Medina wants a commission meeting in Belen

March 18, 2010

During tonight’s Valencia County Commission meeting, Commissioner David Medina called on his fellow commissioners to consider holding at least one meeting a year in Belen to make the commission more accessible to the residents of southern Valencia County.

Belen City Councilor Jerah R. Cordova approached Medina with the idea two weeks ago after attending meetings of the Belen Consolidated Schools Board of Education, which travels to different schools within its district to hold meetings, accommodating the parents and staff of each school.

When Medina addressed the idea tonight to the full commission, the rest of the commissioners shot it down as “illegal,” saying state law requires that the commission meet in the county seat, which is Los Lunas.

During a discussion between Cordova and a county attorney after the meeting, the state law was reviewed and the idea was shown to, in fact, be legal.

According to state law, the county commission is required to meet in Los Lunas four times a year — in January, April, July and October. While state law seems to encourage the commission to meet in the county’s highest populated municipality, it’s at the commission’s discretion as to where in the county it meets.

The law reads:

The board of county commissioners shall meet, after notice as required by law for meetings of public bodies, at the county seat of each county at quarterly meetings in January, April, July and October in each year and at such other times within the prescribed county as in the opinion of the board the public interests may require. Meetings other than quarterly meetings may be held in the municipality with the largest population concentration in the county, and meetings concerning matters of local interest only may be held in the community affected. All meetings shall be held in a public building owned be [by] the state, county or public schools.

Cordova and the county attorney debated the meaning of “matters of local interest only,” which appears to be included in the law to keep the commission from addressing an issue that only affects, say, Meadow Lake during a meeting in distant Belen.

A meeting in Belen, of course, could be tailored to issues affecting southern Valencia County taxpayers.

One possible location for such a meeting would be the Belen Consolidated Schools administration building, with adequate parking, audiovisual equipment, and with at least as many seats for the public as the county commission’s own chamber.

The county attorney said the county commission would need to revisit and possibly amend its Open Meetings Act resolution to permit a meeting of the commission in Belen.

Posted in: Reform