Española Mayor Joseph Maestas will lead a short-term advisory team in charge of transportation and infrastructure issues for incoming Gov. Diane Denish, a Denish spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday (12/10).
Maestas will lead a team of 10 to 15 citizens and will be responsible for producing an assessment report with recommendations by Jan. 15, Denish spokeswoman Danielle Montoya said.
The position is unpaid, Montoya said.
Maestas said he is excited to be asked by Denish.
“At the state level, things don’t look very good,” Maestas said. “GRIP one, GRIP two, the Railrunner — these are very ambitious projects that are visionary, but they have severely constrained the transportation program at the state level. There are some incredible challenges.”
Maestas is an engineer by training, and he worked for the federal Highway Administration for 23 years. Denish will serve out the remaining two years of Gov. Richardson’s term when he moves to Washington to serve as President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of commerce.
Maestas’ selection as an advisory team leader came just days after Joe Monahan’s online political blog referred to him as a “wild card” pick to be second-in-command in Denish’s administration.
Maestas said he was flattered to be mentioned, but called blog postings a lot of “speculation and conjecture.” He was vague when asked whether he’s interested in the job.
“I like my job as mayor,” Maestas said. “I love public service. Someday I’d like to serve at a higher level, but I think right now in this transition there’s much too much uncertainty and speculation.”
Montoya said it’s too early to be discussing personnel decisions for a new administration.
“Announcements about the transition will be made in the coming weeks,” she said.
Maestas said because Denish is taking over mid-term and in the midst of a budget deficit, it wouldn’t be in her or the state’s best interest to make huge staffing changes.
“I doubt you’ll see too many changes at the cabinet level,” he said.
According to Denish’s state web site, anyone interested in participating in the transition should submit comments, requests, inquiries and professional materials to transition2008@dianedenish.com.