March 08, 2010
The City of Belen might be in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA) because the city council hasn’t approved a required OMA resolution since October 2008. According to OMA and the October 2008 OMA resolution, the city council is required to pass such a resolution every year in order to be in compliance with [...]
March 08, 2010
City of Belen employees have in recent years signed confidentiality agreements to protect the privacy of their fellow employees and citizens, but the agreements also leave open the possibility of punishment for disclosing information that’s not necessarily sensitive. For example, city employees haven’t been allowed to publicly disclose information about the financial condition of their [...]
February 22, 2010
The Valencia County Commission last week considered reforming its decision appeal process to cut down on the number of people who speak for or against contentious issues. Citizens have a right to appeal a decision made the the Valencia County Planning and Zoning Commission to the full county commission. A part of the appeal process [...]
February 16, 2010
Belen City Manager Sally Garley last night announced her resignation effective March 8, but said she would consider continuing to serve as city manager if asked. “I work at the mayor’s pleasure, and being that the mayor isn’t running for reelection, I believe that it’s time for me to step down,” Garley said. Along with [...]
February 09, 2010
Belen City Councilor Rudy Jaramillo wants to know who approved a trip taken by four city officials to Washington, DC, that was in part paid for by taxpayer dollars. During last night’s city council meeting, Jaramillo asked whether or not the city council needed to approve the out-of-state trip, like most governments do, because it [...]
February 08, 2010
A tax bill that was expected to help Valencia County begin to recover nearly $6 million in delinquent property taxes is dead at the state legislature, according to Commissioner Pedro Rael, who helped write it. “It’s not going to make it through this legislature,” Rael said, adding, “They have much bigger fish to fry. To [...]
February 08, 2010
Valencia County Treasurer Dorothy Lovato is asking county commissioners to allow her to hire at least two temporary employees to help her collect delinquent property taxes before the end of the fiscal year in July — or risk losing money to the state that would otherwise come to the county. The county can collect delinquent [...]
February 03, 2010
Sen. Eric Griego is proposing to create the New Mexico Department of Commerce and Economic Development, which would combine four separate departments into one. Under Griego’s plan, detailed in SB242, the departments of economic development, tourism, regulations and licensing, and workforce solutions would be consolidated. “The purpose of the Commerce and Economic Development Department Act [...]
February 03, 2010
Alonzo Baldonado, a Los Lunas realtor, says he’s running for state representative in House district 8 because he wants to be a voice for the people of Valencia County. “In state government, there’s a lack of listening to the people, listening to the constituents. I’m committed to the constitution of New Mexico, where it says [...]
February 02, 2010
Sen. Eric Griego wants all Senate committee meetings to be broadcast on the internet via webcams, introducing a resolution to do just that. The resolution — SR4 — would allow the public to watch all committee meetings online from the moment the meetings are called to order until they’re either recessed or adjourned. Griego’s resolution [...]