Governor is Kicking Ass for Her Ruling Class – Giving 20% to 67% Pay Raises … Apparently They Worked Harder Than Most.

The Working Class Pushed Aside and into the Shadows.

Both the executive and legislative branches of New Mexico state government have been controlled by the Democratic Party since January 2019, when Michelle Lujan Grisham became Governor.

In a story to be published Wednesday, Roundhouse Movidas and The Candle will report how Democratic Senators turned their backs on the public employees who carried out the work of the state during these past fourteen pandemic challenged months – refusing to restore the 4% pay raise passed in March of 2020, then revoked in June – and rejecting an amendment which would have provided a $15/hour minimum salary for any employee paid poverty wages via the state budget process.

But today and tomorrow we are reporting on how the Governor established a caste system which provides big pay raises for her top personnel – many receiving 20% to 50% pay raises since their arrival in 2019 – while denying the rest of the state government’s workforce a fair shake.

[Editor’s Note – May 12, 2021: Roundhouse Movidas experienced a technical event on Tuesday, and will publish later today the story referred to above that was scheduled to be filed yesterday.]

Governor’s press folks engage in some “gaslighting.”

Below is a chart compiled from public records which reflects the degree by which the Governor and her staff are out of touch with fairness – as she takes care of her favored employees, while ignoring the needs of the rest of the state’s workforce.

Back in February, Nora Sackett, one of the Governor’s press personnel, tried explaining away the big raises given to people in her office.

According to a story by Dan McKay of the Albuquerque Journal, Sackett claimed 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.”

Sackett stated the work ““has been particularly critical during the ongoing pandemic, as Governor’s Office staff have worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week to direct the state’s COVID-19 response and continue to provide important information to the public.””

And last week Sackett defended yet another huge pay raise given to the Governor’s Environmental Secretary James Kenney, providing him with a $12,480 a year increase over all other cabinet secretaries.

This time Sackett told McKay and the Journal, “…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.”

Sackett forgot to mention the workers in the NMED bureaus who actually did the testing and worked with businesses to ensure they operated safely. And she never mentioned that the Governor had presented a budget with no pay raise for those employees.

We want readers (especially government employees who have not seen a fair raise in more than a decade) to be able to look closely at how cabinet secretaries and senior spin doctors for the administration have been rewarded for the work actually performed by others – the rank and file state employees of New Mexico.

Note that the Governor’s senior advisor for worker fairness and unions, has at least advocated for one state employee – himself.

Lujan Grishams’s Policy Advisor Diego Arencon, former firefighter and union leader, appears to have received the highest raise in actual dollars ($45,000) and one of the top three highest percentage increases since he was hired a little over two years ago – a 50% increase.

Salary Winners in Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Administration

Name of Exempt EmployeeAgencyPosition/ChangeJanuary 2019 or Starting SalaryNew / Current Salary Combined Raises Since 2019 or Date of HirePer Cent 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.

(While some of these raises represent a move from one job to another, most classified employees were prevented from any similar job advancement, especially over the last year.)