For the working people of state government, it’s hard to believe Michelle Lujan Grisham is a Democrat.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham pays more than 4,000 employees very low wages – under the $15/hour minimum wage that President Joe Biden continues to describe as a”poverty wage.”

In early January, Governor Lujan Grisham dashed any hopes of the rank and file employees who carry out the work of her administration for a fair and long overdue pay raise.

Her press secretary, Nora Meyers Sackett, in dismissing questions about giving public employees a pay raise, claimed there were more important things to spend the money on.

According to Meyers Sackett, the Governor was focused “on preserving and enhancing key investments in programs that make a difference for New Mexicans.”

Apparently, to the Governor, state and school employees were not a necessary investment.

But later in January, The Candle (a Roundhouse Movidas companion publication) broke a story revealing the Governor had quietly given members of her personal staff big pay raises of $7,000 to $18,000, even as she was revoking a raise to all state employees due to COVID-1 induced austerity.

A few days after The Candle published its story about Lujan Grisham’s personal team getting favored treatment, the Governor’s press team was forced to fess up to other news organizations, what she refused to acknowledge to The Candle.

This time Meyers Sackett was tasked with disseminating another insult to the state employees who carried out the day to day work of addressing COVID-19, by suggesting the Governor’s ““staff play a critical role in the operation of the state’s executive branch and the governance of the state – all of which is amplified during a yearlong crisis,” Sackett said. “They coordinate state departments and agencies, all of whom operate under the executive’s leadership, as outlined by the state Constitution.” (Albuquerque Journal)

And just last week when Roundhouse Movidas revealed another huge pay raise for Lujan Grisham’s Environment Secretary James Kenney, Meyers Sackett suggested it was because he did the work.

She told Journal reporter Dan McKay, ““…the Environment Department “has been tasked with ensuring the health and safety of workers and customers statewide, including carrying out tens of thousands of rapid responses, running the state’s wastewater surveillance testing program, and coordinating with businesses to ensure safe practices and establish mobile testing programs, all of which Secretary Kenney coordinated and executed.”

What about all those employees that really did the work?

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham pays more than 4,000 employees very low wages – under the $15/hour minimum wage that President Joe Biden continues to describe as a”poverty wage.”

The pay inequities don’t end there though.

Even those bargaining unit employees fortunate to be paid more than a ‘poverty wage’ have been denied a simple modest cost of living raise by a Democratic politician who claims her executive staff deserve pay raises as high as 50% more than when they were hired.

Her so-called labor policy advisor tops the list of percentage wage increases.

Diego Arencon has received pay raises totaling $45,000.

The women and men cleaning the state’s offices will get a 1.5% raise in July – less than $375 for the year, or a raise of about 18 cents an hour.

Arencon, the Governor’s labor advisor, got a raise of about $21/hour.

And Arencon is not alone. Look at the table at the end of this article.

For the working people of state government, it’s hard to believe this Governor is a Democrat.

In the days ahead, the Governor could change that impression by ordering her team to address the pay inequities in Collective Bargaining Agreement Wage negotiations with the leaders of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of Teachers and other labor unions who represent public employees working for the state.

And in those negotiations, Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “labor policy advisor” needs to step up and advocate for the interests of all employees, not just himself.

