Waste again.
The recent dismissal of perjury indictments against County Commission Board Chair Alex Naranjo and Rio Arriba County Manager Tomas Campos is yet another example of why our county continues to have a reputation for cronyism at best and dirty politics.
Both were indicted for perjury by the special grand jury empaneled to investigate alleged wrongdoing at the North Central Solid Waste Authority. The grand jury’s report was damning on many levels. It had been hoped a special prosecutor would be appointed to take the investigation further.
Check that one off the list of impossibilities.
The perjury indictments were assigned for prosecution to 13th Judicial District Attorney Barbara Romero who quickly tossed them into the “waste” basket. Those grand jury participants had, it turns out, wasted their time on waste.
As we reported, the Judicial District chief deputy district attorney wrote of the decision, “The indictment returned by the specially convened grand jury exceeded their lawful authority.”
District Attorney Romero wrote masked her decision in a spate of legalese essentially saying the same thing. The grand jury did not have the standing to indict someone for perjury.
Let’s get this straight, District Attorney Romero. If a person is believed to be lying to a grand jury, they cannot be indicted for perjury? We guess not — at least in Rio Arriba County.
The Waste Authority was known as a poorly run and perhaps shady operation before the grand jury convened and then issued its scathing report.
The essential job of picking up county residents’ trash was done haphazardly and sometimes not all. Equipment was poorly maintained. There were rumors of underhanded and perhaps illegal activity among management.
Those rumors persist to this day.
Where is Attorney General Raul Torres? Why doesn’t he step in and pick up this trash? Convene another grand jury.
Still unanswered is why and how a trash authority worker, Alfred Trujillo, was killed while working on a trash authority truck on November of 2022? The driver of the truck that day, Peter Velarde, claims in a lawsuit against the Authority that he was fired for talking to and cooperating with federal investigators.
No answers have ever been offered about Trujillo’s death. The federal government has closed its investigation after leveling a fine of $18,462 against the Authority.
Is that the value of a man’s life, $18,462?
The misdeeds of a few casts a black cloud over all politicians and public office holders in Rio Arriba County. We continue to be viewed across the state as a place where crime is rampant, drug use is at epidemic proportions, homelessness abounds, and some elected officials operate above the law. And these few politicians skirt the law with impunity.
We can’t count on the courts to help us. Only we can weed out those bad seeds and it’s at the ballot box. If you love this valley, show it. Clean it up and oust the troublemakers from office.