GRANTS, N.M. – A public hearing to decide whether councilor-elect Dolores P. Vallejos meets the District 1 residency requirement under the Grants City Charter was removed from Wednesday’s City Council agenda during approval of the agenda, and the council made no findings on residency. The meeting later ended with the city attorney announcing a resignation from the dais, saying integrity had been tested.
The meeting opened at 4:03 p.m. with all councilors present, this meeting was the final for Zachary Gutierrez as a councilman, whose term expires Dec. 31.
During approval of the agenda, Councilwoman Beverly Michael said, “I would like to motion that we approve the item but that we table Item 2.1 under Item 2.” Councilman Fred Rodarte seconded.
Michael added, “I would like to have further review with our legal team. And upon review of past documentation with the New Mexico Secretary of State on an item identical to this it’s clear that the state statute indicates that the only time a challenge may be made for residency is within seven days of the date that the candidate files for office and that is in state statute and it also has to go through a district court process, not the process we’re presenting here today; and with that in mind, I am motioning to table.”
Rodarte said, “I would like to state for the record that I am not in agreement with that item as well, I think that item was wrong. It was presented to the city wrong, I was never informed of the proceedings that took place and I categorically state that I am in total agreement with not going any further with item 2.1, and that’s what I want put on the record.”
Councilman Zachery T. Gutierrez said, “I don’t want this to drag on, I want this done so the city moves forward.”
Mayor Erik Garcia asked City Attorney Dan Gershon for a legal opinion. “This is kind of a curveball,” the mayor said.
Gershon responded, “The question – and I’ve spoken to the general counsel for the Secretary of State, he’s in agreement with my position whether this is a proper proceeding. The Secretary of State’s Office has jurisdiction prior to election. On candidate eligibility … proceeding prior to the election but that is not what we are determining we are not determining if the candidate-elect was eligible to be on the ballot. That’s not something the city has jurisdiction over. Instead, what the city council has is pursuant to the city charter is to determine eligibility to hold office. That is something written into the city charter and does not contradict state statute and with that limited scope, at least it is my legal opinion, the city council is authorized to determine that issue. That’s the short answer, the city council can determine whether someone is eligible to hold office, this would be no different if a city councilor moved a year from now to another district and are no longer eligible pursuant to the city charter to hold office. So, in that case, if they decline to step down city council could again determine if they are eligible to hold that office.”
Councilor George Garcia asked, “this person [speaking of Councilor-Elect Dolores Vallejos] isn’t a city councilor, correct? So, this would not apply, the charter would not apply to them?”
Gershon replied, “It’s whether they’re eligible to be sworn in based on that. They are certified by the secretary of state as having won that election so at this point its if they’re actually eligible to hold office within the purview of the city council.”
Mayor Garcia then said, “so what I’m saying is: Dan gave us legal advice to make a decision based on the charter and the council does not want to, am I getting that right council?”
Rodarte responded, “there is a motion on the floor and a second, it has to be addressed.”
The mayor answered, “No it’s discussion right now.”
Councilor George Garcia said, “the only problem I have is its being put out to the community the council was putting this forward. This is false, the council had nothing to do with this. I can’t speak for the other councilors, I never received any of this information, I was not part of the correspondence I was not part of the conversation, so the council had nothing to do with this or bringing it forward.”
Gershon replied, “Well councilor, I think this is an agenda item like any other that the mayor can put on or the councilors can, the council is within its rights to table the matter as well. So, I’m only here to advise the city council on what they must do under the law what their rights are under the city charter or if it conflicts with state law. I’m not here to make a decision for the mayor or the council on these issues.”
George Garcia continued, his question pointed at Gershon, “and the charter does state we are the judge of qualifications… no outside entity should be putting this forward correct? And you would be an outside entity? You’re not part of the council. The charter specifically states the council. We should have had debate, discussion, and a vote on these qualifications and that never happened.”
During public comment, former Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks attempted to speak, beginning, “I hear all this talk about the charter,” and stated that paperwork had been filed “with the state today,” before being cut off by council and mayor for being off-topic. Later, during discussion of charter compliance – which exists on the city agenda as a continuous item for almost 10 years because the City of Grants is out of compliance with its own charter, Hicks said, “all this talk of the charter and you guys pissed on the charter when you changed the election. Even the law you guys changed it under says you have to take it back to the people to amend it, you didn’t do that… why didn’t you take it back to the people and change it like the statute says? You guys have violated the law, the charter is in the constitution, no statute overrides it, period. No voting law overrides it. You can’t just take and do an ordinance and change the charter like you guys did.”
Hicks added, “I’m not here without, how would you say, a remedy. Okay? My remedy is you hold another election in March, the way you’re supposed to. We put all of you on the ballot at the same time, along with the amendment to the charter to do what she wants to do,” and concluded with a roar so loud I could be heard outside the council chamber walls, “Do what’s right for a change!”
After discussion, the motion to adopt the agenda without the residency hearing passed 3–1, with Gutierrez opposed.
Later, during council comments, tensions escalated.
Mayor Garcia said, “I think the City of Grants, We run on a charter. And the charter is usually not supposed to be questioned, its our guideline, it’s the rail guard that we hit when things go bad or in a certain direction and we need guidance. But that only goes so far. We ask for guidance from our attorney. You guys seem that you think you know more.”
