The long-time county manager Julie Morgas Baca will leave her position on June 28, the end of Bernalillo County’s fiscal year.
Morgas Baca was appointed as county manager in 2015.
Prior to that, she was president and CEO of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation from 2013 to 2015 and the deputy county manager for the county’s Community Services Division. Morgas Baca started her career as a financial specialist with the Second Judicial Court then she was promoted to fiscal director for the court. As county manager she managed an overall budget of $1 billion dollars.
“I would like to thank Julie for all her hard work and know that we will continue to carry out many of the initiatives she started,” Commission Chair Barbara Baca said in a press release. “Julie has put her heart and soul into her work here at Bernalillo County and it has been a pleasure to work with her. We will continue to work together on the highest priorities of public safety, behavioral health and addressing homelessness, to name a few. I am thankful Julie will be with us through the end of this fiscal year and I know we can develop a smooth transition in leadership.”
During her tenure as county manager she was responsible for many initiatives over the years such as: establishing the behavioral health initiative; overseeing criminal justice reform; handling the county’s renovations and move from Civic Plaza to Alvarado Square; made sure the county’s work and services continued during the Covid pandemic and made progress on the complex McClendon settlement agreement that involves the Metropolitan Detention Center.
“This is a huge loss for the county and the community and I’m sad to see her leave before her contract is over,” Commissioner Walt Benson said in a press release. “I had the opportunity to work with her on many successes including helping transition MDC inmate medical care to UNMH, keeping operations running during the cyber-attack that shut down the county IT systems, and her concerted efforts to maintain a healthy and responsible budget – ensuring we earned the highest bond rating possible.” ”
Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada extended his appreciation and called upon his fellow commissioners “to establish a public process for selecting the next county manager, comparable to the rigorous procedures employed in the selection of the superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools.”
“This process should include a series of town hall meetings and public information sessions, providing our residents with opportunities to offer feedback and input on the qualities and qualifications they deem essential in our next county manager,” according to a news release.
Morgas Baca holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and was raised in El Paso, Texas. She is married to former Chief District Court Judge Ted Baca. The couple live in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.
Bernalillo County is 1,160 square miles and is New Mexico’s most populous county with more than 676,000 residents. Bernalillo County government provides a wide range of public services to residents who live in Albuquerque, Los Ranchos and Tijeras and to the approximately 106,000 residents living in the rest of the unincorporated areas of the county. Bernalillo County employs approximately 2,800 people and has an annual operating budget, capital investments and other funds of more than $1 billion. Elected officials include five county commissioners, assessor, clerk, probate judge, sheriff and treasurer.