NEWS
Longtime infrastructure engineer appointed acting NMDOT secretary
David Quintana has worked for the department for over two decades, most recently as Programs and Infrastructure Division director
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday appointed David Quintana, a veteran engineer and division director at the New Mexico Department of Transportation, to be the agency’s acting secretary.
Quintana succeeds Ricky Serna, whom state Treasurer Laura Montoya hired as deputy state treasurer this month after Serna stepped down from the top NMDOT post in February.
Most recently a senior executive engineer, Quintana has worked for NMDOT for over two decades, ascending the ranks from an engineer trainee to his most recent role as Programs and Infrastructure Division director, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.
“David Quintana has spent his career delivering transportation projects that connect our communities and move New Mexico forward,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “He is well prepared to lead the Department of Transportation."
Quintana’s qualifications to lead the department, the governor said, include overseeing over 220 employees and managing an annual budget of roughly $500 million in his prior position with NMDOT.
Quintana spent time directing the agency’s statewide design and construction program, according to the release. He managed six district offices in that capacity and oversaw the development, bridge design, environmental review, right-of-way acquisition and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan — a four-year program designed to execute several federally funded transportation projects in New Mexico.
He hold a bachelor’s in civil engineering from New Mexico State University and will assume the new role as acting secretary immediately, according to the Governor’s Office.
John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
