New Mexico transparency watchdog announces new executive director

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government has hired a new executive director with a record of local advocacy and journalism.

FOG, a watchdog for public records law and transparency, announced in a news release Thursday that Christine Barber will take over the position starting next week.

“Transparency and the public’s right to know are coming under attack from numerous fronts,” FOG President Jessica Onsurez said in a statement. “We are pleased to welcome Christine onboard at this critical time as FOG takes on these challenges.”

Barber was previously executive director of two nonprofits — Street Safe New Mexico and, most recently, Asur New Mexico. Both are geared toward helping women who are living on the streets, particularly those being sex-trafficked.

Before her advocacy work, Barber was employed as a journalist with the Gallup Independent, Santa Fe New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal, according to the release.

The release states Barber has won awards for her work in journalism and as an author in New Mexico. She has two bachelor’s degrees: one in journalism from the University of Florida; the other in biology from the University of New Mexico.

The job came open after FOG’s previous executive director, Melanie Majors, announced her retirement.

“Melanie not only has years of outstanding service to the FOG community, and she has built on our strong foundation allowing us to move to the future,” Onsurez said in the release.

Majors came to the position with more than 35 years of communications experience, including in newspapers and television, starting her career as a reporter in Grants, according to the release.

Majors also taught journalism classes at UNM and owned a public relations firm, The Majors Company.

“As an advocate for transparency in government, FOG’s mission is to defend the public’s right to know and to educate citizens and government agencies about their rights and responsibilities under New Mexico’s open-meetings and open-records laws,” according to the release. “FOG is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, member-supported organization that serves the open government interests of the general public, the business community, elected officials, journalists and lawyers.”