MEET OUR BOARDS
Get to know our board of directors and tax board
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Board of Directors consists of eight members; six are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. The Lt. Governor and the Secretary of the Economic Development Department or her designee are also members. By statute, no more than three of the appointed members shall belong to the same political party. Members serve staggered four-year terms.
Richard Holdridge
Chairman of the Board
Richard Holdridge is a retired Air Force officer from Deming whose military service focused on satellite program acquisition, including oversight of manufacturing, planning and operation U.S. Department of Defense satellite programs. He graduated from the U.S Air Force Academy with a BS degree Astronautical Engineering and later earned a MS degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Dayton, and a PhD in Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University.
Howie Morales
Board Member
Howie Morales is the Lieutenant Governor of the State of New Mexico. Raised in Silver City, New Mexico, he has been an aggressive leader and has advocated state-wide policies in public education and welfare, health care, rural and tribal economic development, and veterans’ and senior citizens’ services. Lieutenant Governor Morales attended Western New Mexico University and later earned a PhD degree in education from New Mexico State University.
Davin Lopez
Board Member
Davin Lopez has been President and CEO of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA) since 2009. Prior to that he was Vice President of the New Mexico Partnership, the private economic development and business attraction arm of the State of New Mexico for six years. Mr. Lopez holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. He also serves in the boards of Quality NM and Arrowhead Center Inc.
Rebecca Latham
Board Member
Rebecca Latham is the former Cabinet Secretary of the State of New Mexico Tourism Department. Ms. Latham is a passionate tourism professional who has applied her great personal experience in government, advertising and marketing to the enhancement of New Mexico’s hospitality industry very well since 2006. She was instrumental in the development and successful implementation of the New Mexico True campaign.
Nathan LaFont
Board Member
Nathan LaFont, a resident of Sierra County, is General Manager of Elephant Butte Inn and RV Resort. He has been associated with the hospitality industry all his life and has served and continues to serve on many tourism and economic development boards and committees wherein he champions the economic and educational benefits of the space industry.
Laura Conniff
Board Member
Laura Mathers Conniff of Las Cruces is the Qualifying Broker for Mathers Realty, Inc. and an owner of Leveldale Farms and Conniff Cattle Company. Ms. Conniff was a member of the NMSU Board of Regents for eleven years and its Chair for three. Currently she serves on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, El Paso Branch, and of First American Bank. A business graduate of NMSU she also served on the NMSU Business Advisory Council.
Michelle Coons
Board Member
Michelle Coons is the President of First National Bank of Santa Fe and First National Rio Grande, both of which are part of Strategic Growth Bancorp, a regional bank holding company focused on ongoing growth throughout the Southwest. Currently, A graduate of UNM’s Robert O. Anderson School of Management, Ms. Coons is the Board Chair for the UNM Foundation, immediate past chair of Acción NM, Albuquerque Economic Development, and UNM Hospital.
Read More about Spaceport Governance
Learn more about the governance of Spaceport America including board meeting minutes archives, access to the sunshine portal, and our business plan.
TAX DISTRICT BOARD
In 2005, the New Mexico legislature established a “Spaceport America Regional Spaceport District” (the District) via the Regional Spaceport District Act (§5-15-1 et seq., Laws of 2005) as the entity to receive and distribute additional revenue from the Sierra County and Dona Ana County ¼% Spaceport gross receipts tax. The tax passed in separate special referenda by the voters of Doña Ana and Sierra counties in 2007 and 2008, respectively, in order to fund a significant share of the spaceport’s development. In 2009, the District pledged 75% of the tax revenues toward the repayment of bond debt issued by the NMSA for construction, and the other 25% has flowed to local spaceport-related education.
The District’s Board of Directors consists of six members that includes four elected officials appointed by the respective county commissions of Doña Ana and Sierra counties. The board also includes two statewide delegates appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the State Senate.
The Tax District Board is required to meet at least annually.
SIERRA COUNTY TAX BOARD MEMBERS
James Paxon
Mr. Paxon was elected Sierra County Commissioner for District 1 in 2018. He serves in the following committees: Jornada RC&D, Regional Transit District, Sierra County Higher Education Committee, Sierra Vista Hospital Joint Powers Commission, and the Spaceport Community Advisory Committee.
Travis Day
Mr. Day was elected Sierra County Commissioner for District 2 in 2018. He serves in the following committees: Jaguar & Wolf Reintroduction Oversight Committee, JLUS, Jornada RC&D, National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition, NM County Insurance Authority Multi-Line Pool, NM/AZ Coalition, Regional Planning organization, Sierra Vista Hospital Joint Powers Commission, South Western County Commission Alliance, Workers Investment Act Committee
DOÑA ANA COUNTY TAX BOARD MEMBERS
Shannon Reynolds
Mr. Reynolds was elected to the District 3 Commission seat in November of 2018 and took office the following January. His District encompasses a large sector of southeastern Doña Ana County including Las Alturas, Telshor, Foothills, the Talavera, University Hills and Bellamah neighborhoods, NMSU, White Sands Missile Range, and Tortugas.
Lynn Ellins
Mr. Ellins was elected to the District 1 Commission seat in November of 2018 and took office the following January. District 1 includes the South Valley communities between Vado and Mesilla Park, as well as downtown Las Cruces, Mesilla and Picacho Hills.
CONTACT US
4605 Research Park Circle, Ste A
Las Cruces, NM 88001
United States
Phone: (575) 267-8500
IMPORTANT LINKS
Dive straight into the feedback!Login below and you can start commenting using your own user instantly