DOJ finds evidence indicating likely Open Meetings Act violation by Bernalillo County Commission
Apr. 24—The New Mexico Department of Justice says that Bernalillo County commissioners may have violated the state's Open Meetings Act when coming up with a process to hire a new county manager.
The DOJ sent a final disposition letter Wednesday to Commission Chair Barbara Baca, stating that issues raised in a pair of complaints "may implicate violations of the (Open Meetings Act) that require your immediate attention."
On Wednesday evening, Baca said she had not reviewed the letter yet, but will respond to requests for comment once she has.
The DOJ received complaints that the commission engaged in a rolling quorum prior to its April 9 meeting by discussing and agreeing on the selection process to hire a new county manager. The hiring process passed on a 3-1 vote.
Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Walt Benson took issue with the resolution, as they wanted a say in who would be on the search committee outlined in the hiring process. Quezada left the meeting before the resolution was voted on.
According to the New Mexico Opens Meeting Act compliance guide, a rolling quorum is when the majority of a board — like three members of a five-member board — discuss public business in a series of phone calls or email conversations.
The DOJ reviewed the news release announcing the selection process proposal, the meeting agenda, minutes and video recording, according to the disposition letter.
"Based on the materials reviewed, there are indications that deliberations on public business and 'caucus-like' activities were taking place among various members of the Commission outside of open Commission meetings," the letter states.
One of the complaints came from Melanie Majors, executive director of the nonprofit New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.
"FOG applauds the DOJ's opinion," Majors said. "This action is significant because it makes clear that a majority of the Commission discussed the selection process for hiring a new County Manager and agreed to the process in advance of the April 9 Commission Meeting in violation of the OMA."
The letter notes that "while individual Commission members may explore the feasibility of resolutions prior to their proposal, individual Commission members are strongly cautioned to avoid engaging in any conversations, telephone calls or text messaging on matters of public business in order to reserve those discussions and deliberations for observation in an open Commission meeting."
The DOJ is requesting more records to further evaluate potential Open Meetings Act violations and will determine next steps after those records are reviewed, according to Director of Communications Lauren Rodriguez.
