New interim director of wildfire claims office arrives in NM as FEMA funding lapses - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has quietly appointed an interim director of a multi-billion-dollar compensation fund for victims ofNew Mexico’s largest wildfire.
Longtime FEMA official Nancy Casper’s appointment comes at a rocky time for the agency and the fund for victims of the 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. The former head of the fund is on leave following revelations he received a six-figure payout for damage to his home that was far from the fire, and FEMA’s operations have been disrupted by a partial federal government shutdown.
FEMA did not announce Casper’s new position. But she introduced herself Friday during a public meeting with commissioners of Mora County, one of the areas where the massive fire burned. Casper said she had worked for FEMA for 18 years, leading the agency’s response to “complex events” like wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters through five presidential administrations.
Now in New Mexico, she said, she is eager to stabilize the FEMA office, which has long been subject to criticism over delays in payments. Congress in late 2022 created the claims office and ultimately awarded FEMA $5.45 billion to compensate Northern New Mexico residents who suffered losses in the roughly 345,000-acre blaze that resulted from botched federal prescribed burns that spring.
“I am not here to make excuses,” Casper told commissioners. “I’m here to find solutions to problems. I’m here to move things. I’m here to find resolution, to the extent we can find resolution for the folks that have been impacted.”
But a partial government shutdown – largely an impasse in Congress over the future of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency – is disrupting Casper’s first days on the job.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem detailed in a Monday news release how her department – which includes ICE and FEMA – is “scaling back to bare-minimum, life-saving operations only.”
Casper told claims office staff in a meeting later Monday that the shutdown means that no payments will be approved for claimants until Congress funds DHS, according to four employees of the office. The four employees asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly and fear retaliation for doing so.
Why the shutdown would result in a halt in payments was not immediately clear Tuesday, as the office largely pays its employees and funds operations from the $5.45 billion Congress appropriated. Administrative costs to run the office were projected to reach $377 million by October.
Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, confirmed Tuesday afternoon that her office had been informed that her office had been informed that the shutdown has resulted in halted payments for fire victims.
“We hope that the claimants get taken care of, and we know that there have already been quite a few delays,” she told Source NM. “Hopefully that doesn’t deter people from continuing to try and get the compensation that they are owed. And on the state side, we’re going to continue to advocate for people to get what they need to recover and move forward.”
Claims office officials did not respond to Source NM’s phone calls and emailed requests for comment Tuesday. An automated reply from the office notes that, “Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this email inbox may not be actively monitored at this time.”
Juan Ayala, another FEMA official who recently arrived in New Mexico said in an email Source obtained Tuesday that the office is “limiting in-person services and prioritizing essential activities to conserve resources” due to the shutdown, though he offered no further details.
“We are equally disappointed that this lapse is causing disruptions, and we remain committed to supporting claimants and stakeholders throughout this period and look forward to working together once funding is restored,” he wrote.
Ayala did not respond to a text, phone call or email Tuesday.
Ayala started work at the claims office Feb. 12, shortly after FEMA placed former director Jay Mitchell on administrative leave. In July, Mitchell and his wife accepted more than $500,000 in payments for smoke damage and business-related losses, according to documents Source NM obtained, while some fire victims are still awaiting payment, including those who lost their homes in the wildfire.
In addition to the halt in payments, the office, citing the funding lapse, is prohibiting walk-in appointments to its offices in Mora, Las Vegas and Santa Fe. Those with appointments can still meet with claims office navigators, and claimants can still drop off documents at those locations, according to a Facebook post from the office late Tuesday morning.
As of Feb. 18, the office has paid out $3.4 billion from the fund Congress awarded, according to an update the office posted last week, including $2.55 billion to individuals and households.
Steve Pearce expected to face questions over public land views in Senate confirmation hearing - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Former New Mexico congressman Steve Pearce's appointment to lead the nation's largest public lands agency will come under the spotlight on Capitol Hill this week.
Pearce, who was appointed in November by President Donald Trump to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management, is one of three nominees set to appear before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing.
While a vote is not expected to take place until a later date, the hearing could mark a key step toward Pearce taking the reins of the BLM, which oversees roughly 245 million acres of public lands nationwide.
If Pearce's nomination is approved by the committee, it would then advance to the full Senate for a final vote that would be scheduled by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
But Pearce is expected to face sharp questions from Democratic senators after environmental groups across the western United States expressed fierce opposition to his appointment.
