The Valencia County News-Bulletin has filed a New Mexico Open Meetings Act complaint against the City of Belen, alleging the previous administration expended $619,000 on a land purchase without a public vote.

“Under no circumstances should such substantial amounts of public funds be expended by a governing entity without a vote before the public that provided said funds,” Brent Ruffner, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reporter who covers city government, writes in the complaint to the Office of New Mexico’s Attorney General.

At issue is a purchase made by the City of Belen for approximately 14 acres of land near Camino del Llano. The land will be used for ponding as a part of the ongoing Camino del Llano reconstruction project.

According to city officials from the prior administration, the purchase of the land was made sometime in early January.

The purchase may or may not have been discussed behind closed doors as a part of a closed executive session. Regardless of a closed-door discussion, the city council can’t take action behind closed doors; that must be done in public.

It wasn’t until February, and after a newspaper article written by Ruffner exposed the potentially illegal purchase, that the city council “ratified” the purchase.

The purpose of ratifying the purchase is to remedy the OMA violation. Typically the attorney general won’t find a violation if the government that violated the law remedies it, even after the fact.

“We content that a public vote should have been taken to approve the land purchase and expenditure of funds before either of those events took place, which to the best of my knowledge, did not happen,” Ruffner writes in the complaint.

But what might be more serious than an OMA violation is whether or not city officials violated New Mexico procurement laws, which requires city council approval on all purchases over $50,000. Presumably, the attorney general could investigate the possible procurement violation.

Councilor Jerah R. Cordova this week called for a public dialogue on the position of city manager, proposing revisions to the city’s existing ordinance that defines the city manager’s duties and responsibilities.

State law already defines the duties and responsibilities of the city manager, but the city’s existing ordinance gives additional authority to the city manager, exceeding what state law allows.

Cordova wants the council to publicly debate the position at one of its meetings, which is why he proposed the revisions.

The revisions bring the duties and responsibilities of the city manager closer in line with what state law allows, while still giving the city manager the flexibility to do his or her job.

The revisions also strip a little-known provision from the existing ordinance that restructured city government by consolidating positions in a way Cordova believes runs contrary to state law.

Councilor Jerah R. Cordova yesterday submitted to the acting city manager an ordinance for consideration by the council that will guarantee certain rights for councilors and citizens, an effort to make the City of Belen a more open government.

State law requires the city council to set rules for its meetings, which the proposed ordinance will do.

Among other things, the ordinance would guarantee the right of any citizen to publicly comment at all meetings of the city council. Right now the city denies citizens the ability to publicly comment during special and emergency meetings.

For example, Belen resident Gloria Sanchez was denied the opportunity to speak at the March 22 special meeting where the council appointed people to the positions of police chief, fire chief and airport manager, despite Cordova’s effort to allot time for public comments on the agenda and Sanchez’s request to speak.

The new ordinance would also require roll call votes on all action items before the council to ensure the public knows how each of its councilors are voting.

It would also protect the rights of councilors to dissent, ensuring that dissenting opinions and failed proposals are detailed in meeting minutes and available to the public.

The ordinance would also more clearly define the role of the city council as the city’s legislative branch, requiring councilors to directly sponsor legislative proposals instead of those proposals being proposed by the mayor or city manager, who are a part of the executive branch.

While Cordova requested that the proposed open government ordinance be given a public hearing at the meeting on April 5, the ordinance doesn’t appear to have been included on the agenda for that meeting.

The City of Belen will this week begin publishing a job posting for city manager, the position now held by an interim city manager.

On March 8, former City Manager Sally Garley resigned, leaving the position filled by Acting City Manager Mary Lucy Baca.

According to the posting, getting hired to the position will require at least a bachelor’s degree in management or a related field and five years of experience in similar fields, among other things.

The city expects to accept applications for approximately two weeks.

City of Belen employees will no longer be allowed to take home city vehicles, after the city’s acting manager yesterday sent a policy directive to all employees banning the practice.

“City vehicles will be picked up when the employee comes in to work and returned at the end of the work shift or when emergency is complete,” the directive from Acting City Manager Mary Lucy Baca reads. “Anyone who takes a vehicle home will be unauthorized and disciplinary action will be taken up to and including termination.”

The new policy exempts public safety vehicles, including police cars.

City officials continue to look into whether or not to limit the off-duty use of public safety vehicles because some of those vehicles end up at employees’ homes in Albuquerque, Socorro and Mountainair.

The policy continues to restrict the use of vehicles during lunch hours, requiring the city employees to pay $3 per day if they will use a city vehicle to pick up lunch or dine at a restaurant. The $3 charge had been instituted by the Torres administration.

City officials made the decision because of the budget shortfall.

