Salary Surfing, Pension Boost, and Revolving Door for DOH CFO Retiring; Returning Next Day as Contract Employee
Background
While the number fluctuates month to month, there are currently 2,764 employees at the New Mexico Department Of Health – that’s according to the June 2026 PeopleSoft State Employee Organizational Listing Report, which is published by the state each month.
More than 25% of those employees make less than what is considered to be a living wage in New Mexico.
One employee – a member of the DOH’s senior leadership team – who is currently paid at an annual rate north of $172,000 a year, is about to retire.
And due to a serious bit of agency salary surfing over the past few years, her pension benefit has increased substantially – dwarfing the salaries of more than 700 DOH employees making less than a living wage.
Salary Increases Lead to Significant Pension Increases
Shawnee Romo will officially retire as a State of New Mexico employee on June 30, 2026.
In an email dated June 1, 2026, Romo informed colleagues, “I would like to share an important personal and professional update with all of you. After careful consideration, I have decided to retire from my position as Chief Financial Officer effective June 30, 2026.”
Her most recent role in state government has been as the Department of Health’s Chief Financial Officer.
Ms. Romo was appointed as the CFO of DOH in November 2024, and has worked at the agency for “more than 23 years.”
However, over the last few years, Romo moved from DOH to two other agencies, and then back to DOH – seeing her salary increase significantly as a result of at least some of those moves.
Those job changes and related salary increases helped set the table for her to benefit from substantial increases for her state pension retirement benefit.
Between August and December of 2022, she left the agency to work at the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), and then transferred to another state agency, the General Services Department.
Each of those moves were likely for positions that required different and possibly increased responsibilities than she was providing to DOH before she left.
When she left the DOH in 2022, her salary was approximately $116,376 a year.
It appears from records The Candle received from the State Personnel Office, Romo’s starting salary at PED was about the same as when she left DOH – $116,376 a year, which was increased via legislatively approved percentage raises the next year to about $123,300 a year.
Sometime between October and December 2023, Ms. Romo transferred to the General Services Department and received a raise of about $11,600 a year – increasing her annual pay to about $134,900 a year.
In late 2024, about two years after leaving the DOH, Romo returned to the agency.
She was hired back by the newly appointed DOH Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer LeAnn Behrens, who claimed it was “a great first move” in what was to be a “revamping” of the DOH “financial processes” and “improving” the agency’s “financial reputation with other state agencies.”
Behrens’ re-hiring of Romo in a new role came with an increase in pay, raising her salary to about $159,900 a year.
And since rejoining DOH, Romo’s salary received what appears to be two pay bumps upward from annual percentage increases, to about $172,120 a year, as reported earlier in this article.
Revolving Door as Contract Employee
Although after June 30, 2026, Romo will no longer be a “state employee,” she appears to have arranged with DOH leadership to come back to work the next day, July 1, 2026, as a “contract employee.”
She wrote in the email announcing her retirement as CFO that, “I am pleased to announce that I will return to the department on July 1, 2026, as a contract employee through June 30, 2027.”
Romo continued in her email to colleagues, “This transition plan is one that I personally requested because I believe it is the best way to support the department during this important period of succession and leadership transition.”
Behrens also confirmed the deal in her communication to DOH employees, writing, “… The good news is that she has agreed to stay on as a contractor to help us for the next year. She will be working with the next CFO to plan a seamless transitions. She will coach, mentor, and prepare the new CFO for the challenge at hand. Her immense institutional knowledge will be shared to enshrine that for future leaders.”
This arrangement to contract the services of Romo for a year, seems to run contrary to what the legislature tried to prohibit and dubbed as “double-dipping” years ago – generally requiring a period of time to settle in before a former state employee could come back to work, along with some restrictions.
But some finance personnel suggested clever senior officials at various state agencies found what they believe is a loophole – a retired state employee comes back to work through a statewide price agreement contract between the state and a private employment agency.
The Candle also learned through documents and interviews, that there are people positioned to take on the role of DOH CFO, and that the contract employee arrangement is really not necessary.
And it seems that both DOH Secretary Gina DeBlassie and Deputy Secretary Behrens likely knew, or should have had an inkling that Romo was nearing retirement, and had an executive succession plan ready instead of waiting until less than a month to advertise for a replacement.
Department of Health Ignores Questions and Documents Request Regarding Retirement of CFO and a Year’s Employment Contract for Transition Plan She Personally Requested.
On June3, 2026, The Candle reached out to the the Department of Health communications director and his three assistants, writing in an email that we were,
“…seeking a comment or statement and all records regarding a memo from Deputy DOH Secretary LeAnn Behrens regarding DOH CFO Shawnee Romo retiring June 30, 2026. and being engaged by DOH as a contractor the next day.”
The email also requested served as a request under the provisions of the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, asking that the agency,
“Please provide an electronic copy of all records, including communications such as emails, memos, etc., relative to any contract the New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) has or is about to enter into with Shawnee Romo to perform services for the DOH beginning in July 2026, as described in a memo and letter distributed to DOH employees about Ms. Romo’s retirement and contracting on behalf of DOH upon her retirement.”
The email was ignored by the DOH communications team and apparently by the DOH Secretary, Gina DeBlassie, as she was copied on the email.
On June 9, 2026, after receiving no response, we resent the email and repeated our request for the records to each of them – this time copying the Foundation for Open Government as well.
(Three weeks have passed, and still no response to the request for a statement and not even a required three-day letter acknowledging the IPRA request for records.)
Why did the New Mexico Department of Health Wait to Post the CFO Position for Replacement of Key Financial Official Until 29 Days Before it Will Become Vacant?
