The 2013 year in news began with one murder trial ending and another beginning. Juan Cordova was convicted of vehicular homicide in the death of motorcyclist Mark Wolfe Dec. 27, 2012, and two suspects were arrested in connection with the Dec. 31 murder of a La Mesilla man.
Local courts were busy this year, as well. The Jemez Mountain Electric Co-op is still waiting for the dust to settle and the multitude of lawsuits filed against it for the 2011 Las Conchas fire, while former Española city manager James Lujan pleaded guilty to fraud and bribery charges.
In a year that saw them dominate the headlines, Co-op elections shifted power to 12-term Board of Trustees member David Salazar and his allies. In their own elections, the Española School Board was joined by two fresh faces. Española School District Superintendent Danny Trujillo later joined the ranks as new school officials brought in within the last year.
News was made from public employees who left voluntarily, like former superintendent Art Blea and former public information officer Erika Martinez, and those who didn’t, such as former community services director Len Cata.
And while Northern New Mexico College students and faculty struggled through budget cuts and tuition hikes, there was still good news to be had.
South of Rio Arriba County, Pojoaque High School teacher Mario Vigil was one of seven Golden Apple recipients across the state.
Public Safety Director Eric Garcia didn’t earn any awards for 2013, but he did gain the admiration of many city officials in his first 100 days and helped stop the revolving door that’s characterized the position in the past several years.
Golden Apple goes to Pojoaque teacher
After 13 years in education, Pojoaque High School Spanish teacher Mario Vigil earned the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.
While Golden Apple Award Foundation Executive Director Brian O’Connell said it was a down year for award applications, Vigil was still one of only seven teachers honored with the Golden Apple across the state.
Following the Golden Apple, Vigil received glowing reviews from Pojoaque administrators and fellow Pojoaque teacher and previous Golden Apple winner Susan Rudolf-Quintana.
Vigil received $4,000 for professional development as a part of his award. He said he will use the money to travel to a Spanish-speaking country and use the experience for future lesson plans.
With the award, Vigil joined the rarified air of local teachers to win the Golden Apple. Vigil is one of six teachers from Northern New Mexico to win the Golden Apple since its inception in 1996.
County flak leaves job after raise
Former Rio Arriba County Public Information Officer Erika Martinez enjoyed her 14.4 percent raise for a little more than a month before departing for a lower-paying job for State Senate Democrats.
The County Commission voted Sept. 27 to raise Martinez’s annual salary from $50,665 to $57,945.
The vote split County officials, with Commissioner Barney Trujillo saying Martinez was “overqualified” for the position, while County Clerk Moises Morales Jr. said the move was returning the County to the patron system.
The raise came after County Manager Tomas Campos told County department heads earlier in the year that there wouldn’t be any raises or cost of living adjustments because of the County’s estimated $2 million deficit.
Martinez took an almost $3,000 pay cut to become an analyst for State Senate Democrats. Commission members had originally said the raise matched an offer from the Democrats.
Co-op sued
for $203 million
The Jemez Mountains Electric Co-op was named in multiple lawsuits totaling $203 million, alleging it was responsible for damages from the 2011 Los Conchas fire.
The $203 million suit far exceeds the $21 million the Co-op has in insurance. If successful, former Co-op general manager Wayne Sowell said the suit would send the Co-op into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Fifty individuals, 30 insurance companies and two pueblos have filed suits against the Co-op so far.
The plaintiffs in the suits assert the Co-op did not have a professional vegetation clearing service in place at the time of the fire. The fire was caused by a tree falling on a Co-op power line.
A jury trial for 29 insurance companies representing 39 individuals in Sandoval County District Court is set for Sept. 15, 2014.
Co-op elections cause shift
A new faction was put into power on the Board of Trustees after Jemez Mountains Electric Co-op held elections in July.
Four new trustees were elected to the Board while three incumbents held their seats.
Challenger Richard Ramsey took District 1, newcomer John Tapia claimed District 6, while Charlie Trujillo and Nick Naranjo were both new faces for District 5. Tapia and Trujillo defeated incumbents Elias Coriz and Kenneth Borrego, respectively.
Dolores McCoy in District 2 and Johnny Jaramillo in District 3 joined District 4, Ward B’s David Salazar as incumbents successful in staving off challengers. Besides being elected to an unprecedented 12th term, Salazar was also named Board president.
The campaigns grew heated when anonymous fliers were distributed depicting Salazar manipulating Naranjo, Tapia, Trujillo and District 6 candidate LeRoy Lopez as a puppeteer. Tapia and Naranjo accused Coriz and Borrego of distributing the fliers. Both Coriz and Borrego denied the allegations.
Cordova convicted for homicide
A year-and-a-half after ramming into a group of motorcyclists on State Road 76, Juan Cordova was convicted on five felony counts, including one count of vehicular homicide in district court Dec. 27.
Cordova’s blood alcohol content was nearly double the legal driving limit five hours after the crash that killed Mark Wolfe and injured three others.
