SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday announced the appointment of two new members of the State Investment Council effectively immediately.
The governor appointed L. Michael Messina and Tracy Hartzler . The new members will replace Lynn Hoffman and Scott Smart, respectively.
“I want to thank Ms. Hoffman and Mr. Smart for their years of committed service to the council and recognize their contributions,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “I’m optimistic our two new appointees will provide the same steady and even-handed management of our state’s all-important investment funds.”
Michael Messina is an attorney who has worked extensively on financial transactions since beginning his career in securities law more than 50 years ago. He has worked in private practice in New Mexico for more than 30 years, emphasizing financial and commercial transactions, commercial litigation, business organization and commercial real estate, among other areas. Previously he was the director of the National Health Law Program at the University of California at Los Angeles and worked on securities law as well as civil rights cases. He earned an economics degree from Dartmouth College and his law degree from the Yale Law School.
Tracy Hartzler is the vice president of finance and operations at the Central New Mexico Community College, where she has served in various finance and budgetary management roles since 2015. Previously she was principal analyst for the Legislative Finance Committee and has experience as the special assistant attorney general at the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Before entering the legal profession, Hartzler worked in education. She earned a cum laude undergraduate degree
from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., a master of education from the University of Virginia and her law degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Both new members are subject to Senate confirmation.