"Senators who support this nomination will share responsibility for the consequences of placing a long-time public lands sell-off advocate in charge of America’s largest land management agency," Michael Carroll, the BLM campaign director at the Wilderness Society, said this week. "Future generations are counting on them to choose a better steward of their heritage."
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is the Senate energy committee's ranking member and has indicated he would scrutinize Pearce's record on public lands issues while considering his appointment.
"We need a person in this position who will be a good steward of our public lands for all of us, not divvy them out as political favors," Heinrich said at the time of Pearce's appointment.
A conservative Republican, Pearce served two separate stints in the U.S. House. Specifically, he held the southern New Mexico-based 2nd Congressional District seat from 2003 to 2009, then again from 2011 until 2019.
After losing in the 2018 governor’s race to Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, Pearce was elected as state Republican Party chairman. He held that position for six years before stepping down at the end of 2024.
In recent years, Pearce has staunchly supported Trump while opposing the designation of additional public lands such as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico.
The owner of an oilfield services company, Pearce said in a December letter to a federal ethics administrator that he would step down from his role as president and board member of Trinity Industries upon confirmation. But his wife would continue to operate the business and serve as president.
Pearce also said he would resign his position as managing member for two other Hobbs-based companies that he jointly owns with his wife.
If Pearce is confirmed as BLM director, he could have a significant impact on his home state. The agency manages about half of all federal land in New Mexico, or about 17.3% of the state’s total land area. The state also receives royalties from oil and natural gas drilling on BLM land that make up a significant part of the state’s total revenue mix.
DOH reports a measles infection in Hidalgo County Detention Center — Daniel Montaño, KUNM News
A federal inmate tested positive for measles in a southern New Mexico detention facility, the state’s first confirmed case for the year following a statewide outbreak in 2025 that infected 100 people
The New Mexico Department of Health, announced the case Tuesday, Feb. 24, and has not identified any public exposure locations.
DOH says it is coordinating with Hidalgo County to ensure all quarantine, vaccination, isolation and testing procedures are followed.
Measles symptoms develop about 3 weeks after exposure and include a fever, cough and runny nose followed by a rash on the head or face that spreads over the body.
Jury finds Angel Fire mayor 'knowingly violated' state procurement code in million-dollar marketing contract - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
An 8th Judicial District Court jury has found that Angel Fire Mayor Barry "B.J." Lindsey "knowingly violated" the New Mexico Procurement Code after hiring a marketing agency for the village outside of a competitive bidding process and under a contract that included an illegal prepayment clause.
The New Mexico Ethics Commission sued the mayor in 2024 after investigating a series of complaints that alleged Lindsey and his staff failed to issue a request for proposals seeking competitive bids for the contract, which Lindsey awarded to Carristo Creative Consulting LLC of Albuquerque that year for over $1 million.
Following a jury trial this month before Judge Steven Romero in Colfax County, the jury found on Feb. 17 that Lindsey attempted to circumvent the fair bidding process under an exemption in the Procurement Code that allows a public body to allocate funding for "purchases of advertising in all media."
After the civil suit was filed in 2024, the village canceled the contract and issued an RFP for advertising services for the community, which is home to less than 2,000 full-time residents in the Moreno Valley, roughly 24 miles east of Taos.
“I ran for mayor to serve my community, not to spend two years defending myself in court,” Lindsey said in a statement. “Small-town leaders deserve guidance and communication before they’re hit with a lawsuit.”
Lindsey and his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in August of that year, arguing that he and his staff should be granted the opportunity to redress the matter under the Campaign Reporting Act, but were denied.
“New Mexico is full of small towns led by everyday citizens,” Lindsey added. “When state agencies move straight to lawsuits instead of working with local governments, it sends a message that discourages people from stepping up to serve.”
The commission reached a separate settlement with Carristo for repayment of the amounts it unlawfully received under the contract, according to a press release from the ethics commission.
A political newcomer who took office in January 2024, Lindsey cast the tie-breaking vote to award the contract to Carristo, which was named as a party to the civil lawsuit along with several village staff, including Julie Kulhan, chief procurement officer.
The lawsuit also asserted that the mayor and his wife maintained personal relationships with the creative agency, which could not immediately be reached for comment Monday regarding the outcome of the lawsuit.
“In New Mexico, government entities cannot bypass normal competitive procurement requirements and award a no-bid $1 million contract to a public official’s friend simply because a contract is related to advertising in some general sense,” Amelia Bierle, deputy director of the New Mexico Ethics Commission, said in a press release after the lawsuit was filed in 2024.
