Commission picks Madalena as chairman

By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

Sandoval County commissioners unanimously selected District 5 representative Joshua Madalena as their new chairman Thursday night at the board’s first meeting of 2008 in what could be an early signal of a shift of power and philosophy in county government.

Madalena is the first chairman to be selected from District 5, which includes the communities of Zia Pueblo, San Ysidro, San Luis, Torreon, Cuba, Regina, La Jara, Counselors, Ponderosa, Jemez Pueblo, Cañon, Jemez Springs, La Cueva, Santo Domingo Pueblo, Cochiti Lake and Cochiti Pueblo, since Elizabeth Johnson of Cuba led the board in 2002. Madalena defeated Johnson for the seat in the 2004 Democratic primary.

Commissioner Dave Bency, the only Republican on the five-member commission, was elected vice-chairman.

Depending on the coming election, the makeup of the board could change significantly. One commissioner, Jack Thomas, is in the final year of his second four-year term and is not eligible to run for reelection. Less than five months before the primary election, neither party has found a candidate to replace him.

District 1 commissioner Don Leonard, who just completed a year as commission chairman, formally announced his plans to seek reelection after Thursday’s meeting.

Madalena previously announced plans to challenge incumbent Sen. Linda Lovejoy for the state senate seat in District 22. State law prohibits him from running for a commission seat and the Legislature at the same time, meaning there will be a new representative from that area come Jan. 1. No candidate has announced intentions to run for that seat.

The election intrigue serves as a backdrop to the commission’s need to find a successor for county manager Debbie Hays, who has already announced plans to retire at the end of the year. A national search for her replacement is expected to begin soon.

That process could be difficult since candidates for the job won’t know the political makeup of the commission until after the November general election. Several other department heads or top managers have also privately indicated they may leave with Hays.

After Madalena was nominated by Orlando Lucero and seconded by Bency, Leonard actually put Thomas’ name in nomination for chairman. Thomas, who was out of town on what Leonard said was Thomas’ first vacation in six years, previously served as chairman in 2003 and 2006.

After the other three commissioners formed a majority for Madalena, Leonard joined in to make the vote unanimous. Bency was then elected vice chairman without opposition.

Once the political mini-drama played out, the commission dispensed of the rest of its agenda fairly quickly. Bency did make the unusual request of having an item removed from the consent agenda for a separate vote. The consent agenda typically consists of items such as minutes from the previous meeting, a public record of check numbers issued by the county and small budget items or line-item transfers. But Bency requested a separate vote on expenses pertaining to the construction of the Santa Ana Fire Station, saying he wanted to make sure he building was a portable site that could be moved should the tribal government break its agreement with the county.

Assured that was the case by fire chief Jon Tibbets, the $466,871 item was approved unanimously.

A second fire proposal was pulled from the agenda as well. Tibbets said the $512,828 bid for a station at Torreon was acceptable but that paperwork required to use federal grant money for the project had not been completed in time for the meeting. Tibbets said he hopes to bring he proposal back to the commission next month.

Bency also questioned the other big ticket item on the agenda, a resolution of intent from the county to issue up to $36 million in industrial revenue bonds to go toward the construction of the Sierra Azul retirement center. The privately-operated facility would be built on land owned by the county s part of the La Plazuela Master Plan that will include a transportation center and new county administration building near the existing health commons and judicial complex at NM 528 and Idalia Road.

The county has done IRBs before – including one for $16 billion for Intel three years ago. Bency said he wasn’t necessarily for or against the proposal, but he wanted to see an economic impact statement and to know what school district might benefit from any payment in lieu of taxes generated from the project. Since the building technically would sit on land annexed by the town of Bernalillo in order to keep the county buildings in the designated county seat, Bency said he was not sure if monies generated would go to the Bernalillo or Rio Rancho school districts.

The commission did give its unanimous approval to its bond council authorizing work begin on the planning necessary to sell the bonds. The commission also adopted an ordinance requiring manufactured homes  have permits and registration plate,s and providing penalties for those that don’t. The treasurer’s office requested the ordinance to make it easier for them to collect property taxes from the potentially mobile units.

In total, the commission authorized agreements for the expenditure  of $1.869 million, including $255,000 in engineering fees for the Northwest Loop, $76,736 for the design of the Placitas Library and $50,000 for sidewalks in Rio Rancho.