Thanks for the money.
Now go away quietly and keep your mouth shut. Your money we want. Your opinions we don’t.
That appears to be the dominant view of the majority of the Rio Arriba County Board of Commissioners.
On Tuesday, the board voted to spend over $50 million of your money and you had virtually nothing to say about it. A big portion of the increase is going to fund a 10 percent pay raise for county employees.
The meeting was like most of the board’s meetings these days. No public input. No time set aside for the public to comment or ask questions. No interaction of any kind between board members and their bosses, the taxpayers.
This borders on criminal, folks. Stand up. Shout it to the rafters: We will not be ignored! We will not be shut out!
This year, the City of Española began holding budget workshops where public was invited to participate. The county should follow suit and do the same.
And it is customary all across the country, not just in New Mexico, for public bodies to allow for citizen comments and observations usually at the end of meetings. That is not happening here.
The lone voice in county government who believes government needs to operate in the open with the sun shining in is Christine Bustos, District 2 Commissioner. She wants citizens to have a voice in how county government operates and in how your money is spent.
But on Tuesday, in a typical display of arrogance, in an all-too-customary show of contempt for transparency and accountability, commissioners approved a budget calling for more than $55 million in spending – and taxpayers didn’t get to say a word.
This is not how government is supposed to conduct the people’s business.
The county board’s penchant for cutting the public out of its deliberations is simply unacceptable. Even if permissible under the law, which it is, such disregard for the public will casts a pall that is morally and ethically felonious. It is a crime of high-handed condescension toward the very people these elected officials should be bending over backwards to accommodate.
On page 6 of today’s issue, Bustos writes in an op/ed column of her frustration over the lack of transparency in Rio Arriba County government.
Bustos has served the people of Rio Arriba County and Española in a variety of ways and in many jobs. Much of her work has been as a volunteer in projects such as overseeing the annual December Parade of Lights. She was out monitoring floats and logistics on hot, hot day two weeks ago for the Fiesta parade.
About 18 months ago she was appointed by the governor to serve out an unfinished term on the county board.
She had never run for public office but decided to seek election to a full term on the board this year. She finished third in the recent primary.
The winner in that primary was Alex Naranjo who will face a write-in candidate, Dale Salazar of Hernandez for District 2 in the general election this fall. Salazar’s chances would appear slim.
Bustos is particularly upset with the handling of the budget and lack of input and scrutiny, not only from the public but also from the commissioners themselves. She said commissioners were scheduled to receive the final budget online on Friday and would have just three days for review before being asked to approve it.
Bustos’ complaints about the lack of process and openness date back to December of 2021 when she asked for a list of salaries for all county employees.
She’s still waiting.
And those employees received the 10 percent raise in the new budget.
Understandably, Bustos wanted to review the payroll. After being rebuffed in her December efforts to get the salaries, Bustos wrote a letter on Jan. 3 to finance director Christine Montano asking why she had not received an answer and the list of employees.
On the same day, Montano wrote her back and told her to “Please go through County Manager for any requests you need.”
Bustos then made the same request of the County Manager Lucía F. Sánchez.
She’s still waiting.
Many of the complaints Bustos has are with Sánchez who she says is secretive and unresponsive to requests for information, operating seemingly with no oversight or direction from the county board.
She is also critical of Board Chairman James J. Martinez, who she says refuses to allow citizens to speak at meetings. He will be leaving office at the end of the year and Bustos is in hopes that Martinez’ replacement, Brandon Bustos, along with the new person representing her district will commit themselves to transparency and open meetings.
The current situation is untenable and potentially volatile. It must be addressed immediately.
The board could start by making meetings more accessible to the public. It’s difficult for citizens to attend meetings because the board meets on Tuesdays starting at 3 p.m. Most taxpayers are at work at that time.
Luckily for the taxpayers and readers of the Rio Grande SUN, attending those meetings is our work and we intend to be at every meeting prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure the county’s business is conducted in the open and that county officials are listening to their bosses — the public.
Join us at those meetings and come prepared to object, shout, and generally raise hell if the board continues to show disdain and disrespect for the taxpayers and democratic processes.