The verdict follows a court order granting partial summary judgment in favor of the ethics commission in June 2024, when the court ruled that the procurement code was germane to the contract awarded to Carristo and that it did not fall under any allowable exemptions under state law.
“The Procurement Code exists to ensure fairness, transparency, and public trust in government contracting,” Bierle said in a statement. “(The) verdict reaffirms that public officials are accountable when they knowingly disregard those requirements.”
With funding infusion on tap, multistory office building next to Capitol set to move forward – Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
After years of delays and false starts, plans to build a new three-story executive office building next to the state Capitol are back on.
Lawmakers appropriated $95 million for the on-again, off-again project as part of a $1.2 billion capital outlay bill that's awaiting final approval on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk.
The bill, Senate Bill 240, passed in the final days of this year's 30-day legislative session, which ended Thursday. The governor has until March 11 to act on the measure, which is subject to line-item veto.
If the appropriation survives the governor's veto pen, the design phase of the project could be finished by October and bids for construction could be issued by the end of this year, state General Services Department spokesman Joe Vigil said.
He also said the current plans for the office building involve a 165,000-square foot structure with an underground parking structure featuring 585 spaces.
At a glance:
Thousands of public works projects are funded under this year's capital outlay bill. Here are some other proposed big-ticket projects:
- $4 million — Spaceport American runways and facility improvements.
- $20 million — State Parks improvements statewide.
- $26.6 million — Affordable housing projects around New Mexico.
- $75 million — Construction of a new forensic unit at New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas.
- $10 million — Construction of Navajo Code Talkers museum in San Juan County.
- $280 million — Construction of new University of New Mexico School of Medicine facility (additional funding in other bills).
Backers of the plan have insisted the construction of a new downtown Santa Fe office complex would save money in the long run, by allowing the state to reduce its reliance on leasing office space and consolidate government agencies in a more centralized location.
Currently, the state pays millions of dollars per year for its more than 300 active leases around the state, according to General Services Department data.
House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, voiced support for the project on Monday, describing it as necessary to alleviate a current space crunch at the Roundhouse.
"As we continue to modernize our Legislature, office space is becoming increasingly important so we can appropriately build the capacity necessary to continue delivering for New Mexicans today and meet our needs in the years to come," Martínez told the Journal.
Specifically, the new office building would house six different state government agencies, Vigil said. Some of those agencies are currently based at the state Capitol complex, while others are spread across Santa Fe in leased buildings.
The agencies currently slated to be moved to the new executive office building include the Secretary of State's Office, the State Treasurer's Office, the State Auditor's Office and the Lieutenant Governor's Office. Two Cabinet-level state agencies, the Department of Finance and Administration and the Higher Education Department, would also be relocated to the new building, Vigil said.
The idea for a new state government building near the Capitol was first floated nearly 20 years ago, with the project's initial price tag estimated to be $22 million. But the project ended up stalling due to concerns about parking and compliance with Santa Fe building ordinances.
Those concerns have persisted in recent years, with groups like the Old Santa Fe Association opposing plans to demolish four historic casitas built around 1930 to make way for the new office building. The group has called for the casitas to be repurposed, perhaps as affordable housing, while describing the proposed new structure as "bureaucratic bloat" on its website.
In addition, a 2011 archaeological review of the area commissioned by the New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs unearthed more than 1,500 artifacts. But no prehistoric or Spanish colonial deposits were uncovered, and no human remains were found.
After initially opposing the idea, a Santa Fe historic review commission voted in December to allow the demolition of the four historic casitas. In addition to the casitas, the existing Concha Ortiz y Pino Building, a 31,000-square-foot structure, would also have to be razed to make room for the new building.
With historical concerns no longer blocking the project, funding has been the last obstacle stopping it from moving forward. State-level approval was granted in 2021 by the Capitol Building Planning Commission, a group made up of legislators, Cabinet secretaries and elected officials.
In addition to the $95 million earmarked by lawmakers in this year's capital outlay bill, a total of $85 million was previously appropriated for the project in 2022.
While a final design for the new building has not yet been selected, former Legislative Council Services Director Raúl Burciaga said in a 2024 memo it would be built to match adjacent state buildings and would allow for easy pedestrian access to the Roundhouse, located just to the east.
"The goal is to achieve harmony with other buildings with the use of similar materials, color, proportions, and details," Buricaga said at the time.