At the Bernalillo County Commission Meeting Tuesday night, commissioners formally acknowledged retiring County Manager Julie Morgas Baca, and her work.
As Morgas Baca began her final state of the county address, she said she was already fighting tears.
“I’m gonna read this because if I start speaking from the heart, I’ll be a mess,” she said
She invited her closest staff to join her as she delivered the address, in which she highlighted recent achievements in the county. She lauded everything from successful support programs for housing recovery and the expansion of Comprehensive Assessment & Recovery through Excellence (CARE) Campus, the state’s only free detox, to the opening of the new Behavioral Health Crisis Center.
Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Walt Benson issued an official proclamation thanking her for her service, with Quezada praising her assistance to him personally.
“Thank you for being my friend,” he said “You will always be my friend.”
Morgas Baca has been the county manager since 2015. In an interview at the grand opening of the crisis center, she told KUNM she wants the legacy of her career to be one of collaboration.
“Emphasizing how important partnerships and collaboration is, I think that's very important because when you have that, something like this comes to fruition,” she said.
She said even though she’ll be retiring, she doesn’t plan on completely stepping out of service for the county.
“I think I’m going to chill out a little bit, and I think after that, I still want to make a difference in my community, so who knows,” she said.
She’ll still be the county manager for a few more days, as her retirement starts on July 1.
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