It’s popular these days for filmmakers to make prequels and sequels, movies that feature characters and events from previous box-office hits.
Rio Arriba County and its commissioners must be hip to the trend, because they just directed their own version of the 1985 film “Back to the Future.” Our movie is called “Back to the Past” and features two newly elected commissioners on a fast track to set county government back 50 years.
Led by newly-elected county commission chair Alex Naranjo and his sidekick Brandon Bustos, also elected in November, the commission fired County Manager Lucia Sanchez Friday and replaced her with Bustos and Naranjo’s political friend Jeremy Maestas, who took office Feb. 13.
Can somebody say, “Good Ole Boy’s Club?”
The firing of the county’s first ever female manager was politically motivated and unjustified. No real explanation for Sanchez’s sudden termination was provided at the meeting, nor any justification given for hiring her replacement without advertising the position so that the best-qualified folks could apply.
The commission’s discussion about Sanchez’s performance was conducted behind closed doors in an executive session, out of public view. Both before and after the session, Naranjo refused to allow public comment or participation at the meeting. He later described some of the crowd in the meeting hall as “hostile.”
He apparently has no respect for freedom of speech or transparency in government, nor enough backbone to take a little heat from hard-working taxpayers.
Over a dozen supporters of Sanchez, mostly ranchers, attended the meeting and wanted to speak. They were denied.
Naranjo later said he would “bring back public participation” at commission meetings “when I’m good and ready.”
Sounding like a chip off the old block, Naranjo could have been mistaken for his legendary late uncle, Emilio Naranjo. A hard-nosed political kingmaker with a national reputation, Emilio ruled the Española Valley political machine for decades, making his own rules and ensuring those in key government positions remained loyal to him — or else.
We can’t go back to those days. We need to work toward a better, smarter future, not return to a past rife with corruption, political patronage and the out-and-out thuggery once overseen by Emilio Naranjo and his cronies.
In a county already struggling for respectability, Alex Naranjo and Bustos have again set us back. Only one commissioner, Moises Morales, had the courage and decency to applaud Sanchez’s work and decry Friday’s secretive backroom bullying. He also argued for the public to have a voice in the meeting.
“Our county manager has done a tremendous job,” said Morales, the only sitting commissioner to have worked with Sanchez extensively while she was county manager. “It’s a very disappointing day for the people of Rio Arriba County.”
Morales is right. Sanchez did a remarkable job in the 19 months she held the position, taking the county from being broke to having a current surplus in the bank, with more money on the way.
Anyone who has dealt with Sanchez comes away with respect for her keen mind, vision and leadership qualities. She’s detail-oriented, decisive and not afraid to get her hands dirty doing the heavy lifting necessary to improve life for county residents. After all, she’s also a day-to day, hard-working cattle rancher. Many who came out to support her at Friday’s meeting are ranchers, too.
Let’s face another fact.
Sanchez is the first woman to hold this job, and misogyny is on full display as a motive for her firing. Two of our elected officials apparently could not tolerate a smart, strong and articulate woman being in charge, showing a command of countless complicated issues.
We should be embarrassed by the lack of vision and leadership of Naranjo and Bustos.
They aren’t, you can be sure.
The men have now added Maestas to their stable of loyalists. How quaint. Bustos is secretary of the Española Public School Board and Maestas is the board president.
It’s my way or the highway for Naranjo, who’s following in the tradition of his uncle. The problem is, that highway is a one-lane ticket to the past. Sanchez was the future.
In the movie “Back to the Future,” the time machine is a rebuilt car, a DeLorean. Luckily for Michael J. Fox, the time machine gets him back to the present day just in time, delivering him into a world of peace and contentment.
That’s Hollywood. Here in Rio Arriba County there’s a different reality, one that is hard and ugly: the political sins of our past, and the people they hurt, are far from dead.
The public, despite being silenced last week, must rise up, protest and hold this new county commission accountable.
Don’t give up. Our county needs you now more than ever.