Erica Martinez appointed new Bosque Farms clerk

BOSQUE FARMS — A local village that has been churning through clerks at an alarming rate has selected its fourth top administrator in two years.

On Monday morning, Erica A. Martinez, of Albuquerque, was sworn in as the village of Bosque Farms’ newest clerk/administrator. Appointed by Mayor Chris Gillespie, Martinez was affirmed on a 4-0 vote by the village council.

“The standout qualities we needed (in a clerk) were government knowledge, and Erica has a tremendous amount,” Gillespie said. “She has a financial background, the ability to work with grants and write grants. She also brings knowledge and skills in the fire and EMS areas.”

Martinez has worked for Bernalillo County for more than 20 years, starting as a procurement technician in 2000 then working her way up to financial specialist. She was the executive assistant to the deputy county manager of public safety for four years before becoming the business manager at the Gordon Bernell Charter School, a charter school she helped develop within the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.

Martinez was the financial administrator for Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue from 2013 to 2024 and completed her tenure with the county as the financial accountant for Bernalillo County Behavioral Health, during which she planned, maintained and managed a budget of about $38 million.

Gillespie said Martinez was impressive during her interview, but noted she really stepped up after the formal interview.

“She spent the rest of the day in this office, working with and talking to staff. I’ve never seen that before,” the mayor said. “She has a great skill set and she’s strong. She’s going to be a very strong clerk. She understands the issues going on.”

Martinez is aware she’s walking into a municipality mired in conflict and acknowledged there has most likely been a loss of trust in the administration by residents. She is hoping her “outside perspective” will work to her advantage and help move the village forward.

“Being able to look at this on a more community-based level, understanding the perspective of the constituents — because that’s who you serve — and coming from that outside approach, being able to manage according to statute, according to ordinance, according to law and governing in that respect without a personal position on a favored outcome, will be beneficial,” Martinez said. “Taking over this administrative role is going to be a big challenge.”

In the coming weeks, Martinez will begin the task of becoming a certified municipal clerk, going to trainings offered by the New Mexico Municipal League and learning the “whys and specifics” of municipal government.

“I’ll be getting these certifications in order to advance myself and to run this municipality,” she said. “The more education I can get, the better. The more knowledge, the more trainings, the more experience I get on a day-to-day basis, the better. And also working with each and every one of the staff members to understand their perspective and approach.”

She continued, saying she has immense respect for the staff and their efforts to keep the village running.

“For a person that’s wearing 18 different hats when they’re only supposed to have one piece, I want to fill those gaps to make sure there’s continuity of service, segregation of duty and transparency of effort,” she said. “There are several smoldering fires and I intend to get in to each and every one of them. I’m a hard worker.

“I will do my damnedest in my research and I will figure things out. I absolutely want to acknowledge the staff that has been handling everything and look forward to learning from them and letting them support me with their knowledge because they grew up in this organization.

“Now, I can support them. We’re a team so we’re going to do this to serve our population and grow.”

Saying she may encounter roadblocks and political push back, Martinez said her purpose was to ensure the village is legally in compliance with state laws and regulations.

“I also need to do my best to get everyone to grow so we can support the community as a whole, so we can get everyone to the next level. It’s all about checks and balances.

“It’s a matter of looking at each and every process and ensuring that we make sure we’re doing our due diligence as per statute. We’re all held accountable, ultimately,” Martinez said. “As we should be.”