CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – The Cibola County Board of Commissioners voted on whether to give raises to elected officials at the Dec. 22 meeting.
The commissioners also welcomed the new slate of elected officials, after debating the raises. See related story below.
The New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration sent new guidance for Cibola County and elected officials as the county enters into a new decade. The guidance from DFA lists Cibola County as a Class B-High which changes the maximum amount of money elected officials can be paid for their work. The chamber debated giving the maximum allowable payment to these elected officials.
“This county has not been in a position to even have this discussion,” County Manager Kate
Fletcher said. She explained that the following salary increases also mean an increase of salary for the chief deputies of each following position.
The commission does not have the legal ability to give a raise to just one position, all raises must be equal in proportion, but the percentage increase must be proportionate. The New Mexico Constitution states that an elected official cannot give themself a raise during his or her term, so two of the commissioners, Ralph Lucero (D – Cibola 3) and Christine Lowery (D – Cibola 1), will not be allowed to get the salary increase, only the three recently reelected commissioners can receive the salary increase because they will be sworn in to a new term in 2021.
Raises
Members of the Cibola County Board of Commissioners have been receiving a salary of $26,257.00.
The commission debated raising their salaries to $30,196.00, a raise of $3,939. This raise would set the commissioners with the highest allowable salary as according to the DFA.
Cibola County Assessor, Clerk and Treasurer have been receiving a salary of $65,855.00.
The Board of Commissioners debated raising the salary for those three positions to $75,733.00, a raise of $9,878. This raise would set these three positions with the highest allowable salary as according to the DFA.
Cibola County Sheriff has been receiving a salary of $68,654.00.
The Board of Commissioners debated raising the sheriff’s salary to $78,952.00, a raise of $10,298. This raise would give the sheriff the highest allowable salary as according to the DFA.
Cibola County Probate Judge has been receiving a salary of $23,028.00.
The Board of Commissioners debated raising the probate judge’s salary $26,482.00, the smallest raise of all the positions, $3,454. This raise would give the probate judge the highest allowable salary as according to the DFA.
The vote
“I do not take action just because its on the table,” Commissioner Martha Garcia (D – Cibola 5) said, “My first priority is to make sure that we uphold the constitution and the laws of New Mexico. I have been rest assured and have asked a lot of questions because I wasn’t going to just come in blindly.” Commissioner Garcia said before the vote that she is ready to move ahead to the future in Cibola.
Commissioner Robert Windhorst (R – Cibola 4) said, “We worked very hard to change things and bring transparency to county government and do things that are right, not just do things the way they’ve always been done in the past. It took a lot of courage, we had to track all the money that was being spent. Something that the public doesn’t know is that commissioners were given a $75 a month as a stipend to have a cellphone… but we took action and eliminated that.”
“First of all,” Commissioner Ralph Lucero said, “I’m probably going to put my foot in my mouth… State legislators, senators and representatives do not get paid, they only have a $160 per diem… most of them spend their own money. State statute does say that we can give out increases, but it doesn’t give a percentage. I think 15 percent for [everybody] is excessive. The county commissioners are going to get an increase, but I think it is immoral and disrespectful to the people of Cibola County to be receiving an increase like this when you go the pantry and see those lines, or you go and hear people talk about ‘I can’t get my kids Christmas gifts this year’ or ‘we didn’t have food for thanksgiving dinner’ and we’re going to sit here and give ourselves a raise? I think that is totally totally inappropriate.” Commissioner Lucero called the proposal ridiculous, “I have no words to describe how upset I was when I saw this… I am so angry about this I don’t know what else to say, that is exactly how I feel about this.”
Chairman Torrez went last and explained that, “we were a county that was in dire need.” He said that the County Manager and the commission together worked out how to clean up the county. He explained that the next time the county addresses this they will have to make the hard decision about who will earn a raise, but this year, “its time to say thank you for the work that has been done. We have a strong commission board, and we will take a vote... vote for your constituents. We all know we’re in a pandemic and we’d be doing this regardless.”
“It’s the taxpayer’s money and they’re barely making ends meet but we’re going to give ourselves a raise?” Commissioner Lucero asked before the motion.
Commissioner Windhorst motioned to accept the raises as proposed. Commissioner Lowery seconded the motion and on a 4-1 vote the county passed the salary increases with Lucero dissenting.