Cordova’s attorneys maintained someone else was operating Cordova’s vehicles at the time of the crash and the accusations were a part of a conspiracy led by Rio Arriba County Sheriff Tommy Rodella. Cordova’s defense team claimed Rodella was seeking retribution for a 1994 incident where Cordova accused Rodella, then a State Police sergeant, of beating him during a traffic stop.
The jury didn’t buy the conspiracy claims and convicted Cordova.
On Feb. 25, First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Cordova to 29 years in prison.
Former city manager pleads guilty
After years of claiming innocence, former Española city manager James Lujan pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and a single count of demanding or receiving a bribe Aug. 27 in district court.
District Attorney Angela “Spence” Pacheco said Lujan will testify against his alleged co-conspirators in exchange for a maximum prison sentence of six years. The district attorney’s office is asking for the sentence to be further reduced to less than a year, which would send Lujan to jail instead of prison.
Santa Fe County officials fired Lujan in 2010 after the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office named him in a bribery and fraud investigation. The city hired him as city manager shortly thereafter.
Mayor Alice Lucero stood by Lujan’s hiring, even after the City Council voted to fire him in 2012.
City director
fired for fraud
Former Española community services director Len Cata was fired by city officials in April, after allegedly changing a purchase order to include baseball equipment for Española Valley High School.
Cata drew the attention of local officials when the city discovered he had changed a Jan. 29 purchase order for equipment for the proposed Industrial Park Road softball fields. After the purchase order was approved, Cata allegedly removed an order for bleachers and replaced it with baseball equipment.
The city was still paying the price for alleged actions eight months after his termination. City vouchers revealed the city paid for the almost $6,000 worth of baseball equipment Oct. 30.
Interim city manager Joe Duran said the equipment is currently sitting an evidence locker at the Española Police Department.
Public Safety Director Eric Garcia said state officials are looking over Cata’s expenditures and will bring forth a case against him after collecting all the evidence.
Public Safety Director earns early praise
Española Public Safety Director Eric Garcia was one of the few city employees to earn universal praise from police officers, administrators and elected officials.
During his first 100 days as the city’s director of Public Safety, Garcia breathed new life into a police department that languished for more than a year under a succession of interim chiefs.
Under his watch, Garcia simplified the chain of command, secured funding to replace the police department’s aging fleet and coordinated a series of advanced trainings.
Over his next 100 days, Garcia wants to hire more police officers and identify other places where the department can save money without cutting services.
Political novices elected to board
Political experience was not a requirement for victory in the Feb. 5 Española School Board elections.
Newcomer Annabelle Almager handily defeated Leo Marquez and Mary Agnes Martinez in District 2.
District 3 proved to be a tighter race, as Lucas Fresquez eked out a win over Pat Chavez and Gloria Shuttles.
Voters also approved a 2-mil tax levy proposal, after previously rejecting it in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
Trujillo replaces Blea as superintendent
Another year, another superintendent for the Española School District.
Former superintendent Art Blea resigned in March, citing his health and the large amount of meetings he was required to attend as reasons for his departure.
After the Española School Board undertook a search for Blea’s replacement, none of the final candidates interviewed met the minimum requirement of having five years of superintendent experience.
More than two months after Blea’s resignation, the Board chose Española Elementary School Principal Danny Trujillo, May 22
Northern approves tuition hike
In order to make up for a faltering economic situation, the Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents approved a $1.5 million budget cut and a raise in tuition for students.
The cuts approved by the Board included closing La Tiendita café and commercial kitchen, reducing the Spanish Colonial Arts program from a degree program to a continuing education program and cutting the dean position for the College of Community, Workforce and Career Technical Education.
To increase revenue, tuition for full-time students was increased from $1,205.40 per semester to $1,374.
The moves were met with widespread backlash from students and faculty.
“It’s almost like shooting yourself in the foot,” Northern teacher union representative Tim Crone said.
La Mesilla man
tortured, murdered
The end of 2012 brought the beginning of an investigation into the murder of Marco Bequett, whose body was discovered by Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputies by the Black Mesa Golf Course Dec. 31.
Deputies arrested Eric Rodriguez and Jeremy Lopez in connection with the murder and charged them with single counts of first degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated battery and evidence tampering.
County Sheriff Tommy Rodella said Rodriguez suspected Bequett of stealing a PlayStation 3 belonging to his “baby’s mama.” After Lopez and Rodriguez beat Bequett, they allegedly brought him to the golf course parking lot by State Road 399 before shooting him and leaving the body.
A Children, Youth and Families Department spokesperson said Bequett should have been transferred from the Santa Fe County Detention Center, where he was serving time for previous charges, to a juvenile facility to serve time for offenses he committed as a juvenile. But Bequett was allowed to bond out instead and was released.
Rodriguez and Lopez are due in district court Jan. 31, 2014 where their attorneys will try to negotiate a plea deal at a pre-trial conference.