Former New Mexico Land Commissioner Alex Armijo dies

Former New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Alex Armijo died May 16 at the age of 81.

Armijo served as State Land Commissioner from 1969 through 1974, and again from 1979 through 1982. He also served as the elected state auditor, 1963-67. He was president of the Western States Land Commissioners Association in 1979.

Armijo was responsible for implementing many of the modern accounting systems for the land trust, and formalizing other procedures.

He may have been best known as the land commissioner who installed the controversial pumpjack on the front lawn of the State Land Office in downtown Santa Fe in 1981.

The City of Santa Fe objected to the installation of the equipment in the historic district. Armijo argued that the pumpjack, donated by Mobil Oil Co., was an educational exhibit testifying to the importance of the oil and gas industry to New Mexico's educational system.

The enduring legacy of the controversy is a New Mexico Supreme Court opinion that affirmed the supremacy of state trust land over local zoning and planning ordinances. That precedent is a key element in State Land Office community development projects around New Mexico's growing cities.

He held many top government posts in New Mexico, including senior positions in the federal Public Works Administration, Bruns General Hospital, the State Tax Commission, State Health Department and the Santa Fe Public School Districts.