Gov. picks CYFD lead to head NM child welfare oversight office - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday announced her pick to lead a new statewide independent child welfare watchdog office: Dawn Walters, an attorney who heads the Office of Advocacy at the New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department.
Lujan Grisham made her selection in a letter to the state attorney general, ending the monthslong process to find a leader for the Office of the Child Advocate, established during the 2025 legislative session via House Bill 5.
Walters will require state Senate approval of her appointment, before taking on a term through December 2031.
In an email to Source NM, Walters declined an interview saying she will not make further comments “until the Senate confirmation process is complete.”
The law requires the child advocate to be a lawyer, licensed social worker or psychologist with at least five years of experience in child welfare or juvenile justice. The duties of the office include responding and investigating complaints on behalf of children in state custody or families interacting with the state’s Child Youth and Families Department. The office is administratively attached to the New Mexico Department of Justice.
Proponents hailed the new office as a measure of oversight for the beleaguered CYFD and protection for children in state custody. The troubled agency has faced increased criticism for rising costs of settlements for child death and maltreatment while in state custody, as well as legal probes into injuries from private security guards and suicides of foster children.
State Rep. Michelle Paulene Abeyta (D-To’hajilee), HB5’s legislative sponsor and chair of the search committee, told Source NM Monday in a phone call Monday that Walters’ appointment is the result of a smooth search process by the committee to meet the deadlines in the law.
The seven-member bipartisan search committee narrowed applicants from about 20 to three between November and December, recommending three finalists for the governor’s final selection.
“Now we’re at a position where the committee intends to lend its full support to Dawn Walters’ confirmation with the Senate,” Abeyta said.
Abeyta commended Walters’ vision for expanding the office beyond the state’s urban areas.
“In the interview, she described wanting to make sure that children from all over the state, no matter their geographical location, had access to this office and the ability to be heard,” Abeyta said.
Abeyta said the next step is to ensure the office is fully funded in the 2026 legislative session.
“It’s going to be important that we have adequate funding and resources for Ms. Walters to run this office,” she said. “We plan to advocate for the funding that she needs to do the job, to build her team, to get working on day one.”
Walters, according to her LinkedIn profile, received her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015, and worked as a staff attorney for children in Pennsylvania for seven years. She’s worked at CYFD for nearly three years. She’s directed the Office of Advocacy for a little over a year, which helps youth and foster families with concerns about rights violations “obtain information, facilitate communication,” or further investigations at the agency.
CYFD Communications Director Jake Thompson, in a statement Monday to Source NM, said the agency “wishes” Walters well in her new role.
“Dawn Walters has spent her career advocating for vulnerable children — as an attorney in Pittsburgh and within state government. She understands both the system and the families it serves,” Thompson said.
David Rusk, former Albuquerque mayor and son of US secretary of state, dies - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
David Rusk is remembered for championing urban equity, helping the city acquire land that would become the Elena Gallegos Open Space, and just doing "what was best for the community" during his one term as Albuquerque's Democratic mayor.
Rusk died on Nov. 24 following complications from hip surgery. He was 85.
"He, in my view, was the least political of all the mayors and the one most focused on just trying to figure out what was best for the community," former Albuquerque City Attorney Pat Bryan said.
Among Rusk's accomplishments include helping preserve the KiMo Theatre, promoting public transportation and being the first mayor to promote women to lead city departments.
Rusk was born on Oct. 10, 1940, in Oakland, California, the son of Dean Rusk, U.S. secretary of state under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
David Rusk attended Scarsdale High School in New York before studying economics at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to work with the Washington Urban League, engaging in civil rights and anti-poverty initiatives before joining the U.S. Department of Labor's Manpower Administration, where he focused on workforce development and employment programs, according to an online obituary.
In 1971, Rusk and his wife, Delcia Bence, moved to Albuquerque where they raised three children and he served as state representative before being elected mayor in 1977.
Bryan, who was appointed city attorney under Rusk's predecessor, Republican Harry Kinney, said he didn't know if he would have a job when Rusk started his term.
"He said, 'Frankly, as long as you help to keep me in check, that's what's important,'" Bryan said, "'Don't be afraid to tell me news I don't want to hear,' which impressed me a lot because I can assure you that is not what most politicians want from my limited experience."
Rusk was the first mayor to name women as city department heads, former Mayor Jim Baca said. One of those women was Baca's wife, Roberta "Bobbi" Baca.
"He took risks with people," Bobbi Baca said. "He trusted them to do a good job and expected it. And, as a result, we got a lot accomplished."
During his one term in office, Rusk championed the modernization of city infrastructure, expansion of public safety initiatives and revitalization of cultural landmarks like the KiMo Theatre, "which he envisioned as a cornerstone of Downtown renewal," according to the obituary.
Rusk also started Downtown Saturday Night, a weekly summer festival that took place on Central Avenue.
