After court ruling, Curry axes special meeting

CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission didn’t have a special meeting after all, following a commissioner’s inadvertent vote against a policy ratification he intended to support.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements of vaccinations or weekly COVID-19 testing for employers of 100 or more people, removing the commission’s need to revisit the policy ratification.

Curry County Manager Lance Pyle amended policy earlier this month to align with the OSHA requirements, and Tuesday’s commission meeting included an agenda item on ratification of his changes. The measure failed 3-2, with Commissioners Seth Martin, Robert Thornton and Robert Sandoval voting no.

Sandoval later said he mistakenly voted against the measure, and Chairman Chet Spear called a special meeting for Friday because the vote put the county in violation of federal law. On Thursday, the county issued a short release that said the meeting would be canceled pursuant to the 6-3 Supreme Court Decision.

Early on in the pandemic with quickly-changing requirements, Curry County was one of many municipalities to grant managers latitude to change COVID-19 policies as needed so long as a ratification vote took place in a public meeting. Sandoval, who was participating in meetings virtually due to other commissioners’ refusal to wear facemasks at meetings, said he thought the commission was voting on a resolution to strip Pyle of that authority. The resolution in question was not on the Tuesday agenda, but Sandoval said the commission has previously discussed revisiting the ordinance and he anticipates it will be on a future agenda. Sandoval said he is satisfied with Pyle’s handling of county COVID-19 policy and sees no need to micromanage him.

The next commission meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 24 via Zoom to discuss the federal “30 by 30” initiative. The commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 8.