There is an urgent need for the North Central Solid Waste Authority to be investigated by an independent, outside party to determine why and how it appears to be so mismanaged.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas might as well get his introduction to life in Española and Rio Arriba County now — before he leaves office to take over as president of Northern New Mexico College. His office needs to investigate the Authority.
First of all, there is an appalling lack of answers and lack of cooperation from the management of the Authority regarding the on-the-job fatality of Alfred Trujillo two days before Thanksgiving.
The Rio Grande SUN has continued to ask for answers regarding Trujillo’s death from Janet Saucedo, manager of the Authority, and she refuses to answer.
There are multiple questions about the death, about hiring policies of the Authority, about maintenance of vehicles — particularly the one involved in the fatality — and regarding the Authority’s finances.
Basically, the public has been told the Authority is broke but there have been no explanations explaining the Authority’s finances.
The board of the Authority is comprised of Chairman Ben Lujan, Secretary Bernardino Chavarria, County Manager Lucia Sanchez, City of Española Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Sue Martinez and County Commissioner James Martinez. At the least the board needs to ask the attorney general’s office for an audit and for help in determining if there is misfeasance or malfeasance involved in the operation.