County approves ethics updates

PORTALES - The Roosevelt County Commission on Tuesday approved updates to its ordinance on ethical conduct, which creates a local ethics board and streamlines some communication avenues among public servants.

Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of the ordinance, with Tina Dixon abstaining. She said she wanted more time to think on the updates, remarking there was "way too much in there" and that the changes seemed to disempower commissioners in favor of the county manager. Dixon referred specifically to lines stating that "commissioners shall deal with employees under the jurisdiction of the County Manager solely through the County Manager..."

That section of the ordinance allows exceptions, such as if a commissioner needs to alert a road supervisor of a pothole issue inside their district. County attorney Randy Knudson said commissioners are only restricted from directing "the means, manner or method for resolving the dispute or demand(ing) resolution within a set timeframe," as the ordinance states.

Other public servants expressed reservations. Vice-chairman Matt Hunton said he thought the discussion was "microscoping this to a point where we're not talking about ethics anymore" while Sheriff Malin Parker thought it was redundant to create a local ethics board when there's already one operating at the state level.

"There should be nothing in there that prevents me from sharing information with you all whenever I see fit," said Parker. "This is just one more infringement on 'we the people.'"

Knudson clarified further that public servants such as the sheriff and commissioners would not be forbidden from informal communications with other county staff or constituents, but if it were a financial matter, for example, then it would indeed have to go first to county manager Amber Hamilton.

"This is at the local level," he said. "This is not designed to be something that is a 'gotcha.'"

Commissioner Dennis Lopez supported the broad purpose of the ordinance updates, noting that an abuse of position was not unheard of in the Land of Enchantment. He didn't claim any malpractice in Roosevelt County, but said he knew before of commissioners elsewhere asking road department staff to pave their driveways with local government resources.

"That's happened a lot in the state of New Mexico," he said.

The ordinance also lowers mandatory ethics training for public servants from two hours annually to one hour biannually. Knudson said the updates are overall designed to protect the county from liability and to "streamline" processes.

Chairman Shane Lee agreed with the creation of the Roosevelt County Ethics Board, consisting of one member and one alternate appointed by each of the five commissioners. Citizen members will serve for a term of two years.

"Having local people judge local people is better than Santa Fe," Lee said.

The commission is scheduled for a special meeting April 8 and regular meeting April 16, both at 9 a.m.

Also at Tuesday's commission meeting:

n Unanimous approval of resolution authorizing prepayment of property taxes.

n Renewal of contract with White Rock Crushing LLC for crushed caliche, with "wholehearted" support from the roads supervisor, Hamilton said in his absence.

n Unanimous approval to enter pending lawsuit with the New Mexico/Arizona Coalition of Counties to intervene against federal efforts to expand the jurisdiction term "waters of the United States."

n Discussion on upcoming application for federal impact aid for Floyd School District. Diane Ventura, a representative for Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., requested assistance in identifying a funding source for some $15,000 needed to hire an abstract company to locate the documentation necessary for receiving the annual federal monies.

n An update from Hamilton, who said the state bill increasing minimum wage was signed Monday and would possibly entail changes to starting wages at a few entry-level county positions in order to remain competitive. The minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $10 per hour by April 2020.