November 13, 2009
The Valencia County Sheriff’s Department is investigating what it’s calling a clear case of vandalism at the law office of James L. Sanchez, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the Valencia County hospital lawsuit. “It’s clearly an act of vandalism and criminal damage to property,” said Valencia County Deputy Chris Trujillo, the department’s public information [...]
November 12, 2009
Valencia Health Commons, the local nonprofit under contract with the county to manage the hospital project, has told Valencia County it wants no role in ongoing lawsuit settlement discussions. In September, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which challenges the legality of the contract, sent a settlement offer to county commissioners. The commission [...]
November 04, 2009
The hospital lawsuit that’s been pending in the New Mexico Court of Appeals for months has finally been assigned to a panel of judges. The case — R. Cordova v. Valencia County — was assigned to three judges on Nov. 2, according to a court of appeals official. The judges will review the case, taking [...]
October 20, 2009
Since the Valencia County Commission voted last month to begin the process for settling the hospital lawsuit pending in the New Mexico Court of Appeals, the negotiations on the terms of the settlement with all of the involved parties has been slow going. When the county voted 4-1 to work “in principle” to settle the [...]
October 15, 2009
The citizen who was removed from a Valencia County Commission meeting one week ago was again removed from last night’s meeting, an effort by the commission’s chairman to enforce a ban against that citizen. Mike Wood, who has been an outspoken hospital proponent, attended last night’s commission meeting despite Commission Chairman Pedro Rael requesting Wood [...]
October 12, 2009
A judge speaking in Belen on Saturday explained how the New Mexico Court of Appeals works, indirectly shedding light on local cases. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Bustamante, who’s been on the court since 1994, appointed by former Governor Gary King and subsequently elected and retained, addressed residents at a time when several important Valencia [...]
October 08, 2009
The Valencia County Commission meeting started almost 15 minutes late last night as Commission Chairman Pedro Rael called in sheriff’s deputies to have a citizen removed from the meeting. Shuffling began shortly before 5:00pm, when commissioners read copies of a letter placed at their seats in the commission chambers. The letter, from Mike Wood and [...]
October 07, 2009
The board of a hospital group behind many of the pro-hospital signs in Valencia County and which fought hard to support the hospital project over the last year voted unanimously on Monday night to dissolve itself. The Valencia County Action Committee (VCAC) had nearly 20 active members from mostly Belen, Rio Communities and Las Maravillas, [...]
October 06, 2009
Details of what was discussed behind closed doors during today’s hospital settlement negotiations remain sketchy because of attorney-client privilege, but both Valencia Health Commons and Valencia County Commission Chairman Pedro Rael agreed on one thing: There will be more meetings. The closed-door discussions were described as “not horrible” by Bob Davey, the chairman of the [...]
October 06, 2009
Two county commissioners, representatives of Valencia Health Commons and attorneys from the firm representing the county entered into a closed meeting just after 10:00am this morning. Commissioners Pedro Rael and Ron Gentry are participating in the meeting. Commissioners David Medina and Georgia Otero-Kirkham showed up to find out what was happening but chose to leave [...]