“Employees must help us trim wherever possible,” Baca writes in the directive.

Belen Mayor Rudy Jaramillo today nominated and won the confirmation for his appointees to the positions of police chief, fire chief and airport manager.

Police Chief Mike Chavez, Fire Chief Manny Garcia and Airport Manager Robert Uecker retained their positions.

Taking up each name one at a time, the city councilors voted unanimously to confirm them.

Jaramillo won the confirmations easily by proposing the positions be scrutinized during the next six months in an extensive evaluation process.

According to Jaramillo, each of the appointees will draft improvement plans for themselves and their departments. Each one will be evaluated after 90 days and again at 180 days to determine if they’re meeting the goals set by the new administration.

Jaramillo expects the council will have the opportunity to reconsider the appointments at the 180-day mark.

The appointments took place in a special meeting of the city council today because city government had to organize itself — make the appointments of all city employees — by tomorrow. Otherwise, the city would’ve found itself in violation of state law.

Belen’s mayor and the city’s three new councilors attended a New Mexico Municipal League training yesterday to learn what state law says about how a municipal government must operate.

The training covered issues like how to organize a government, manage finances, conduct meetings and stay ethical.

The conference room at the Marriott Pyramid in Albuquerque was filled with newly elected officials from across the northern half of the state.

Of the delegations present, Belen’s elected officials had the most questions, asking things like whether or not a city manager has authority to hire and fire, what procurement code says about making major purchases, and when it’s appropriate to discuss personnel issues behind closed doors.

While state law clearly defines two forms of government — “mayor-council” and “commission-manager” — the league says there were two additional implied forms of government — “mayor-council-manager” and “mayor-council-administrator.”

According to the Municipal League presenters, upon hiring a city manager, the mayor and city council create a mayor-council-manager form of government and give up their authority to hire and fire employees, delegating that authority to the manager.

There was some dispute over the league’s interpretation because state law vests in the mayor some authority over personnel, particularly in appointing people to various positions. In addition, state law gives the city council authority to provide advice and consent for appointed positions.

League officials didn’t seem to want to delve too deep into the councilors’ procurement concerns, with the councilors asking questions indirectly concerning the city’s purchase of $619,000 worth of land without council approval.

One league official who was asked directly about the issue after the training dodged specifics as if attempting to avoid implicating any municipal officials for violations of procurement code.

The councilors also received clarification as to when they can meet behind closed doors to discuss personnel issues. According to league officials, a closed meeting can be called on personnel issues only when the issue relates to an individual employee and doesn’t concern policy.

The league officials were wary of open government in some ways, for example, telling the newly elected officials they should erase all recordings they make of public meetings and never keep verbatim minutes, instead summarizing what happens at public meetings in their minutes.

They also said the mayor and council aren’t required by law to allow public comments at meetings. They said, however, it would be difficult to deny citizens time to speak without causing an uproar. Of course, public hearings require opportunities for public input.

The Municipal League, which presented the training, is a nonprofit representing the state’s 103 municipalities, primarily providing legal interpretation and advice to elected officials and government employees.

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.

An amendment to state law that halts double dipping for retirees hired for public jobs after July 1 will benefit Belen by saving the city money.

Double dipping occurs when a government employee retires and later returns to work, receiving both a salary and pension.

During to 2009 fiscal year, the City of Belen had eight double dippers in city government. With this month’s resignation of former City Manager Sally Garley and the electoral defeat of former City Councilor Terese Ulivarri, that number is down to six.

Right now Judge Kathy Savilla, Councilor Wayne Gallegos, Police Chief Mike Chavez and three other city employees, assuming they have remained with the city after the 2009 fiscal year, receive their salary and pension.

The new provisions in the state law aren’t retroactive, so all of the city’s double dippers will continue to collect a salary and pension. That’s a continuing cost to taxpayers statewide, but because the pensions come from a state fund, the city’s budget isn’t directly impacted.

The city appears to benefit financially from the changes.

The city and the typical employee pay into the state’s retirement fund. But under the old return-to-work law, the city has been responsible for paying a double dipper’s portion into the fund.

Beginning July 1, four of the six remaining double dippers will have to pay their portion into the state’s retirement fund.

Retirees who are “elected to serve a term as an elected official” are exempted.

The Belen City Council last night confirmed Mary Lucy Baca as the city’s acting manager until a permanent city manager can be appointed.

The city council took the action because state law required Baca be confirmed by the council, even though she’s only an interim appointment.

Baca received the full support of the city council, which voted 4-0 to approve her temporary appointment.

The city is expected to request and receive applications from the general public for the city manager’s position, which will be evaluated in the coming weeks, with one name brought to the city council by Mayor Rudy Jaramillo for confirmation by the council.