PELRB Staff

​Pilar Vaile joined the PELRB as Executive Director effective 1/18/25. Although hailing originally from Louisiana, and living in Yuma, Colorado from 2015 to 2024, Director Vaile has previously lived in New Mexico for over 20 years. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1996 (Bachelor of University Studies); and she graduated from UNM School of Law in 2000 with Thesis Honors and a “Best Oralist” award from the Jessup International Moot Court regional competition.

After law school, Director Vaile worked at Youngdahl & Sadin, P.C. and its successors, primarily in the Class Action Litigation department but with occasional assignments related to the firm’s Union clients.  In 2004 she was appointed to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board as the Labor Nominee and served as Vice-Chair, before being hired as the Deputy Director in 2005.  In that role, she served as the Agency’s primary Hearing Officer until 2010, after which she opened a private Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice that focused labor/employment arbitration, and mediation.  Director Vaile ultimately enjoyed considerable success and a nationwide practice as a labor arbitrator, and she was inducted into the National Academy of Arbitrators in 2018, where she currently serves on the Board of Governors.  Director Vaile is very excited about her return to the Land of Enchantment and the PELRB, and she looks forward to serving the PELRB and its constituents again.

​Matthew Huchmala (pronounced “Huck-maul-uh”) joins the PELRB staff as a “Legal Assistant” reporting to the Executive Director. Matt is a native New Mexican and graduated cum laude with a degree in Philosophy from the University of New Mexico before earning his Juris Doctor, also cum laude, from Thomas Jefferson School of Law (San Diego, California) in 2005. Matt’s rich experience prior to coming to work at the Board includes time spent as an attorney, a college instructor, and a merchant seaman.