Doña Ana County approves reorganization to restore Department of Public Works

Doña Ana County commissioners on June 10 approved a resolution to reorganize the county’s utilities, engineering and road departments into a single Department of Public Works.

The change, presented by Assistant County Manager Steven Lopez, was approved by a roll-call vote after a brief presentation and questions from commissioners. "What we are requesting is authorization to go back to the organizational chart that existed in 2010," Lopez said, describing the move as an effort to coordinate planning and execution for horizontal infrastructure across the county.

The reorganization will place engineering, the road department and utilities under a single director with three assistant directors overseeing those units. Lopez told commissioners existing staff will fill the assistant director posts and that the change "does not require the addition of any new positions." He said the county expects efficiencies — for example, a single grant position serving the combined department rather than separate grant staff in each group.

Vice Chair Chaparro asked for details of the chart and Lopez described the structure: a director overseeing three assistant directors — one each for engineering, roads and utilities. Lopez said the assistant director for engineering would be the county engineer, the assistant director for roads would be the road superintendent and the assistant director for utilities would oversee water and wastewater operations. The director position could be filled by an internal applicant or hired from outside; the resolution sets a requirement that the director have a background in one or more of the three areas.

Lopez described the history leading to the change: the county previously had a Department of Public Works until about 2010 when prior managers split utilities out in an unsuccessful attempt to sell them. He said the county still has work to stabilize utility staffing and that the county’s geography and service needs — including roughly 38 colonias — make it difficult to run utilities on a fee-for-service model. He told the board the county spends an average of about $30,000 per household to connect wastewater in colonias and that fees for service are currently “almost four times higher than the City of Las Cruces” for some residents. Commissioner Reynolds said bringing utilities and related infrastructure planning "in house" is essential to protect public health and support economic development.

The board approved the resolution by roll-call vote (Commissioners Gamedos, Reynolds, Sanchez, Vice Chair Chaparro and Chair Sheldon Hernandez voted yes). The clerk assigned the measure resolution number 2025-65.

The reorganization is now authorized; staff will proceed with the internal steps to name assistant directors and begin combining administrative processes. No additional staffing was added as part of the vote, but commissioners asked staff to return with details on personnel placement, pay, and any implementation timeline or follow-up needs.

What’s next: staff will implement the chart change, check classifications and internal processes, and return with any follow-up items required for transitioning grant management and other consolidated functions.