According to a posting by the State Personnel Office for Romo’s replacement, the “Chief Financial Officer position is responsible for all financial processes within the department including financial accounting, budget, grants, and procurement. The CFO interacts with partners at other agencies as well as with legislative finance staff, DFA, and GSD.”
Those are serious responsibilities.
And yet, Deputy Behrens’ team did not cause the posting of the vacant CFO position until the day after Romo and Behrens emailed DOH colleagues about Romo’s retirement. (Note the “Posted Date” as it appears for the DOH CFO position in the screenshot of the State of New Mexico Share Job Listing Site taken today, June 28, 2026, as seen below.)
Department of Finance and Administration Also Ignores Questions Regarding Retirement of CFO and Year Contract for Transition plan She Personally Requested.
On June 9, 2026, The Candle also sent an email to Mark Melhoff, the Acting Director, Financial Control Division/State Controller, Administrative Services Division at the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, seeking information, and wrting,
“…regarding DFA approval of a contract enabling the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the New Mexico Department of Health who retires June 30, 2026, to “return to the department on July 1, 2026, as a contract employee through June 30, 2027.”
“Is the contract by which Shawnee Romo is enabled to work for DOH the immediate day after her retirement as an employee, a contract between her and the State of New Mexico, or is her returning as a contract employee through a different employer that has a contract with the State of New Mexico agency, such as ATA SERVICES INC., or some other contracted private employment agency?”
“What are the requirements, as to best practices, that a state agency is supposed to follow in recruiting a replacement for the important job of being the chief financial officer of that agency?”
“DOH ignored my request seeking a comment or statement and all records regarding a memo from Deputy DOH Secretary LeAnn Behrens regarding DOH CFO Shawnee Romo retiring June 30, 2026. and being engaged by DOH as a contractor the next day.”
“Apparently, Eve T. Aufrichtig, DOH Financial Accounting Director, has served as a is a Co-CFO at least during some portion of the last fiscal year (see DOH State Audit for FY 2025).”
“Why is it necessary for Ms. Romo, who is retiring on June 30, 2026, to be brought back the next day for as a contract employee through June 30, 2027, as she describes in her letter to colleagues?”
State Controller Melhoff never responded.
If we get any response from anyone at DOH or DFA, The Candle will update this reporting.
Important Context … and More Reporting Over the Summer of 2026.
In November of 2025, The Candle published an article entitled, Despite Presiding Over Low DOH Morale, Human Resources Leader “H.C.” Hawkins Got Two Pay Raises Totaling $22,035.
From responses The Candle received to that reporting, it is obvious to many of the rank and file New Mexico state employees, that cabinet and senior management level employees know how to manipulate the salary system for their benefit and those who are their friends.
The Candle recently emailed the DOH Secretary and other senior and communication personnel, informing them of further reporting this Summer regarding, among other things,
“…senior management/leadership raises as well as the performance of some of these senior employees as it relates to safety and health matters, along with overall morale at DOH …“
The DOH was encouraged to communicate about agency morale, safety performance and raises that favor the already highly paid senior managers of the agencies. The email asked the leadership to,
“Please take this opportunity for either the Secretary, the PIO or other senior employees on behalf of themselves or as authorized by the Secretary to speak with me regarding the pay raise disparities and their and/or the agency’s performance regarding protecting the public, the employee community at DOH, and addressing employee morale issues at DOH.”
Editorial Comment: Fair Compensation is Important for the Health of State Governance
Too many members of the Legislature, including most legislators who claim to be Progressive, along with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, misled the public by suggesting that the state has provided state and school employees generous salary increases since 2019.
New Mexico state government’s elected leaders have provided generous, and in some instances, arguably offensive, pay raises to cabinet and senior management level employees – those who are clearly politically connected.
These are the very cabinet and senior management level employees who have failed for seven and a half years to address:
- Abuse of children,
- Key components of Yazzie-Martinez litigation,
- The failure to provide sufficient services for all developmentally disabled persons,
- The protection of economically challenged communities from environmental contamination exposures, and
- Their failure to provide a statewide living wage …
Those at the top of state agencies are well paid – but it is clear that most of the remainder of the state government and school workforce have been forgotten by policy-makers.
The facts speak clearly.
The above article is about one of many state agencies at which pay disparity is clearly a burden for those least capable of dealing with an economy that continues to leave them at a disadvantage.
There are 718 Department of Health employees who make less than a living wage.
If you do the math, more than 25% of the state employees at DOH earn less than what it costs to just make a living – and in a week or so they will all receive a measly 1% pay raise.
Their raises will be between fifteen and twenty-two cents per hour, or between $312 and $458 a year.
That one per cent raise will barely cover the cost of a cup of coffee each day of work for these employees.
A living wage, according to the well respected MIT Living Wage Calculator (which has measured wage and cost of living metrics for more than 22 years), in New Mexico for a single worker with NO dependents, is $21.93 an hour.
One fourth, 25% of DOH employees make less than the current living wage for people living in New Mexico.
If you are a single parent with just one child, well you are really behind the eight ball, as you need to be making another $16.19 an hour (or $38.12 an hour) to take care of your child and keep your head above water.
Those who are running for re-election in the months ahead need to be asked why there are so many disparities …
(You can connect to wage and cost of living related data in the MIT Living Wage Calculation for New Mexico click here.)
Editors Note – CORRECTION: In and earlier published version of this article The Candle reported: “When she left the DOH in 2022, her salary was approximately $111,800 a year.” It has been corrected to read as follows: “When she left the DOH in 2022, her salary was approximately $116,376 a year.” Please excuse our mistake.
The figures used regarding the salaries referred to in the article are based upon documents received from the New Mexico State Personnel Office (SPO) during the course of the last several years in responses to Inspection of Public Records Requests, for which we want to again thank the Custodian of Records for SPO, as she has always been very professional and courteous in our communications with her.