County Commissioners elect new leadership

The Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners elected first-term commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez as board chair on Tuesday.

Schaljo-Hernandez represents District 1 after winning an election in 2022. Long-time commissioner and former county clerk Lynn Ellins previously held the seat. The board also elected Diana Murillo, who represents District 2, as vice chair.

Schaljo-Hernandez was elected unanimously. The vote for Murillo split, however. Manuel Sanchez, who represents District 5, initially nominated Shannon Reynolds, who represents District 3, for the vice chair job. Reynolds and Sanchez voted for Reynolds, while the rest of the board picked Murillo.

“I’m very pleased that it’s been a good year for the county, and I’m sure that will move forward in very capable hands,” outgoing chair Susana Chaparro said before passing the gavel.

County ordinance assigns the chair several responsibilities. They manage the board’s meetings, call meetings to order, enforce order when public comment gets snippy, sign documents on behalf of the board and administer some oaths of office. The vice chair is responsible for the same obligations when the chair is absent.

Schaljo-Hernandez is the co-owner of Salud! De Mesilla. The other owner, Russell Hernandez, became the mayor of Mesilla after a 2023 election.

During the meeting, Schaljo-Hernandez suggested that he intended to implement changes to the meeting’s structure.

“With the new year and as chair, we’ll probably be looking at a resolution of how the agenda is laid out at a later date. We’ll definitely be looking at that pretty soon as well,” Schaljo-Hernandez said.