"The prevailing view was that it was not worth going Downtown," Rusk said in a Sept. 15, 2016, Journal article. "I viewed Albuquerque as a suburb in search of a city. You need to have some urban lifestyle in the package."
Rusk was also an advocate and user of public transportation who expanded and improved the city's public bus system. Additionally, he was responsible for Albuquerque purchasing Elena Gallegos Grant lands and the annexation of West Mesa ensuring the city’s economic health and inclusive growth, according to the obituary.
"Without David Rusk, we would have had residences all the way up the Sandia Mountains because that was all in private hands," said Rusk's friend and mentee, Dave Campbell.
His style of urban planning in Albuquerque led to a post political career. "These actions served as the foundation of his growing career as an urban policy expert focused on the concept of city elasticity, and launched Cities Without Suburbs, an analysis of city elasticity and its impact on social and economic health over 60 years of urban development across the United States," the obituary states.
In 1991, Rusk moved to Washington, D.C., and wrote books and consulted on issues of city growth and equity, advising governments, universities and civic organizations across the country.
"... He had a love for government and for the good that government can do, and for the vision that people and government service and senior government service could provide for their cities and their states and their nation," Campbell said.
Rusk is survived by his wife, Delcia Rusk, and children Gregory Rusk, Patrick Rusk and Monica Rusk.MDC inmate dies weeks after reported suicide attempt - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
An inmate accused of striking a University of New Mexico Hospital security guard with a rock in 2024 died on Saturday after what appeared to be a suicide attempt inside the jail.
Justin Stone, 39, died at UNMH on Saturday morning where he had been staying since December when he reportedly tried to commit suicide, MDC spokesperson Candace Hopkins said in a news release on Monday.
The cause of death is unknown.
At 6:23 p.m. Dec. 28, a Metropolitan Detention Center corrections officer found Stone in "distress" inside the Restricted Housing Unit, she said. MDC staff and University of New Mexico Hospital first responders attempted life-saving measures before Stone was taken to the hospital. Stone was hospitalized for about two weeks before dying at 2:35 a.m. Saturday.
"In accordance with standard procedures, the incident is under investigation by the MDC Office of Professional Standards and BCSO," she said. "The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator will determine the official cause of death."
Hopkins did not give out additional details.
Stone is the first MDC inmate to die in 2026.
NM Public Regulation Commission urges judge to order takeover of San Juan County water system — Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico’s utility regulators have asked a San Juan County judge to order a third party takeover of private water utility Rosa Joint Ventures after allegations the utility did not turn over ownership under a prior agreement and failed to pay $275,000 in state fines.
Rosa Joint Ventures serves about 230 people near Aztec, according to the state’s drinking water database. Rosa Joint Ventures could not be reached for comment on the filing Monday, as calls to phone numbers listed for the utility played an automated message stating the number was disconnected. An emailed request for comment remained pending Monday afternoon.
The Jan. 8 legal filing said management of Rosa Joint Ventures failed to relinquish control of the utility and turn over water delivery to a new organization, the Sambrito Mutual Domestic Waters Consumer Association, which the commission ordered in 2021 after three years of hearings.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission regulates all privately-owned utilities in the state, including about 20 or so, mostly small, water utilities.
In a news release, Commissioner Patrick O’Connell said the PRC needs the court’s help to ensure the utility will deliver services in a “safe and reliable” manner.
“The Commission is committed to ensuring the health of our communities and the utilities that serve them,” O’Connell said. “Every order we issue is aimed at serving the public interest and Rosa Joint Ventures has shown no interest in complying with our orders.”
The PRC’s request for a receivership highlights the ongoing struggles of water safety and reliability in rural and small towns across the state and follows a similar request seeking state intervention in Timberon in September.
Along the same lines, the New Mexico Environment Department last May sued the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority in Sunland Park over longstanding problems with reliability and exceedingly high levels of arsenic.
In a December 18 PRC meeting, John Kreienkamp, a hearing examiner, told commissioners that the agency was convening a task force to “better serve the public and regulate these small water utilities.”
He said that would include determining the financial status of each utility, including the cash on hand and rates structure. It would also require information about water sources, and projected demand, and compliance with the environment department’s sanitary standards. As of December 18, they had contacted five of the 20 utilities, he told commissioners.
“We’re reviewing the responses that we’re getting from the small water utilities to figure out what our next steps are,” Kreienkamp said.
PRC Chair Gabriel Aguilera praised the effort.
“It will help us make sure that utilities are compliant with our annual reporting, and we understand their financial health, but more importantly than that is the potential to avoid these situations that leave people without water,” Aguilera said.
Concerns over the state’s water systems have also reached state lawmakers. During a Legislative Finance Committee hearing in November, a coalition of New Mexico municipalities and rural water systems said they would need an extra $200 million to fully fund water infrastructure projects across the state.