By John Trahan
I’m not a politician or a professional writer. I’m just a proud former New Mexican with deep family roots in the state who believes that when somebody asks for your vote, you ought to know who they are, what they’ve done and whether they can actually do the job.
Juan Sanchez III is my cousin, so writing this isn’t something I take lightly. But being family doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything he says, especially when he’s asking the people of New Mexico to trust him with something as important as our state lands.
I’ve listened to Juan talk about his work experience, education and family history, and quite frankly, some of it doesn’t add up.
Juan talks about working as a natural resources specialist and ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But according to the employment records we obtained, he worked at Cochiti Lake from July 18, 2018, to Nov. 8, 2019. His actual job title was student trainee (natural resources specialist). That’s less than 16 months.
There’s nothing wrong with being a trainee. Everybody starts somewhere. What bothers me is making that experience sound like a whole lot more than it was. There’s a big difference between being a student trainee for 16 months and having years of experience managing natural resources. If you’re asking people to trust you to run the state Land Office,you ought to be honest about what you’ve actually done.
Then there’s his education credentials. Juan lists two master’s degrees on his own LinkedIn profile, yet in interviews and on his campaign website, he’s acknowledged that he hasn’t completed those degrees. So which is it? You either earned a degree or you didn’t. Going to school doesn’t mean you graduated. This isn’t somebody else getting his credentials wrong.These are his own descriptions of his education, and they don’t match. If you can’t get your own resume straight, how are people supposed to trust you to run a state agency?
Juan also talks about growing up working cattle on his family’s ranch and being a 13th-generation New Mexican. Well, I’m his cousin, and as far as I know, we’re sixth-generation New Mexicans, not 13th. And yes, there is a family cattle ranch. His uncle has it now, and his grandfather ran it before him. Nobody is disputing that. What is concerning is Juan making it sound like he’s spent his life working that ranch.
My understanding is that Juan even asked to film a campaign commercial out there, and the family told him no. They told him that wasn’t who he was and that he was trying to make their years of ranching work look like his own. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your family’s ranching history, but that doesn’t mean you’ve done the work yourself.Anybody who’s ever worked cattle knows the difference.
And then there’s the III after his name. As far as I know, nobody in our family knows where that came from. His dad’s name is Bobby, and I’m not aware of any other Juans in the family. Maybe there’s an explanation, but I haven’t heard one.
I don’t expect anybody running for office to know everything, but I do expect them to tell the truth about who they are and what they’ve done.
The State Land Office makes decisions that affect ranchers, farmers, oil and gas workers and families all across New Mexico. Those decisions matter to people who get up every morning and work for a living.
I’m not writing this because Juan is my cousin. I’m writing it because I’ll always care about the state and the people who call it home.
At the end of the day, a good story might help somebody get elected, but it takes real experience to do the job.
