Former mayor says he intends to appeal dispute over city’s move from March elections to November cycle
GRANTS, N.M. – Former Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks is waiting for a written order before taking the next step in his lawsuit challenging the City of Grants’ election schedule and its compliance with the city’s home-rule Charter.
The case, Martin W. Hicks v. City of Grants, New Mexico, et al., is pending in Thirteenth Judicial District Court under case number D1333-CV-2026-00054. Judge James Lawrence Sanchez held a motion hearing Aug. 12 in Los Lunas – an hour away from Grants – on Hicks’ request to reconsider a prior ruling from June 4.
As of Aug. 18, the online court record did not show a signed order following the Aug. 12 hearing. The record also did not show a notice of appeal.
That means the case is in a procedural waiting period: Hicks has stated in court that he intends to appeal, but the appeal clock does not begin until the court enters a written order.
The lawsuit is one of the central legal challenges in Grants’ ongoing Charter crisis. Hicks’ original petition, filed Feb. 18, is listed in the court record as an Election Code proceeding and is described as a “Verified Petition for Declaratory Judgment, Injunctive Relief, and Writ of Mandamus to Compel Municipal Election Required by Home Rule Charter.”
At the heart of the case is a question that has followed the City of Grants for months: whether the city was required to hold a municipal election in March 2026 under the Grants City Charter, which states that regular municipal elections “shall be held” in March of even-numbered years, or whether the city’s 2023 optin ordinance lawfully moved Grants municipal elections to the November Regular Local Election cycle.
Grants City Council approved Ordinance 23-1274 on March 29, 2023, opting the city into the November Regular Local Election for municipal officers. The ordinance did more than change the election date. It also adjusted existing terms to match the new schedule: municipal officers whose terms would have ended in 2024 were extended to Dec. 31, 2025, with new terms beginning Jan. 1, 2026 – this affected Councilman Fred Rodarte; while officers whose terms would have ended in 2026 were extended to Dec. 31, 2027, with new terms beginning Jan. 1, 2028 – this affected Mayor Erik Garcia, Mayor Pro Tem George Garcia, and Councilwoman Beverly Michael. The ordinance directed the municipal clerk to file the opt-in ordinance with the New Mexico Secretary of State by June 30, 2023.
Hicks argues that change could not lawfully override the Charter’s March election language without a voter-approved Charter amendment.
The city’s lawyers argued the challenge came too late because the opt-in action occurred in 2023, therefore it is too late to correct alleged violations of the charter.
Charter Election Question
The Grants City Charter says the New Mexico Municipal Election Code applies to city elections except where it conflicts with the Charter, “in which case the Charter shall govern.”
The same section says the regular municipal election shall be held on the first Tuesday in March of each even-numbered year.
Grants did not hold a municipal election on March 3, 2026.
City officials point to the 2023 ordinance that moved Grants municipal officer elections to the state’s November regular local election schedule. Hicks argues the Charter could not be displaced in that way without properly changing the Charter itself.
The city’s position, as argued in court, has focused in part on timing and procedure. The city has argued that the challenge came too late because the electioncycle decision was made years earlier, before the March 2026 election date Hicks cites. They claim that undoing the election was beyond the power of the court.
During the Aug. 12 hearing, the city’s attorney argued that residents have the right to vote for city councilors, but that right does not necessarily mean “a right to vote on a particular date.”
That argument goes to the center of the dispute. Hicks’ position is that the date matters because the Charter itself sets the election schedule, and the Charter was adopted by the voters of Grants as the city’s home-rule document.
Judge Points Toward Appeal
According to handwritten notes recorded by the Cibola
Citizen during the Aug. 12 hearing, Judge Sanchez focused heavily on timing, remedy and appellate review.
Sanchez indicated that the broader constitutional and home-rule questions may need to be decided by the New Mexico Supreme Court, not by the district court at this stage of the case.
When Hicks said he intended to appeal, Sanchez told him there is an appeals process and said Hicks would have 30 days after the judge signs his ruling to pursue the next step.
Hicks, who represented himself, argued that he could not have challenged the city’s election-cycle change earlier because he did not know the practical effect until March, when he expected to vote and no municipal election was held.
“How could I have filed a lawsuit when I didn’t know?” Hicks argued during the hearing.
Sanchez repeatedly focused on timing and remedy, telling Hicks that courts can only act on issues properly brought before them and that the broader question now appeared to belong in the appellate process. “Listen, a lot of crap happens in the world, but if it doesn’t come to a court, there’s nothing we can do,” the judge says.
The judge appeared to acknowledge Hicks’ frustration but said the court could not undo the election issue after the fact at the district court level.
Hicks was emotional during parts of the hearing and told the court, “As a U.S. Marine, this is the hill I will die on.”
What the Court Record Shows
The court record shows the case was filed Feb. 18. Defendants include the City of Grants, Councilors Beverly Michael, Fred Rodarte and George Garcia, and City Clerk Frances Salas. The city and individual defendants are represented by attorneys James C. Wilkey and Rhys Llewellyn.
The case was initially assigned to Judge Amanda Sanchez Villalobos and was reassigned March 25 to Judge James Lawrence Sanchez after a recusal.
The city filed a motion to dismiss April 3. Hicks filed a motion for summary judgment April 22. The city later filed its own motion for summary judgment May 18.
A motion hearing was held June 4. Hicks then filed a motion to reconsider or review on June 10. The city responded June 24, and Hicks replied June 25. The Aug. 12 hearing was scheduled as an in-person motion hearing on that reconsideration request.
“Mr. Hicks, you cannot prevail without a Supreme Court decision,” Judge Sanchez told him. Hicks protested the ruling, prompting a Valencia County Sheriff’s deputy to instruct him to stop speaking over the judge. Sanchez added that Hicks would have 30 days after the order is signed to appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court.
As of Aug. 18, no newly signed order appeared in the online register of actions after the Aug. 12 hearing.
What Remains Unresolved
The Aug. 12 hearing did not resolve the larger public question at the center of the Charter crisis: whether a home-rule Charter election date approved by voters can be displaced by council-approved ordinance and state election opt-in procedures without a voter-approved Charter amendment.
It also did not produce, at least by Aug. 18, a written order that would allow the parties and the public to see the court’s formal reasoning.
Until that order is entered, Hicks’ next step remains pending.
The election case is separate from another ongoing legal dispute involving former District 1 Councilor Dolores Vallejos, who sued the City of Grants after the council determined she violated the Charter’s dual-office rule by serving as both a city councilor and Cibola County Assessor.
Together, the cases reflect the same larger problem now facing Grants: how the city interprets, follows and changes its home-rule Charter.
For now, Hicks’ election case remains in district court, awaiting the judge’s written order.
Editor’s Note: The Cibola Citizen is required to rely on handwritten notes from inside the courtroom because recording devices were not allowed in the courtroom.
Hours after court, the City of Grants met for a special meeting on August 12 where former mayor Martin Hicks spoke during the portion of the meeting reserved for “charter compliance”. He berated councilors before announcing his intention to run for mayor once again due to what he said was their handling of the city charter.