Bill Hall, NMSU alum and former FBI agent, named New Mexico's District 3 representative
A San Juan County native who spent most of his career working as an agent for the FBI has been appointed to the vacant District 3 seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives by the San Juan County Commission.
Bill Hall, a graduate of Farmington High School and New Mexico State University, was one of only two people to submit a letter of interest to County Manager Mike Stark for the vacant seat, which was left open when Rep. Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, resigned March 14. Commissioners voted 4-1 during their Tuesday, April 2 meeting in Aztec to appoint Hall to the seat for the remainder of Lane’s term, which continues through Dec. 31.
Hall was the only candidate to file for the seat with the San Juan County Clerk’s Office last month before it was widely known that Lane would be stepping down. Hall filed to run as a Republican and would have faced Lane in a primary election, had Lane, the House minority leader, chosen to seek reelection.
The general election will be held in November, at which point Hall will be seeking a full term.
“I’m very pleased, and I just appreciate the confidence of the County Commission,” Hall said after the meeting.
The only other person to submit a letter of interest to Stark for the interim appointment was Aztec businesswoman Kelly Berhost, an Allstate Insurance agent and owner of a Roadrunner MVD Services location.
Commissioners voted on the two candidates separately by roll call. Commissioner GloJean Todacheene was the only commissioner to vote for Berhost, with commissioners Gary McDaniel, Steve Lanier, Terri Fortner and John Beckstead voting against her appointment.
The votes were flipped in regard to Hall’s appointment, with McDaniel, Lanier, Fortner and Beckstead voting in favor of his appointment, and Todacheene voting against it.
Berhost did not appear before the commission to speak before the vote was held, but Hall did. He said he had always felt called to serve, which is why he started his career at the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office before joining the FBI. It was there, he said, that he learned what a true bureaucracy really was.
He explained that if commissioners saw fit to appoint him to the interim position, he planned on doing a lot of listening and observing.
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“I do not expect to say a lot, as I hope to learn from my more experienced colleagues,” he said.
Hall said he hopes to be elected to a full term in District 3 in November, and he thought holding the seat on an interim basis would provide him with a good opportunity to get his feet wet.
During the roll call vote on Hall’s appointment, Beckstead referenced that idea in explaining why he was voting for him.
“I’m for letting him run through the sprinklers before he jumps in the pool,” Beckstead said.
After the commission voted in favor of Hall’s appointment, Todacheene asked him to describe where he saw himself on the political spectrum.
“I’m pretty conservative,” he said.
County spokesman Devin Neeley said Hall will not officially become a state lawmaker until he is sworn into office. Neeley said he did not know when that would take place.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan County native Bill Hall to join New Mexico House's District 3
