A memo cracking down on politcking made its way through the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Department earlier this month after a burglary victim accused a deputy of urging her to vote for one of his colleagues in the upcoming sheriff’s election.
“Please be advised that due to recent events that have resulted in unfavorable media that caused embarrassment and damage to the department as a whole, I am requesting that campaigning and/or any politicking in any form be ceased while in uniform, on regularly scheduled duty where you are on departmental duties,” Undersheriff Paul Valdez wrote in the Dec. 3 memo.
Valdez said the embarrassing event mentioned in his memo was an incident reported in a Dec. 3 SUN story in which a burglary victim accused deputy JB Turner of neglecting to properly take evidence or photographs of the crime, then telling the victim to vote for deputy James Lujan in next year’s election for sheriff.
The Chili home of Neffie and Shirley Montoya was burglarized Oct. 23 and Nov. 24, and the Montoyas had at first suspected the first burglary was related to an attack at the business of their son, Ryan Barrera. Barrera was a co-owner of the Dragon’s Lair Hookah Lounge and Defiant Artists Tattoo Parlor, which Española Police officer Eugene Rodella, 40, and his brother Gabriel Rodella, 22, allegedly attacked Oct. 7. Det. Adam Archuleta and the Montoyas have since said they do not suspect the Rodellas were involved in the burglaries.
Neffie Montoya told the SUN that Turner had come to their home to take a report of the second burglary and made a pitch for Lujan’s campaign. Turner disputed the story, saying Montoya brought up the upcoming elections, saying he was outraged former State Police officer and Rio Arriba County Court Magistrate judge Tommy Rodella, Eugene and Gabriel Rodella’s brother, was running for sheriff.
“I told him, ‘Well, there’s an election coming up, if there’s something that needs to be done, that’s when you can do something about it,’” Turner said. “I didn’t ask him for a vote, I didn’t hand him no card. If I was politicking, I would’ve gone whole hog. I just told him that my personal opinion was that I would be supporting my personal friend James Lujan.”
Neffie Montoya could not be reached at his home. Valdez said he did not order an investigation into the allegations against Turner.
“I took the report in the first robbery, and I talked to Mr. Montoya and he said that, yeah, Turner may have said something,” Valdez said. “I told Turner’s commander (Sgt. Martin Trujillo) to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I haven’t heard any more complaints.”
In his memo, Valdez also asked deputies and commanders to use good judgment when speaking to the media and clearly separate personal business from Department business.
“I was afraid that having two candidates in here was creating some animosities,” he said. “I don’t want the elections to create any ill feelings between officers and I don’t want any cliques.”
Five Democrats so far have announced plans to run next year to replace Sheriff Joe Mascareñas, who must step down due to term limits. Two of those candidates, Lt. Manuel Valdez and Sgt. James Lujan, are department employees. The other candidates, besides Rodella, are Chama School Board member Donald Valdez, a former State Police officer, and former Department and State Police detective Freddie Trujillo. Trujillo has said he would appoint Paul Valdez’s brother, State Police Sgt. Chris Valdez, as undersheriff.
Paul Valdez said he saw no conflict between his duties as undersheriff — which include supervising Lujan and Manuel Valdez — and his brother’s support for Trujillo’s campaign.
“I won’t take sides,” Paul Valdez said. “Chris is running, he’s my brother, but everyone here’s a friend of mine. I’ve been in positions where you can’t avoid politics for the past 35 years. I’ve learned the way to survive is to keep my mouth shut and stay out of it.”