Saturday, March 12, 2005

County manager will start April 1

Commission appoints Matejka Ray-Olguin as county's chief exec

Audry Olmsted El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, aolmsted@dchieftain.com

The new county manager says she will have an "open door" policy when she starts her new position April 1.

Socorro county commissioners announced that they hired Matejka Ray-Olguin as the new county manager at the March 8 meeting.

"I feel as though if you have a full-time job, you need to be there full-time," Ray-Olguin said. "I'll definitely be there and have an open-door policy."

Ray-Olguin said her first order of business when she starts next month is to get to know everybody she will work with and find out what issues need to be addressed in the county. Ray-Olguin said she wants to meet everyone in the county offices, and elected officials, and sit down with the employees to discuss the positive things going on in the county and the things that need changing.

"Change is always good, but you have to do your homework first," she said of not wanting to jump into anything without doing the research first.

Ray-Olguin said she felt the biggest priorities for the county manager is to carry out policies set by the commissioners and to also make sure the county's budget is strong.

Ray-Olguin will take over for Gloria Appel, who has been covering the county as county manager since Jody McSmith stepped down in January.

"She's (Appel) been the guardian angel of the county in keeping everything in line," Ray-Olguin said.

The new county manager said Appel has been with the county for about 20 years and is really the person that has kept the place up and running.

"She's an amazing person," Ray-Olguin said.

Ray-Olguin said she knew the county has received criticism in the past for not being available to the public and indicates that will not be the case when she starts, saying that she will always be reachable.

Ray-Olguin said she was inspired to apply for the position after being prompted by the community. She said she thought about the idea for about three weeks before making her decision.

"I wanted to make sure I could do a good job because it's a lot of hard work," she said.

When she is not in the office performing her county manager duties, Ray-Olguin said she will continue her work as a registered Democratic lobbyist, something she has been doing for 11 years.

Ray-Olguin said she has a political background in her family and has a lot of personal experience in public relations and management. She said she was grateful to the commission for supporting her and well as her family.

" I want to thank my husband, Michael Olguin, for believing in me and supporting me," she said. "He's been very supportive as well as my parents."

Ray-Olguin said her husband, who is the chairman of the Democratic party, stepped back and let her go through the application process for the county manager on her own.

Ray-Olguin said she did not feel her other obligations with the government would affect her position as county manager and that other projects and meetings would not get in the way of her duties.

"The county is my priority,' she said.

Six people applied for the county manager position, which pays $50,000 a year.

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