"Al Gallegos exemplifies the core values that we have established for our office almost every day. Al never shies away from a challenge but instead, tackles it head on. As our vacant land senior appraiser, he has streamlined how he handles protests every year by being organized and efficient.  He commits to being honest and fair with all property owners and communicates with them by upholding the highest engagement standards. He educates people on how property values work and treats people with respect. Al’s work ethic is exceptional and he rarely needs guidance to complete a project. This year, he was issued 250 protests and despite the challenges of working from home, he completed over 90% of them well before the deadline in August. I commend his intelligence, organization and commitment to providing fair treatment to the property owners of Santa Fe County."

-Jessica Ulibarri, NMCA Residential Chief Appraiser

"Margaret Barela has stepped up her game in becoming a model employee within the Office of the County Assessor. Since she has been permanently placed in the Real Estate Division she has demonstrated our office’s Core Values everyday while in office and working remotely from home.

• She delivers Quality and Excellence by taking a lot of pride in her work and has shown it by providing work with minimal error and in a timely manner;

• She utilizes Fairness and Equality in her processes while reviewing the Valuation Freeze applications;

• She holds Honesty and Integrity in her daily functions by openly communicating issues that may arise or sharing her opinion on new procedures that may work more efficiently for the team; and

• This year she has excelled in her Teamwork skills. On top of her daily work routine she has taken on all sale affidavits and valuation freezes entry and processes

Ms. Barela has expressed interest in learning more in other areas such as BPP, Manufactured Homes and State Assessed. During this year’s Business Personal Property season, she received training on BPP entries and assisted the BPP appraiser. She also made herself available and on stand-by to come into the office and assist with State Assessed this year. I am happy to say that she was given a 20 minute hands-on training and an instruction manual, and she was very successful in processing the State Assessed on her own this year. She completed the entries within two days and within a 10-hour window. I am proud to have her on our team and believe she deserves employee of the quarter due to her hard work, dedication and love for this office."

-Brittney Montoya, NMCA Real Estate Appraisal Program Manager