Former Española School District Board member Patrick Herrera, after an uncertain week, has officially resigned his seat effective Aug. 22.
Herrera, who had publicly resigned Aug. 2, rescinded his resignation at an Aug. 15 regular Board meeting, to the surprise of everyone in attendance. At a special Board meeting held Aug. 22, Attorney Tony Ortiz, announced to the Board that he had spoken with Herrera, and he had resigned his seat to Ortiz on the phone earlier that morning.
“I have spoken to him,” Ortiz said. “And he indicated to me that he was no longer planning to continue in his role on the Board. For all intensive (sic) purposes, he is resigning and does not plan on participating in any shape or form, and that the Board can move forward. Frankly, by operation of law, that happens whether he agrees with it or not.”
The intent of the special session was for the Board to approve an authorization of an investigation to determine whether a Board vacancy exists under New Mexico law, including but limited to NMSA 1978, Section 10-3-1. This authorization, which was approved 3-1, with District Four Board member Pablo Lujan, who is also suspected under New Mexico HB 98 of not living in his elected district, dissenting.
Lujan left shortly after the approval of the authorization. The authorization does not mean an investigation will take place, but that, if Herrera decides to once again rescind his resignation or dispute the claim that he lives out of his elected district, Ortiz has authorization from the Board to begin an investigation immediately.
Lujan confused
As has happened in the past, in terms of the language of the law, Lujan seemed confused by the agenda, and the Board’s move to authorize an investigation, if need be.
“The motion was to approve the authorization of an investigation if need be, so why are we approving something that we may or may not need?” Lujan asked. “Have we received an official letter from Mr. Herrera?”
Ortiz, as he had stated earlier that evening, reminded Lujan that, by the language of the law, the Board does not need a letter. Herrera was no longer living in his elected district, which caused an immediate vacancy in his seat.
Again, Lujan questioned the law.
“So he is no longer a Board member as we speak?” Lujan said. “So then why are we trying to approve this authorization?”
Ortiz, provided Lujan with a hypothetical to try and help him better understand the reasoning of the authorization.
“I’ll give you a scenario,” Ortiz said. “Let’s say that he comes forward and disputes whether or not he moved out of District. With this authorization, I don’t have to call you guys back and ask if I can do something about it, I can hire an investigator.”
Facebook frustration
While Herrera was not in attendance at the meeting, he quickly took to Facebook to voice his frustrations and push his political agenda
From Aug. 19-22, Herrera began attacking the Board and Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, accusing them of not focusing on the issues and wasting their time investigating him.
“Wow! District funding was spent on lawyers and a “special investigator” just to investigate my living status,” Herrera wrote in an Aug. 22 Facebook post. “I was going to resign…they shouldn’t have wasted money like that. I was not going to go against the law that I clearly understood…what a waste.”
In a repeat performance from Herrera’s surprise entrance into the Aug. 15 board meeting, Lujan once again piggybacked off of Herrera, claiming that an investigator had already been hired. “So, I have a question,” Lujan said. “My question is, it’s been brought to my attention that the District has already hired an outside investigator to investigate this as we speak. I have someone that is willing to testify to that, that we have already hired somebody to look into this investigation.”
No investigation
These claims were quickly put to rest by Board President Ruben Archuleta and Ortiz.
“For the record,” Archuleta said.”I know it has been on social media, we have not hired anybody, we have not spent a dime on any investigation.”
Ortiz also verified that in fact, despite the claims of Herrera and Lujan, that he had not been asked to begin an investigation nor had the District spent any money to retain his services for an investigation.
“I will say for the record, that I have not hired any outside parties to investigate this matter.” Ortiz said.
Now that the dust has settled, the Board is free to move forward with its original plan to hire a replacement for Herrera’s seat by Sept. 10. The process, which was approved in a special session on Aug. 27, will allow for an open, public interview of qualified applicants, to then be selected by the board, a process that they legally do not have to go through.
“I think sometimes that the public misunderstands that issue,” Ortiz said. “They think that the Board has to jump through those hoops, or go through a big process. This really is a good thing for this community that they have a board that wants the community involved and has opened up the process.”