in his letter of interest.
Roberto Gonzales
Gonzales lives in Rancho de Taos and is a retired superintendent of the Taos School District. He worked at the District beginning in 1974 as a second grade teacher.
He has served in the New Mexico House of Representatives since 1994, now in his 13th term, and is the current vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and member of the House Transportation and Public Works Committee.
He is a member of the North Central Economic Development Board.
Gonzales owns a property rental company and is a lot dealer for the company Graceland Portable Buildings.
“Sen. Cisneros and I worked closely with Northern NM legislators to identify and meet the needs of Northern NM constituents,” he wrote in his letter of interest.
Gabriel Montoya
Montoya is the special projects director for the Pueblo of Pojoaque, as well as chairman of the Pojoaque Pueblo Development Corporation.
He is the tribal liaison for the Santa Fe County Census Count Committee and the chairman of the REDINet Board of Directors.
“Both Native and non-Native members of the community have asked me to step forward and present myself as a candidate for New Mexico State Senate District 6,” Montoya wrote in his interest letter. “It is my belief that with my experience and my lifelong commitment to working for the betterment of the community in northern New Mexico, I am the best candidate to fill the seat.
Kristina Ortez
Ortez is originally from the San Joaquin Valley in California, but has lived in New Mexico for more than 10 years. She is the current executive director of the Taos Land Trust and is the former executive director for the Society of the Muse of the Southwest, the southwest representative for the Sierra Club and advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
She has a master’s in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico, as well as a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Harvard University.
She is the president of the Conservation Voters of New Mexico, as well as the vice president of Alianza Agri-Cultura de Taos.
Ortez is the only one of the four people under consideration who has attended a County Commission meeting to introduce herself.
“This place, I feel the roots and I know how much you care about this community,” Ortez said at the Oct. 22 Commission meeting. “And as the state senator I will represent (County Commission District 1) in particular, that is part of District 6. I look forward to working with all the elected officials.”
James J. Martinez
Although Martinez announced his decision at the Oct. 22 County Commission meeting to put his name in for consideration to fill the vacant District 6 senate seat, he has since had a change of heart.
While he is interested in representing County residents at the state level, he plans to finish his Commission term, he wrote in a Tuesday email.
“At this time, after much thought, prayer discussion with my family, and an overwhelming response from the citizens to remain in this County office, I have made a decision to fulfill my commitment to the residents and my Constituents and continue to complete my term as Rio Arriba County Commissioner, representing District 1, as elected by the voters of Rio Arriba County,” he wrote.
Martinez alluded to his future political ambitions.
“I want to thank the Rio Arriba Board of Commissioners for their thoughtful consideration,” he wrote. “And I look forward to serving the residents of the county at the State level in the future.”