Two new secretaries appointed

Layouts BreadCrumbs BreadCrumbs SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday announced two new members of the state Cabinet: Jason Bowie , deputy chief of the Rio Rancho Police Department, as secretary of the Department of Public Safety; and Kurt A. Steinhaus , educator, education administrator and recently retired superintendent of Los Alamos Public Schools, as secretary of the Public Education Department. Bowie will relieve Timothy Q. Johnson , who has led the department in an acting capacity since late September 2020. Prior to that, Johnson, a 21-year veteran of the state police, had served as deputy secretary and chief of New Mexico State Police, a division of the state public safety agency. He will return to that leadership role under Bowie; Robert Thornton , who served as chief while Johnson served as acting secretary, will return to his previous role as deputy chief. Steinhaus, who retired from the Los Alamos school district in June, will take over for Secretary Ryan Stewart , who has led the public education agency since August 2019. Stewart will step down from his position at the end of August to address family health issues. “New Mexicans are fortunate to have deeply qualified women and men who are willing to step up and serve our state in leadership roles all across state government,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham . “These are not easy jobs. A pandemic doesn’t make them any easier. New Mexicans expect a lot from their leaders. I do, too. I’m grateful to Jason and Kurt for their willingness to serve, I’m excited about their passion for solving problems and thinking outside the box, and I am very much looking forward to working with them on the issues that matter to New Mexicans.” PUBLIC SAFETY Bowie, 49, has worked in New Mexico law enforcement for decades, serving with the Rio Rancho Police Department for 27 years, climbing to the rank of deputy chief in 2019. In 1994 he began his public safety career as an officer in the patrol division, serving 10 years in that role and earning “officer of the year” commendation in 2003. He was promoted in 2005 to the rank of sergeant, supervising the patrol division. He was reassigned and tasked to develop a “Special Services Unit” composed of plainclothes officers responsible for the investigation and apprehension of violent and repeat offenders in both Rio Rancho and the metro area. The assignment required extensive partnership and collaboration with state and federal agencies including New Mexico State Police, the Albuquerque Police Department, the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals service and the Region I Drug Task Force. Concurrently he also developed and implemented the agency’s first SWAT K9 unit. In 2010, Bowie was promoted to lieutenant and in 2014 to captain, in which roles he served as SWAT commander and department operations commander, respectively, in addition to myriad other managerial, administrative and leadership duties. Since 1995 Bowie has served as a SWAT team member, and eventually SWAT team leader, attaining the positions of sergeant, lieutenant and SWAT commander, successively, over the course of more than 23 years. As commander he has successfully managed critical incidents and coordinated staffing and training as well as having contributed to the agency’s SWAT budgeting process. Bowie’s extensive and varied training history includes instructor certifications and management training courses in diversity, equity and inclusion; implicit bias for law enforcement; constitutional policing; active shooter executive management; and more. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve my fellow New Mexicans in this role,” Bowie said. “I’ve been fortunate in my law enforcement career to have the experience of both an officer on the beat building relationships with a community and an administrator working to support those officers and uphold the mission to protect and serve. Too many New Mexicans know the pain and hardship caused by violent crime. And New Mexicans expect and deserve public safety officers who are committed to the communities they serve, impeccably trained and fully accountable to the public. The Department of Public Safety and the sworn women and men of the New Mexico State Police work tirelessly in every corner of our state every single day to make a positive difference – and to root out and prevent violent crime and hold those criminals accountable. That work will continue, and my expectation is that we will think outside the box and work closely with local law enforcement agencies and community stakeholders to identify and implement strategies to help us move forward and reduce recidivism and ameliorate the conditions that lead to violent criminal behavior.” PUBLIC EDUCATION Steinhaus, 67, has led a lengthy and distinguished career in New Mexico public education, most recently as superintendent of Los Alamos Public Schools, the position from which he retired in May of this year. Steinhaus began as a classroom educator, teaching at Alamogordo Public Schools from 1976 through 1988, where he also served as a department chair. Subsequently, in addition to teaching courses at Santa Fe Community College and the University of New Mexico, he was hired at what was then known as the state Department of Education as an educational consultant in the assessment and evaluation unit. From 1988 through 1999, he was promoted at the agency into varied leadership roles, including stints as state director of educational technology, director of the state data management unit, chief information officer and assistant superintendent for accountability and information services, in that time facilitating strategic planning about public education in New Mexico and managing budgets and staffing for program development, educational technology and interventions and incentive for school improvement. From 1999 through 2008, he worked as both director of student and education programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory and deputy Cabinet secretary of…