SANTA FE – The leader of New Mexico’s General Services Department is stepping down after just over one year on the job.
Cabinet secretary John Garcia said he will leave his position effective Feb. 3 due to “personal reasons,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office announced this week.
The Democratic governor appointed Garcia in October 2021 to lead the General Services Department, an agency that oversees state government purchasing, maintenance of state buildings and the state’s vehicle fleet.
Garcia had previously worked as executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico.
Before that, he served as secretary of tourism and, later, economic development under then-Republican Gov. Gary Johnson. He also led economic development efforts under former Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, a Republican, and at the University of New Mexico.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham thanked Garcia for his work as part of her administration, which included leading the push last year to expand the in-state preference that New Mexico-based companies get when applying for state contracts.
“I am very grateful to him for his many years of service to the state, both in my administration and previous ones, and I wish him all the best moving forward,” the governor said.
Lujan Grisham has seen a recent spate of Cabinet turnover as she enters her second term as governor.
In addition to Garcia, the leaders of the Department of Finance and Administration, Indian Affairs Department and Veterans Services Department have also stepped down over the last several months.
Lujan Grisham also recently hired a new Department of Health secretary — Patrick Allen of Oregon — to replace David Scrase, who had been running both that agency and the state Human Services Department for the past year-and-a-half.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s Office also announced Anna Silva, the director of the General Services Department’s Facilities Management Division, will be the agency’s acting secretary until a new permanent secretary is chosen.