Name of Exempt EmployeeAgencyPosition / ChangeJanuary 2019 or Starting SalaryNew / Current Salary Combined Raises Since 2019 or Date of HirePercentage Increase
Diego ArenconGovernors OfficePolicy Advisor$90,000.00$135,000.00$45,000.0050%
Matthew GarciaGovernors OfficeChief of Staff$105,000.00$146,000.00$41,000.0039%
Michael B. Sloane Department of Game & FishAgency Director$115,003.20$156,000.00$40,996.8036%
James KenneyEnvironment DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$168,480.00$40,480.0032%
Marisa Maez NM DOT, Then NM DOH, Then Back to NM DOT Public Information Officer II$60,000.00$100,000.00$40,000.0067%
Courtney L. Kerster Governors OfficePolicy Analyst II, Then Federal Affairs$65,000.00$104,000.00$39,000.0060%
Katherine T. Chippeaux Educational Retirement BoardDeputy Dir. of  Investments$164,360.36$198,949.50$34,589.1421%
Stephen J. Neel Educational Retirement BoardDeputy Dir. of  Investments$153,879.64$187,242.27$33,362.6322%
Gregory M. Trujillo Public Employee Retiremnt AssoExecutive Deputy, Director Then Exec Dir Investments / Pensions$129,663.84$161,820.47$32,156.6325%
Frank J. Mihail Public Employee Retiremnt AssoStable Value Group Director, Then Real Return Group Director$85,000.00$114,400.00$29,400.0035%
G. Alan Myers Educational Retirement BoardStable Value Group Director Then Invest. Acct. & Operations Mgr$85,776.29$115,000.00$29,223.7134%
McCoy , Alice Liu, Then Katrina C. Hotrum Lopez Aging & Long-Term Services DptCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Katrina Hotrum-LopezAging and Long Term Services DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Brian BlalockChildren, Youth, & Families DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Brian L. BlalockChildren_ Youth & Families DptCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Jeff M. WhiteDepartment of AgricultureCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Alisha Tafoya Lucero Department of CorrectionsCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Debra Garcia-Griego Department of Cultural AffairsCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Classified EmployeeDepartment of Early ChildhoodCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Olivia Padilla-Jackson, Then Deborah K. Romero Department of Finance & AdmnstCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Kathyleen Kunkel,  Then Tracie C. CollinsDepartment of HealthCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Lynn A. TrujilloDepartment of Indian AffairsCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Mark Randall Shea,  Then Acting Department of Public SafetyCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Mike R. Sandoval Department of TransportationCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Judy M. Griego, Then Sonya L. Smith Department of Veteran ServicesCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
William J. McCamley Dept of  Workforce SolutionsCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Vincent P. Martinez, Then John L. Salazar  Dept of Information TechnologyCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Alicia J. Keyes Economic Developmnt DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Sarah. Propst Enrgy_ Minrls & Ntrl Rsrcs DptCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Ortiz , Kenneth FGeneral Services DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
 Catherine M. O’Neill, Then Stephanie M. Kean Higher Education DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Jackie L.J. White, Then Bianca Ortiz-Wertheim  Homeland Security & Emgncy MgtCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
David Scrase Human Services DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Lucero , Alisha C.New Mexico Corrections DeptCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Karen Trujillo,  Then Ryan Stewart Public Education DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Stephanie S. Clarke Taxation & Revenue DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Jennifer P. SchroerTourism DepartmentCabinet Secretary$128,000.00$156,000.00$28,000.0022%
Rick L. Scroggins Educational Retirement BoardDeputy Director Then Senior Investment Officer$122,447.43$149,425.28$26,977.8522%
Mark G. Canavan Educational Retirement BoardReal Return Group Director$121,567.68$147,660.03$26,092.3521%
Caroline BuerkleGovernors OfficeDirector of Cabinet Affairs$110,000.00$135,000.00$25,000.0023%
Daniel D. Schlegel Governors OfficeExecutive Asst to the Governor, Then Special Director$70,000.32$93,600.00$23,599.6834%
Robert J. Jacksha Educational Retirement BoardChief Investment Officer$242,294.62$264,585.72$22,291.109%
Philip “Tripp” StelnickiGovernors OfficeDirector of Communications$85,000.00$107,000.00$22,000.0026%
Pete Werner Educational Retirement BoardReal Return Group Director$131,921.10$153,154.56$21,233.4616%
Nathan S. Sax Educational Retirement BoardReal Return Group Director$133,427.42$153,933.31$20,505.8915%
Melissa SalazarGovernors OfficeDirector of Boards and Commissions$70,000.00$90,000.00$20,000.0029%
Khristaan D. Villela Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director II$88,740.00$107,639.43$18,899.4321%
Patrick Moore Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director II$91,799.00$109,792.00$17,993.0020%
Nora M. Sackett Governors OfficeAdministrative Assistant II, Then Deputy Press Secretary$45,000.80$62,400.00$17,399.2039%
Teresa CasadosGovernors OfficeChief of Staff$130,000.00$146,000.00$16,000.0012%
Dominic GabelloGovernors OfficeCabinet Director$128,000.00$143,769.00$15,769.0012%
Jan Goodwin Educational Retirement BoardExec Dir Investments/Pensions, Then Senior Investment Officer$167,880.19$183,325.16$15,444.979%
Aaron Armstrong  Educational Retirement BoardStable Value Group Director$91,250.02$105,564.16$14,314.1416%
Christopher Orwoll Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director I$81,386.30$93,599.50$12,213.2015%
Eric Blinman Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director II$82,062.43$93,599.50$11,537.0714%
Jeff Pappas Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director I$82,412.70$93,599.50$11,186.8014%
Victor ReyesGovernors OfficeDirector of Legislative Affairs$90,000.00$101,088.00$11,088.0012%
Della C. Warrior Department of Cultural AffairsDivision Director II$86,700.00$93,599.50$6,899.508%
Chart above compiled from information on the New Mexico Sunshine Portal and the State Personnel Office Organizational Listing Report.