Mesilla Valley MPO hires Andrew Ray as first executive director

The Mesilla Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization governing board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve an employment agreement hiring Andrew Ray as the MPO’s first executive director.

The 7-0 roll call approved Resolution 25-05, making the agreement effective May 5, 2025, and setting a termination date of March 31, 2028. The board recorded a starting annual base salary of $112,000 and placed the executive director on an annual performance review schedule in April.

Board legal counsel Sergio Estrada summarized the key contract terms before the vote: “This employment agreement will be effective starting 05/05/2025. It shall terminate on 03/31/2028. The executive director’s starting salary will be $112,000 per year,” and he added that “the executive director shall be evaluated, annually, in the month of April or as soon thereafter.” The board accepted those clarifications and proceeded to a roll-call vote.

The motion to approve the agreement was made and seconded on the record before the roll call. The board’s roll-call votes as recorded in the meeting were recorded as yes from Trustee Johnson Buick; Aaron Chavarria, NMDOT district engineer; Councilor Becky Koren; Mayor Russell Hernandez; Councilor Cassie McClure; Commissioner Camatos; and the chair (name not specified). The chair announced the motion passed.

Andrew Ray was present at the meeting and responded briefly after the vote, thanking the board.

The hiring follows closed-session discussions earlier in March and April that the board said were limited to personnel matters relating to filling the executive director role and were held under NMSA 1978 Section 10-15-1(H)(2), as announced in the meeting’s closed-meeting statement. The board did not discuss additional terms beyond those placed on the record by counsel during the open meeting.

The MPO will move forward with onboarding under the dates and terms recorded in the employment agreement.