Council guilty of 2nd Open Meetings violation

By Eric Maddy

The SCORE

The New Mexico Attorney General’s office has ruled that the Rio Rancho City Council violated the state’s Open Meetings Act a second time when “four Council members were overheard by a newspaper reporter discussing water infrastructure and financing issues affecting the City and continued to discuss publlic business after the rporter told them that the discussion was improper.”

No punishment is forthcoming, according to assistant attorney general Elizabeth A Glenn in a letter to Mayor Mike Williams dated Wednesday, because the second incident occurred before the AG’s office could inform the city of its first violation.

The ruling is in response to three complaints filed by former city councilor Alonzo F. Clayton, who contended the selecion of Williams as maor and Fay Davis as Williiams’ replacement in city council District 1 were done without public comment and input.

Those two charges were denied, but a third complaint by Clayton of a four-councilor gathering outside of a stated meeting, was in violation of the OMA.

”The third occurrence described in the complaint violated (the) OMA,” Glenn wrote. “On Sept. 12, 2007, four of the City Councilors discussed public business among themselves outside of an open meeting. According to the newspaper article submitted with the complaint, the four Council members indicated that the violation was inadvertent and they were not aware that a quorum was present during the discussion.

“The article states that when the improper discussion was brought to your attention, you discussed the matter with the Councilors to ensure they were aware of (the) OMA’s requirements,” Glenn wrote to the mayor. “Although we believe hat the discussion of public business with a quorum of the Councilors present violated (the) OMA, we do not intend to take further action on the complaint. Based on the information available to us, it appears the Council does not deny the violation and that once you, as Mayor, were informed about the discussion, who took immediate steps to address the violation.

“We also believe it significant that the events described in the complaint letter occurred before the Attorney General’s Office issued its Sept. 21, 2007 letter determining the Rio Rancho City council violated the OMA in December 2006. We expect that since receiving the determination, the Council has taken the steps necessary to avoid future OMA violations.

“Of course, should the Council fail to meet our expectations we will take appropriate action at that time.”

 The Attorney General’s Office found the Governing Body guilty of violating the OMA because it conducted a “rolling quorum” in making the decision to fire former city manager Jim Palenick, which is now the subject of a lawsuit in the 13^th Judicial District Court. That complaint was filed by former mayor Jim Owen, who appointed Clayton to the Council in 1983 to fill a vacancy when Dave Bency was elected to the Sandoval County Commission.

Tom Treweek, whose reporting for the Rio Rancho Observer was cited in the AG’s opinion, now is a reporter in Bentonville, Ark.

“I’ve moved on with my career,” Treweek said. “My story speaks for itself.”

“The council was found not guilty on two of the three (complaints), and were found guilty by association on the third when they didn’t recognize there were four of them present,” said Williams, who was in the audience for a mayoral forum Friday night. “I did nothing wrong as Mr. Owen and Mr. Clayton continue to say to the public.”