This weekend, friends and I got to camp, eat, and experience the truth of country music. We heard verses like “my heart skips just thinkin’ of you; forgive me if I don’t know what I’m doing; I’m still learnin’ to be human.” You know, the simple things in life. Country music advocates for love, accountability and the teaching of life lessons. Honesty and integrity matter.
Lessons our city government could learn. Amid scandal, accusations of sexual harassment and a blown budget, Española is in free fall.
At the June 24 city council meeting to choose an interim city manager and decide whether to extend the term for elected officials by a year and a half, Councilor Justin Salazar-Torrez rightly motioned to recess the meeting and hold off.
With news hot off the press that the mayor was being served a restraining order, Councilor Salazar-Torrez felt it prudent to delay making such weighty decisions until more information became available – even if that meant missing the deadline for opting in to the state election cycle (extending councilor and mayor terms from March 2026 to November of 2027).
Even the city attorney said the public hearing and ability for the city to opt in was now “dead in the water.”
But this is a country song—where reality, like a winding dirt road, takes a wild-haired turn. When the public hearing and subsequent vote to lengthen the current terms died, Mayor Pro Tem/Councilor Peggy Sue Martinez chose to resurrect it from the dead.
She quickly scheduled a special meeting for June 30, which was the deadline for municipalities to notify the state of its decision to opt in.
To heck with parliamentary procedure (for which she was once a stickler) and rules be damned. Let’s just push this thing through!
Actions like these exemplify precisely how the pursuit of political power breeds contempt and mistrust.
To highlight just how clearly these actions violate precedent, statute and common sense, here is a little background. When a meeting is recessed and assigned to a specific date in the future, according to parliamentary procedure, only the person making the motion (in this case, Councilor Salazar-Torrez) can reopen the meeting.
In addition, only the items on the original agenda can be addressed. Both of these rules were broken.
But here is the real kicker: According to New Mexico Statute Chapter 3, Article 17, Section 3-17-3, changes to the city’s ordinance – especially changes of this magnitude – require at least a 14-day legal notice in the local newspaper specifying the date and time of the hearing.
Yet the first legal notice that was meant to cover the meeting on June 24 was published on June 25 – a day after the meeting took place! And no notice was published for the meeting on June 30, going against state statute.
What would lead our officials to take actions that run contrary to statute while putting the city at risk for legal claims against it?
On good authority, the answer lies in promises made to certain councilors three years ago when they were recruited to run. If they ran and helped the current regime, they would be rewarded with a fifth year in office, allowing their investments in the state’s Public Employee Retirement Plan (PERA) to vest.
You can’t do that with just four years. Pushing this through would solidify promises made, promises kept.
Let’s give the councilors the benefit of the doubt and say they ran with wholeheartedly good intentions. We certainly know them as friends and neighbors.
But the perception is bad. The attempts to push through their fifth year in office, especially given the more important issues at hand such as the budget shortfall, controversy and scandal, compromise the integrity of those holding office and destroy public confidence.
At Monday’s meeting, as the crowd filled the council chambers, four councilors and the mayor remained noticeably absent.
With only four councilors in attendance, the city failed to meet the standard for a quorum. The meeting was canceled, shutting down any chance of extending the councilors’ terms.
All that is left is for the mayor and council to decide where to go from here.
Amid tremendous distraction, with potential personal and civic lawsuits on the horizon, real decisions must be made that keep the city’s best interest at the forefront.
No more politics, no more alliances, and certainly no more power grabs. Money is being lost.
The $400,000 grant for sorely needed upgrades to the police station will have to wait until at least January, if we get the money at all.
Last year’s audit still remains curiously absent. Two weeks ago, the interim city manager told U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez’s, D-District 3, office that the city of Española did not want the nearly $900,000 grant for broadband infrastructure we received four years ago but have not used.
Do you know how bad it looks when you tell a congresswoman that you don’t need or want the money she fought hard to allocate to our city?
Country songs end in either of two ways: great happiness or tragedy. Our elected officials, you have these two options before you. Don’t let the chance at a happy ending slip through your fingers. Step aside and get out of the way before you do more damage. That goes for more than one of you.
Javier Sanchez is a former Española mayor and is an El Rito Media investor.