Jim Hall
By Carol A. Clark
Rep. Jim Hall told the Los Alamos Daily Post this morning that he has decided to run for a seat on the Los Alamos School board. He and his wife Janet Hall reside in the Pinon Elementary School District 1.
“I have decided to seek the District 1 Los Alamos Board of Education seat being vacated by Dawn Venhaus,” Hall said. “Our school system is one of the most important assets of our community, and I have been involved in our schools since Janet, my wife, and I arrived in Los Alamos in 1976 with our children – as a parent, a school board member for eight years, a County Councilor and as a state legislator. Some of the most enjoyable and meaningful aspects of these roles have been interacting with students and teachers in Los Alamos.”
Hall, 68, brings significant public and private sector experience to the school board seat. He was elected to serve two terms on the Los Alamos Board of Education in the 1990s, was appointed in June, 2011 to a vacancy on the Los Alamos County Council and in September of that same year, Gov. Susana Martinez named Hall to fill a vacancy in the New Mexico House of Representatives. He replaced replace Jeannette O. Wallace who died of medical issues in April 2011.
Last month Hall lost his House seat election bid to Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard.
During his time serving in the Roundhouse, Hall was assigned to the Science, Technology and Communications Committees – which makes sense considering that Gov. Gary Johnson appointed him in 1996 as New Mexico’s first secretary of the Department of Information Technology.
He explained his intentions should he be elected to the school board.
“We have an excellent school system. I will do my best to assist the staff in their goal of serving all students as effectively as possible,” Hall said. “I will work to maintain the health of our schools by advocating to continue our capital support for rebuilding our schools, maintaining our DOE funding, maximizing our state funding, fulfilling the governance responsibility of the board, supporting our effective and committed staff, and communicating regularly and openly with parents and students.“
Hall grew up in Hobbs. He first lived in Northern New Mexico in 1961 when his parents moved to Ghost Ranch Conference Center near Abiquiu.
After being away in college, graduate school, and early careers in the Boston area, Hall and his wife Janet moved to Los Alamos in 1976.
They raised four children in Los Alamos and have both been employed here, owned small businesses here and have been consistently involved in community and church affairs for more than 30 years.
Janet retired as a math teacher at Los Alamos High School. Hall has an undergraduate degree in Math and a Masters in Management. He has extensive experience both as a senior manager and working with senior managers in public and private organizations.
Hall worked as a Staff Member, a Group Leader, then as a Division Leader for 12 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He also worked at the Department of Energy as a consultant and as a manager for Los Alamos County.
In private industry, Hall worked for small companies in Massachusetts and New Mexico. His most recent private sector experience was working for a small technology company in Albuquerque where he was Chief Technology Officer, then Chief Operating Officer. He has been a consultant in both the private and public sectors in the United States and overseas.
He also served and continues to serve on several boards, both corporate and non-profit.
As an organizational consultant, Hall has significant experience in building consensus among diverse groups and individuals with divergent interests.
