Chief of staff at N.M. utility regulator doesn't shy away from challenge of transition

Jun. 13—Wayne Propst left the top job at one troubled state agency early this year and a couple of months later became head of a New Mexico commission in upheaval.

If it seems he escaped a bear cave and landed in a wolf den, Propst said the challenge is fine with him.

"If you work hard, know what you're doing, those kinds of things generally work their way out," Propst said in a recent interview about serving difficult agencies and boards.

Propst, 56, has spent most of his career working in New Mexico government agencies and as a legislative analyst. His experience in state government was a key factor in the state Public Regulation Commission's decision to select him to lead its staff.

New Mexico voters agreed last year to change the board from publicly elected to government appointed beginning in 2023. Through the years, critics found some commissioners underqualified for the complexity of the job. One candidate had pursued campaign contributions from lobbyists, some of whom appeared before the commission.

About 10 years ago, a couple of commissioners were convicted of felonies, including one who used a state gas card fraudulently and was fined for lying on his campaign finance report.

From 2012 to early this year, Propst had been executive director of the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association. Some legislators proposed unsuccessfully in this year's legislative session to turn that board, too, from elected to appointed members.

At the retirement association, some board members accused Propst of giving himself and staffers big raises without their approval. State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg charged Propst with receiving $25,000 in raises through the years without full board approval.

Later, the same board members accused Propst of providing misinformation on the impact of legislation to improve the pension system's finances. Propst was cleared of wrongdoing by the state Attorney General's Office and the Office of the State Auditor in the first case. The State Ethics Commission found no probable cause for wrongdoing in the second.

"I think it's well documented," Propst said of the situation. "It was a small faction of the board that for whatever reason made the unfounded allegations."

It was an unpleasant period, he said. "It was tough. Nobody likes to be accused of things that they know aren't true."

Eichenberg couldn't be reached for comment last week.

The Public Employees Retirement Association board has been so fractured at times that it has struggled to elect a chairman. The board also has argued about its agenda, parliamentary procedure and snacks.

PERA, which oversees $17 billion in investments for more than 90,000 government workers and retirees, also has struggled with unfunded liabilities, leading to an overhaul in 2020.

Propst, who was adopted and raised in northeastern Indiana by a single mother, credits her with his work ethic and perseverance. "I learned from my mother that you get up every morning and do the best job that you can. And that's what I did," he said, referring to his tenure at the retirement association. "In good times and bad."

The Public Regulation Commission wanted someone who could help with the transition to a new way of doing business and smoothly navigate the state's executive and legislative branches.

Commissioner Joseph Maestas of Santa Fe said he recruited Propst to the PRC. "I figured someone of his caliber would not be available very long," Maestas said. "To me, he really expressed excitement and motivation in being the next chief of staff, which tells me that he gravitates toward challenges, and I think that's the sign of a true leader."

Maestas also said Propst's ability as a budget analyst would be important to the commission.

The PRC's 2020 audit was "one of the worst audits I've seen," Propst said, adding he believes he can bring stability to the agency.

"I take very seriously that PRC is funded through taxpayer dollars," he said. "We need to be very prudent stewards of those dollars.

"I have significant management experience. I have experience working with the state Legislature," he said. "I understand the state budget process."

The commission has regulatory duties over New Mexico electric and gas companies, telecommunications, ambulance and towing companies, and some other services.

It is expected to rule this year on whether to allow Public Service Company of New Mexico to merge with Avangrid of Connecticut and Iberdrola of Spain. And commissioners will decide on PNM's proposal to abandon the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant and turn it over to the Navajo Transitional Energy Co.

"The commission is at a critical juncture," Propst said, and "moving the state's energy future forward" is key.

He said he had no opinion on the merger proposal between PNM and Avangrid.

"I like to think that I know what I don't know," he said. "And I don't know an awful lot right now."

But the staff, which he praised as hardworking, must have the expertise and resources to keep up with the rapid changes in the today's energy industry, he said.

Maestas and others at the PRC saw Propst as unusually qualified to take on the work of chief of staff.

He earns $150,000 a year in the position, less than his yearly salary as executive director of PERA, which was about $164,000.

Propst worked for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham when she ran the state Department of Health about 15 years ago. And his wife, Sarah Cottrell Propst, is a member of the governor's Cabinet as secretary of the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

He said he isn't on a first-name basis with the governor, although he was at one time. "She's Governor Lujan Grisham," he said. "She's earned the title."

Maestas said he expects Propst's experience will prompt legislators to go to him for details instead of relying heavily on lobbyists for information on utility regulation.

In the New Mexico Legislature's session early this year, Propst worked for state Sen. George Muñoz, who headed the Senate Finance Committee.

Muñoz said he has known Propst for a dozen years and was confident he would be a good person for the short-term role as chief of staff of his Senate committee. "You ask him a question, and you're going to get a direct answer," Muñoz said. "He's got budget experience and he's got management experience."

Muñoz attributed the difficulties Propst had with the Public Employees Retirement Association to members of the board. "I think inside the PERA board there's turmoil," he said. The accusations "really had no standing other than somebody's mad at Wayne."

Propst worked in the late 2000s for David Abbey, director of the Legislative Finance Committee. "Wayne is a good analyst, and he has an ability to work with different groups," Abbey said. "I view Wayne as a pretty easygoing guy."

If Propst got sideways with some board members, Abbey said, it's unlikely it was Propst's fault.

Growing up in the town of Howe, Ind., Propst said, he knew from experience he didn't want to work on factory assembly lines. He said he became fascinated with politics and government during a one-week high school program in Washington, D.C.

He attended Eastern New Mexico University, he said, because it sent him a letter, had a personable campus and was affordable. He majored in political science and became involved in student government.

"I was going to be president of the United States," he said. "Or at least governor."

Then he earned a law degree at the University of New Mexico and joined the Peace Corps, which provided him the first of several work experiences in Africa. In most cases, he worked with African nations on democratic and legislative processes.

He also served as head of the New Mexico Retiree Health Care Authority from 2008-12. And while in law school, he said, he clerked for the agency that preceded the Public Regulation Commission.

His political ambitions have declined with age. "With politics the way they are these days, I admire anybody who's willing to put themselves through that," he said. "I am introverted by nature. But at the same time, I like the public aspect of my jobs."

He said he hopes to rebuild relationships between the commission and state leadership.

"I think I can be a bridge there," he said. "I like to think I'll do more than just keep the trains running on time."

Because the Public Regulation Commission will convert from a five-member elected board to a three-member appointed board in 2023, the staff's and Propst's long-term prospects with the agency are tenuous.

Propst said he will focus on his duties now rather than worry about what might happen to his job in 18 months.

He paraphrased Mark Twain: "I've had many troubles in my life, most of which never happened."