Susie Kimble looking to unseat Shannon Reynolds on Doña Ana County Commission in District 3
Michael McDevitt
LAS CRUCES - Susie Kimble believes her background in the healthcare world is an asset badly needed on the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners.
Kimble, 60, is running as a Republican in the District 3 race. Incumbent Democratic Commissioner Shannon Reynolds is seeking his second term in the seat this fall.
District 3 encompasses southeastern Doña Ana County, including the Las Alturas, Telshor, Foothills, Talavera, University Hills and Bellamah neighborhoods, New Mexico State University, White Sands Missile Range, Tortugas and Chaparral.
The Republican candidate said one major issue which motivated her to run is ensuring the federal aid given to the county through the American Rescue Plan Act is spent in the most responsible way possible. She believes her experience working in the health care industry would assist her in the making the best decisions.
Doña Ana County is expected to receive up to $42.4 million in ARPA funding in two separate allotments. The first allotment of $21.2 million as received last May, and the rest is expected this May. The county has already allocated $32.2 million.
"I think I can help make decisions about how best to use that (ARPA) money," Kimble said. "I think I can bring a level of experience to the commission that's not there now, that involves healthcare and a lot of behavioral health."
Kimble has been an insurance agent, has done marketing and business development for Mesilla Valley Hospital and marketing for Memorial Medical Center, and she has chaired Local Collaborative 3 and the New Mexico Behavioral Health Planning Council. She moved to the county after she married in 1986.
Kimble attended Texas A&M University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing/agriculture economics. She has two adult children and one grandchild. Kimble's daughter and grandchild live in Las Cruces.
She now runs her own consulting firm called Judy Enterprises, a business she said mainly consults on healthcare industry matters. She is also president of the Governing Council for the New America School in Las Cruces, a charter high school serving around 200 students which focuses on new immigrants, English language learners and academically underserved students.
Kimble said she's passionate about public service and hopes to ensure financial responsibility if elected to the commission. She said she's good at collaborating and building a consensus.
If elected, Kimble said she wants to continue the county's investments in roads infrastructure and give the unincorporated communities in the county better representation than she believes they currently get. On economic development, Kimble said she'd be a commissioner who fights to maximize the public benefit achieved by the fledgling commercial space travel industry at Spaceport America, which has administrative offices in Las Cruces.
Kimble said she was an early advocate for the county crisis triage center, the mental health crisis facility which opened last year. After she said she helped advocate for state funding for the building, Kimble served on an advisory board which vetted agencies interested in operating the center in 2017, and the board also provided recommendations to the county government for opening the center.
The county commission recently expanded the contract with Recovery Innovations, the company that operates the center, bolstering it with an additional $500,000 to expand services and increase the number of people using it. Kimble agreed the center has been underutilized.
"I'm not sure that it's being run poorly," Kimble said. "RI has good models around the country, and their theory is good. It's just the execution here in the county of who will take patients there."
As somebody who has followed and been involved with the development of the triage center since its inception, Kimble believes herself better equipped than most to press officials about the operation of the facility from the dais.
She also said she believes she's more inquisitive than some on the commission.
"It frustrates me when things are going on, and the commissioners don't even ask questions," Kimble said. "I'm like, 'Don't you guys want to know what's going on? I want to know. Tell me.' And so I want to just be involved and understand what goes on."
Kimble will be on the ballot in the Republican Primary June 7. She is the only Republican seeking the seat.
Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.