SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By SF County
Hank Hughes was sworn in this morning at the Santa Fe County Administrative Complex to the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) representing District 5. Hughes was accompanied by his wife Bonney and a physically-distant small group of masked witnesses.
Hughes, the Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, co-founded the organization in 2000 and became the Executive Director in 2001. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for St. Elizabeth’s Shelter in Santa Fe. In addition to his advocacy for the homeless, he is also passionate about water resources and holds a Master’s Degree of Engineering in Environmental Systems from Cornell University.
“We enjoy exceptionally clean air and water in Santa Fe County, but we cannot take these for granted.” Commissioner Hughes said discussing his priorities as the newest member of the BCC. “Climate change threatens our forests and our water supplies, and we must be aggressive in protecting our land and water.”
Commission Chair Henry Roybal (D-1) said, “It is my honor to welcome Mr. Hank Hughes to the County Commission. His experience in working to end homelessness will be vital to our community, and his engineering skill set and principles, will contribute to the Board’s goals of exploring systems and solutions to some of our environmental concerns.”
Commissioner Anna Hansen (D-2) expressed her excitement to have Hughes join the BCC, “He has a broad range of expertise that I believe will be very beneficial to Santa Fe County. During this time of the pandemic, he is well-suited with his experience in working with our homeless population. I want to warmly welcome him to our Board”
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Hughes to the District 5 seat after Commissioner Ed Moreno announced his early retirement from the post. Hughes debut with the BCC will be at the September 8th meeting.
Commissioner Hughes can be reached at hhughes@santafecountynm.gov.