Garcia continued, “the city attorney just turned in his resignation because of you guys. Because you put his integrity at stake and he’s not going to go for that. It’s not about money, it’s about doing the right thing. He did that by presenting what the charter means, it’s not one sided, he was protecting the charter and that’s it. You guys understand what you did by breaking the charter again? We lost a great attorney because of you guys. Do you understand that? How we’ve been moving forward because of this service?”
Addressing council members, the mayor said, “do you understand that, ma’am?” and “Sir?”
Councilor George Garcia responded, “I don’t need to be lectured to,” and later, “I appreciate what the attorney has done and it’s unfortunate he was put in that situation but as – I – you saying we – there was no we – there was no discussion with the rest of the governing body.”
Discussion continued regarding communications with the city manager and attorney billing with crosstalk.
At one point Mayor Garcia said, “liar liar pants on fire.”
Councilor George Garcia asked, “How do you know what we discuss are you there?”
The mayor replied, “No sir.”
Councilor George Garcia said, “No, you’re not, see. You’re assuming our thoughts.”
Mayor Erik Garcia said of the city attorney, “[Dan] … is educated on this one-hundred-thousand times more than you are.” George Garcia replied, “That’s debatable.”
On the broader charter issues, Councilor George Garcia said, “Where we erred and we made it publicly known that when we passed that resolution we should not have for the election, we made that public, we admitted our mistake on the charter.”
Mayor Garcia asked, “Okay so the election is null and void then?”
George Garcia said, “That’s debatable, yeah.”
Councilwoman Michael said, “Well out last attorney gave us bad advice and told us we could approve it. And she also made us form this big charter commission that did nothing to update the charter and make it concurrent with state statutes… she could have advised us… when we approved the change of the date of elections at that point she should have known and should have said now it goes to publication and then to the voters to approve it.”
Michael added about Gershon, “He didn’t even know our charter or the Open Meetings Act in the last meeting so I’m not going to go there.”
Near the end of the meeting, City Attorney Gershon addressed staff and the council: “[Grants Fire and Rescue, Grants Police Department, and other city departments] have something you cannot buy, they care. For the record, I do not place items on the agenda but I give my legal opinion; I do not take sides. But when my role, my training, and my almost 40 years of experience aren’t respected I don’t really see a point in continuing to serve in that role. I truly sincerely wish the city the best and will make sure there is an orderly transfer of files.” Gershon announced resignation.
The meeting also included recognition that this was the final regular meeting for Councilman Gutierrez following the November results.
Closing comments from councilors were sparse.
Councilman Rodarte said, “There have been a lot of situations I’ve been involved in and one thing I do know is that this body of elected officials has been elected to serve in their best interest and the public has put their trust in us to make the best decisions possible. We may not always make the right decisions but we do make decisions, and the decisions made by this council should be respected and accepted as what they are.”
Councilman George Garcia wished the whole city, employees, and residents of Grants a Merry Christmas.
The meeting ad- journed at 6:59 p.m.
The Residency Question The Grants City Council did not touch the residency question.
A breakdown of the Grants City Charter and arguments between the councilors led to the resignation of the city attorney.
The residency hearing that was removed had been lawfully noticed to evaluate Vallejos’ eligibility under Sections 2.02, 2.05, and 2.07 of the Grants Home-Rule Charter.
Section 2.02(B) requires a councilor to be a resident of the district on and after the filing date and to continue to reside there throughout the term.
Section 2.05 provides for forfeiture if qualifications are not maintained during a term.
Section 2.07 makes the council the judge of the qualifications of its members and authorizes a public hearing with testimony and documents entered into the record.
Vallejos was certified on December 2 as the apparent winner in District 1 with 133 votes (39 percent) to 130 (38 percent) for incumbent Zachery T. Gutierrez and 81 (24 percent) for Bob W. Tenequer, a three-vote margin in a 344-ballot contest.
After the election, Mayor Garcia raised questions about whether Vallejos resides at the address tied to her District 1 voter registration.
In a November 10 interview, Vallejos said a registration change to her mother’s Del Norte Boulevard address in July was made for medical caregiving reasons and that District 1 status was confirmed at the polls. Public records show prior registrations at Davis St. in 2007, then to Kabrico Dr. beginning in 2011; on July 28, 2025, the registration was updated to Del Norte Blvd. with mailing address kept at 1004 Kabrico Dr.
Because the hearing was removed during agenda approval, no decision was made on residency. This question was not addressed.
The Grants City Council will swear Councilor Fred Rodarte into another term as councilor. They will also swear in Councilor- Elect Dolores Vallejos to the position. This meeting will take place July 31 at 11 a.m. at Grants City Council Chambers, 600 W. Santa Fe Ave.
Editor’s Note: Prior to publication, the Cibola Citizen learned attorneys for Councilor-Elect Dolores Vallejos sent a letter to city councilors threatening a lawsuit against the city if it moves forward with any question at all about Vallejos’ residency. This letter was delivered to councilors at some point prior to the meeting, a copy the Cibola Citizen acquired is dated Dec. 16.