Exclusion miffs co-op

The Curry County Water Co-op wants a seat at the table on a new water committee. But the chair said it’s not built that way.

A strategic planning committee, built out of the city’s Water Policy Advisory Committee, rankles Co-op Vice President Josefita Griego because it excludes the co-op and is closed to the public.

“We just feel like we need their help and they need ours, but it feels like they don’t want our help,” Griego said. “We can all work for the betterment of Curry County and Clovis. We have a water crisis and we serve as a voice for Curry County.”

The strategic planning committee is chaired by City Commissioner Ladona Clayton, and is tasked with finding interim water resources before the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (Ute Water Project) is online.

Griego said Clayton informed her there was already enough Curry County representation.

“To bring absolute clarity to the purpose and scope of the Strategic Planning Task Force as a group solely commissioned to function under the authority of the city of Clovis, I revisited the makeup of the group and determined there were too many members and a need for an appropriate balance,” Clayton said via email Saturday. “There were too many county representatives, including two county commissioners and a representative from the Curry County Water Co-op. I recommended that the Water Policy Advisory Committee consider restructuring the task force to reduce the county presence to one member instead of three.”

Officials said the strategic planning committee, which is slated to meet twice per month, is comprised of Clayton, Curry County Commissioner Robert Thornton, City Manager Larry Fry, as well as one representative each from EPCOR Water, the Clovis Industrial Development Corporation, the Eastern Plains Council of Governments and an at-large community member.

Griego said the water co-op has identified 28 county residents without water, and anticipates the number will increase within the coming weeks.

“Our chief concern is getting water to them,” she said. “We’re working to provide them with a water truck service and hopeful we can contract to have a water tank deliver on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We want to be included in the process because we have been on the front line.”

During the city’s Water Policy Advisory Board meeting last week, City Attorney David Richards said there is no conflict with the Open Meetings Act as it relates to the strategic planning committee.

“It’s really not a standing committee,” Richards said in response to a question from City Commissioner Chris Bryant, who chairs the larger Water Policy Advisory board. “It’s an ad-hoc task force. The Open Meetings Act applies to policy-making bodies. And so, the policy of the city commission is that this committee and all other permanent committees meet the Open Meetings Act, whether they’re required to or not. But for a task force or an ad-hoc committee that is only serving in a recommending capacity, then I think you’re fine.”

However, advisory board member Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer noted the closed strategic planning meeting decision is not the norm.

“I know it has been the policy of the city to make all meetings open, whether they were ad-hoc or a task force,” she said. “There have been other task force committees that were open to the public. We had that discussion to close them, but because that was the pattern of the city commission, they remained open.”

Clayton felt the closed meetings would offer better exchanges of information.

“When confidentiality and a climate of trust is created for this exchange, planning team members speak freely because they do not concern themselves with how their words or ideas may be misinterpreted or misconstrued,” Clayton said. “Being able to speak openly where everything is on the table is vital to the success of what we were charged to do.”

She said ultimately all recommendations from the strategic planning group would be made public, as would the policy formation. Bryant said the strategic planning committee would make recommendations to the water policy board, which would in turn make recommendations to the city commission.