The legal battle between the Española/Rio Arriba County 911 Center and the County is carrying on months after the lawsuit was dismissed in court.
The Center’s Board of Directors filed the lawsuit Sept. 17, 2007, in state District Court claiming the County was attempting to wrest control of the Center’s budget from the Board. The suit claims the Board is a “sole and separate legal entity,” and it should be able to approve its own budgets without County interference. The Board also tried to revise the joint powers agreement that created the Center to give itself more control over a County tax fund that finances the Center and other medical services, but the County claimed the Board does not have the legal authority to do so.
“It’s not within their jurisdiction,” County Manager Lorenzo Valdez said.
Center Director Marti Griego has been working on new wording for the joint powers agreement, and she thought she had reached an agreement with the County earlier in the year. A stipulation of dismissal of the lawsuit was filed July 17; the “stipulation” hinged on the County signing the agreement, and on Oct. 8 Center attorney Kathleen Kentish Lucero filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement after the County had not yet signed it.
Three days before the dismissal was filed in July, County attorney Ted Trujillo made revisions to Griego’s language that would be agreeable to the County, and Griego thought the parties had reached a settlement.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am,” Griego said at the time.
Griego had wanted a commitment from the County that the Center would receive 80 percent of the revenue generated by a County-wide “emergency medical services tax,” passed in 2004, but County officials have refused to agree to it. Language in the ordinance that imposed the tax said the tax money will be used “primarily” to fund the Center but did not set a minimum percentage. Trujillo changed the language to read that the Center will receive amounts “consistent with the historical funding.” The $887,887 the Center received for last fiscal year constituted about 60 percent of the nearly $1.5 million generated by the tax.
Griego’s version of the agreement also included language that stated if the Board-approved budget was less than 80 percent of the total tax revenue, the Board would be authorized to spend the extra revenue on equipment upgrades and operational costs — another section with which the County did not agree. Trujillo’s language would have only allowed the Board to make a request to the County for additional funds.
Trujillo’s revision included language that would give the Board the authority to adopt an annual budget and the responsibility to oversee the Center’s daily operations and budgetary expenditures, which Griego said was satisfactory and which led to the stipulated dismissal.
However, the County has yet to sign the agreement, even with Trujillo’s revisions. Assistant County Manager Tomas Campos said Griego failed to send the County a final version of the agreement with Trujillo’s suggested language until November. Valdez said the County is unlikely to sign the agreement at all.
“I don’t see any possibility of it,” he said.
Despite what Valdez said about the agreement, Trujillo said he believes the language he inserted into the revised agreement will be inserted in the final agreement.
Valdez said he doesn’t have any problem with the Board overseeing the Center’s budget and operations, but he said the Board does not have the authority to revise the joint powers agreement. He also said he does not see Griego’s latest revisions (even with Trujillo’s changes) as progress, as the agreement’s wording does not do much to change the relationship between the Board and the County.
“It really doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “We’re taking a different stab at it.”
Valdez said the County is creating its own version of the agreement, which it will take to the other entities that created the Center: the city of Española, the village of Chama, Santa Fe County, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. He said the County’s version is incomplete, and he declined to comment on the specific changes the County is looking to implement until the other powers have had a chance to review it.
Griego and Board Chairman Rio Arriba County Sheriff Joe Mascareñas did not return calls requesting comment. Española Public Safety Chief Julian Gonzales, a Board member, would not fault the County for not signing the revised agreement, though he said its language seems fair.
“I don’t have any feelings either way,” he said.
Trujillo said previously that the County considered filing a motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the Board does not have the legal authority to file a lawsuit against the governmental bodies that created it.
Both Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties protested after the suit was filed, because it named employees of the counties who were not authorized to enter into legal action.
In fact, meeting minutes show, neither Rio Arriba County Fire Marshal Jerome Sanchez nor Santa Fe County Fire Chief Stan Holden (whose names were later withdrawn from the lawsuit) attended the July 31, 2007, meeting where the Board voted to proceed with the suit.
“Despite being a party to the JPA, Santa Fe County was not consulted about the proposed lawsuit. This is inconceivable,” a September 2007 letter to Lucero from Santa Fe County attorney Stephen Ross stated.
The County’s refusal to sign her revised agreement has not stopped Griego from trying to get the other Board members to do so, however. She spoke before the Chama Village Council Nov. 19, but only two councilors attended, and they did not take any action.
“She had a good presentation,” Councilor Billy Elbrock said. “We’re also interested to see what the County comes up with.”
Elbrock said things got heated between Griego and Campos, who had words outside the Council chambers and were loud enough to require the Council to close the chamber doors.
“They kind of got in an argument afterward,” he said. “I don’t know what all was said.”
Campos said he followed Griego out of the meeting to explain that the County was not “out to get her” and has no plans to cut funding for the Center.